Marie was our lovely planner at Shannon Gail events, and we were SO lucky to work with her! We felt…read moreso confident that she had everything under control. She is organized, available and helpful. She did an incredible job at helping us create a vision for our wedding and then seamlessly bring it to life. Plus, Marie helped us with our idea for escort cards and then stuffed and sealed all the envelopes for our guests, which is a great example of how she goes above and beyond for her clients. I also appreciated that she is so on top of everything while keeping a calm energy throughout - no added stress on our wedding day. I can confidently say our wedding would not have been what it was without Marie and I'm so grateful for that.

Choosing Shannon Gale and their wedding planning team was one of the best decisions we made for our…read moreLabor Day weekend Indian-Western wedding. A friend had recommended them with the promise that I would feel completely at ease--and that proved true from the very beginning. Shannon paired us with Cecelia McIntosh, who turned out to be the most exceptional project manager I've ever worked with, not just in the wedding world but across all of my professional experiences. Cecelia's attention to detail was extraordinary. She cataloged every element of our multi-day Indian-Western celebration, managed vendor relationships with grace, secured us excellent deals where she had negotiating power, and offered thoughtful recommendations--like the perfect florals for our mehendi ceremony. She understood the cultural nuances of our events, from the importance of removing shoes at the mandap to the way certain rituals needed to be set up. She took ownership of everything: carrying and setting up décor, assembling seating charts, ensuring plate service was flawless, and keeping the entire wedding running with a level of timing and precision that every single guest commented on. There were moments where Cecelia truly went above and beyond--most memorably when she calmly and safely helped transport a ceremonial fire to an unexpected location, taking control of a situation that could have easily become chaotic. She handled every last-minute request without hesitation, kept our planning calls on schedule, and brought a sense of structure, warmth, and professionalism that made her an absolute dream to work with. As someone who is naturally a very thorough planner, I stepped into my wedding days feeling completely calm, knowing Cecelia had everything handled. Because of her, I was able to be fully present and simply enjoy our celebration. I cannot recommend Shannon Gale and Cecelia more highly--they are truly among the best planners you could ever hire.

Jay and Valerie were, and are, absolutely unbelievable. I was a needy client that had custom…read moreperforated aluminum panels made (representations of my family business). EEL, without any hesitation, were more than willing to incorporate them into the ceremony backdrop that I had envisioned. They even went so far as to take pictures of the mounted panels in their warehouse, to give me an idea of what they would look like for my ceremony! (AND modified the look as well!) EEL revised my wedding plan/vision no fewer than 5 times, and were happy to do so each time. I would recommend EEL to anyone with lighting needs. Weddings, corporate events - ANYTHING. They talk you through your ideas and visions - make them work for you and make them a reality - no matter your budget.

Worked together multiple times. They are friendly, nice people who always deliver beautiful…read morelighting and a great experience at far less than some other lighting companies. Check them out!

My husband and I hired Sonya to work as the day of coordinator for our 11/25 wedding and we were…read morevery pleased. Sonya is extremely organized, knowledgable, and had great suggestions when questions came up during planning. I was really nervous about the wedding since we had our reception at a venue that we basically had to set up from scratch but Sonya made sure that everything looked just right and did everything that she could to ensure that the day ran smoothly. She was extremely on top of things so when the wedding came around, I was confident that I didn't need to worry about it. I actually couldn't believe how smooth the entire day went, and was so happy that I was able to enjoy it instead of worrying about what was coming up next or where I would have to be. She had worked with us to set up an extremely detailed timeline and shared it with all of our vendors in advance of the wedding. Sonya worked closely with our caterer in particular and together they brought our vision to life of having a cocktail style reception with stations. Sonya spent the day prior to the wedding helping with set up and making sure everything looked perfect which it did. She even helped with a couple of decorations and jazzed up our card box. There was some family tension/drama involving my mom that Sonya had to work around (we had some disagreements about some elements of the wedding) but we felt that Sonya was advocating for us throughout the process and maintained her professionalism in some difficult/awkward situations. I also have to commend her on her responsiveness. It put me at ease knowing that she either got back to me right away or would get back to me within a day if she was working another event. I would absolutely recommend her if you want someone to make sure your day goes off without a hitch.

