This is actually my second time having the pleasure of working with Nichole and her amazing team…read more Last minute (well a few months before) I decided I needed something beautiful to set the tone of our wedding weekend and have floral and decor for our wedding eve/rehearsal dinner at the Chicago Firehouse. I wanted a vibey/moody setting to really accentuate the dark wood and old Chicago feel of the building and knew that Nichole was the perfect fit from the start. I simply told her where it was and her proposal came back PERFECT. Beyond that, when it came to life it was 10000% times better than on paper in the proposal. All evening we received so many compliments about how everything looked and how beautiful everything was. Nichole is also an incredibly kind vendor - one who is always responsive, goes out of her way to make sure your vision comes to life and the truly best compliment you can give her and her team is to simply get out of their way. She has a way of seeing beauty in spaces and venue to make your vision come to life and she's such a gift to the wedding and event community in Chicago. Working with Nichole and her team, you will feel a sense of calm and contentment knowing that your dreams are in the very best of hands.

One look at XO Designs Instagram page and we knew Nichole and her team were the ones we wanted for…read moreour wedding. Nichole is a beautiful person, everything we discussed upon our initial conversation was brought to light on our wedding day, she truly delivered magic. Her creativity in building the floral assortments were simply stunning, our guests were in awe of the beauty. All of the flowers took my breath away, I will forever be daydreaming about them. We couldn't have asked for a better team to be with us on our wedding day, they were all very professional and kind. We can't recommend Nichole and XO Designs enough, they truly made our day magical

Working with Lori was a dream! We did the full planning package with Lola based on a recommendation…read morefrom a friend who had worked with Lori to plan his own wedding. She also planned his brother's wedding...then his other brother's...we were sold. Lori and the Lola team have all their ducks in a row. They have the tools, templates, and timelines needed to plan and execute a successful wedding. But more importantly, they have the many years of vendor relationship-building, the hard-earned knowledge of what works and what doesn't, and the unfaltering dedication to making your vision come to life that takes your wedding day from special to stratospheric. Of course there are many (manyyy) decisions for the couple to make when planning a wedding, but Lori put in so much of the back-end work to help streamline them for us. Her vendor recommendations were top-notch and our regularly scheduled meetings were as pain-free as they can be for two people who aren't "into" event planning. The day-of support was critical - I think we would have been 2 hours behind had Lori not be ushering us through the timeline like the pro that she is. Lori also gets an A+ on vibes: she's like your planning bestie that is your biggest cheerleader or your sage reality check depending on what you need in the moment. She also has a great eye for design, color, florals, etc. and was an invaluable input for those types of decisions. Multiple guests came up to us at our wedding and said it was the best wedding they had ever been to. Maybe everyone says that but if it's true (we think it is!), we have Lori to thank for it. We had the time of our lives at an absolutely stunning ceremony and reception, and we couldn't be more grateful.

