Especially For You Designs

Carol is the absolute WORST. if there was an option to give her 0 stars I would. She’s that bad. Not only did she send THE WRONG ARRANGEMENT, she refuses to return any of my calls or texts. I have gone to her store twice and no one was working DURING THEIR HOURS OF OPERATION. I paid about $ 90 for an arrangement I could have bought at Trader Joes for $ 20. My mom has used her in the past and decided to give it another go and was disappointed yet again. She and all of her friends will not be using Carols unorganized company again. She doesn’t deserve anyone’s business. She’ll take your money and disregard your wants or needs.

This is a continuation of Kelli K.
Unilocal caps reviews at 5000 characters, and I didn’t finish my list. So to make sure that customers are fully aware of what they are in for with Caryl, I am finishing my review Via my Husbands account:
6.) On our first meeting prior to hiring Caryl. We discussed all the flowers that I wanted and she made it seem like I could have all of them. Then 2 months prior to our wedding she said I couldn’t have 3 of the flowers that I wanted. Something she should have know int he beginning as flowers are seasonal and she should be well aware of what is available and when. She made a lot of promises that she did not follow up on. She didn’t give alternate options but instead used more roses.
7.) We requested via email that she place balloons near the parking garage entrance so that guests would know where to park. She never responded to me, so I have the venue coordinator reach out to her, he replied that she doesn’t always respond to him either. In the end, no balloons were placed and guests parked blocks away.
8.) We requested and paid for Vintage chandeliers. Instead she left the modern chandeliers up that she used for the wedding the day before. (we saw them up when we went for rehearsal).
9.) She was slow to respond or did not respond at all unless is had to do with collecting payments. She sent those emails right away and charged our credit cards within hours but took days to weeks to respond to emails, if at all.

DO NOT HIRE ESP4U Designs!!! EVER!!!
Caryl is completely unorganized and unresponsive.
My husband and I decided to hire Caryl because she is the onsite florist for our wedding venue. We asked our venue if there was anyone that they recommended for floral and décor and they gave us the names of 2 companies that do a lot of their events. We called Caryl and although she didn’t answer the first few calls, I left a message and she got back to me 3 days later. She was pleasant on the phone so we scheduled an appointment to meet her at her shop.
When we arrived for our scheduled appointment she was not there. We waited about 30 mins for her to arrive. This should have been the first red flag. But, we gave her the benefit of the doubt and brushed it off. In our first meeting we showed her pictures of what we wanted for colors and florals and décor. She made it seem like we could have everything that we wanted, that it would be no problem at all. We were excited that she seemed to be able to produce the wedding we wanted so we booked her and paid our deposit.
The moment she got our payment, was the moment it felt like she fell off the face of the planet. After that it was nearly impossible to get a hold of her. She didn’t answer emails, she never picks up calls. So, I was pretty easy going and relaxed for the firs 3 – 4 months of this non-​communication period because we had quite a bit of time until the wedding. Then when we were 3−4months away from the wedding and we hadn’t met or spoken again. No plans had been drawn up or florals finalized. I got a bit more stern with my requests to set up a meeting. Finally 2 months before our wedding date we has a meeting scheduled for 11am on a saturday. We are about 45 mins away from her and at 10:05am as we getting in the car to meet her, I get a text asking to move the appointment to 3pm. I was annoyed to say the least but agreed to the time because I wasn’t sure when I would be able t get a meeting with her if we didn’t go that day. So we got to our 3pm appointment, and of course she wasn’t there. She didn’t end up showing up until almost 4pm. We walked into the shop and saw a table set up and I said to my then fiancé, this isn’t for us (the table cloth was the pink when it was supposed to be mint, the chargers and chivari chairs were silver and we asked for gold, the center piece was very elegant and we asked for rustic; it was a lll wrong) but the florist pops out and ignores us for a while then asks what we need. We informed her we were waiting for caryl. She said she’s going to be late but thats your table set up. I told her I didnt think it was because it wasn’t what we talked about. She looked at me rudely and said the table is not set for you, you are just looking at the center piece. I patiently responded, this isn’t the type of center piece we discussed either. She said oh no, you just look at the flowers. REALLY??? We drove for over an hour in traffic to see some flowers!
This is pretty much how the entire Wedding Planning process went in dealing with ESP4U. They were unorganized, non-​responsive, non-​accomodating, rude, late, and didn’t provide what we asked for. I had no stress or worry with any of my other vendors, Just ESP4U and Caryl. So if you would like to have a relaxed planning process and not pull out all of your hair and scream into a pillow repeatedly, DO NOT go with ESP4U designs!!! EVER!!!
In speaking with friends and other florist, she is very expensive and upcharges for everything!
Here is a list of the things she messed up, got wrong, or left out all together (but we still paid for):
1.) She didn’t provide enough Boutonnieres. We were short by one so our Fathers did not have one. She also used the wrong flowers for the groomsmen.
2.) I specifically told her that I did not want roses to be the dominant flower. I said I don’t mind having some roses mixed into the florals but i would like it to be a variety with roses as an accent. So she made my bridal bouquet almost completely our of roses.
3.) I wanted «floating cranes» hanging from the tree that our ceremony was under. Initially she said make the cranes and I will string and hang them. Upon delivery of the cranes she said you were supposed to string these. I questioned, «you said you would do that.» She said no. I said if i string them they will get tangled up. She give no suggestions just stares confused and dumbfounded at me. So, I made the cranes, strung them, came up with a storage method and delivery method. And she charged us $ 800 to hang them! All I asked was she hang them like the pictures and open them up. They were almost all flat.
4.) She offered to make table numbers, we thankfully agreed. Then we got our itemized summary and she was charging over $ 150 for them! NO THANK YOU! We made our our for $ 30.
5.) She also charged us for a hanging picture frame that would act as a a self-​service Photo Booth. This was no where to be found on the wedding day.

