Alyssa and her team executed an exceptional job! My daughter's wedding at the Umstead in Cary was flawless! Alyssa's support was incredible- from addressing emails promptly to arranging an extra in-person meeting. My daughter Nanny and I had complete peace of mind with her overseeing everything!! I highly recommend her for anyone considering a wedding at the Umstead or anywhere else this company serves. Alyssa excelled in coordinating with vendors and creating a timeline for my daughter's special day! read more

We had a fantastic experience with Alyssa at A Southern Soiree for our daughter's wedding. Alyssa's expertise and professional demeanor was reassuring in the months leading up to the wedding and particularly in the final planning stages. There are so many moving parts on the day of, and Alyssa insulated us so that we could soak in the day and enjoy the moments throughout. Thank you, Alyssa and A Southern Soiree, for everything you did to orchestrate a truly beautiful wedding!! read more

We used Alyssa and her team for our wedding and everything turned out beautifully. Throughout the early and middle planning process Alyssa kept us on track and made sure we didn't miss anything. When the date got closer Alyssa was on it and communicated with us frequently to make sure we were ready. The day of Alyssa was very calming and professional. She was easily available for last minute questions and worries. Our special day turned out even better than we had imagined and it was certainly thanks largely to Alyssa and the team. We absolutely recommend them! read more

Alyssa was a amazing to work with for our August Umstead wedding! From all the little personal details to managing all the vendors she was great. She was on top of every email and planning meeting and gave us such good ideas and advice. It rained 30 minutes before our ceremony start and you never would have known for how smoothly everything ran. So thankful we had her apart of our wedding team! It wouldnt have been the same without her wisdom and expertise. read more

There will never be enough words to describe how amazing this team at A Southern Soiree truly are. I was lucky enough to work with Lacey leading up to my big day, and then Lacey and Victoria the day-of and let me tell you something: they were MAGICAL. Every single detail was thought of---from the months leading up to the wedding to the actual day-of. They were organized, coordinated, calm, collected, and SO kind and informative. The day would honestly not have been the same without Lacey there at the Umstead running the show with the team. As a previous event planner I am here to tell you: hire them for your big day. It will be one of the best decisions you make FOR SURE. read more

They do not follow through with timely phone calls. Elizabeth Flake was very disorganized and appeared disinterested in our event. She added no value the day of the wedding or leading up to our special day. Would not recommend! read more

Kailey coordinated our wedding this past April, and she was tremendous! We couldn't have done it without her and wholeheartedly recommend her to any engaged couple. We contacted Kailey and A Southern Soiree a few months before our wedding. She quickly reached out to us and understood our vision for the wedding. She also pointed out where we needed more planning and thought of things we never would have. As we got closer to the big day, she helped us refine our schedule and didn't let any of the little things slip through the cracks. And while doing all of this, she was always cheerful and responsive. On the day of, she was amazingly organized and helpful, and everything went smoothly. We were able to sit back and enjoy because we knew Kailey had it all taken care of. Kailey did such a great job, one of the bridesmaids tried to hire her on the spot! Based our wonderful experience, we can't recommend Kailey and A Southern Soiree highly enough!! read more

(I actually created a yelp account just to write this review, because I didn't want anyone thinking that A Southern Soirée isn't the best. I don't know what happened to the bride who reviewed them negatively, but literally every single person I spoke to prior to booking them said the same thing - they are the best money you'll spend in the whole wedding process. They were right, too! Gina was all I could have hoped for in a planner and more, and the whole team is the best of the best!) Gina at A Southern Soirée - literally, there is nobody better. She's fun and friendly, the type of girl you'd want to be friends with, but she knows her stuff better than anyone else! Even the smallest of details were taken care of, and on the day of my wedding when my head was in the clouds and I couldn't keep track of anything, she was right there behind the scenes, making sure everything went smoothly and keeping her eye on everything. So much was changing even up to the last minute, but she made sure that every single ridiculous request or change was taken care of. She also had great recommendations for vendors in the area as well. The moment when I truly realized how amazing she was occurred a week before the wedding, when the rental place for my cobalt glassware had an issue at one of their events and a bunch of the glasses shattered. She was furiously all over the internet and making calls and emails to find replacement glassware, and I was so grateful! read more

