We just returned from our honeymoon a couple of days ago. I have added some pics to my profile from the work InStyle Event Planning did on my wedding and wanted to provide some more details on what they actually did for our wonderful, amazing wedding. They provided the beautiful linens, did custom flower design based on my vision, and all decor for the ceremony and reception. They negotiated vendor contracts from chairs for the ceremony, to photographer, to DJ and limo service, saving us thousands. She finalized timelines for all of the vendors for me, and did all of the coordinating with them on everything, so this stressed out bride needed to do nothing other than know that it was all taken care of. They worked one on one with the general manager and assistant manager at the reception site regarding set up, timing, tear down, everything. The day of the wedding Shellie, the owner was a phone call away at all times, and she and her assistants were there until the very end. Erin was the assistant at the ceremony, making sure everything ran smoothly, while Shellie was setting up everything for our beautiful reception. During our rehearsal, Shellie and she were both there, and at the ceremony, everything went perfectly under Erin's guidance. When we spent a little extra time on pictures, and Shellie noticed that we were behind schedule, she asked if we wanted her to work out one more hour with the dj for more dancing after dinner. A quick yes from us was all it took and we were on. I can't stress how perfect everything was for our special day. Truly amazing. read more

The first thing I did when my husband proposed last year was convince him that we needed a wedding coordinator. That was the best decision we made! We got married on Sept 6, and we couldn't have had a more perfect wedding without Shellie of Instyle. We met Shellie when we visited a potential venue that we were interested in. Shellie and her team were busy at work, preparing for a wedding that day. The first thing I noticed was how nicely they had decorated the venue. As busy as she was, Shellie took some time to speak with us and answer some of our questions. We considered other wedding coordinators, but after our telephone interview with Shellie, we were confident that we she was the right fit for us. We had many ideas that we were able to bounce off of Shellie and get her feedback on, which proved to be very effective in shaping our vision for our big day. Shellie brings years of experience to the table and was able to sort out things that would and would not work for what we had in mind. As everyone knows, there are a lot of moving parts for such an event. Between coordinating with all the vendors, the officiant as well as the venue and keeping us in the loop and on schedule with our tasks, Shellie had it all working like a well oiled machine! Now keep in mind we started working with Shellie a year before our wedding date. From day one, Shellie had us on track and made sure we were locked and loaded on all the key tasks that needed to be done right up to, through and after our big day. From figuring out the decorations that went with our color scheme to working with us on options that took into consideration our budget, Instyle was our single point of contact. With all that being said, no matter how much up front planning there is, things change, stuff happens and adjustments must be made. Shellie and her team not only navigated us through these waters, they shielded us from the typical stress and distractions that come along with it. Trust me, as a bride and groom to be on the day of what is to be a once in a lifetime event, this alone is worth it's weight in gold! On the day of our wedding Shellie and her team were nothing short of amazing. When the bride hits traffic en route, no problem, Shellie stages everything so that as soon as I arrive, what could have easily been a 20 minute delay turns out to only be a 5 minute delay. When we realize that the video we plan to show during the reception is washed out because the sun is brighter than ever at 6:30pm, the Instyle team on the fly rearranges the schedule, coordinates with all the vendors to make it an evening show after dinner without a hitch and all our guests were none the wiser as if it were the original plan! And last but certainly not least, her team was always on point watching us in case we needed something or had a question. From start to finish Shellie and her team went above AND beyond the call of duty. As a result everything came together making it a memorable experience that our guests are still talking about weeks after the event. Now I know there are reviews like this that I've read where it's so over the top that you can't help but to question it's authenticity. Well, we will always be a reference for Instyle, so if you have any doubt about the quality, value or effectiveness of Instyle's services, be sure to have Shellie put you in contact with us and we'd be glad to share our experience with you directly. Just mention the couple who's husband to be suggested streamers for the reception decorations and she'll know exactly who you're asking about ;-) P.S. FYI after we both stopped laughing at him (sorry, "with" him ;-) Shellie converted his ideal into what became the perfect decoration accent to the reception area. All I can say is Whew! Thank goodness for Shellie and her team! read more