Even weeks after our multi-day Indian wedding finished, we are still receiving heaps of praise…read more Multiple guests told us that not only was it the best wedding that they have ever been to, but it is also going to be the best wedding that they will EVER experience. People constantly mentioned the attention to detail, and one guest even highlighted that the most impressive thing about the wedding was not the extravagance but rather all the logistics, how everything operated so precisely. All that praise is due to Michelle, Kristy, and the entire LOLA team. Our wedding was from Tuesday through Sunday morning, with four large events in four separate venues and numerous smaller rituals and mini-events, involving over twenty separate vendors. Calling it complex would be a massive understatement. Yet, nothing fell through the cracks. We are in the process of building a house, and we half-joke that we should hire Michelle and Kristy to run that project even though it is so out of their ballpark simply because we don't know what to do without their organization. On our wedding ceremony day, we were faced with torrential downpour and unpredictable weather. From the beginning, our biggest desire was to have our ceremony outdoors. Michelle and Kristy worked tirelessly, fighting for our dream to somehow make that outdoors wedding a reality, coming up with some brilliant ideas with the help of Lori. See, they didn't take the easy route of just sticking with the rain plan. They cared. They cared a lot. We can't stress this enough because you can't figure that out by looking through portfolios or interviewing planners. It is found in all those moments where Michelle and Kristy picked up on one of our discomforts and gave us some quiet space, where they understood what we wanted (sometimes even better than we ourselves realized), where one of them would dive to the ground to look through their bag for a pair of scissors or to help place dance shoes on the bride right before she had to go onto the stage, where they literally helped rig an important décor installation when a venue installer did not show up. When the wedding was over, the saddest realization that dawned on us was that we were not going to be able to spend as much time with them. Michelle and Kristy helped us build a team of all-star vendors and venues for our wedding. They have the best connections in the Chicagoland area, but it never felt like they were pushing anyone on us. Instead, it really felt like they were understanding our needs and guiding us to the vendors that best fit those needs. They would always give us a list to choose from and never influence our decisions unless we explicitly asked for guidance. They helped handle all the communication with these vendors so that we did not get stuck with small details and logistics that were unimportant for us. There were so many conversations that happened in the background between vendors, venues, and LOLA that we thankfully did not have to join. As decisions started to mount, Michelle and Kristy were extremely organized and helped keep us on track with a planning timeline and a plethora of spreadsheets. We cannot stress how high our bar for organizational excellence is, and somehow, they managed to exceed it. We had over seven permutations for guest invites, tons of boxes that had to be delivered to different venues, multiple outfit changes, and so many different rituals that kept getting added on throughout the process. One of the best testaments to their level of organization was their four separate minute by minute timelines. Our families never run on time, but that weekend, everything ran like clockwork. On the day-of, they were everywhere all at once, in the hotel, at the venue, working with our family, working with vendors. They knew exactly what to escalate to us and which things to handle themselves. That week, we got to know more LOLA members. Shout out to Nicole who had the arduous task of dealing with both sets of parents, and she handled all their requests and worked extremely hard. Sanja was responsible for transportation, and despite all the intricate logistics, everyone was at the right place on time without any issues. Lori worked with us, helped attend to some of our last-minute emergencies, and shepherded us to where we needed to be, really freeing us to be in the moment and relax. Damina and Morgan helped answer questions for our guests. It was a whole team effort that put LOLA's best values on full display. Our wedding week, despite its intricacies, felt flawless to us. We literally could not have asked for anything better on any of the days. That is thanks to Michelle and Kristy's impressive work ethic, battle-tested experience, relentless pursuit of perfection, and simply their desire to make our dreams come true.

I am struggling to put into words how to thank Lindsay Gaeta and her team and acknowledge every…read moresingle detail she knocked out of the park and executed on our wedding day! Throughout the planning process there were so many little behind the scenes details she saved me time on which I am so appreciative! I will miss seeing her monthly on our planning calls! I don't plan to get married again anytime soon but I do hope our paths cross again! I am speechless about her help from the rehearsal to the very last minute of shutting down the after party!! The top 3 highlights that people mentioned to me on the wedding day were 1. Dad's speech, 2. Florals, 3. How hard she HUSTLED!!! My bridesmaids and close family constantly approached me on the wedding day with sentiments of "wow, she's good!!" She exceeded our expectations and anticipated our every move! I have close family in the hospitality business (who are the harshest critics about everything in the event planning world) and were over the top satisfied with her commitment and follow through to make the day as seamless as possible! I am sure there were many hiccups that day that were not brought to my attention and for that, I give Lindsay full credit! I was able to relax, be present and have a B+ personality that evening instead of my typical A- for all things attention to detail! I felt completely comfortable 'handing Lindsay the reigns' and entrusting she would handle everything as necessary, which she did!!!

We are beyond grateful for Kim Weinberg of LivenUp Events! From the very beginning, Kim was the…read moreultimate professional, so patient, kind, and supportive, even when I, as the bride, was feeling overwhelmed. She has this incredible ability to stay calm, cool, and collected no matter what comes her way, always finding solutions effortlessly and proactively preventing issues before they even arise. Her industry knowledge is unparalleled, and her planning experience truly shines through in every detail. From her amazing vendor connections to her creative, thoughtful ideas, Kim went above and beyond to make our wedding not just beautiful, but absolutely seamless. She kept us organized, on track, and stress-free throughout the entire process. But what really sets Kim apart is her heart. She genuinely cares about her couples, listens with empathy, and makes you feel supported every step of the way. We couldn't have asked for a better wedding planner. She is a true gem, and we feel so lucky to have had her by our side. Kim Weinberg didn't just plan our wedding; she made our dream day a reality, and we will be forever grateful.