Gina was outstanding and extremely professional. From day one she was calm and organized in helping to plan my wedding reception. Quick to respond to calls and emails, Gina and the Southern Soiree team executed first class service. I highly recommend these event planners! read more

A Southern Soiree - Beautiful setup for wedding reception! - Wedding Planning Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Working with Southern Soiree, specifically with Gina, was the best wedding planning-related decision we made! I've said this so many times to friends recently engaged, but if you can find room in your wedding budget for a planner, it will be the best money you spend! And better yet, if you're looking for a planner in North Carolina, Southern Soiree is hands down the way to go! After we got engaged, we immediately began looking at venues, and after the number of phone calls, e-mails, and color-coded spreadsheets I made during the venue search, I knew I didn't have the bandwidth to plan a full wedding. We started working with Gina immediately after we selected our venue, and I can honestly say the rest of wedding planning was completely smooth sailing! While we faced a few hiccups along the road, Gina never failed to swoop in and save the day. One example is when my mom was in town for my first wedding dress fitting. Upon arriving for our appointment, it was very clear the place was not a good fit for us and didn't have the skills necessary to alter my dress. We texted Gina, and within minutes she had another appointment scheduled with Just Sew by Renee (highly recommend!), who squeezed us into her busy Saturday and made my dress dreams come true (a few fittings later!). Since we didn't have much time to commit to planning, we relied heavily on Gina for vendor, design,and organization recommendations. I always felt like Gina was giving us honest, practical advice when it came to making vendor or budget decisions. We said it time and time again, but the people who Gina and Southern Soiree work with are absolutely outstanding. So much of wedding planning is building relationships so you can clearly communicate what you want, and Gina made it so easy for us by connecting us to vendors who were also extraordinary people. Planning honestly felt so stress-free with Gina on our team, which meant that we were able to fully enjoy our engagement and wedding day without having to worry about anything. As far as I know, everything on our big day went perfectly, and the day far exceeded any expectations we ever had! Gina and her team had the day so perfectly organized, we were able to be fully present and enjoy the time with our loved ones. It's been a few month since our wedding and I miss Gina so much! She really did become part of our family, and I will always be so grateful to her for making it so much fun to plan a wedding! read more

UPDATE: Megan reached out upon reading this and offered to pay us to remove this review. We obviously declined. --- We are nothing short of shocked and disheartened by the treatment we received from A Southern Soiree. We were led to believe that Megan was a good planner and were excited to work with her. But four months into planning, Megan became unresponsive and unprofessional - sometimes even rude. She ultimately quit because we asked her to vet vendors before recommending them - to make sure they were in budget and available for our date and location. She couldn't or wouldn't and so she quit, taking half our deposit, and leaving us without help, 1000 miles away. Megan was disorganized and unprofessional. She was unwilling to negotiate on our behalf and unhelpful in securing quality vendors. Here is our story: We hired Megan full service to help us plan our out of town wedding in North Carolina. Megan really seemed to understand our vision and told us she had experience working destinations. At first everything was great - she had some good ideas and provided us with good feedback on venues we had researched online. We visited those venues together and she asked great questions to help us make a decision. She also gave us a budget and generic checklist to work from and helped us find a photographer. Soon though, things began to fall apart. Megan became unresponsive to emails (said she was having a problem with her server) and things were getting forgotten or not heard. I had to set up monthly meetings and create agendas for them in order to keep her on track and streamline communications. When it came time to choose our band, Megan sent us two lists of bands. Many weren't our style (no big deal), but worse, at least half were either 30 percent over the budget she set or wouldn't play on Sundays (day of our wedding). We gave her an extra $1000 and asked her to revise the list. What we got back were two addition bands - one we really didn't like (country) and one that we did. But the one we did, it turns out, doesn't travel on Sundays. When we confronted Megan about this and asked her to please weed out unavailable options before sending them to us as recommendations, she quit. In her email she said things like, "I am not sure that I am the right fit for you." But when we followed up by phone she said things like, "I'm not enjoying planning your wedding" and "I'm stressed out." Well, honestly, wedding planning is her job and jobs are sometimes stressful. I was deeply offended by this but offered to keep her on if she wanted to stay. She said she would let us know in two days. She never called back and when we followed up she got upset that we hadn't called her, so she quit again. We tried to get our deposit back as her contract did not allow her to keep it, but she would only agree to refund half our money because she had to answer 128 emails (her contract says unlimited emails). She wasn't even organized enough to protect her from herself. Now we are out an exorbitant amount of money and no better off. She claimed to have helped with our bookings, but we found and booked our own venue and officiant; she found our photographer but never booked him. Nothing else has been done for the wedding. Megan's unprofessionalism and disorganization is unfortunate for wedding planner. I would NOT recommend working with Megan or her company, A Southern Soiree. I am disappointed that I did not see this coming from the beginning. read more

