We had extremely high hopes for A Perfect Event and enlisted them as our vendor for month of wedding coordination, floral and décor for our WI wedding at a family property. The ceremony took place at a church nearby and reception was tented in the backyard, right on the lake. The vision was clear and the Type A Groom & I had an extremely organized file to hand over to APE to take off our plate. (I admit – a powerpoint of all décor desires, color palette, venue layout, vendor contact info etc. was made for Debi and team) This would be a piece of cake for anyone to handle right? Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case at all. Following our wedding weekend we were left clueless as to where any of Debi's or APE's credentials and recognition came from.
From the early days of working with her, through the day of our wedding she did nothing but underwhelm and under deliver. Details were constantly missed, causing us to reiterate, re review and re specify time and time again. Frankly, the majority of our time in the planning process was spent checking in on her and team to make sure they were keeping on task, communicating with our vendors, organizing and archiving our detail requests for floral and décor etc. We kept checking in to make sure what we contracted Debi for, was actually being done. At one point we clearly stated our worry and were reassured things would turn around. ….They didn’t.
If you choose to work with Debi, expect to not be a priority until one week before your event…and perhaps not even at that point. We were dealing with a "design visionary", speaking to us in fanciful narrative as opposed to clear and concise details. We later realized the reason for this, is that Debi was keeping all descriptions intentionally vague to create the ability to deceive and under deliver on our requests in order to maximize her own profits.
In darker and more damning news, Debi was intentionally de-itemizing rental items and padding pricing to increase her take home pay which we realized, by manually itemizing all of our quotes ourselves. After keeping an ongoing detailed excel document, we confirmed pricing was fluctuating drastically and the mathematical errors were with intention of APE gain.
Through various planning documents, itineraries, floral proposals etc. My groom and I were calling out continuous errors in math, detail, requested changes and due dates. If you hire Debi and APE for "month of" coordination services – expect for minimal guidance from her until one week out, and unforeseen expense thrown at you 10 days prior to your big day. In the height of unprofessionalism, exactly one week before our wedding, Debi had emailed us asking for her hotel accommodations for overnight stay…FOR THE FIRST TIME. There was no email, nothing in the contract stating this need and we were forced to move a family member to have somewhere for her to stay, simply to ensure we would have help for the weekend.
Furthermore, Debi was to come with multiple team members to ensure seamless execution of our wedding weekend. With many moving parts, we were assured she would have an "all star team" there. We were provided names of three young ladies who were nowhere in sight on wedding weekend. Instead, it was her teenage daughter who was brought along to help move things into the car. We never saw additional professional assistance, or any of the named individuals throughout the entire weekend.
At our rehearsal mass, the church wedding coordinator was running very late. Church lights were off and there was no one to run the rehearsal. Debi was there, and did nothing. My cousin stepped in as organizer while our planner, stood there and watched. As rehearsal dinner ended later that evening and welcome drinks began in another room. A bartender was missing. Debi, who was on site and fully aware of proper individuals to speak to at the venue, did nothing. We were left wondering why our coordinator didn't step in to help get a bartender for hundreds of guests staring blankly at the walls while no one was behind the bar for one hour. We couldn’t be in two place at once. But, I wonder…WHAT WAS OUR COORDINATOR DOING? Certainly not her job.
Personalized items were made for our party, and Debi was shown these items to set out and utilize for the reception. These items were ignored, left in the basement and never set out despite specific direction to do so – verbally and via itinerary (which Debi claimed to live by that weekend.) The amount of money wasted on these items exceeds $650
When reception concluded, all flowers were thrown away without our knowledge or consent. (My bridal bouquet was included in the bunch, which contained a valuable and sentimental family charm.) Envelopes with vendor payment for wedding day were left abandoned on a counter, found the morning after our reception. Debi was nowhere in sight and vendors approached me and the groom, asking for their final checks. When asked about large décor pieces missing from the event, Debi claimed all these items were broken. Instead, pieces from her showroom were magically on the property on wedding day, rather than what we specifically paid for. As you can see, the list goes on and on and KEY CONTRACTED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES were completely disregarded and abused..…
It's inevitable small errors will occur throughout the planning process and on wedding day, but do not expect Debi to take ownership of any mistake or ever offer an apology for her wrong doing.
As you can imagine, I have the heaviest heart reflecting on the time spent in planning & organizing our special day…and how quickly this team allowed those visions to crumble. Luckily, no planner or florist can ever ruin the amazing love & support of wedding day, but PLEASE, if you are considering help in executing your dream "perfect event"' do yourself a favor and DO NOT BE FOOLED by the name of this company. LOOK ELSEWHERE and save yourself the headaches, sleep deprivation, stress and complete disappointment.