Shellie is a con artist. I worked for her for three years. During that time I watched her take her employees for granted and ripoff her clients. By the look of her more recent Yelp reviews, it must be starting to show. It's was her loss that she never recognized the passion I brought to the projects we worked on. It seems like the quality of her service was clearly better when I was clandestinely carrying her and building her brand. Shellie knows it's true but she'll never admit it...so I'll just tell you. Shellie pays her employees better than most other event planners; I'll give her that. Her pay days are on the 5th and 20th of each month. However, she had a habit of paying me on average 10-12 days after pay day. So the 5th became the 15th or 17th and the 20th became the 27th or 30th of each month. Shellie continued to schedule me so it wasn't because of my work. She pays her employees in person so she should be available or make other arrangements when she's not. It's unreasonable to think people want to wait beyond pay days to get paid. But Shellie repeatedly expected that meaning she had no regard to the hardship this was creating in my life. That speaks to her disorganized management style and poor communication skills. I didn't except a thank you just like I don't expect a good reference from Shellie although I deserve both. At the very least, she could have pay me on time and in full; I did the work and deserved to be paid for it. Shellie asked me, in addition to work, to find waitstaff several of her events. Figuratively speaking, Shellie had a way of tossing the ball [her responsibility] in my court, then leaving it for as long as she can get away with it. I was glad to help. But if I couldn't get her to pay me my wages on time then getting her to pay me for staffing and for managing 'her staff' after the fact was a lost cause. Imagine the position she put me in when I have 10 servers/bartenders contacting me because Shellie wasn't answer her phone on pay days. One server never got paid. Well...he did but it wasn't until a year after the event took place. Shellie takes advantage of trusting clients. It's standard practice that event planners are present during their events. This is so they can take accountability and ownership of their event. Shellie promises her clients she will be present at their event and she get paid to do so. However, she often left during her events so she could sleep leaving me in charge. Again, I was happy to cover for Shellie but she would leave without communicating her client's expectations. I'm adaptable and often times I just had to figure things out on the fly. She would schedule me to install event decor. Then she would rush me out the venue just before the guest arrive so she could take credit for it. She leads her clients to think she did the installation single-handedly. They praise and pay her accordingly. When actually, she was most likely in a suite getting her makeup done while I made the venue 'look pretty'. Again, I didn't expect a thank you from Shellie. However my bills are due on time just like everyone else's; I would have appreciated her paying me on time because of that. Shellie charges her clients for Patron tequila but serves them Kirkland's tequila. She would instruct her staff to fill empty Patron bottles with the Kirkland's tequila. That's misleading and in some ways stealing. She would make party guest think they are eating wedding cake [which is expensive] when in actuality they are getting generic sheet cakes served from the back-of-the-house. Her food quality and preparation is okay; just make sure if you're paying for filet mignon that you're not getting chuck roast. Now if that sounds like a planner you want spearheading your wedding or special event then proceed at your own risk. Most importantly, please tip your wait staff because once Shellie gets paid she could not care less if her staff does. read more

I first met Shellie of InStyle Event Planning in 2008 when my older sister got married. All 5 of my sisters , my mother and I were working on our sister's wedding and ALL OF US agreed that Shellie with InStyle was the best choice to plan the wedding. Her beach wedding was challenged with outside circumstances out of our control (like the worst rain storm in Southern California in the year) which caused the location to have to move in 3 days! This would be an absolute nightmare to any bride and family BUT thank you to Shellie's calm manner and connections - her company was able to relocate the wedding with NO ISSUES last minute. We had a blast at the wedding, everyone was happy. Next. My wedding. I had my 1.) Wedding Ceremony in December 2011 and held 2.) The Reception 6 months later (which was 2 weeks ago) in Las Vegas. Shellie with InStyle Event Planning helped me with both events and was not even in Las Vegas! Shellie PERSONALLY walked me through everything, she thought of so many cute additions that I would never have thought of on my own and they added so much to both events. Shellie PERSONALLY got my flowers from somewhere where they ended up being 1/4 cheaper than getting from any florist! She let me BORROW - with no charge - her linens from her personal inventory because she was TRYING SO HARD to work with-in my budget. This, I appreciate. Shellie prepared items for our wedding and sent them to Las Vegas with my sister when she came out for my wedding. This is someone that goes above and beyond TO MAKE THEIR CLIENTS HAPPY. I want to say that I was so disturbed by a very negative reviewer. Please do yourself a service and read the response that the company posted in reply which is their-side of the negative story and quite reasonable. Don't get caught up in the negative reviewer that is absolutely ridiculous - this company did a great job for my sister, me and all the people my family has referred in the past 5 years doing wedding events. Lastly, I have referred several people to InStyle Event Planning since 2008...everyone was super satisfied, just like my sister, our family and my husband and I (which makes me question the reviewer I mentioned earlier, but I understand people have different experiences). I had a very pleasant experience. Shellie and her staff are knowledgeable and just want their clients to experience a beautiful day : ) read more

