I HIGHLY recommend booking a tour with Event Atlas…read more **BACKGROUND** I booked a tour for 6 (me + 5 of my best girlfriends) to visit three wineries. **THE PEOPLE** Francesca, who booked the tour was super organized and on top of answering my questions and keeping me up to date on our tour. Geoff ended up running our tour and was so nice and patient. We are a bit, um, loud sometimes but Geoff made sure to get the best angles with every group picture and even picked up our untimely food order so we wouldn't miss the last tasting. He was also extremely knowledgeable about local wine! **THE EXPERIENCE** It was a gorgeous fall Saturday. I highly recommend taking this trip in October, as the foliage was breathtaking. Milea Vineyard, our first stop, felt like a mansion, and the tasting room was sunlit and gorgeous. Clinton Vineyards was more of a country farmhouse, and our group had a private tasting with the owner, Phyllis, who is a super interesting woman. The last, Milbrook, was a bit busy, but the property has a cute lake and food, and before the tasting, you can check out the vineyard and store. Again HIGHLY recommended! Especially for a bachelorette party, birthday, or girls weekend getaway!

Francesca is really lovely, and my mother and I had a great time taking a tour of three venues in…read morethe Hudson Valley (a winery, a distillery/cooperage, and a brewery). We had poor weather day of our tour, but this actually is a great activity for a rainy day - can't beat drinking wine and being chauffeured around the Hudson Valley!

We were married this past September at Timber Lake Camp and had the wedding (and weekend) of our…read moredreams thanks to Sandra O'Connell at Hudson Valley Ceremonies. If you don't get to the end of this review and only read one thing: Hiring Sandra was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. She is beyond dedicated to giving you the wedding of your dreams, and her ability to execute and make it ALL happen is nothing short of extraordinary. Every wedding needs a Sandra! We had the pleasure of working with Sandra from the beginning of our wedding planning journey all the way through our 3 day wedding weekend. When we were stumped looking for venues that could accommodate our large guest list AND a weekend-long celebration. Sandra approached us with a "think outside the box" venue: Timber Lake Camp, a beautifully serene summer camp nestled in the Catskills. We were unsure about the idea of a summer camp wedding but trusted her instinct - and thankfully we did. The day we visited the camp we knew it was PERFECT. 500 gorgeous acres with plenty of room to accommodate ALL of our guests, that we could have all to ourselves for an entire weekend - camp cabins, facilities, staff, and all! It truly felt like she had pulled a rabbit out of a hat and that was only the start of Sandra's magic! Throughout the entire year and a half long planning process, Sandra lent us her ear and expertise: she listened to our wishes, concerns, thoughts; guided us through a million different decisions; provided alternative options/ideas to meet our budget; and found the perfect vendors to bring our vision to life. She sat in on our calls with the coordinator at the camp, and even made visits to the camp with us - including one visit during a snowstorm! She also managed our multitude of vendors (including 3 separate caterers!) from the initial inquiries all the way through to the end of packing up after the wedding. When the wedding weekend came around, Sandra stayed on site all 3 days and made every event run smoothly - we felt like she was somehow everywhere all at once! We had multiple events, including our rehearsal, a Welcome BBQ, Karaoke Night, late night bonfire, and activities throughout the camp. If there were any hiccups, we didn't know about them! The day of the wedding, between everything she was coordinating and the multiple vendors on-site, she somehow still found time to check in with us to make sure we were okay. But honestly we truly felt at ease with Sandra running the show. Her professionalism, calmness, and get-it-done attitude made every part of the weeknd run seamlessly! And on top of it all, she made our marriage official by signing our marriage license. :) A total bonus that she is ordained and a special memory to share with her as she was such a big part of our special day! Our guests are still talking about how magical the weekend was. Many specifically commented that even with so many events and activities going on, it was one the most well-coordinated and organized weddings they'd attended. It was definitely a huge effort to pull off a 3 day wedding weekend on a 500 acre camp, but teamwork truly made this dream work! We could not be more grateful to Sandra, her team, and all of our amazing vendors for giving us a wedding better than we could have ever imagined! We can't recommend Sandra and HVC enough.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Sandra O'Connell or Hudson Valley Ceremonies. Not only did she…read morestreamline the bride's "to do" list by recommending musicians and florists, her excellent knowledge of wedding-day requirements helped ,  my Daughter in Law Amanda immensely, saving her lots of computer search time and false-starts.  Her help walking us through the rehearsal was vital, getting us organized the day of and "on our spots" at the right critical time. It's all such a whirlwind of activity. And the logistics at our farm were challenging, to say the least. I also greatly appreciated how, during the actual wedding and party afterward, Sandra and her assistant were there, in the background, keeping the caterer happy, moving tables, shuttling slightly inebriated guests to their cars, (thank you, especially for that. I think I would still find people walking the horse pasture fence, looking for their cars.) And for doing the behind-the-scenes things that rarely are noticed, unless they're not done. (For example, one of the porta potties malfunctioning). Sandra handled that with quiet speed. And mostly I appreciated how she took care of Amanda's mother's doilies, the family mementoes, tucking things away in the pool house for safe keeping. And for a good, general tidying up at the end of the night.

