User1131707 Sent on 04/10/2013

5 out of 5 rating

Quality of service
5 out of 5 rating
Average response time
5 out of 5 rating
Professionalism
5 out of 5 rating
Value
5 out of 5 rating
Flexibility
5 out of 5 rating

Jenn is excellent to work with. She is extremely creative with a great visual and design sense. She was very patient, listening to our ideas and concerns, letting the design process unfold. We loved the invitations (and so did our guests)! Jenn is truly a gifted designer and artist.

Thank you!
Donnie and Anne

Amy Sent on 09/15/2012

5 out of 5 rating

Quality of service
5 out of 5 rating
Average response time
5 out of 5 rating
Professionalism
5 out of 5 rating
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5 out of 5 rating
Flexibility
5 out of 5 rating

My fiance and I wanted our paper products for our wedding to be of the highest quality. We searched for a vendor that would customize our vision and give us personalized service. Hence, we wanted a custom collection of things to be sent to our guests and to be enjoyed at our reception

We originally wanted one thing and our vision changed during the process a few times. Jenn was patient and was always available for communication via email. Her business manager was kind enough to phone me during a vision change with our first pasteboard and help us sort out a way to move the collection in a new direction. I am a details person and at times became stressed. Jenn always gave me options and made me feel at ease. She is a gem!

Getting custom invitations requires good communication and mutual respect between the designer and the customer. It is the same when having a custom engagement ring made or a couture wedding gown. The customer must communicate their wants and wishes clearly. Jenn always double checked with me before making changes to make sure I didn't just "like" something or "think something might look good". I always had to be clear. This made the process very smooth and extremely professional.

My fiance and I began with a simple collection and ended up with many add ons as well as gorgeous items for our destination wedding. We also used a referral from this company for calligraphy. This too turned out fabulous and exceeded our expectations.

We are not only thrilled with our beautiful collection and add ons, but we will always use Seahorse Bend Press for all of our stationary needs!!!!

This vendor is an incredible graphic designer who puts her whole heart into everything that she does!!!!!!

Lucy Sent on 09/07/2012

5 out of 5 rating

Quality of service
5 out of 5 rating
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5 out of 5 rating
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5 out of 5 rating
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5 out of 5 rating
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5 out of 5 rating

I can not give Jenn anything but the highest ratings! I just sent off my wedding invitations and could not be happier with the experience and the final products - they are better than I could have imagined! I did not have any of the problems previous reviewers spoke about in working with Jenn. She was very responsive, stuck to deadlines, and helped me throughout the entire creative process. I would highly recommend working with her!

User1217260 Sent on 01/17/2013

4.7 out of 5 rating

Quality of service
4.5 out of 5 rating
Average response time
5 out of 5 rating
Professionalism
5 out of 5 rating
Value
4 out of 5 rating
Flexibility
5 out of 5 rating

I recently used Seahorse Bend Press for my invitation collection for my June 2013 wedding and had a great experience. I also received a digital menu file with my collection, and am using her for a seating chart as well. The invitations came out better than I ever could have expected and I cannot stop looking at them. I will say the reviews on this site are somewhat daunting, but actually describe the opposite of what I myself experienced.

When I first got engaged I searched the internet (and etsy) high and low for invitations that matched "my style." Seahorse Bend was it for me. In the end I paid a little more than I wanted to, but it was one of those things that, as a bride, was important to me. From the very beginning Jenn was awesome and I felt we had good communication back and forth. She was very responsive, even when I was basically checking in monthly to see if it was time to start since I was so excited about it. I will say when I booked Seahorse Bend, there were really no reviews anywhere on the internet, and I see now because they had changed the company name.

If I had to offer one piece of advice to any bride, it would be to bake in some extra time for your "in hand date." I made mine a little earlier than was necessary, just because I'm a nutcase and didn't want to be any more stressed out than I already was. At the end of the day, the invites came about a week after the "in hand date." This could have been because my "in hand date" was right after New Years and they run a big holiday card business, so I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on that one. But to anyone reading all the reviews on this site, I would take them with a grain of salt, because I think the invitations speak for themselves!

Kaila Sent on 10/02/2012

4.7 out of 5 rating

Quality of service
3.5 out of 5 rating
Average response time
5 out of 5 rating
Professionalism
5 out of 5 rating
Value
5 out of 5 rating
Flexibility
5 out of 5 rating

I had an image in my mind of what I wanted my invites to look like for my wedding and it is like jenn went into my mind and saw it!

I can not compliment jenn enough for her consistent help, patience and the overall look of the invites and postcards.

I got in contact with jenn with only about 2-3 weeks to get my invites done so it was a bit tight to get them done for my deadline but there were no difficulties at all!

