Going with Back Patio was far and away the best decision we made when hiring vendors for our big day. We mainly worked with Laura for the year leading up to and the day of our wedding, and I sincerely mean it when I say she was everything we needed and more. Our wedding was in 2021, and so the time leading up to the wedding during the pandemic was chalk full of unknowns, especially in the wedding industry - everchanging federal and local legislation/regulation, fluctuating guest count restrictions, mask mandates, looming travel restrictions, vaccine requirements. All of these things had big implications on what our wedding day could be, doubly so because we live on the east coast and were planning a destination wedding with our family and friends in San Diego. Throughout this shape-shifting chaos, Laura handled everything with ease, staying alert and on top of all regulations that could affect our wedding, and clearly and constantly communicating the implications of these regulations so we could work out contingency plans together.
Now that we've discussed Back Patio's ability to work within a nationwide pandemic, let's make mention of their incredible skills as planners. There are a couple key characteristics of Back Patio and Laura's services that need highlighted to illustrate how great of job they do:
Incredible attention to detail: Laura was so incredibly detail-oriented I am 100% certain she knew more about my own wedding than I did. She was meticulous about making sure we had every single detail nailed down and documented so that we could clearly envision what our day would look like. She created clearly organized, shared online documents that allowed us to collaborate virtually on everything from signage to napkins, to table shapes/layouts, to vendor roles and responsibilities, and the list goes on and on. This attention to detail was instrumental in ensuring everything went without a hitch the day-of, and I can tell you that everything went exactly as we laid it out in our planning. We had mentally rehearsed what would happen step by step so many times with Back Patio that the day-of was a breeze.
Constantly communicating and connecting: We were in touch with Laura constantly leading up to our wedding. Emails, texts, calls, and even an in-person lunch in San Diego when we were in town for our tasting. Laura was always available to answer any questions we had, and it was never the case that we had to double message her to get her attention. And she wasn't just great at communicating with us - she made sure she was in touch with all of our vendors as well to make sure that all of their services worked as a single unit to meet our expectations. She was also in constant communication with the event coordinator at our wedding venue, which allowed us insights into how the pandemic could or would affect our wedding. You can think of me, my wife, and all of the vendors as separate nodes, and Laura was the central hub that connected us all due to her facilitation of lines of communication. This aspect of her ability to plan, along with her attention to detail, mitigated basically any risk beyond an act of God creating trouble for our wedding day. Probably worth mentioning here that her personality is awesome and she makes the wedding planning process something exciting instead of something you dread.
There are just a few more things I want to mention before wrapping up this review. The company has excellent taste, and Laura's opinions on the things we were on the fence about were instrumental in making sure every little detail was perfect. She offered opinions on color matches, groomsman outfits, my shoes the day of, table layouts and more. She truly goes above and beyond - heck she even created key pieces of our signage for us, and they were beautiful! Most of all, they are incredible at the human element of this business. Laura understood how stressful everything was for us planning across the country, and she was more than able to quell our many fears of anything going amiss. She was so competent from the day 1 that just the fact that she was our wedding planner lifted a massive amount of stress and anxiety off of our shoulders. She proved that competence time and time again, and had our full trust with the most important day of our young lives thus far.
Thank you to Laura and the Back Patio team for giving us a perfect wedding day! If you're considering Back Patio, it will be the best decision you made for your wedding! read more