Now I have the unusual circumstance that I had 2 wedding planners because I had a small destination wedding ceremony and then a huge local wedding banquet. Especially For You Designs (E4UD) was my wedding planner for the huge banquet.
Charisma was absolutely amazing. I was so overwhelmed by everything that needed to be done and she was unbelievably helpful at helping me sort out all the details of wedding planning in a chronological order. I also was dealing with all the drama trying to make everyone in our families happy and had to change so many things on her but she was great at handling it all and making everything happen so fast (even the night before the wedding!). She was also so quick to respond to all my questions and even emailed me reminders for deadlines. She went above and beyond for our wedding and we’re so grateful that she was our planner.
Albert was my day of coordinator and he was so great at guiding each part of the day and helping us keep the flow of the schedule. He was so professional and helped deal with the awful restaurant manager who was just downright rude. He also stayed way past the time he was supposed to just to make sure everything went smoothly.
Our other wedding planner for our small destination wedding was just awful. She never responded to emails/​phone calls/​texts and would sometimes take 2 weeks to respond because she had other weddings to deal with. Then she had assistants return our calls and they wouldn’t coordinate so she would have no idea what I told them and I would end up repeating myself over and over. She was also our day of coordinator and really did not seem to know anything besides how to show us where to walk. She didn’t help guide each part of the schedule to flow smoothly and there was even a time where we had to look for her to see why the cake cutting wasn’t set up.
We also went with E4UD for our rentals and florals which had better pricing than other rental companies and the quality of the seat covers and florals was amazing. I sent Charisma only few pictures of what floral designs I was interested in and they nailed it!
The seat covers were the modern stretchy kind that look so much better than the standard seat covers that are so common.
Anyway, we are so happy with how our wedding banquet turned out thanks to Charisma & Albert and everyone at Especially For You Designs.

I was very disappointed! I came to this store to get a bouquet and the girl who was introduced to me as the designer. She made the recommendation to get a bouquet assortment with different colors combinations and crystal ornaments, one of the more expensive options. When I picked it up, it was still missing the ornaments (which she put in on the spot after I brought it up), and the assortment came with barely 3 different colors, and had no blue in it despite her suggesting it specifically.
Not horrible, but in no way worth the price tag.

WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!

