We thought that hiring a wedding planner would alleviate some of the stresses of planning a…read moredestination wedding. Unfortunately, that was not the case in this situation. We're getting married in December on Kiawah Island. I grew up going there, sometimes spending entire summers there, so I know the area like the back of my hand. However, considering that neither one of us had any wedding planning experience, I thought that we would greatly benefit from the help of a professional. We hired Katherine Miller events because I liked her portfolio, the proposal sounded great, and she seemed very detail-oriented. Boy, was I wrong. She presented us with a wedding checklist, which was something similar to what you would find on The Knot, but it was never really discussed. I let her know that I'm used to deadlines, yet I rarely knew what she was working on, if anything at all. As the client, I didn't feel that I should micromanage the process, but I can't just blindly trust that things are getting done. This led to me doing most everything on my own and occasionally providing her with updates. When you're spending 20% of your budget on a full service wedding planner, it makes sense to be disappointed about this. Communication was sparse and haphazard-- an example of this was when she let me know that she would check on a tasting date with the caterer the next day (6/29), and I didn't hear back from her until 7/13. When we addressed these issues, she acted defensive and inflexible. She never even picked up the phone to call us. I really do believe that she thought she was working hard, and maybe our definitions of working hard are just different. At the end of the day, I never felt that she took the time to get to know us. I'm not sure if it was the fact that we were "out of sight, out of mind," or if our budget was too small for her to concern herself with. (She said that she discounted the cost of her services to fit in our budget. That's not something that I would tell a client.) To recap: When the wedding planner is the most stressful part of wedding planning, it's time to cut ties. Even if that means only getting a refund of $500 and being out the remaining retainer of $1,500.

If there was the option to give more than five stars to Katherine Miller events, I absolutely…read morewould. My husband and I were planning a destination wedding and were having trouble keeping our hands around everything. We had a hard time conceptualizing everything we wanted to do and really needed help -- LOTS of help. When we found Katherine, everything changed. Our loose ideas about what we wanted on our wedding day were transformed into cohesive, beautiful concepts. She helped us with everything, from proofreading our invitations to keeping us on track with to-do lists. Whether it was flowers, linens or which table to remove from our floor plan, Katherine had a recommendation. She was flexible to be a part of our planning meetings anytime we came to Charleston and was more than happy to talk by phone at any hour of the day when we needed her. One of the most valuable things to me was that our wedding coordinator get to know both me and my husband so that our day was a reflection of us, specifically, and our relationship. Katherine made sure that everything (right down to our wine-cork-handle cheese knife favor!) perfectly reflected us as a couple. I found Katherine to be really helpful with making sure things kept moving. She kept us on task about when we needed to make final decisions on things, when our next payments were due to vendors, when we needed to confirm headcounts -- anything. If ever I felt stressed out, I called her and we'd talk about whatever was concerning me. When my husband wasn't sure what he needed to do and when, she made sure he picked out his tuxes, vests and ties before they needed to be rushed. She was there no matter the emergency (like when our rehearsal dinner venue told us they'd double booked our date) or the need (like navigating through the floral requests of my mom and aunt). She's quick to respond on email or by phone. I never had any issues communicating with her about anything, even minor stuff like "Where can I get maps of the area for my guests?" (In fact, when I asked that, she shipped us 100 guide books on Charleston to include in our welcome bags!) During our wedding weekend, Katherine was at her best. No matter the challenge (like when rain caused a reception tent gutter to collapse during our cocktail hour or set-up being delayed a day because of high winds), she handled it flawlessly. When a bridesmaid called the morning of the wedding because her dress was the wrong shade of green, Katherine calmed her down and helped her find one in her size in the right shad. I was clueless about any hiccups during our wedding day -- I didn't even know rain was predicted! -- because Katherine made sure that I enjoyed and soaked up every second of the day. Looking back on our wedding, there is absolutely nothing we would change. We had a flawless wedding day that reflected us perfectly (and an enjoyable, fun time planning!) because of Katherine. I would recommend her without hesitation to anyone planning a wedding in the Charleston area.

My husband and I are so thankful for Emily Parham and her team and everything you did for us both…read moreleading up to our wedding but also during the wedding. The weather presented what seemed like it would be insurmountable challenges but Emily's team rose to the occasion and made it work in our favor. We were truly impressed with Emily's ability to not only adapt but also make sure that there was zero stress on our wedding day. We had such a tremendous time at our wedding and we left Charleston wondering why other people always say wedding planning and the day of are so stressful. We feel like the last 18 months have gone by so smoothly and we have never really worried about any of it. Seeing the venue and watching our friends and family having the time of their lives celebrating us, we could not be happier with our decision to choose Ooh! Events and specifically choose Emily as our planner and coordinator. Emily Parham, you are AMAZING!

