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*

Rental Properties

WOW Beach Rentals

If you're looking for a place to rent for a good price and custom designed homes, I would definitely take a look at Photon's WOW Beach Rentals. As you become more advanced with SL, you find that there are some things that can improve your SL experience and a few things that can make your SL a living hell. Luckily Photon's property is a dream. He's not overbearing with restrictions, he has a TV in most of his homes, his designs unique and custom built mostly, he's there when you have a problem, and he's extremely friendly. Truth to tell he's probably the absolute best SL landlord I've ever had.

The Evil Monkey

My other landlords... or one in particular... Dahlia's Skybox Rentals were unresponsive to IM or notecard... (and yes I did see that they had accepted the inventory). When my rental contract ended, they didn't even have the courtesy to return the things that I had deeded to the group (because it was required for the item to play).

Or, how about the places you visit... that don't allow you to enter the place that you're purchasing...? Newbies please take this advice well... NEVER buy something you didn't see first. I don't care what it looks like on the outside... or more specifically, there's a beautiful box but it's completely empty inside and completely useless.

I'm still a newbie myself I'm still learning the ends and outs of SL, but if you want to save money reading is fundamental. Make sure that before you turn over your Lindens you have all the specifications that come with the property. Please believe I'm speaking from experience... here's something minor... My partner and I recently rented a property that does not allow us to play our own music... I need hip hop and r&b to survive on SL... and that is NOT the main radio station. However, the perk is there is very little lag, the scenery is gorgeous, and the price is reasonable. Besides... I club so much that I think I can live without my music on the property... I'll just play it from my computer. LOL.

More information to come. :)

Clubbin'

The club scene in SL can have all the drawbacks of clubbin in real life. First you have to find a spot that is LIVE [meaning there are people there who are dancing and interacting with each other]. However more frequently than not I have run into clubs that are nearly deserted. It's mind boggling I mean... there's not entry fee so what's the problem? Logically, we can assume it's because the music is bad, the DJ has a jacked-up voice, management isn't too great, or perhaps the owners/managers don't respect their patrons. Who knows... it could be any one of those reasons. But I do have a couple of clubs I like to frequent to show my support.


Hot Tropics   by Sovereign and Fifi

I like going to this spot for the events and the music. There's a good atmosphere in the place and it's not always "getcho most ghetto hoochie outfit on." They have jazz sometimes, some reggae, and definitely r&b and hip hop. Even more appealing is the fact that most of the patrons are adults and the owners don't suffocate you. They don't harass you for donations to the club. They aren't ghetto which for me is PERFECT.


Lil Tobago   by Corrupt and Feleen

This is a good spot if you like dancehall/reggae. Feleen has a great voice and she's frequently seen DJ'n there. The place takes you to the islands for sure and I must say its probably the cheapest vacation I've been on in a long time. LOL.



DJ S Class   a.k.a. Jikhar Shamroy

I LOVE his voice. He's got a really good voice for DJing [must be the accent] and he's not talking throughout the whole playlist. He thanks his tippers graciously and remains focuses on the task at hand which is to bring the music to his listeners. Of all the DJs I've heard I would say he is one of my favorites.

Love of a Lifetime Wedding Shop

CAUTION!!!! Was this an Attempt to Scam?


A good friend of mine decides to hire a wedding planner to do her wedding on SL. We think she's the bride, she's just to push a couple of decisions like china, napkins, and flowers... and then she just walks down the aisle right?


Well not in this instance. She thought she had found the perfect place to plan her wedding. Love of a Lifetime seemed like a dream come true. She gets the specifications agrees to the pricing... The next day the ball appears to be rolling. She got her invitations, which she immediately sent out... later she meets the planner/owner, to go over things and for a while things were going well. Until the communication dropped from the Wedding Planner... The day before the wedding the bride is freaking out because the wedding planner hasn't done anything and there's been no word from her... the decorations were in no noticeable place to be found.


The bride finds the decorations that the wedding planner is supposed to set-up on the roof of her house... but what... still no word from the wedding planner. The day of the wedding the bride is a proverbial basket case. She's ranting and upset because the she can't open the box to place the decorations herself... and to top it off she's contacted the shop and employees that work there several times... but no answer. Her minister came through for her by providing her with HIS wedding decorations. After the wedding, she has still had no word from the wedding planner... but she did get in touch with someone from the shop and here's what the employee had to say...

