Love of a Lifetime Wedding Shop

UPDATE for the UPDATE

After talking with Val about her side of the story... This is what she had to say...

[15:36] Tami Lewinter: hey while I have you

[15:36] Tami Lewinter: what's your side

[15:36] Valaryia DeVinna: lol

[15:36] Tami Lewinter: serious question

[15:37] Valaryia DeVinna: Well before I made the move to (location deleted) RL.. I did contact her.. told her what was up, offered to do the wedding before we moved.. she said noooo dont worry about it, she understands.. and to contact her once I get moved... that they could wait a few weeks was no big deal..

[15:37] Valaryia DeVinna: I offered at that time to refund her money..

[15:37] Valaryia DeVinna: and she said no they would wait..

[15:37] Tami Lewinter: ah

[15:37] Valaryia DeVinna: then when I got moved and online again I contacted her again..

[15:37] Valaryia DeVinna: let her know I was back, but needed a few to get unpacked and settled in..

[15:37] Tami Lewinter: of course

[15:37] Valaryia DeVinna: she said no prob.. we were talking about a date a few weeks from then..

[15:38] Valaryia DeVinna: in that next week I bought a new sim and moved the business..

[15:38] Tami Lewinter: that was after the wedding?

[15:38] Valaryia DeVinna: she went during that time to the store .. which had just moved to new sim night before

[15:38] Tami Lewinter: or before

[15:38] Valaryia DeVinna: still before

[15:38] Tami Lewinter: o ok

[15:38] Valaryia DeVinna: when she didnt see the store she freaked

[15:38] Tami Lewinter: lmao

[15:38] Valaryia DeVinna: and I logged on cpl days later to find tons of IMs from her

[15:38] Valaryia DeVinna: grinz

[15:38] Valaryia DeVinna: I guess I would have flipped out too

[15:39] Tami Lewinter: o m g

[15:39] Valaryia DeVinna: but I had been in contact with her all along
[15:39] Tami Lewinter: ok

[15:39] Tami Lewinter: wow

[15:39] Tami Lewinter: do you mind

[15:39] Valaryia DeVinna: I told her we moved to better sim.. and she was too flipped out to listen =(

[15:39] Tami Lewinter: if I give an update to the update

[15:39] Tami Lewinter: lol

[15:39] Valaryia DeVinna: so to keep the peace I just sent her the 2k plus extra 1k

[15:39] Valaryia DeVinna: no I dont mind

[15:39] Tami Lewinter: I'm going to want to post your IM

[15:39] Valaryia DeVinna: but it really wasnt as bad as the blog made it sound


Well there's the other side of the story. Looking at it from both points of view I'd say... it was a matter of miss communication, a freaked out bride, and a friend that had to take her out to get SL drunk to keep her quiet. LOL. Use your own discretion when picking a wedding shop see if you can talk with past customers if the owner will reveal that information.

Valaryia has offered to let me come to her shop and chat with her other customers... I think when I get a moment from my SL job I'll do that... only for information purposes... I think it's safe to say, I'm NOT getting SL partnered ever again in this lifetime.


This has been an informative update for the update. Until next time. :)

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UPDATE
Shortly after posting the previous blog the owner of the store finally contacted my friend about her issue with their store. She was very apologetic and she explained that she was in the process of moving, that we all know that RL tends to take precedence over SL. Val DeVinna also returned my friend's money plus an additional bit... I suppose for the emotional distress.


And that was very nice of Val to do that. However her SL partner... seemed to be very vulgar and rude.

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[23:11] Client: I sure you have read the notecards and you know who and why im asking your wife for my money back so please pass the message to her or you can just refund the 2000 and im done

[22:43] Second Life: User not online - message will be stored and delivered later.

[22:44] Client: Ok you cant even be a man and respond, unprofessional like everyone else
[22:44] Second Life: User not online - message will be stored and delivered later.

[23:05] Bri Koolhaas: my comp is screwed and you just got your money plus some..DO YOU have any idea what real life is ?

[23:06] Bri Koolhaas: I'll tyake that as a fucking NO !