I had the pleasure of working with Megan from A southern Soiree and her associates while planning my daughter's spring wedding at the Angus Barn. It was a short engagement, time was of the essence, and Megan helped to secure our vendors and venue in a timely and professional manner. We live on the coast and it was important to have someone reliable do the leg work. The vendors exceeded our expectations as did A Southern Soiree. On the day of the wedding, Mandy Cole was our go to person from A Southern Soiree and she kept everything running smoothly and we were able to enjoy our daughter's special day with our guests and family. A good time was had by all! I highly recommend A Southern Soiree and their associates. read more

We had the pleasure of working with Megan and Gina while planning our May wedding at Rose Hill Plantation. I had never used a professional planner before, but can't imagine having a better experience with anyone else. Those ladies know what they are doing and were so much fun to work with. I'm very detail-oriented, some might say OCD,but Megan and Gina were always happy to answer any questions and calm my concerns with a friendly smile! They understood my vision right from the start and helped me create the wedding of my dreams. The best part was being able to enjoy those priceless moments with my bridal party on my wedding day without be stressed or worrying about vendors, floral arrangements, unity sand, etc. I knew Megan and Gina had everything under control and that feeling is worth every penny! I know many people who have worked with A Southern Soiree for both weddings and corporate events and have never heard a negative comment or review. I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for an amazing experience with quality customer service! read more

Spark Notes Version - I HIGHLY recommend working with A Southern Soiree! They will make your wedding day magical. Extended Version: I was married at The Carolina Inn in May and I had the absolute privilege of working with Gina from A Southern Soiree. When you book a ceremony at The Carolina Inn, they include day-of coordination with one of the area wedding planning companies as a part of the package (amazing deal - everyone should get married at The Carolina Inn). Having seen A Southern Soiree in TONS of blogs and websites, I asked right away if I could work with them for my wedding. I ended up working with Gina, and based on my contract with the venue, assumed that we would just meet a couple of times to cover the basics and that Gina would primarily just be there to support the actual wedding day. I could not have been more wrong, in all the right ways! Gina was an absolute dream to work with and well exceeded my expectations throughout the wedding planning vision. She helped so much throughout the planning process. She was also professional, quick to respond to emails, had great ideas for my wedding day, and has such a great personality - I had so much fun at all of our meetings! When the day of the rehearsal dinner came, I had everything packed in my car and drove over to the venue, starting to feel overwhelmed with pre-wedding stress. As soon as I parked my car at the valet, Gina and her assistant were there coordinating getting my car unloaded. I gave Gina a rundown on what I had in all the boxes and where it needed to go, and she took over from there. There was no stressing out about setting out favors, making sure programs made it to the ceremony, etc. because Gina had it 100% taken care of. At the rehearsal dinner I was feeling overwhelmed, and Gina's assistant stood there with a glass of water for me the whole time just in case I needed it. They wanted to do whatever they could to make sure they day was stress free and that everything was wonderful. Gina and her assistant were like magical wedding planning fairies the day of the wedding making sure that everything was executed flawlessly. Before the wedding, people told me to mentally prepare myself for "something" going wrong, but when the wedding day came...nothing went wrong. Literally, everything was perfect, and I'm sure it was because I was so fortunate to have A Southern Soiree there to cover all the details. Even my father-in-law the day after the wedding could NOT stop talking about how amazing Gina and her assistant were. He was still in a state of disbelief over how they were able to pull everything off so perfectly. You can't go wrong choosing them as your event planning company and I would definitely recommend them to all of my friends and family. read more