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[12:24] Nena Dreadlow: (Saved Mon Jun 16 11:14:43 2008) hi who are u? im sry u sent me a message on my imer at love of a lifetime weddings to have val refund yr money

[12:24] Nena Dreadlow: (Saved Mon Jun 16 11:15:02 2008) sorry im not yr wedding planner i think stevie is so u need to contact her about this thank you

[12:29] Client: No val DeVinna was my wedding planner you work in the same place i im'd everyone because i cant contact her hoping u can pass the message on

[12:29] Second Life: User not online - message will be stored and delivered later.
[
12:57] Client: You want to know who I am ask Val DeVinna she was suppose to plan my wedding which was sunday june the 15th at 5:00pm sl time she took my money and i got nothing in return thats who i am a pissed off client

[12:57] Second Life: User not online - message will be stored and delivered later.

[12:58] Client: so since i cant contact her im im'ing everyone that works there im sending all my info to the linden lab cause i have been scammed

[12:58] Second Life: User not online - message will be stored and delivered later.

[13:08] Nena Dreadlow: first of all i had no idea u where getting married ok val is moving to a new home in rl and im sure she forgot about it otherwise she would of contacted me ok i will contact about this ok as far as yr

[13:10] Nena Dreadlow: messages u sent me i really dont need to hear that ok and as far as tonje the girl who talk to u we'll i wont go into that but sl is suppose to be fun not all this drama and i dont deal with people and drama so u have a great day and ill have val contact u when she gets online

[13:10] Client: thats the point forgot about it what type of shit is that thats what i mean unprofessional

[13:10] Nena Dreadlow: we'll val is moving she had to move thats rl shes been offline for a week so idk?

[13:10] Nena Dreadlow: bye bye

[13:11] Client: i dont do drama and yall wont get much business you lost 2 clients today

[13:11] Client: so bye bye

[13:11] Nena Dreadlow: trust me we have enough business people enjoy our weddings

[13:11] Nena Dreadlow: please dont contact me again

[13:12] Client: dont say anything else im done with you and i will continue sending notecards until i get my money back

[13:12] Client: i dont just give money away

[13:12] Client: so do whatever you have to do

[13:14] Client: furthermore val knew she was moving rl she should have handle her sl business like i was unimportant

[13:14] Nena Dreadlow: we'll im sure val will refund yr monmey will she comes online thats not my problem i donnot own the business she does i had no idea aboyt yr wedding otherwise i would of made sure u had yr wedding when u imed me im like who are u and then u send me this notecard about all these rude converstations and im not suppose to be mad

[13:14] Nena Dreadlow: ok we';ll im be sure ot tell her

[13:14] Nena Dreadlow: have a woderful day

[13:14] Client: you too

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First of all, SL is for fun I do agree with that, HOWEVER when you are running a business that accepts currency that can be exported into REAL LIFE MONEY... you might want to consider this not for fun but for e-commerce... a business. If one goes to Amazon.com and purchases a book... with their hard earned money... and the box is shipped and placed at the front door... and the customer opens the box... and there's NOTHING but a receipt inside... wouldn't that be cause to be pissed? I think Nena needs to check herself because she's clearly misled about what SL can be.


Also, the wedding planner's RL move has nothing to do with her methods of conducting her business. If she wasn't going to be available on the date of the wedding she should have gotten someone to sit in for her while she handle her other business. Even if NO ONE was available she could have notified her client that she wouldn't be available for set up and see if things could either be rescheduled or canceled with her SL company and the client's money refunded. It would appear that Val DeVinna and her employees need to learn how to do business and meet the needs of their clients.


If I were you... I would definitely think twice before doing business with these people.

Some Spots I've Visited

So how many of you have gone shopping but you're terrified of being ripped off? If you're like me you shop on Second Life (SL) every single day. This is common but I've created this blog to inform you of the places I've visited (believe there have been many) and the service that I have received.

Volupte Clothing

So you've been everywhere looking for some name brand clothing. Sean John, Fendi, Dior, etc. And of course the places you've been too have clothing that just plain sucks... Volupte with Nia Greene has great quality name brand clothing and she's available if you need help with something. And what's better then that? The prices! She offers for the customer to pay $25L to join her group and if you wear her tag the savings on clothing is phenomenal. I easily spent 2000L just in one visit WITH the discount. She's got a great store and it helps that she's available and nice. :)

Sirena Hair

It's rare that one can find good quality hair. Sirena's provides nice looking hair for reasonable prices. As one must always be aware different people like different things. So if you're not looking for gloss ladies this might not be the place for you. The hair in the image below was only about $195L.

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Xccess
With this store the jury is still out. I did run into one glitch with the place where I paid for nails and the request timed out. I purchased another brand of nails same store and they took money for both nails. After contacting the owner and waiting nearly 40 minutes for a response, I was able to get the other set of nails I purchased.


Please check back for more reviews on SL shops, clubs, and other spots.