[23:09] Client: You no what your wife screwed me so I DONT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR COMP YES I GOT A RL BUT I KEEP IT SEPERATE FROM SL AND SHE RUNNING A BUSINESS IN SL THEN SHE NEEDS TO LEARN HOW TO RUN IT ALL THE EMPLOYEES SHE HAS SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON SO FUCK YOU

[23:09] Second Life: User not online - message will be stored and delivered later.

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One must always realize that SL, although considered a game for some, is quite serious to others. Anyone who's been on Second Life for a while can tell you of the RL relationship breakups over the second life partners, the second life couples meeting in RL, and more importantly... getting married in RL. Second Life is NOT a game. We must consider it a virtual chatroom-a social network that allows people from great distances to connect and interact with each other people from all over the world.


Now after obtaining this conversation... I have to wonder... what his computer screwing up has to do with the past Sunday when my friend's wedding took place...? What does that have to do with Val's computer? And for the matter ALL of the wedding planners that are supposedly employed there... did all of their computers have a failure as well? What about the moving...? How does that relate to forgetting about a paying customer and not simply passing the message along to say... "Hey {WEDDING PLANNER name here} I'm going to be moving this weekend and I have a wedding scheduled that needs to be set up... can you cover for me?" The more I think about it... the more I'm getting the impression that this shop tried to run a scam on my friend unknowing that she wouldn't accept it and that she would be telling everyone about it.


Here's why I'm thinking this... typically I would have thought my friend was simply having a case of virtual Bridezilla... but I went to the shop myself the day of her wedding four hours before it was expected to start to see if I could get someone to communicate with me about who would place the decorations... or who was supposed to, anyway. There was ONE wedding planner online. I sent her a message through the shop... I sent her a message through her actual profile... no response whatsoever. Even if the wedding planner had said, "sorry lady I'm busy doing another wedding, but YOUR planner is supposed to help with that," I would have been ok with it. However ducking me makes me look at your Internet business rather funny.


It's a shame because I was considering going to her shop to get my wedding planned... that's not even a consideration now. Not rocket science people, for every person that has a good experience with your shop they may tell one person... for every bad experience please count on them telling EVERYONE who will listen.

Is that Serious?!(The Skin from Hell?)

I know it's been a while since last I wrote but I just HAD to write about this one. Of late I've been on a skin hunt. And it all stemmed from me looking around SL and seeing people suddenly take an interest in the skin that I've had for months. And for the most part I've found some really good ones.


With that said I want to tell you about my recent purchase. I got it from FJ Signature on a newbie whim. Meaning the skin didn't have a demo but it the image looked really good so I said well... 2kL... it's gotta be all that and a bag of chips. BOY was I WRONG, pictures will be below. The face on the skin was just flawless. No complaints at all there... but OMGGGGGGG at the body. The stomach looks like something off of Alien Predator. I don't know what happened when this creator got to the body but he fell OFF there. The legs were fine. the feet... lets just say I'd be the statistic... you know the one (beautiful bombshell with the ugly feet).


Needless to say, I was outraged. So I sent the creator a notecard telling him that the face looked good but the body has to go... I asked him if he could send me a skin that I could mod and that I'd fix the body myself. I also informed this creator that the skin was NOT worth 2kL. Hell, Red's skin looks way better and it's half that price. So I saw where the creator of the skin had accepted my inventory item (the notecard), but wouldn't you know it... he didn't reply (oh surprise).



So... lets compare shale we...


FJ Signature $2000L

















Redgrave's $990L















I can't even believe... I'm not trying to attack the creator or even asking for my money back... All I'm asking for is that he fix the skin or send me a modifiable one so that I can fix it. I see WHY he doesn't have demos. And what makes this even worse is I KNEW better but I still purchased, despite my misgivings. So I'll say if your intuition is flaring up you'd best listen to it... because it's probably right. *SMDH*



Until next time.
XOXOXOXO

Weddings For All!!! (My Personal Experience)

Well after my explanation of what happened to a friend in my very first blog on here.... I was quite meticulous about how I chose to do my wedding. I had no where to turn... I had no options. And one day at church while investigating a persons profile, I found SeasonedRed Halfpint. Her name made me curious. It was then by looking through her profile that I found she had her hands in a few things, but most importantly she planned weddings.