Megan and her team at A Southern Soiree helped us plan our October 2018 wedding and I honestly can't recommend them highly enough!! Megan was such a huge asset throughout the whole planning process and her knowledge/expertise in the wedding industry is incredible! Megan recommended the most perfect venue for us (where we ended up getting married) after we had been searching for months, she found us the perfect photographer whose style was exactly what we were looking for, and she made sure every single detail of the wedding was thoughtfully planned out to perfection!! Our wedding day was absolutely flawless and there is no doubt in my mind that is entirely the result of having such an amazing wedding planner! read more

There are no words to express my level of gratitude for having Kelley Ann by my side while planning my wedding. My year would not have been the same without her. I had little to zero stress throughout the planning process. The true measure being that my mom and I got along (for the most part) the entire time!! Every vendor KA recommended I accepted without question and I could not have been more pleased with all of her suggestions. Everyone she surrounded me with the day of could not have been more professional, accommodating, and pleasurable to work with. She was able to take my vague vision of how I wanted to make my day to look and create something truly beautiful. The attention to detail was apparent the day of and many of our guests took notice and complimented. Kelley Ann's personality is incredible and she truly made the planning process enjoyable. Everyone that interacted with KA walked away saying "I am so impressed. She knows her stuff." Every dollar spent on having Kelley Ann as my wedding planner was worth it and I cannot recommend her enough. read more

I cannot say enough good things about A Southern Soiree. We worked with Megan mainly with help from Gina and both of them were truly such a joy and made the whole process of planning a wedding easy, fun, and stress free. I came in with a lot of ideas about what I didn't want my wedding to be but very few clear thoughts on what I wanted the event to actually look like. Megan coached us through everything, asking questions about what we've liked about other weddings and getting a feel for who we were and what we wanted the day to be about, and she gave us the guidance we needed to make informed decisions based on those initial conversations. She also gave great advice and delicately let us know when something we suggested might not fit with what we were actually going for, which we absolutely needed and are so grateful for. She kept us on track and excited for the big day, keeping things in perspective for us throughout. She even threw in napkins with fun facts about us as a couple as a surprise, which was so thoughtful! A Southern Soiree is a unique business that really does focus on the individual client and what will make them happy with their event, as opposed to pushing them in the direction that is the trendiest or most common. Megan and Gina took the time to get to know me and my family so that they could make sure that they gave the advice and guidance that would make our wedding truly ours. TLDR - You can't go wrong with A Southern Soiree - they are amazing, worth every penny, and provide a personalized, fun experience to their clients. read more

if I could give 6 stars I would. Gina was AMAZING! She far exceeded all expectations and made everything so incredibly easy and stress free. She had great suggestions and helped tremendously with vendors - we had booked a number of vendors prior to meeting with her, but were stuck on others and everyone she recommended was as fabulous as she is! I have talked with so many brides and mothers of the bride that were stressed out by all the planning and for the actual wedding event, but my daughter and I had the absolute BEST time every time we met with Gina, and our daughter's wedding was more than we ever dreamed of - the bride and groom declared it best night of their life - and it was 100% because of Gina and her planning, and all the MILLION of little details that she took care of for us. I can't recommend her highly enough - at the end of the weekend, my husband asked me what had we paid and after hearing it, declared it was worth every penny and was best decision we had made!! read more

We got to A Southern Soiree through working with The Umstead Hotel and Spa for our daughter's wedding. A modified package with them came with the hotel package. All I can say is that they were outstanding. Both Megan and Alyssa were organized, answered all of our questions promptly and thoroughly, and made our day go as smoothly as we could have asked for. They attended our important meetings, including the food tasting, the final hotel meeting and the rehearsal, and also attended the night of the wedding. Alyssa handled all of our detailed timelines and interacted with our vendors, saving us untold time and aggravation. Alyssa also stayed at our party until the bitter end to make sure no stone went unturned. I would highly recommend A Southern Soiree. read more