DJ Mike is hands down the best DJ in the Capital Region. He played exactly what we wanted. He has…read morea great "feel" for how to play songs to get crowd pumped up.

Mike and his wife were an awesome combo for our wedding. They walked us thru their time line and…read moreprompted us for song choices. Mike was very accommodating to the fact that since both of our families are Chinese to play some Chinese music. He did a wonderful job as the Mc and kept the party bumping well into the night. I highly recommend the photo booth as you have nice keepsakes for an awesome day that you can look back upon fondly. 5 stars all the way.

Working with Cathy was amazing! Cathy helped us every step of the way and really helped to relieve…read morea lot of stress throughout the whole process. Cathy was incredibly organized and made sure we thought through every detail and provided input when we needed help making a decision. On the day of our wedding Cathy made sure everyone and everything was in the right place at the right time. When another vendor made a few mistakes, Cathy made sure we got a full refund from them and that we did not have to worry about it at all on the day of our wedding. The day after our wedding my wife and I joked that the worst part of the wedding being over was that we wouldn't get to work with Cathy anymore. We can't recommend her services enough!

Multiple times during our wedding planning process, we looked at each other and wondered out loud…read morehow any of this would be possible without Cathy. Working with her made any alternative completely unthinkable. There are not enough positive adjectives to describe how fantastic she is, both personally and professionally. Cathy and her staff were incredibly helpful and informative throughout the entire process, and were always able to respond to our many, many questions quickly and correctly. We met Cathy through The Farm at Pond Lily, but would unreservedly recommend her for any event of any size. Her wealth of knowledge about wedding planning is unparalleled, and she worked seamlessly with every vendor we used. Her reputation preceded her with everyone we contacted, all of whom had nothing but good things to say about her. Although the planning process can be overwhelming, Cathy remained helpful, comforting, and down-to-earth about everything. Her organizational prowess is awe-inspiring. Simply put, she gets shit done. Why are you still reading this? Go hire Cathy now.

I cannot recommend Jacque and Lifetime Events by Jacqueline highly enough! From start to finish,…read moreJacque went above and beyond to create an unforgettable winter ski getaway and an incredible 50th birthday celebration at Whiteface Lodge. Every detail was handled with precision and care--from crafting a daily itinerary of winter activities like skiing, ice skating, and dogsledding, to orchestrating a spectacular birthday bash complete with shuttle service for guests, stunning décor, catering for food and beverages, a fantastic DJ, photographer, and even fun photo booths. The list of what she managed is endless! What truly stood out was Jacque's professionalism and calm confidence throughout the entire process. Even when things were uncertain, she never wavered. Jacque made me feel completely supported, as if I had a trusted partner who always had my back. Her ability to anticipate needs, solve problems quickly, and keep everything running smoothly ensured that I could relax and enjoy every moment knowing I was in good hands. If you're looking for someone who combines creativity, organization, and grace under pressure, Jacque at Lifetime Events by Jacqueline is the one. She turned my vision into reality and exceeded every expectation. I am beyond grateful for her hard work and dedication! Thank you Jacque!! Keisha Grant-Heslop

Jacqueline did it all from finding the venue down to the decor for my 4 year old's fairy themed…read moreparty! It was a gorgeous and fun party and I had absolutely nothing to with most of it which was amazingggg. If you need an event planner because you simply don't know how or don't have the time to plan anything, she's your girl. She will deliver professionally and beautifully!

We love Katie. You don't just get a wedding planner, you get a friend. We live in California, but…read morewas planning a wedding to have in New York. Where do I start? I found Katie and she was amazing. She was a God sent. She gave us options for everything and walked us through everything. The time difference was a struggle, but she was up late repling to all my messages. I'm the type of bride, where I just wanted to show up and everything was taken care of. Since we were planning from a distance, she made that happen. She went over and beyond with great ideas. On our way to the airport to NY, for our wedding, we found out my husband's suit never arrived in NY. Since we were about to get on a plane, I texted Katie our situation and when we arrived in NY, she had taken care of everything and his suit was being sent overnight. She is absolutely amazing with kids. My son and nephew got a bit wild and put their swords on top of the closet and they were told they would get it back once they were done getting ready and behaved. They called her "the boss" and kept telling my sister in law and I that "the boss" took it. We applauded her. My 2 year old grandson was extra crazy and wanted to run around as we were waiting to go into our reception. She scooped him and kept him in line till we were announced. She feels more like family and a friend. When you are planning the most important event in your life, make sure you have Katie on your team.

Without A Lively Event, our 200+ person wedding would not have been the perfect day that it was!…read moreKatie was easy (and fun) to work with, and had tips/tricks that cannot be found on the big wedding blogs across the internet. I live in MA, so I appreciated that she accepted PayPal as means of payment, and was accommodating to communication mostly via email and phone call. Quick anecdote: At the beginning of our reception, my husband and I realized that we forgot to bring snacks for our after party, Katie took the lead on ordering pizzas later in the evening and stayed later than she was scheduled to, to make sure everything turned out okay. We would book Katie again in a heartbeat. Thank you for your enthusiasm, professionalism, and attention to detail!