When I started planning my wedding in January, I felt like Ooh Events was going to make my life…read moremuch easier. By the time the wedding came around, I couldn't wait to be done working with them. Here the key reasons I'd avoid working with them if I were planning: 1. My original planner was sweet but disorganized and lacked follow-through. I had paid for the design and coordination package, and she wasn't delivering on the design elements. And it's not like these packages are cheap! 2. That planner either got fired or quit, but that was news to me until I showed up in Charleston for my tastings and tours. I texted her only to find out then that she was no longer with the company. No one at Oh Events had reached out to me. When I called them to see what was going on, they played it off and tried to place all the blame on the old planner. When I emailed the owner Lisa, she did not take any accountability for the situation and again tried to play it off. The one saving grace was Carissa, who seemed to know what she was doing and tried to be helpful. 3. After that whole debacle, I had a few different people working on the wedding. The lead was Amanda and she was definitely an improvement. She was good with follow through and responsive. During the wedding, she seemed to keep things moving smoothly enough and she even gave us a ride at the end of the night. I would have liked her to be reaching out to me more proactively but I got the sense that she was overworked and newer. 4. The one place where Amanda dropped the ball is with our cake at the end of the night. We had discussed having the top tier sent home with my in-laws. On Sunday, I asked my mother-in-law if she got the cake and she said she never got it, so I asked Amanda what happened. That's when she told me she hadn't been able to get the cake, so I asked her to contact the venue to see where it was. Again, I had to be the one to follow up a few days later to see what happened with that. That's when she told me that they couldn't find it but that I was welcome to call the venue and sort it out. It's not my job to sort that out and again they should be taking responsibility for losing our top tier. I have yet to hear back on what they will do but don't expect they will do anything bc that is the type of company they are. We also used them for rentals and florals. Kaitlyn from florals is a bit terse over email but Susanne was lovely in person. The flowers were nice though the bouquets weren't fresh and starting to wilt already when we got them. Not sure what happened with the florals at the end of the night. Rentals were fine but a bit pricey. They also have weird fees added on (flip fee for example) and we had to pay extra to the venue since the rental team wanted to be there early. Overall, Ooh Events seems to be all over the place and I wouldn't recommend them to a friend.

Julie Murphy arranged my wedding and it went off without a hitch! It was so great to have her…read morecreative touch on our special day!!

Whitney was amazing to work with. She was very responsive, professional and kind. She had all her…read moreinformation together and was able to quickly give me the pricing and information on an order I placed. The order was ready and easily picked up the day of the event. The ballon garland looked so great and really added that extra flare for my husbands birthday! I will definitely be using Whitney at Holy City Party in the future and I suggest you do as well!! Thanks again for the amazing garland!!

Absolutely perfect balloon bundle for my daughter's 2nd birthday! Whitney was so easy to work with…read more- very responsive, easy pick up, and great product :)

This was a beautiful wedding venue. The ceremony was in the bottom floor and the reception was on…read morethe second floor. It was very elegant. The venue is huge and holds many people with plenty of room for dancing! It also made for very beautiful pictures both inside and out.

Good venue but unfortunately the staff is incredibly unprofessional and disrespectful. Kerrie…read moreSchmidt is one of the worst event coordinators I have ever encountered and I am totally amazed she has stayed in her position for as long as she has. If she is the event manager when you are looking to book this venue, I would strongly encourage you to reconsider booking this property.

Another absolutely beautiful arrangement delivered to my sister. Always perfect and lovely!read more

Sorry I didn't leave a review earlier, they certainly deserved it. Our daughter sent me flowers for…read moremy birthday, and they were gorgeous, just the way I like floral arrangements - not run-of-the-mill, much like a loose European bouquet of unusual flowers that lasted a week. I highly recommend them!

Her professionalism is top tier. It only took one call and she was very prompt and knowledgeable…read more Thank you again for your service.

Run, don't walk to book an event at Parcel 32! We recently hosted our after party here as part of…read moreour wedding weekend, and it was certainly the highlight for our guests and us. Rachel, the sales & events manager, is incredible! She was so communicative, organized, and helpful from the get-go. She really worked with us to make the event exactly what we wanted it to be and is such a sweetheart in person as well. Out of all the wedding vendors we worked with, she was the most on top of things. So impressed by her and thankful for her! The space itself is beautiful, spacious, and perfectly located on king street. Every single staff member was kind, helpful, and seemed genuinely to enjoy their jobs. Food was great and all of their fees are totally reasonable. Do yourself a favor if you're planning a wedding in Charleston and book Parcel 32!

We went for a lovely wedding welcome party. The place is really nice and the food, drinks and staff…read morewere fantastic!