I've been using Pearl's for special events (and the occasional "treat yourself" moment) for years, so Pearl's was the *ONLY* cake vendor we had in mind for our wedding. Even though we now live out-of-state and they weren't offering tastings whe...n we could both be in VA (Dec '20), I stayed committed: Pearl's was still the only shop for us!
I scheduled a curbside tasting order for the next time I could do the 6hr drive to VA, February 12, 2021. There was a freezing rain storm in VA that day, and the shop opened late. I called to verify they'd be open and my tasting would be ready: yep, come by at 3. Arrived at my scheduled time, waited outside 20min in the freezing rain, and was asked to come back in an hour -_- Fine.
Called a few days later, still in February, excited to start my wedding cake order! Someone took down my info and a couple of very basic details and told me their wedding person would be in touch with me shortly. A week goes by and no word. I fill out the online form, crickets. Couple more days, I call again and leave a VM. One month from my initial "let's get started" call, I fill out the online form again, on March 18.
NOT UNTIL MARCH 24 DO I HEAR BACK FROM PEARL'S --at all!--over a month after I started asking them to be my vendor. Was I in a state of perpetual madness from then until now? I guess cake, wedding planning, and a pandemic can have pretty f***ed up effects on the brain, because I decided to keep pursuing. All they said is "we're available for your date, we'll be in touch."
April 1 (now 1.5 months out from my first contact with them), they email *some* details about my request, but don't respond to all of my questions. I'm still gonna roll with it, because I am thrilled to be hearing from them at all!
April 21 (now 2 full months from my first contact), I receive my emailed contract from Pearl's! ONLY two months to create a contract for a single flavor, single tier, ~40 serving "naked style" cake. But wait, what's this? There are two fairly significant details on the contract that are wrong, that were *instantly* noticed and I *immediately* asked to be correctly...
...but that was 3 weeks ago, and with less than six months until my wedding, their failure to fix two simple details on this contract has been the straw to break the camel's back--and that's on top of a pretty heaping pile of straws.
I've shot myself in the foot waiting on Pearl's to get their act together, but this doesn't have to be you. Spare yourself the trouble and go elsewhere, this place is sadly not what it used to be.