As I am in Australia so jenn and I had to correspond through email but jenn made it work in every way by being clear and precise. She is so delightful and professional and I believe that her work is a reflection of that.

I highly recommend to work with jenn - her invitations are well in the range of what you would pay and in Australia I had quotes twice the prices of what seahorse bend press offer.

I'm exceedingly happy with my invites and have had a large amount of people "oooh" and "ahhh" over them ad even had girls that are already married complaining that they wish they had them.

Thank you jenn and the people at seahorse bend press for your fine work and thankyou jenn for putting up with a picky bride.

Oh just to top it off I got my invites from Texas to Perth Australia in four days! Stoked!

User1001457 Sent on 11/02/2012

1.2 out of 5 rating

Quality of service
3 out of 5 rating
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0.5 out of 5 rating
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0.5 out of 5 rating
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1.5 out of 5 rating
Flexibility
0.5 out of 5 rating

I worked with Jenn when she was La Belle Vie Design, and as with many other reviews below, the relationship started off great. I felt she really understood my vision, and though 900$ was a lot for us to spend on invitations, I felt I was in the hands of a great designer.

Then it all went down hill. She missed deadlines, gave COUNTLESS excuses (biggest one being she was so busy in New York at some stationary conference she simply could not get the work done). She ignored emails, made errors in the spelling and address many times and subsequently told me I had received "way more proofs for FREE" than she normally gives (of course, even though these were HER FREAKING ERRORS!!). When I finally got my invitations, which she had to expedite, the colour was awful and nothing like what I chosen. She blamed me for approving that colour, even though she agreed they looked bad. I was so upset, I DID NOT approve that colour, I sent her back the proof and she maintained it was what I chose. She eventually agreed to a re-print because her "printer" made a mistake in the type of paper he used. What a relief! But THEN, to top it off, she told me that in order to have the second set of invitations on time, I would need to pay her for shipping! So let me get this straight- pay her again for her errors?? I sent her a short email telling her I did not want the second set, and she could expect some very negative feedback on ETSY from me. She sent back an email that is honestly an insane dribble of crazy, including berating me for stressing her out when she has been through cancer. VERY strange, but of course, I felt bad for her cancer, so I let her re-do them and gave her positive feedback. After now reading all these negative reviews, I wish I had written EXACTLY what happened.

She LIED and told me I was the only customer she has EVER had an issue with, so I felt like maybe this was a rough time for her. Clearly not the case. LOOK ELSEWHERE!

Melissa Sent on 06/28/2012

1.2 out of 5 rating

Quality of service
1 out of 5 rating
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1 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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2 out of 5 rating
Flexibility
2 out of 5 rating

As a note, right after my wedding the company name changed from La Belle Vie Design LLC to Seahorse Bend Press in Katy, TX.

This is not an easy review to write. On one hand I absolutely loved my invitation collection and save the dates. They were beautifully designed and of the highest quality. I received many compliments from guests about my lovely stationary. However, working with Jennifer was anything but pleasant. She is a great designer, but a horrible business woman. When the most stressful part of wedding planning is dealing with your invitation designer then there is a big problem!

I ordered my save the dates with Jenn and promptly got what asked for. I was so happy with everything that I did not hesitate to also order my invitation collection with her. She was great with communication during the planning and design period, but then things quickly changed. As the date approached for my proof deadline, communication stopped. Before I knew it, my invitation in hand due date came and went and I had not so much as even seen a proof. After numerous emails, I finally received a response and was told she sent the proof on time and that the email must have gotten "lost" when email between us was never an issue before. After giving the OK to print I finally received my invitations, but an entire set of RSVP cards were missing so once again I was delayed further in being able to mail them out on time. The final straw came a few weeks before the wedding while I was waiting for my escort cards, which were part of my contract. Once again, emails were ignored and the proof email conveniently got “lost” again. When I realized I would not have my escort cards in hand by my wedding day, Jenn offered to expedite the delivery… for a fee of course. I was beside myself that she would even suggest I pay to fix her mistake and ignored that ridiculous email. She expedited them anyway and had them with a day to spare.

She was never apologetic or quick to fix any of her mistakes. She always seemed to have an excuse for her behavior and although I spent a considerable amount of money on my stationary, I always got the impression that I wasn't one of her important clients and that she couldn't be bothered with me.

Her work is beautiful, but not worth the headache. Look elsewhere.

Shina Sent on 04/03/2012

0.9 out of 5 rating

Quality of service
2 out of 5 rating
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0.5 out of 5 rating
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0.5 out of 5 rating
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1 out of 5 rating
Flexibility
0.5 out of 5 rating

Nice invitations, BUT horrible vendor and horrible experience!

