I just bought my shaadi dress from Dr. Haroon. I visited Sana Safinaz, Karma, Rehana Saigol before finally deciding. In every aspect, he was far above other designers.
First of all, even though he was backed up with orders, he had given me his word earlier that he would meet with me and kept that promise. He kept in touch over e-mail for months and would respond PROMPTLY...thats a rarity with designers these days. In person and over the phone, he was so polite and sweet, he made me feel like I was his daughter.
The biggest difference between him and the other places I visited was his expertise. He was quick to recommend colors and styles that would suit me, things that wouldn't, as well as tell me what adjustments I could make within my budget. All I did was say what color I didn't want and what colors I was thinking about and he did everything from there. I'm pretty decided on getting my mehndi jora from him as well. Finally, the most important thing is the actual product! I felt like the fabric and kaam totallllly surpassed everything I had seen before this. It's fabric, work and a style that will hold up over several years and always be in fashion. There was also a picture that was put up on gupshup a while ago and everyone thought it was a Bunto...it was a girl with a red and shocking pink jora who wore bright red lipstick. I can't access the photo right now, but when I get the chance, I'll try and post it.
I don't think he goes below 2 lakhs waisey for bridals....you would be compromising on quality. The comment about his formals is correct though, they start at 55000.
Sana Safinaz was good, just not quite my style after all...especially after seeing Dr. Haroon's stuff. Also, although I had an appointment, I was given ZERO attention. I dont think any girl foresees picking out her wedding outfit by being thrown into a room and having to dig through stuff. Sana was answering phone calls and completely out of the situation with not so much as an assistant to help me.
In terms of quality, Karma was quite possibly the worst...sample or no sample, their stuff was totally falling apart and didn't even look like real jamawar to me! I did see sumorani's bridal there, that was probably the only thing that looked nice. I was there to look for mehndi joras though, and even when I found an outfit that was ok, the salesperson didn't seem experienced at all and couldn't even tell me what colors would look good with the main color I had suggested. I had originally gone there cause there was an outfit on the website that I loved, but it looked completely different in person. I was really disappointed.
One last thing...he is a practicing doctor :) Because he's so busy, he only does bridal orders now. My mother really begged him to do my mehndi outfit and I have been talking to him for a while, so I guess that wasn't the norm.