Our daughter's wedding was May 27th, 2012 at the University Club in Chicago. It was the most…read morewonderful day for all of us, largely due to the efforts of Lisa & her team. She is amazing! I was introduced to her through a college friend (thanks MB) and after just one phone call I knew she was a perfect fit. She has great experience, a wide range of contacts in everything from bands, venues, photographers and florists to ceremony ideas, invitation design specialists, welcome bag and gift options, hair & makeup options .....and everything inbetween. After meeting with us, she had a great sense of the wedding vision we had and her suggestions & ideas were spot on. She was always available, even as a busy, working mom mom of 4 kids!! And most importantly, I always felt that out wedding was her number 1 priority, even though I knew she had another wedding the same weekend as ours! That is a great skill! We had some unique challenges along the way.... with our date, which she helped us through....with our ceremony details, which she helped us through....and with the day of details, which she again helped us through. Lisa is always cool, calm and collected which is unbelievable considering the potential stresses of planning and organizing a large wedding. I myself am really happy I have just one daughter and 2 sons!!! That being said, Courtney & I would like to thank Lisa & Ryan for their work in creating a most wonderful wedding day...It was Perfect! PS Lisa, My husband Mark, says it was the most beautiful wedding he has ever been to...Big compliment from the man who was not into the details!!! Love Mary & Courtney

Lisa is fun, organized, creative, timely and generally so easy to work with. We loved her vender…read moresuggestions and she kept us on track with the budget. She made my daughter's wedding vision come true. Our day was so smooth and I was comfortable just having a good time, not at all worried that things wouldn't get done. We had our event at the reopened Chicago Athletic Association ( now a boutique hotel) on August 6, 2016.

I got married in 2016 which was the first year that Maria opened her business. I am super delayed…read morein writing my reviews, but I kept putting it off since I didn't want to shortchange her. She was an indispensable part of wedding planning for us. I interviewed with a few wedding planners, but Maria was the most personable and helpful among those that I met. She was enthusiastic and even offered free advice at the consultation before I even hired her! For the most part, I planned my wedding remotely. We got married in Chicago but by the time most of the planning was happening we had moved out of state. Maria found the best vendors for us and was able to maximize our visits to Chicago. She wrote thorough and timely emails in response to my (admittedly neurotic) queries. She also knows a TON of people in the business. She found out that our caterer WENT OUT OF BUSINESS almost a full month before the caterer sent a notification to clients. She called us, explained the situation and already had plans of how to fix everything to make our day perfect. We turned a disaster into a minor inconvenience. A few days before the wedding, we moved the location of the ceremony due to rain. Maria handled ALL of the communication with vendors, reconfigured the schedule of events and handled the new last minute decorations. It was seamless and NOT stressful at all. That's not something many brides can say during the wedding week. On the day of my event, I felt like Maria was everywhere at once. It was amazing! She had previously mentioned (in passing) that she had another wedding that day - and you would have never known. Everything went smoothly (and if it didn't, I never heard about it!) If I ever plan another event in the Chicago area, I will reach out to Maria. She was a pleasure to work with and I am glad that her business seems to be doing so well.

