When my then fiancé and I interviewed Sonya to be our wedding planner, we had already completed some of the groundwork. My pretty bride, however, was not the type that glossed over wedding magazines dreaming of the perfect wedding since she was 10 years old. Moreover, we were trying to finish in 2 months what most couples plan in a year. We knew that we would need help.
We had just posted online and Sonya was the first to respond and, fortunately, her office was close to the venue we had just finished visiting. From the very first meeting, we were impressed with how she proactively took us through the steps she would take to bring the wedding planning to a successful finish. We interviewed several others afterwards. Sonya, however, would be the high bar that all other planners had to clear.
As we interviewed one candidate after another, we came to the same conclusion after each meeting - they just didn't measure up to Sonya. The others just did not give us the same level of confidence that no detail would be overlooked. She also projected the grit and assertiveness to handle any vendor that might step out of line - like a pit bull with a pretty face.
We could not have made a better choice. Sonya stood by us every step of the way. Dress fitting, meal tasting, cake tasting, meeting with pastor, vendor interviews, rehearsal - she was there for it all! One Sunday, she was with us from morning to evening as we dashed from one meeting to the next. We introduced her to everybody as our 4-star general - but she more than earned that 5th star in the end. Like a well-seasoned military general commanding their forces, she managed our vendors, our venue, and our wedding party. She even helped us keep in budget by arranging our boutonnieres for less than what a florist would charge.
Now, with a heavy-weight like Sonya in our corner everything must have been smooth sailing and gone off without a hitch, right?? If only! 2PM the day before the wedding, just as I'm leaving the barber with a fresh cut and feeling pretty good about everything, I get the most dreaded text from our pastor. He prefaced the text with "I don't want to add any more stress on you" and proceeded to let me know he would be unable to officiate the wedding. Needless to say, I was very very stressed. I conveyed the news to my fiancé who was certain I was joking at first. There were a lot of quick calls with Sonya and our family as we scrambled to pull together a Plan B. God's favor was certainly shining on us that day, however, as we didn't have far to look. Sonya had just recently received her license to officiate weddings. How many planners have that in their emergency kit!?! We tried a last-ditch effort to re-arrange the ceremony to use our original officiant but at 6am on the morning of our wedding, I had to make the call.
Me: "Good morning, General. Do you think we can still fall back on Plan B?"
Sonya: "Not a problem. Whatever you want."
After another call to my cousin, an elder in his church, it was set. He and Sonya would tag team: he would perform the ceremonial parts and Sonya would perform the official parts. My wife and I could never forget Sonya even if we wanted to - she was the one that married us! No one outside our wedding party had any clue to the crises that was narrowly averted. To say that Sonya went above and beyond the expectations of a wedding planner would be the understatement of a lifetime. We are forever grateful and could not recommend her highly enough. read more