Ariel Sent on 09/11/2012

0.4 out of 5 rating

Quality of service
1 out of 5 rating
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0.5 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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0.5 out of 5 rating

I want brides and planners to know that LA BELLE VIE is now called SEAHORSE BEND PRESS. The company changed their name, probably as an attempt to avoid negative reviews and irate customers.

If you're getting married and want this company to make your invitations, I would STRONGLY recommend you head the opposite direction. You will be disappointed if you work with these people. The"business manager" is an immature, classless embarrassment and is extremely disrespectful to clients. He is ridiculously unprofessional and used curse words in an email to me.

Another review mentioned how everything was going well in the beginning. I concur! The communication was good, we had a rapport and (I thought) a mutual respect for one another. I even gave Jennifer more time to print my invitations because I liked her. Once I got my invitations, that was the end of our "honeymoon" phase.

As the other reviewer said, the invitations are fine - I'm not overwhelmed with their amazingness - but the way these people do business is a disgrace and me choosing them was the biggest mistake of my entire planning process.

User1128396 Sent on 04/08/2013

Quality of service
0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating

I am literally at a loss for words with how I should rate this vendor. When I say this was the most unprofessional person I have ever worked with I mean it. The vendor threatened to bully and sue me into not writing this negative review after she failed to create wedding invitations for myself and my wife on time due to her failure to answer my emails and send out samples during the process and then finally she refuses to issue me a refund. Just like the other reviews on this page notes please be aware that the owner has changed the name of the company to SeaHorsebendpress so she can hide from the other negative reviews on this page :
http://www.etsy.com/shop/seahorsebendpress
Unless you are trying to give yourself a wedding nightmare stay as far away from this vendor as possible.

User1043728 Sent on 12/12/2012

Quality of service
0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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Weird how many people review only Jenn and give her straight 5 stars after she had nothing but bad reviews!

I am another person who had a horrible experience with Jenn. Again, it started out fine. She was quick to return emails and made all of her pricing policies clear. I filled in this form, sent her a word document that had the text I want printed for out-of-town guests, got confirmation from her that I would have a proof in 48 hours and... nothing. Radio silence. I email her and she finally gets back to me by blaming me for turning something in late. I should have seen that someone who blames you for her missing a deadline is a bad sign.

Finally the first round of proofs come and they're kind of a disaster. The text is a mess, there are spelling errors and an error in my date. No big deal, I give her the corrections and let her know that in my initial haste I miscounted the number I would need-- I anticipated (and purchased) 75 invites and actually needed 50. She tells me no problem, we'll just fancy mine up a bit to make up for the excess. I know that I paid whatever amount I paid and it won't be refundable, so I just trust her to use her judgment.

Again, huge mistake. At this point we're already past my in-hand date and I (politely and cordially-- I really have no interest in pissing her off as I'm kind of at her mercy with respect to getting invitations out) ask to have R.S.V.P. envelopes. She initially says that's fine, then tells me that it will cost an additional $180 over what I saved from my reduction in costs. This is a surprise because in the beginning she quoted 75 R.S.V.P. envelopes as costing $70, so I ask for some sort of accounting. She explodes with some interesting threats and just bizarre diatribes. End result: one month of my life gone and no invites from Jenn. Any business this new that has had two names should have been a warning sign. Learn from my mistakes!

Anshwa Sent on 09/20/2012

Quality of service
0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating
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0 out of 5 rating

Last year, I entered and won a contest through Jennifer Herrington for free wedding invitations. A steal right? Well, not quite. After being in constant contact with her and providing her detailed information as far as the number of invites we would need, and filling out questionnaire, we were so excited to work with Jennifer for our invitation suite. Then, literally 3wks before my invitation mail out date, she informs me that she will not be able to produce the custom invitation suite I requested because it was outside of the scope of what she was willing to offer for the contest (which was not previously specified). She did apologize for this and offered to still do our custom suite but it would take like 6wks to get it produced (which would set us behind schedule with our invitation mail out for a destination wedding) or we could pay her $700-$900 (in addition to the worth of the package we won) to produce our invitation suite. Obviously because we’d won a contest posted on her blog several months before, this was not something we budgeted for. So there was no way we could afford to pay her after she’d already promised to do our stationary for free. She then offered to give us thank you notes and menus instead, and as I began to send her correspondence to accept those instead…she stopped answering my emails. She advertised her contest because she wanted to ‘pay it forward’ it seems to me she was just out to make money. I ended up creating my own fabulous invitations through my stationer, Sara Goff of ‘Signatures by Sarah’ and printing them locally. The total cost: 1/3 of what Jennifer was charging me. Do not give this lady your business, find someone more willing to keep their word and follow through with their promises.

La Belle Vie Design LLC Reviews

Reviews

La Belle Vie Design LLC