"I called A Southern Soiree when I realized that I could not plan a wedding on my own and my only regret is that I didn't call sooner. The minute I spoke with them, I knew that Gina and her team were exactly what I needed. Living in Seattle, it was really hard for me to be available to meet with vendors, go to tastings, etc. Gina was my lifesaver and knew exactly what I was looking for without me even having to say it! Even when I felt like there was so much to do with the wedding, I would speak with Gina and just feel at ease. She is professional, honest, and a joy to be around. I already want to plan another party just to have her help again!" read more

AMAZING! FABULOUS and PROFESSIONAL! I worked with A Southern Soiree for about a year planning my wedding out of town while being a single mom and working full time and if it was not for Megan and her staff it would have been a complete disaster. Megan was responsive and took calls throughout the weekend, answered multiple questions over and over and over again because I was so busy and helped us find vendors from all categories and price points. The provided assistance with contracts and pricing as well as when I ran into a MAJOR dress emergency where only a genie could fix it.. MEGAN DID! When the air conditioning went out in our suite the week before the wedding.. we were placed in the presidential suite! She handled my family and friends with professionalism and ease and made the planning process a delight. Each call, text and email was answered quickly and all of our contracts, billing questions and vendors were handled with the utmost professionalism. Megan and Gina met with me frequently both via phone and in person when I could arrange it and once we had my 'vision' down pat they were able to help me select and organize a wedding that was a DREAM come true! It was THE BEST money I ever spent and I HIGHLY recommend their services for any bride but especially to those who are time crunched, 'encore' brides or those from out of town. They are AMAZING And if I am lucky enough to have children get married I would use their services again and again! If there were problems with other clients.. my best guess is .. it wasn't the staff at A Southern Soiree. read more

I can not say enough wonderful things about Megan! I felt an immediate connection to her when we met, and knew she would understand what me and my husband wanted for our wedding. Letting go of control is a challenge for me, but I completely trusted Megan and her team. The weeks leading up to the wedding and the day of the wedding were so smooth and everything went off without a hitch! We still have wedding guests raving about how amazing our wedding was and how great our wedding planner was. You hear horror stories about wedding planning or something going terribly wrong the day of the wedding, but I can honestly say the day of our wedding we were able to focus on us, getting married, and enjoying our guests, and that is all thanks to Megan! read more

A Southern Soiree greatly assisted with the planning and execution of my marriage PROPOSAL. I had contacted a number of wedding planners who were unwilling or unable to assist. Megan, the owner, responded to me quickly and was enthusiastic, positive, and full of great ideas. She brought in Gina to help and she had the same level of enthusiasm and positivity. They really went the "extra mile" helping me scout locations, work out logistics, and arranged wonderful music, photography and a picnic. And the cost was extremely reasonable. My (now) fiancee was thrilled and surprised and gave me (and A Southern Soiree) an "A+"!!! GUYS: If you need help putting together a special proposal, contact "A Southern Soiree". read more

Gina and a Southern Soiree were incredible! Even my guests told me how impressed they were with Gina! I would absolutely recommend A Southern Soiree to anyone planning a wedding. read more