WARNING: DO NOT TRUST SONYA I hired Sonya in May 2020 as a…read morefull-time planner to help me plan a wedding for Aug 2022. I worked with Sonya for 4 months before I terminated the contract. In the 4 months, Sonya did not do anything except e-mail some venue options. I found Sonya to be highly unprofessional and dishonest. Sonya does not communicate and kept making excuses for not being able to accomplish any tasks. I got frustrated with her lack of progress and started planning my own wedding. It took me only 3 weeks to tour multiple venues and book one. Sonya would send me venue options via e-mail but never followed up or scheduled tours. She blamed the venues and claimed they were not responding to her. Weeks would go by and I would hear nothing from her. I checked up on her every 2-3 weeks to even get any information. After 3 months, she calls me saying she found a venue. She tells me it is within my budget and allows outside catering. She askes me to send me my availability to schedule a in-person tour. I send her my schedule and don't hear anything back. Two weeks later I call her and ask what happened. She again makes excuses that the venue isn't responding, etc. A few days later she e-mails me a contract for the venue with no information except the attached contract. The contract did NOT match anything Sonya told me over the phone. It was double the cost and did not allow for outside catering. I asked Sonya and she said it was just an "example" of a contract for me to see (what?) and that she will work it out with the vendor. Guess what? Never heard from Sonya again about this venue. We communicated to Sonya about our concerns with her work she never addressed them. I got frustrated and decided to contact venues on my own. In two weeks, I set MULTIPLE in-person venue tours and within 3 weeks I secured a venue that was within my budget and had flexible catering options. I fired Sonya after that. I did not have any issues contacting venues or hearing back from them. Sonya was being dishonest. I asked her to refund my deposit and she has not. I have filed a formal complaint to the BBB. Because of Sonya wasting 4 months, I was not able to secure the date I wanted. TLDR - Sonya took our deposit and accomplished nothing for 4 months. She barely communicated and she did, it was constant empty excuses and lies. She has refused to refund us. Because of her negligence I was not able to get the date I wanted at my venue.

When picking our wedding videographer, LEAP Weddings stood out among the rest because of the…read moredocumentary style they use to capture wedding days. It was exactly what my husband and I were looking for. Becky was the best at communicating and making sure everything was in place for us. It was so nice (and important) that we met with Becky, Ben and Aaron a couple days before our big day so that Aaron, our main videographer, could get to know us and our wants for the wedding day. He absolutely nailed it and was always on point to be where he needed to be and manage the team so that they were in place to capture the perfect moment. Our creative film for our wedding is more than what we imagined and truly fits to us personally. Look no further, because it's a guarantee they will give you the unique film that fits you as individuals. Well worth every penny. Thank You LEAP Weddings!

We worked with LEAP Weddings for our wedding this year on October 19th and they absolutely created…read morecinema magic capturing our entire day! Ben was really great to speak to for our first conversation and discovery to understand what we were hoping to have captured throughout our wedding day. Then Bailey took over to coordinate things leading up to the big day and she was speedy to communicate, had suggestions for us on timing and number of hours to purchase, and kept us in the loop on timing for our questionnaire as well as who we would be working with on the day of as our filmmaker. Ian was our lead filmmaker for the day of the event and we could not be more grateful for what we created for us to capture the day. We got the video back in just over 2 months (WOW - so incredibly fast!!!) and watched it the other night for the first time and were blown away with how he captured every moment, our silliness with each other and with our family/friends, how he transitioned from moment to moment to tell the full story and how beautiful the entire video turned out. On the wedding day itself, the team was prompt, easy to communicate with and made it feel like there were not even cameras there. It was so easy for us to just be ourselves and that came through in the final video! We had initially been hesitant to do a video because of how much we had been spending on the full wedding but saw a sample video LEAP had done at Artifact Events (our venue) and fell in love with their work. Thank you Ben, Bailey, Ian and the full LEAP Team for blowing our expectations out of the water and for giving us the gift of such a beautiful video/film that we can have forever to remember our wedding day by.

