Wedding date: April 6, 2013
Whatever you do, do NOT use Christina O’Malley for your
wedding if you have a certain look in mind and flowers are a big thing for you.
She will continuously mislead you and make you think she understands your
vision and has everything taken care of, but it was not the case for us. I was
very shocked when I saw the flowers she delivered for us at the hotel and the
centerpieces at the reception because I was used to reading so many great
reviews from other brides on The Knot about her. I guess she is only used to
making a few bouquets and not big orders. Please understand the flowers were "nice", they just were not what my husband and I asked for and communicated with Christina.
My husband and I had several concerns that appeared during
the execution phase of our business agreement with Christina. I was extremely disappointed in the quality of
the flowers she delivered and the inaccuracy of the items I confirmed and
ordered with her. To begin, the colors were incorrect, the flower type for
several arrangements were incorrect, and the flower quality of several
arrangements looked aged and lacked vibrancy.
We shared written and verbal confirmation and I also
provided Christina with photographs to further confirm my specific floral needs. She completely mislead me and failed to
deliver on the service she was paid to complete. She only communicates through
email and it takes a few days- weeks for her to get back to you. We asked a few
times for a face to face consultation but that request went ignored.
Concern #1: Flower Quality
She previously asked me to sign and mail her a disclaimer
before the wedding stating I could not sue her if my flowers withered or turned
brown since I requested to have her deliver them 3 ½ hours before the ceremony.
I understood her precautionary needs,
however, the flowers were delivered brown and withered. I'm almost positive
they were made days in advance and not that morning, so the disclaimer was no
longer valid in my opinion. As an example, I asked and paid for two flower girl
pomanders but she only delivered one. My planner called Christina as soon as we
realized it at the hotel to report that we only received one and she mentioned she
would return home and make another one. Upon delivery of the second pomander
hours later, it appeared bright, colorful and vibrant. It was a complete
contrast from the first one that was allegedly created that morning. As a
result, my flower girls looked very strange holding the 2 different pomanders
side by side. Overall, the flower
quality she provided was not worth the total cost that I paid and it did not
match what I confirmed with Christina on numerous occasions. No matter the time
I requested, they were delivered that way. We had vases ready and prepared for
the flowers to place them in as soon as they were delivered, and to place them
back in after we did the first look and took the formal pictures. I signed the
document under the impression that the flowers were being made that morning and
that they would not be delivered already aged and withered.
Concern #2: The
inaccuracy of my bouquet.
I sent Christina a picture of the exact bouquet I wanted
that matched my wedding colors perfectly. I knew that bouquet would look great
in pictures next to my shoes, bridesmaids dresses and other details of the
wedding. The one she made and delivered for $225 was nothing like the picture
at all. From our initial conversations I was very adamant about the flower type
and color of my bridal bouquet. I stated my specific needs/wants and provided her
with photographs of the exact bouquet, as well as the link to the flowers
included in this bouquet. She stated she could create the exact bouquet, but
swap out the peonies with garden roses for $225. The other flowers in the
bouquet should have remained the same. The vibrancy of my desired bouquet in
the picture should have remained the same. Overall, the quality of the bouquet she
provided was not worth the money I paid and it did not match what I confirmed
with her on numerous occasions. I did not ask for similar, I asked for the
exact bouquet. This is one thing that I sent her a picture of the VERY FIRST
time I ever emailed her and knew I wanted this bouquet. It was so far from what
I asked for I could not understand how she even delivered this and thought it
was accurate.
Concern #3: Reception centerpieces
The 2 large arrangements that we had on the wedding party
table and wanted to be our “WOW” factors at the reception were also not what we
paid for. I asked for coral, blue and peach carnations and that is not what I
received. I stated that I wanted NO greenery and provided her with numerous photographs
of my desired arrangements. The arrangements she created were filled with
greenery. I am not sure how I sent her the pictures describing what I wanted
and ended up with the ones she delivered to the reception. I wanted the 2 large arrangements to be my wow
factors as soon as guests walked in and they were filled with greenery and
lacked vibrancy as well. The arrangements looked old and not at all like they
were worth the price I was charged. Overall, I was extremely disappointed in
the wedding party table arrangements that she provided and shocked at how far
off they were from what I communicated to her that I wanted. They offered no
enhancement and were not the "Wow" factor that we expected. As soon as we entered the reception to be
introduced as husband and wife for the first time I had to quickly look past
the flowers. It was nothing I could have done at that point but was extremely upset
that I did not receive what I paid for at all. At that moment, dancing with my
husband and enjoying our family and friends was more important than crying over
flowers.