I first have to say thank you to Maria and her team for making our wedding day more than perfect…read more We wouldn't have changed a thing. We were totally clueless going into wedding planning and Maria guided us perfectly. She has all the answers! She is so creative and came up with solutions to fit our budgets for different aspects of the wedding which was exactly what we needed. Without her we know that our wedding day would not have run as smoothly and perfectly as it did. She is extremely patient and organized. Let me say it again, organized. Somehow she managed everyone's expectations and requests. When it comes to making everyone happy she truly excelled especially with my parents. She was very attentive, professional and knowledgeable. Thank you for the best and most beautiful day of our lives. - Bryan and Allison

There aren't nearly enough superlatives to explain how incredibly amazing Swiss Dot Weddings was to…read morework with, Alexis is a rock star Day of Coordinator!! She was great at keeping us on track with our planning along the way and made it super easy to share our notes and information with her to take over a few weeks before the wedding. She seamlessly managed all of our vendors (and family at times-bless her patience!) to ensure that my husband and I were able to enjoy our day to the fullest! She went above and beyond to make sure that we had everything we needed or wanted at every moment of our special day and we are eternally grateful for how she helped us to pull off one of the biggest parties we'll ever host!! Alexis was there for me by phone, text, email at all times of the day leading up to the wedding and always knew just what to do to save the day! I would highly recommend booking with Alexis the moment you have a wedding date determined, she was definitely one of our very best vendors for our big day!

Alexis helped us with our June wedding in Chicago. She was amazing! She was our "day-of" planner,…read morebut went above and beyond that. We met a few times before the big day to chat about the wedding, expectations, duties etc. She gave me recommendations on vendors, communicated with each of our vendors on her own and sent them all their own schedule for the big day. She was very well organized, which I needed, being as OCD as I am. I reached out to her for many things and she took on the responsibilities with open arms. She took a lot of stress off of my shoulders, months, weeks and especially the day of the wedding. She was one of the best investments for our wedding.

I couldn't recommend Bride & Joy more highly. Kim is the consummate wedding person. She was so much…read morefun to talk with! She was always so quick to get back to me on any of my little questions and never made me feel anything but special. She's got great taste and really understands every aspect of the whole "Wedding Biz." We managed to stay on time, which is unheard of for a wedding! She was a pleasure to work with in the days leading up and totally crushed it the day of. We were free to just have the Time Of Our Lives and I can't imagine our special day without her!

I highly recommend Kim for month-of planning! We used Bride and Joy for our September 2018 wedding…read moreat Salvage One. Working with Kim was a dream-- she is so calm and professional-- Kim helped me organize the chaos and enjoy the process. Kim previously worked at Salvage One, so coordination was a breeze. I had many vendors and had a lot of DIY aspects to my wedding-- Kim was able and willing to help me coordinate all the vendors and went above and beyond, helping us organize and set up the whole room. I would work with Kim again in a heartbeat!

From day one, I had complete confidence in HBIC. Diane immediately made us feel like our wedding…read morevision actually mattered, and when we were paired with Heidi, everything came together even better than I imagined. Heidi was a rockstar: detail oriented, calm, and unbelievably efficient. Whenever something popped up, she handled it instantly without us even realizing there had been an issue. Friends and family kept pulling me aside to say how impressed they were with how organized and professional she was. The planning tools HBIC gave us made life so much easier too, from guest list trackers to layouts to checklists. Instead of stressing, we actually found ourselves enjoying the process. On the big day, my wife and I were able to live in every single moment without worrying about logistics. For me as the groom, that was priceless. HBIC gave us the gift of being fully present, and I'll recommend them to anyone who wants their wedding handled by true pros.

From our very first meeting with Diane, we knew HBIC was the planning service for us. Their focus…read morewas on making our wedding feel authentic to who we are while taking every bit of the behind-the-scenes logistics off our plate -- exactly what we were looking for. We were paired with Heidi as our planner, and we truly could not have asked for anyone more perfect. She was attentive, professional, warm, and incredibly efficient. If an issue or change came up, Heidi handled it seamlessly and with complete grace. So many of our family members and bridal party even commented on how organized and on top of things she was -- she made the entire day run flawlessly. Leading up to the big day, HBIC provided us with easy-to-use planning tools that kept everything organized and (dare I say) even fun! From guest list management to designing the room layout to checklists that made sure no to-do was forgotten, everything was simple and stress-free. Thanks to HBIC, we were able to be fully present on our wedding day -- soaking in every moment with each other, our family, and our friends -- without worrying about a single detail. We are endlessly grateful and would recommend HBIC to absolutely everyone!