A pre-wedding warning (wrapped in a laminate like a well-presented wedding bouquet) from Dallas, Texas, resident Natalie DeGraffenreid to her fellow soon-to-be-brides. "Hopefully you will not go through what I went through," she told local TV station WFAA [via Gawker. And the source of all her wedding planning problems: the dang invitations.
DeGraffenreid ordered her invites from a local stationery firm, Art by Ellie, specifying a particular kind of doily pattern as you do — and look, not to insert my own bridezilla antics into the story but I made the company producing my invites illustrate an ombré watercolor effect seven different ways before I signed off on the final design, you know? What I'm saying is that you have every right to be particular, even about faux-lacy cutwork. This is where DeGraffenreid's dramz come to pass.
After receiving half of her order, DeGraffenreid was told the company had run out of her first choice doilies. In place, they offered a different kind. A noticeably, and stylistically, different kind:
On the second batch of invites, the firm told DeGraffenreid the second design "was 'different,'" she said, adding " I didn't know how different." Unhappy with the discrepancy, she asked for a discount on the order as a whole, but claims she was told that wasn't possible — and adds she's since been contacted by a lawyer threatening legal action if she doesn't pay up. (In a separate interview with WFAA, Art by Ellie's owner says she was offered "some kind" of refund.)
And to DeGraffenreid's horror, it turns out her contract allows for such a bait-and-switch doily move. An excerpt from an email she says Art by Ellie sent her apparently reads, "We are not under contract for a guaranteed specific delivery date, a specific envelope, or a specific doily pattern with your contract." "That means she could give me whatever she wanted," DeGraffenreid notes, "and she did." So, the moral of this sad story: It's all well and good to send your wedding contractors all your Pinterest boards for inspiration's sake, but you also have to get them to promise they'll adhere to your fave pins AND ONLY YOUR FAVE PINS in the small print. Otherwise you'll ask for twee chocolate cupcake jars as your wedding favors and could get what looks like poop in a mason cup. #TheHorrors.
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