Frequently Asked Questions and Other Fun Facts
Q: The most often asked question is, how do I order from you since you don't have a shopping cart on your website?
A: First off, we don't have a shopping cart because there are just two of us (as you probably figured out from the website title and our crazy pictures on here) and we have to be able to control the amount of work that comes in. But it's easy to order from us. You can email (preferred) us at marlyss@mac.com or call us directly (248-669-3622). We discuss your ideas and needs and we offer suggestions or pictures of things we've done in the past for your inspiration. Email is great because it's all in writing to refer back to but sometimes you just need to talk things out a bit. Once we get some ideas firmed up, we send you a written invoice with pricing, designs and shipping and payment options.
Q: How does the shipping work?
A: We ship mostly via Fedex. They are very reliable and get things where they are suppose to go on time and safely. Most boxes that leave here are around $22-$35 to the east coast and $35-$65 to the west coast. Foamcore is light but often the items are large & they charge also by the size. Of course, if you just order a cut-out name or a guitar centerpiece, shipping will be less. For small packages we sometimes use the US Post Office and send the package insured. We ship items based on the party deadline you have given us and within a few weeks after payment is received or sooner if needed.
Q: So what are your prices?
A: Prices can go up or down depending on how detailed things get. We always give a complete price quote including shipping before we start anything so you know to expect and don't get surprised at the end. View general prices here.
Q: What forms of payment do we take?
A: We take checks in the mail, credit cards over the phone and Venmo, Zelle and Pay Pal.
Q: If I live close, can I pick up items to save money?
A: Sure. You may pick up items or we can deliver locally in Michigan. We're flexible.
Q: Is your website up to date?
A: Yes. We started it in July 2005 and I'm always addin' and movin' and tweakin' things. We try to have a variety of themes on it but if you can't find what you're looking for, please email us. We might just have a picture in our iPhoto stash that we can send over or maybe we have one on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook or my Blog page (links below). I try not to duplicate the same pictures everywhere but sometimes it happens. But sometimes there are some behind-the-scenes quirkier pictures on Facebook and personal and family things on Instagram. (In May of 2015 we re-vamped the site to make it mobile friendly and we deleted some older pictures so you may get a message out there (404) on the internet that some pictures aren't found on the website.)
Q: How long have we been doing Party Decorations?
A: I (Marlyss) started doing Bar Mitzvah decorations around 1985. Before that I did commercial sign painting, painted wall murals, took college figure drawing classes and graphic design classes and made polymer clay dolls. Stacey, my daughter, joined forces with me in January 2008. Before that she graduated with an engineering degree from West Point, traveled around the world with her military family and got an additional masters degree in math while raising 2 beautiful sons.
Q: What about assembly when things arrive?
A: We pre-assemble centerpieces and signs and snap a picture. Then we dis-assemble where needed to ship things compactly and safely. We email assembly instructions and pictures. We hope you have a glue gun as it can be very helpful. A Walmart one is just fine.
Q: Can we ship big D.J. Signs?
A: Yes. We lightly score the back and it folds for more compact shipping. Or, we can just send the components for your own big board.
Q: Do you ship internationally?
A: At this point we do not ship to Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Australia, UK or other countries. We have been requested to and may in the future but at this moment it isn't a workable option for us.
Q: Do you accept returns or refunds?
A: We try very hard to make things explicit on our invoices but if we failed to come thru to your expectations, we will exchange or refund the items if you return them in a timely manner. But we'll be so sad if we failed.
Q: Do you have one of those routine and required Privacy Policies?
A: Yes, we do. It can be viewed here.
Q: Will you share tips and tricks about how you make things or do we have a video?
A: Yes. We'd love to share and help. If you are a DIY kind of person we will try to be helpful with resources, descriptions or inspiration or by doing parts of things that you need help with instead of the whole complete item. We now have videos available.
Q: Do you sell wholesale?
A: We just have one price scale. We try very hard to make it as low and fair as we can. We make each item ourselves so we don't have different prices for wholesale and retail.
If we haven't hit upon your question here, please send me an email (marlyss@mac.com) or call (248-669-3622) and I'll be sure to get right back to you with an answer.
We're on Facebook (often), Twitter (sometimes), Instagram (loving it!) and I (Marlyss) have a blog with family and party ramblings....if you want to know even more about us. See direct links below.
Email us directly at: Marlyss@mac.com
or use the CONTACT US form to let us know how we can help.
Marlyss & Stacey
1726 Lakeview Dr.
Wolverine Lake, MI 48390
248-669-3622