The magic of our wedding weekend was only possible with Kara. She is an absolute gem. From her…read moreexpert design eye and logistical skills in the months leading up to the big day, to her adept coordination of dozens of vendors and team members on the day-of, Kara handled everything with accuracy, patience, and grace. She's a wonderful person and a joy of a collaborator. We don't typically write reviews, but Kara deserves the world and all the public praise in it. If you're looking for the best wedding planner in Chicago, Kara's it!

Brides and grooms to-be,…read more My husband and I worked with Kara to plan our December 2015 wedding. I truly cannot say enough good things about Kara and I would recommend her to everyone and anyone. Having Kara as our planner was worth every penny. Kara was always a professional, offering us creative ideas, wonderful, cost-effective vendors and a beyond helpful wedding timeline. Kara's attention to detail is extraordinary. She is always responsive to email, on top of the budget and sensitive to her client's desires. She was truly our partner in creating our magical wedding weekend. Attending vendor meetings, dress fittings and anything we requested along the way. Kara is fabulous and I miss her already! Her on site team on wedding day was top notch with every staffer having answers to any and all questions. I work in the event industry and I'm sure I had some extra challenging and unique requests and questions due to my day job. Kara handled it all flawlessly. Hands down, Kara is the best. Sincerely, Mrs. B

If your in Chicago and looking for a Wedding planner or coordinator, I highly suggest Ellevents…read moreUnlimited, Inc. Elle followed thru on all my wedding plans and helped me fine tune certain parts of the evening to make the ceremony and celebration extra special! If you're planning a wedding get a coordinator..period. There are so many things that come up in the celebration that you don't want to deal with. Elle took on all the questions, the seating of guests, the wedding party processional, and all the reception ceremonial elements. All I had to do was enjoy! Thanks a million Elle and Jesse!!

Trying to plan a wedding in Chicago during COVID with no idea what you're going to do? Call Elle!…read moreIt's been an odyssey of a journey trying to plan for my wedding on 9/5/2020. Elle worked with me to make my wedding happen during COVID, changing the venue from a hall with 150 people to my backyard with 50 people. At the end of it---it was the MOST beautiful wedding I have EVER been to! (I am biased, but I am also picky so for me to be 100% satisfied takes A LOT). I also cut my original budget in HALF by doing it that way. But seriously, my backyard looked like a page out of "Home and Garden" magazine. She took all the Pinterest boards I sent her and ideas and brought them to life! A lot of my family was surprised and was not expecting a backyard wedding to look the way it did. I saw their faces! My backyard was transformed into a magical place that was no longer my house, but one of those places you see people renting as an event space. Elle has it all a her disposal, she has event spaces, caterers, florists, photographers, bakeries, security, bartenders, clean up crews, tent renters, DJs, everything. If you find your own vendors, she will work with them too and help you with any GAPS. She is flexible and will ride with you on that roller-coaster. I changed my venue 4-5 times and she was with me all the way. She is not rigid like some places that want you to do it their way with their pre-set packages, vendors, and no room for variations. And a lot of places are like that, believe me, where you have to pick what's on their menu or nothing at all. She will also work with your budget and make it work. For those of you who like Puerto Rican food, she has the hook-up at multiple restaurants in Chicago. If not, she has other caterers she works with. She is the sweetest lady and I am in full support of her and her business.