Megan and her team at A Southern Soiree are VERY experienced professionals that are constantly FOCUSED on making their clients' dreams come true. They deliver in a SPECTACULAR fashion that also allows for the client to sleep well at night! I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Megan and her team on my daughter's wedding in North Carolina. Although I live in Texas, Megan's outstanding and timely communication process made the geographical distance disappear. When evaluating wedding planners for my daughter's wedding, I was looking for FIVE things. First, I needed to work with someone who was CREATIVE. It takes a unique ability to take the thoughts of a hopeful bride-to-be and deliver on her hope to make her wedding everything she had envisioned. Also, with a large contingent of out-of-town guests, it was important to give them all a SPECIAL memory that was worthy of their sacrifice and investment. Megan's ideas were both original and unique while remaining focused on cost-effectiveness. Second, I was looking for EXPERIENCE...serious experience. With a lot of moving parts, multiple vendors, and very high expectations, it was important to feel comfortable with someone who had done a lot and seen a lot in the field of event planning. Besides her extensive time spent in the field of wedding and event planning, one attribute that definitely made Megan stand out among her peers was her past formal training at one of the world's foremost hospitality companies. As a result, since she worked as an event planner in hotels prior to her leadership of A Southern Soiree, she is extraordinarily ASTUTE at understanding the nuances of various venues as well as what goes on behind the scenes that the public and many other wedding and event planners do not fully understand. She leverages that knowledge to negotiate better pricing from vendors as well. She can "connect the dots," in the right order, better than most. No detail is overlooked in her PLANNING process and that makes it easier for in-course steering corrections that invariably will be needed. As a real-life example of that, Hurricane Mathew tried to crash the wedding, but due to her planning, both the bride and the attendees never felt the effects of the uninvited guest! Third, it was imperative that the EXECUTION of the plan was flawless. Where the rubber meets the road is on the day of the event...does the MAGIC happen the way you wanted it? Megan and her team operate like a well-oiled SWAT team, seemingly everywhere yet stealth in their visibility. I heard all the stories about how the parents of the bride never get to enjoy the wedding because they are always worried about this and that. With Megan, she assumed all of those details, communicated very efficiently throughout the event, navigated around the usual last-minute surprises, and is the sole reason I was able to thoroughly enjoy the most important day in my daughter's life. She EXCEEDED anything I could have imagined a planner to do on the day of the event. It was like having a private concierge that was intimately invested in the outcome of both my daughter's and guests' satisfaction. Fourth, I needed to work with someone who is HONEST. Megan was very open and honest about what ideas she thought would work and why as well as what ideas would not work and why not. Due to her being so TRUSTWORTHY, I felt that an easy forum for collaboration with Megan resulted in a fabulous outcome. Fifth, it was important to work with someone that liked to have FUN. Although the desired result in any wedding or significant event is very important and is not inexpensive, if you focus solely on the stress and anxiety at the expense of not having fun, was it all really worth it? Enjoy the journey and share it with someone who instills confidence that all of your DREAMS will come true. read more

Megan was the absolute BEST. I had a great feeling following our first phone call and immediately knew we wanted to move forward with her. Her broad experience and close relationships with vendors, coupled with her organized, detail-oriented, and warm nature made planning a long distance wedding in 6 months as easy as you can imagine. Given our tight time frame, Megan got the ball rolling right away by getting us short-lists of the best available vendors so we could lock them in swiftly. The bands we wanted were already booked up, but Megan found us another option from a different management company, and they ended up being absolutely AMAZING. In general, I felt like she understood and picked up on our vibe very quickly, which made the planning process so seamless. The best part was that Megan never once forced a decision on us, but whenever I needed her opinion (which was frequently!), she was there to provide it with sound reasoning. I had complete faith in Megan and Gina, which gave us the ability to completely relax and enjoy ourselves on our wedding day. I also could not have been happier with how the room looked that night, from the gorgeous flowers and chairs, to the stage backdrop and lighting, it all came together perfectly. Seeing our vision come to life was a dream come true, all thanks to A Southern Soiree! read more

After finally coming up for air after our daughters wedding this past spring, I am finally getting around to doing what is first on my list, my Thank You's. Megan and Gina saying Thank You can never fully describe my true feelings of gratitude for your support, direction, attention to details, and meeting and exceeding my expectations for our daughters wedding. As a mother of the bride we are not given enough credit to having our own desires and wishes for this event. Focus is always on the bride, having the skill and sensitivity to acknowledge both is more than a job and art form, its a gift to all involved and for that I will be always grateful. I was able to enjoy our daughters wedding because of you. I enjoyed everything from the planning to the end of the day, because of your hard work. And now I get to write this note with tears of joy in my eyes and beautiful memories of our daughters wedding planned and executed perfectly . read more