I have used Especially For You Designs on a few occasions for holiday table arrangements and will absolutely under no circumstances ever use them again!!! This shop is so disorganized and run in such chaos that it is very scary to think they stay in business.
On Friday May 10,2013 I went into there shop as I have done before to place an order for a center piece for my Mother’s Day Brunch table. Mind you I spent a few thousand dollars for this brunch to be catered and had a set time for my guest to be seated. When I walked in there was stuff everywhere and no one stopped to greet me or acknowledge me for a minute or two. Finally I said «Hello I would like place an order for a centerpiece.» The woman who answered said I am going to have that lady right over there help you and she pointed behind a divider to a woman on the phone. I now know her name is Lindsay. When I looked at the area where she was sitting there was stuff everywhere as well. She walked over to the desk area to get paper to take down my order and even the desk area was covered with papers everywhere. There was just an overwhelming feeling of chaos and disorganization. Yes I know you are thinking this should have been a red flag but I told myself that you have used them before and never had a problem. So anyway Lindsay asked me what I wanted to order and I told her my table size was an 8×4 w/​seating for 12. I told her I wanted low and a long table runner arrangement. Lindsay wanted me to tell her how many I wanted. I had no idea and I told her that! She didn’t offer me any professional opinions considering there experienced. I had to ask her to show me what they would use to put the arrangement in so I could see the size and try to guess. Finally she asked Carol who I now know is one of the owners/​designer her opinion on how many and how much each arrangement would cost. She seemed to busy and annoyed to have to be bothered with my questions. So she finally said 3 would fit on the table with room on ends for place settings. She pointed out his green plastic tray as something she would use or a glass vase that she indicated would cost more. She gave me a price of $ 85 for each. I asked Carol to make sure that they will be full and colorful. Her response was if you want them full they will be $ 125 each. I said I can do $ 100 so she told Lindsay go ahead and right it up for 3 at $ 100 each. I told Lindsay I needed them delivered on Sunday by 9:00 am because my event begins at 10am. I paid and gave her the delivery address. We were all set.
Mother’s Day comes May 12,2013. My catering staff show up early and I had them set the table straight away so that when the flowers arrive they can go right on the table. 9:00 comes and goes. 9:15 comes and goes. Then 9:55 comes and goes. No flower delivery! I was trying to be nice and understanding until when I called. The woman who I now was Lucy the other owner/​designer say to someone in the back ground,“No this was a delivery!” She comes back on the phone and says «He is on his way right now» and hung up on me. I was so mad! The delivery shows up 10 minutes later. It is now after 10 am and my guest are standing around waiting to enjoy this brunch I spent a lot of money on. I see him with these single roses in mini vases. I run out of the house to check what he is doing because I thought he must be mistaken. He shows me what he has and I said I did not order these. I said «Please tell me that is not what you brought for the arrangement because that is not what I ordered!» He said no this was just with your order on the side. He showed me the rest in the van. Yes there long full pretty arrangements but there was only 2! Not 3 as I ordered! At this point I had no choice but to have him place them on the table so my brunch could begin. But I did go right back in the house and call the shop back. I simply told Lucy that this is not what I ordered and I don’t have the time right now to deal with this. I said if I could have you take these back I would but there is no time for me to come up with a plan b because they were way over late with delivering them. I asked Lucy to call me tomorrow so we can talk about this further and resolve this. She was very apologetic and said either herself or Carol would call me tomorrow. Big Surprise neither called me so I called them. I got no where! I called several times this past week spoke to Lucy, Kim and Lindsay. All said they were calling me back but got no response back.
I am totally disgusted by the professionalism of this business. As a dissatisfied customer and rightfully so! They should have done what they could to resolve the situation and taken this situation very seriously! They have done nothing! I would never refer another person to them again! Very BAD business! DO NOT TRUST THEM WITH YOUR SPECIAL DAY! THEY DO NOT CARE!

These ladies are absolutely phenomenal. They listened to what we wanted for our wedding and worked within our budget to make it happen. When I arrived at the venue the day of the wedding, the arrangements took my breath away. I am still receiving phone calls a month later praising their work. I am a customer for life!

I am shocked that more people haven’t reviewed EFYD as they were by far the most incredible company to work with. The owner, Caryl, is the biggest doll who is so professional, creative and patient. They did all the party rentals (including linens) and florals for my wedding. To this day (almost a year later) people say it was the most beautiful wedding they have ever been to. The florals were like a fairy tale! Amazing draped sheer fabric with orchid strands, my bouquet was insane (they made one big rose out of individually placed petals starting from one white rose) and the ceremony was gorgeous! Even the linens are amazing. They are SO talented. I have suggested them to every couple I know who is engaged. Everything was done on time and done perfectly. I was beyond please and would choose them over and over again!

Honestly, when my fiancé & I decided to get married, I was horrified at the thought of trying to plan my wedding! I love weddings, but I just didn’t have any desire to plan my own. Enter the girls from Especially For You Designs… they saved my life (my sanity, my soon-​to-​be marriage…)!! They helped me with EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING!
Sending out save-​the-​dates, creating custom invitations, favors, programs (which I didn’t even know people did) and placecards. Their inhouse floral shop did my flowers, they got my specialty linens, and had a bunch of fantastic vendor referrals. They created my timeline & confirmed all my vendors — and even when I said it would only take me 2-​hours max to get ready, she allocated the four hours that I really needed (and I was still late!). In short (not really so short I suppose)… they were awesome!!! Everything was amazing & turned out much better than I could’ve imagined.
Too bad I don’t plan to ever do it again… maybe an anniversary party…