I rarely leave negative reviews, but I feel obligated to warn other couples about our experience…read morewith Eventful Designs. We hired Christy for our wedding invitations with a budget of over $3,000, expecting professional service and a beautiful finished product. What we received was an absolute nightmare that has left us scrambling the night before our invitations need to go out. The invitations arrived completely unassembled. When I questioned this, I was informed there was a $400 assembly fee that was never mentioned or discussed during our consultations. Any professional vendor would have been crystal clear about this upfront rather than springing it on clients at delivery. The belly bands we had discussed were also missing entirely. When I brought this up, I was told it was noted as "something discussed but not finalized." If there was any question about what was included in our order, that should have been clarified before production--not left for us to discover when it's too late. We're mailing these invitations later than planned largely because Christy took an unusually long time to replicate a simple pattern, even though we provided her with an exact example of what we wanted. The back-and-forth added weeks to the process. We're now forced to spend our evening doing the assembly work ourselves that we paid over $3,000 for. What was supposed to be a fun family activity stuffing invitations has turned into a stressful project frantically completing work a professional was hired to do. Our invitations will now look homemade despite the premium price tag. When I expressed how unacceptable this situation was, Christy offered a $250 refund. On an order over $3,000 where we're doing the assembly work ourselves with missing components? That's insulting. When I pushed back, she refused to offer more and suggested we could drive to her location to have her complete them or have someone pick them up--which doesn't work with our work schedules or mailing timeline. Her final email essentially said "take it or leave it" and wished us well. No real accountability, no genuine effort to make this right. Just a complete lack of professionalism and customer service throughout the entire process. We are now consulting with an attorney about our options given that we did not receive the complete services we paid for. If you want clear, upfront communication about pricing and what's included, a vendor who follows through on commitments, professional service worthy of premium pricing, to actually receive a finished product, and less stress during wedding planning--look elsewhere. There are plenty of invitation designers who will treat you professionally and deliver what they promise. Eventful Designs is not one of them. Save yourself thousands of dollars and countless hours of stress. We deeply regret choosing this vendor and wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

We worked with Christy at Eventful Designs for our wedding save the dates and invitations. She was…read morefantastic to work with, has great connections to a wide variety of artists- water color, calligraphy, etc. I would recommend them without reservation. She also helped us create custom fans, signs, and wedding programs! This was perhaps my favorite part of wedding planning.

We used Papier Girl for my daughter's wedding invitations. They are beautiful! The process was easy…read moreand seamless. Leslie had such great ideas and helped us with our vision for the invitations. I highly recommend using them for any of your paper product needs!

My attention was drawn by the paper dress in the window. This is a lovely stationery boutique on…read moreGlen Ellen's Main Street. There's an inviting selection of greeting cards, invitations, journals and small gifts.

In an ever shrinking world of brick & mortar toy stores, we were happy to find this place. Packed…read morewith every sort of game, activity & art you can imagine. Animals, science experiments, spy detective gear, wacky inventions, tiny 3d printed fidgets. Fun place to explore at every turn. My kids enjoyed picking out toys with their gift cards. Good value. Welcoming staff. Hope to return again.

First time coming here, me and my wife were looking for children's toys and stuffed animals to…read moreprepare ourselves for Christmas. Parking can be a bit of a Hassle if you come to the downtown during their busy season at random parts of the day. We found a few things that we liked here. Staff here was friendly and knowledgeable. Plenty of families were in the store too. Featured a plethora of kids games, family games, hobby games, plush animals and unique toys and gifts I've never seen at a store before. Overall solid recommendation for a toy store

We love coming over to the Carmelite Gift Shop when we have the occasion to need Catholic gifts for…read morefamily and friends. They always have a great selection of unique items and I always get asked "Where did you get this?!" when these presents are opened. I would highly recommend this little gem right in Darien. I have also bought baby gifts, birthday presents and housewarming presents here in addition to birthday cards, thinking of you cards, get well cards and the like. Like I said, they have a large selection of wonderful items.

This children's store in Hinsdale has a lot of stuff. They have clothing for children up to at…read moreleast age five or six. They carry everyday wear, pajamas, and special occasion clothing. They had some cute children's bunting as we get closer to the winter months. They were having an "indoor sidewalk sale", with some of their items being up to 75% off--this included clothes, toys, books, and other items and knickknacks. They had some books and stuffed animals that complement the books, like the Little Blue Truck and Corduroy. I bought a cute little dress for the holidays for my daughter, as well as a lovely sweater for the upcoming season. Their children's stuff isn't cheap, but it's not unreasonable for an independent children's store. I was really thankful that I found a place that sells clothing for children--in this case, holiday wear in particular--that is machine washable, because oftentimes children's clothing is marked as dry clean only (whyyyy). There is street parking in this area which can be limited, but I think there's also a Metra stop half a block away from the store.

I can not get enough of this ADORABLE boutique! Being the fun Auntie, I'm always looking for…read moreunique, well made, quality gifts. I won't need to look anywhere else! The staff is very friendly, the store is clean, and parking is pretty easy!

Wish I could give 10 stars!!!! If you're in need of amazing invitations and customer service, then…read morelook no further than Sass N Class! MaryBeth was a dream to work with from start to finish and made the entire wedding invitation (and stationary) process so very easy + fun! Her expertise, attention to detail, extensive customization options, high-quality supplies and overall knowledge are second to none!

5 stars! What a wonderful business!…read more I worked with Mary in June and July on invitations for a Baptism and brunch for a little boy and little girl. She was great to work with from across the country. We emailed back and forth for about two weeks, picking a design, finalizing the wording and getting the invites in the mail. Mary was incredibly responsive, responding to emails late at night and on weekends when she definitely wasn't working. She also was a great sport when we switched designs and needed new options. Can't say enough about the kind, thoughtful service we received. I truly wish we could have a Mary and Sass N Class in my little town. Thank you, thank you for all of your help!

I had custom monogramming done of items that were purchased from another store. Pleasant and…read morehelpful customer service and high quality product! Price was reasonable and comparable to what Pottery Barn would charge to personalize their items. There were many styles and colors to choose from, and the staff walked me through it all. It took a week or less. It was also a very cute shop with toys and clothes and other merchandise, some of which can be personalized if desired. The owner and staff were extremely friendly and good with kids.

From Grandma on down to Grandkids...my whole family loves shopping at Initially Ewe. They have a…read morewonderful selection of clothing, toys, baby gifts and more! Plus, they specialize in monograming and can turn it around very quickly. Ownership and sales associates are always BEYOND helpful and nice. Such a hidden gem in downtown Western Springs!

A small, independent, woman owned bookstore. As if that weren't enough of a reason for me to shop…read morethere, they're very helpful and they know their books. With my teen planning on becoming an astrophysicist, I wanted to look at books about space. Really look at them. Not take a gamble and buy from Amazon. The women who helped me knew so much about that section. She offered many helpful ideas. Did I spend a bit more than I would have on Amazon or B&N down the street? Perhaps. But I wouldn't have gotten that kind of help at B&N or any help at all had I purchased online. They had a great selection for an independent bookstore. Definitely a great place for some Christmas shopping

Anderson's Bookshop is my go-to independent bookstore because they curate beautiful opportunities…read moreto connect to the book world, I know the monetary impact of shopping local, AND they are woman owned! You won't get online prices, but the value of shopping here far outweighs the monetary costs. The staff is always friendly and always offering to help you pick your next read. They have AMAZING community events--there was one week where I swear, I had to make the drive, like 3 times because the lineup was SO GOOD! And they do cool things like bookmark designing contests, bingo cards to help you read outside of your comfort zone, and the dopest book fairs.