Concern #4: She does not understand what CORAL is.
The next inaccuracies were the colors of my groom's
boutonniere and rose petals. To provide her with an idea of the color the
flowers needed to be, I sent her a photo of the exact bridesmaid dress that my
bridesmaids were wearing, as well as the color pattern for my wedding. Despite
the measures I took to ensure the accuracy of these arrangements, none of the
bouquets or flowers were CORAL. They were mainly blush or a very very pale
pink. For example, I asked for my groom's boutonniere to be coral and that was
also light pink. The light pink flowers would have been platform accents if
there were any coral in the flowers at all. I kept voicing my needs and
concerns about the flowers and colors I wanted in emails to Christina but she
mislead me by always assuring me that she had everything under control and knew
exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, I did not see a single coral flower
utilized the way I requested in the arrangements that she delivered. Even the
coral rose petals I asked for were delivered in light pink (blush), and they
did not provide any form of enhancement at the reception. I knew the table
linens and chair covers were white so we wanted bright and vibrant arrangements
to enhance the space. We did not receive that AT ALL!
Concern #5: Corsages
I paid for 3 corsages for the mother of the bride, mother of
the groom and one grandmother. In addition to the corsages not being coral,
they were not actual corsages. I knew how their dresses were made and asked for
a cluster of coral roses for them to wear around their wrist. However, the
blush pink clusters of roses were delivered with pins on them for the moms to
pin to their dresses. They ended up not wearing the corsages since it clashed
with the design of their dresses and had no flowers to show they were of any
significance to the wedding.
Concern #6: Broken vase
One of Christina’s staff members broke a vase at the
reception and decided to replace it with a light blue flower pot. My planner
was not notified of this before they went out and got a vase and placed it on
the table. I later found out about this after the wedding because of course no
one wanted me to worry.
When I emailed Christina after we returned from the
honeymoon she told me that she would respond to my concerns after she took care
of her upcoming brides. It took her 3 weeks to respond to my initial email and
address my concerns. She then was very defensive and rude. My sole purpose was to remain respectful
throughout this entire process and subdue any negative or hurt feelings that I
still had. I anticipated a tactful and prompt response at her earliest
convenience to address the matter. Maybe I'm wrong, but she had the time to
respond to my emails saying she would address my initial email on TWO separate
occasions. Both were opportunities for her to take a moment and actually
address the concerns, not stall or push them to the side. "Busy spring
event season" or not, I was still a customer. An unhappy customer whose
wedding has passed, but still a customer nonetheless. I do not appreciate
paying someone for a service, receiving something other than what I believe I
paid for on one of the biggest days of my life, and then not being able to
discuss it with the person I hired and paid. I feel as though she told me I was
no longer a priority or issue for her because her upcoming clients and weddings
are more important.
She continuously referred to her “proposal” in her response;
however, everything listed on the proposal was incorrect. Yes my husband and I
sent pictures and it was written in detail on the proposal but that is NOT what
she provided. That was exactly my point! The final proposal reflected colors
that WERE NOT USED! Not a single picture I sent her for table centerpieces
included greenery. I asked Christina how much it would be for a large
arrangement that looked like the pictures I sent her. She in turn chose to do what she wanted and
add a ton of greenery. As stated previously, these were supposed to be our “wow”
factor and knew we would spend more on these to achieve our desired look. We wanted
them to look like what we sent her. As the client we felt like we had that
right.
It is a slap in my face that Christina cannot see how what she
created was not what I asked for. She could not understand that her vision was
not my own.
All in all, besides the whole flower ordeal, our day was just about perfect!