So with my partner on my back with "we should have been married by now" I contacted her. She was very pleasant, professional, motivated. All the things I needed because I was terrified. Always in the back of my mind I remembered my friend and her "wedding planner from hell experience." But this was NOT Seasoned. She stayed on it. She wanted notecards of what we wanted to do. She stuck with me to make sure she got all the information correct and that she was providing what my partner and I wanted.



Without revealing the why of it... the wedding plans suddenly were canceled. Seasoned of course charged a cancellation fee (can you blame her she did put in a lot of work). And then after about a week or two the wedding was back on, but accelerated. It was now to happen that weekend and we were eloping. I don't need to tell you that I was frantic. I went back to Seasoned hoping she wouldn't have a conniption but she was very calm about it. She was genuinely thrilled that whatever was going on with my partner and I had worked out. She told me that she could set everything back up for me and get a minister and she told me not to worry.



On my wedding day she and my witness kept me calm. I was literally on the verge of being Julia Roberts. I wanted this marriage but I was nervous. Thoughts ran through my head. "What if I tripped down the aisle? What if the minister didn't show? What if my groom isn't there?" There were others but those were the most scary. And there was Seasoned being supportive telling me I was doing great and that everything would be okay. And my husband telling me how much he loved me how he can't wait to see me.



And then I walked into the most beautiful set up. I was shocked. She only had 2 days and yet it looked as if she'd had weeks to do it. I don't know how she did it on such short notice but she pulled it together effortlessly. I don't know how to thank her enough. In fact I think I tipped her because of everything she'd done.



So if you're ever in need of a wedding planner that will NOT rip you off and do the job right... Weddings for All should be the people you consider. As a former customer myself I can't thank them enough.

The Club Scene

So what's poppin' in the club? I've been club hopping since I've been on SL and I have to tell you it's exhausting. The demand, the supporting, and lawd the Lindens! in club hopping can be appalling. I, for once am getting tired of the club... and I'm not sure why. Perhaps I need a different scene, maybe I need to do something different. I'm just not sure. Two clubs I have been frequenting lately are:

Caramel Lounge
Owned by two cool women Deja and Dyna. From a friend who is a vendor with Caramel she says they are supportive and helpful. They also keep events coming. The Sploder price is fair and they don't appear to be money hungry... although I'm sure donations and tips and votes are welcome. LOL/

The House From Hell

I know I've been away for a while but for the moment I'm back and with an update on the happenings of SL.

Recently, a friend purchased a house from a place (name of creator/store coming soon) and OMG it was discombobulated! The house for on one side looked great... but on the other side it looked like we all took a trip to a fun house. On top of that my friend's rezz box was... get this... INVISIBLE! She paid 4KL for that house twice because she was hoping the copy she received was defective... and deep inside I hoped, despite my better judgment, that the copy she received was defective too. So she sends the owner a notecard telling them the problem... but oh sadly the person is moving and they won't be able to do anything about the product at this time... And you're thinking... hmmm what could have been wrong? Well lets say this... my friend's partner is a builder... and HE couldn't even fix the problems associated with the disaster.

Everyone Loves Free Money

So I've come up on a place through referral on getting SL Linden... it all started when I check the L currency only to find that the price of Linden dropped to 185L on the US dollar. A noticeable change from the 250L that it was when I started. So... It's to MetaRL for my free money. :)) SL getting too darn expensive!

DivahToos

Lets talk tattoos! There's nothing quite like a work of art on your avatar. Divah Latte does custom tattoos for SLers and you'll be thrilled to know I have a couple myself and they look great. I'm always getting compliments on the tattoo on my lower back.

Here's how it works... you decide what you want done... you write it in a notecard... and you send it to Divah. She had my tattoo done by the very next day. I'll post pics of the tattoo that can be seen for the public later today. *grins wickedly*