Debi Lilly Reviews
We had extremely high hopes for A Perfect Event and enlisted them as our vendor for month of wedding coordination, floral and décor for our WI wedding at a family property. The ceremony took place at a church nearby and reception was tented in the backyard, right on the lake. The vision was clear and the Type A Groom & I had an extremely organized file to hand over to APE to take off our plate. (I admit – a powerpoint of all décor desires, color palette, venue layout, vendor contact info etc. was made for Debi and team) This would be a piece of cake for anyone to handle right? Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case at all. Following our wedding weekend we were left clueless as to where any of Debi's or APE's credentials and recognition came from.
From the early days of working with her, through the day of our wedding she did nothing but underwhelm and under deliver. Details were constantly missed, causing us to reiterate, re review and re specify time and time again. Frankly, the majority of our time in the planning process was spent checking in on her and team to make sure they were keeping on task, communicating with our vendors, organizing and archiving our detail requests for floral and décor etc. We kept checking in to make sure what we contracted Debi for, was actually being done. At one point we clearly stated our worry and were reassured things would turn around. ….They didn’t.
If you choose to work with Debi, expect to not be a priority until one week before your event…and perhaps not even at that point. We were dealing with a "design visionary", speaking to us in fanciful narrative as opposed to clear and concise details. We later realized the reason for this, is that Debi was keeping all descriptions intentionally vague to create the ability to deceive and under deliver on our requests in order to maximize her own profits.
In darker and more damning news, Debi was intentionally de-itemizing rental items and padding pricing to increase her take home pay which we realized, by manually itemizing all of our quotes ourselves. After keeping an ongoing detailed excel document, we confirmed pricing was fluctuating drastically and the mathematical errors were with intention of APE gain.
Through various planning documents, itineraries, floral proposals etc. My groom and I were calling out continuous errors in math, detail, requested changes and due dates. If you hire Debi and APE for "month of" coordination services – expect for minimal guidance from her until one week out, and unforeseen expense thrown at you 10 days prior to your big day. In the height of unprofessionalism, exactly one week before our wedding, Debi had emailed us asking for her hotel accommodations for overnight stay…FOR THE FIRST TIME. There was no email, nothing in the contract stating this need and we were forced to move a family member to have somewhere for her to stay, simply to ensure we would have help for the weekend.
Furthermore, Debi was to come with multiple team members to ensure seamless execution of our wedding weekend. With many moving parts, we were assured she would have an "all star team" there. We were provided names of three young ladies who were nowhere in sight on wedding weekend. Instead, it was her teenage daughter who was brought along to help move things into the car. We never saw additional professional assistance, or any of the named individuals throughout the entire weekend.
At our rehearsal mass, the church wedding coordinator was running very late. Church lights were off and there was no one to run the rehearsal. Debi was there, and did nothing. My cousin stepped in as organizer while our planner, stood there and watched. As rehearsal dinner ended later that evening and welcome drinks began in another room. A bartender was missing. Debi, who was on site and fully aware of proper individuals to speak to at the venue, did nothing. We were left wondering why our coordinator didn't step in to help get a bartender for hundreds of guests staring blankly at the walls while no one was behind the bar for one hour. We couldn’t be in two place at once. But, I wonder…WHAT WAS OUR COORDINATOR DOING? Certainly not her job.
Personalized items were made for our party, and Debi was shown these items to set out and utilize for the reception. These items were ignored, left in the basement and never set out despite specific direction to do so – verbally and via itinerary (which Debi claimed to live by that weekend.) The amount of money wasted on these items exceeds $650
When reception concluded, all flowers were thrown away without our knowledge or consent. (My bridal bouquet was included in the bunch, which contained a valuable and sentimental family charm.) Envelopes with vendor payment for wedding day were left abandoned on a counter, found the morning after our reception. Debi was nowhere in sight and vendors approached me and the groom, asking for their final checks. When asked about large décor pieces missing from the event, Debi claimed all these items were broken. Instead, pieces from her showroom were magically on the property on wedding day, rather than what we specifically paid for. As you can see, the list goes on and on and KEY CONTRACTED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES were completely disregarded and abused..…
It's inevitable small errors will occur throughout the planning process and on wedding day, but do not expect Debi to take ownership of any mistake or ever offer an apology for her wrong doing.
As you can imagine, I have the heaviest heart reflecting on the time spent in planning & organizing our special day…and how quickly this team allowed those visions to crumble. Luckily, no planner or florist can ever ruin the amazing love & support of wedding day, but PLEASE, if you are considering help in executing your dream "perfect event"' do yourself a favor and DO NOT BE FOOLED by the name of this company. LOOK ELSEWHERE and save yourself the headaches, sleep deprivation, stress and complete disappointment.