I read somewhere that premarital counseling is positively correlated to successful marriages. My…read moreown opinion of marriage was dubious after witnessing seemingly unhappy marriages and happy divorces all around me. I surveyed many married people about the secrets to their success and always cringed when they responded in a sarcastic manner indicating that their relationship was no longer as glowing as it once was and it was merely a habitual status quo of ennui. I wanted none of that for myself! Finding a premarital counselor proved harder than expected. I asked the Unitarian Temple in Oak Park and the Congregational Church across the street. Neither of them provided the services I sought nor did they offer up any referrals. I found a non-religious organization online that offered something like five sessions and a workbook outlining specific lessons; however, they never returned my calls. That's when I found Celebrate Love Chicago and Jeffrey. Jeffrey and I played a fine game of phone tag that resulted in our first contact being way too exuberant and familiar on my part than his want. I definitely caught him off guard and he seemed skeptical of me. We scheduled our first consultation. I learned from his website that his first consultation was free and also that he had a premarital counseling deal that's $450 for five sessions. We told him we wanted to take advantage of that deal and he agreed. At our second meeting I was disappointed that he sprang on us that our first meeting (the consultation) was included in those five sessions. I quickly learned that Celebrate Love Chicago is a small operation. Although it definitely has it's charm being in Andersonville, having free drinks, samples, and literature in the waiting area, and a therapy dog... Well. I think that Jeffrey runs it all by himself which explains all the phone tag, occasional lost emails, and no formal billing process. It's a lot to handle and I am pretty sympathetic about it all even though I was initially annoyed. We learned a lot about how to format the framework of our relationship from Jeffrey. I won't disclose the points that he taught us but I will say that sometimes our tempers flared when he poked into certain problems. Our relationship is rosy and our disagreements are small. We didn't like it when we would dwell on one of our hiccups when we already considered it resolved. Now we understand Jeffrey's method and we know he was simply using those problem points as an example for his framework. We have found his framework to be extremely helpful and now we observe other couples and think that they need a little Jeffrey in their lives too. Fortunately he gave us plenty of cards to distribute and I've already handed out four!

So, the fiance and I hired Jeffrey Sumber to be our officiant and part of the costs require three…read morepre-marital sessions. Since we wanted ours to be non-religious/secular, Jeffrey had asked us to come in so he could get to know us better and help us shape our ceremony to be befitting of us - what a great concept! Our first intro session was FREE (yes, some things in life are free which is very very nice, especially if you're paying for a wedding anyway) and then, he also gave us a 50% discount after four pre-marital sessions with him - we've found his pre-marital sessions are extremely helpful - it's nice to have things laid out in a different manner. He's helping us see past the present and really help us lay out the foundation for our 'culture' together and for our lives together as one. He's also helping overcome little obstacles and something as silly as "why we fight over the center of the bed" - we're very confident in his abilities and look forward to having a beautiful ceremony that is catered to our personalities and our relationship. I highly recommend him as an officiant (if you're going the non-religious route) and a counselor. Plus his office is right next door to Hopleaf and La Donna - another bonus right there, too! With less than three weeks away for the wedding, we're very pleased with the outline of the ceremony and how it's turning out exactly what we could have imagined - it's very personalized to the two of our personality and relationship. I'll edit this after the wedding. EDIT: Our ceremony was fabulous and Jeffrey definitely added quite a bit of personalization and flair to our wedding. He even made a little slipup which was actually really endearing because you could tell that he's spent quite a bit of time with us! Thank you again, Jeffrey!!

I hosted a baby shower at the DL loft in 2018 and then hosted a 30th birthday party/dinner this…read moreyear (2020) and both events were unbelievable! Debi and her team are available, responsive and creative. In both instances I shared a theme and they ran with it, far surpassing our expectations. We had another 30th birthday planned and unfortunately the plans were ruined due to COVID. With 6 days notice I reached out to Debi and asked if she was available and could help me pull together a "Vanderpump Garden" theme dinner. She was emailing me late into the evening on the weekend making arrangements, and when we walked in we could not believe what she had accomplished in such a quick timeframe. The decor was stunning, the food was amazing and the overall atmosphere was exactly what we needed to be able to relax and spend time with our closest friends. Thank you so much to Debi and team for a truly special night. We will be back!

I was hired by DebILilly to provide ice cream sandwiches for a wedding that she was planning. I…read moreexplained that the outset the challenges, but I went ahead and followed through with what I promised, which was with that I delivered to her Uber that she had hired to drive them to Grand Rapids met in Ann Arbor. It was clearly explained that once she received the ice cream sandwiches, they would need to go into the freezer as they would not be served until the next day evening. Apparently, she did not put them in the freezer as discussed, so when she went to serve them, they were melted. That only has she refused to pay me. She refuses to communicate at all and acknowledge of the situation and acknowledge her responsibility I would be more than happy to find a resolution that works for both parties. However, I do that if she's not willing to communicate. I would not recommend working with her at all. Completely unprofessional.