The wedding Shellie helped us plan was really a dream come true. We did not have a large budget and we didnt have much spare time. I was a very picky bride and I had high expectations to put it lightly. We had a very difficult engagement year. On top of his own health issues and several surgeries, my husbands mother was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Shellie was always understanding when we had to cancel meetings last minute and she even drove an hour each way to come see us when we couldnt come to her. She was available day and night. She allowed us to make the decisions we wanted to and she took the initiave and handled everything we couldnt when we were too overwhelmed with grief. Shellie stepped in like a super hero, she allowed us to borrow her linens, decorations, the awning we were married under, I could go on for days. She added so many little touches and ideas we never even dreamed of. She took care of everything: the invitations, décor, the flowers, the DJ, getting music at the beach ceremony, she even brought the In N Out burgers, fries, and shakes my husband needed to have for our dinner. SHE ACTUALY COORDINATED WITH TWO DIFFERENT STORES AND SENT HER OWN HUSBAND TO GO GET 200+ ORDERS OF BURGERS AND FRIES AND THEY WERE SERVED HOT TO ALL OF OUR GUESTS!!!! Now if you don't think that's amazing, please just keep reading... My husbands sweet mother passed away just weeks before our wedding date. We were devastated to say the least. The wedding was not even a thought for us. She took care of the rest and even had her staff help finish planning the honeymoon. She took the time to do some special gestures for our new angel like placing a single white rose on the first seat on the grooms side to reserve it for his mom. She also put my mother in law's crystal hairpins in my bouquet so I could carry her with me that day. We really never would have made it down that aisle without Shellie. One year later and we are still so grateful for all she did for us. For that whole year, she was so much more than a wedding coordinator. She was a friend and a shoulder to cry on. I genuinely miss talking to her daily but I know shes out there making other peoples' dreams come true!!! Hiring Shellie was the second best decision I ever made (only behind saying yes that day he asked me to be his wife). read more

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Had high hopes for Shellie helping us accomplish what we envisioned for our wedding... we hired her a year and a half before our wedding since I was trying to get as many deposits in while I was on deployment, which I thought would be great. It turned out that Shellie wasn't answering emails my husband was sending her while I was gone. When I returned she told me we would meet to get caught up on what we needed that never happened. She replied to some emails I sent her in December but then disappeared and stopped replying to me. I emailed her several times with no answer, called her and left a voicemail several times and got nothing. Finally she texted me telling me she had a family emergency after a month of me trying to get ahold of her and told me she would reach out to me in a few days, a few days turned into getting nothing from her I waited 2 wks for something. We ended up just firing her and losing out on $2,500. Her contract states everything she is supposed to do and fell short of that. Very poor communication skills for someone who is running a business of customer service. read more

I honestly can't say enough great things about InStyle Event Planning. With only 3 months to plan a wedding, I knew an event planner was a necessity. InStyle was the first event planner I called and I didn't even feel the need search for more after speaking with Shellie. All of my worries were put at ease, from that very first call. Shellie had incredible communication and a way of making me feel like I was the only bride that she was attending to. We didn't have to worry about anything from researching vendors to linen ideas, Shellie handled it all. As well, listening skills, coupled with her creative eye and attention to detail, helped with turning our visions and dream wedding into reality. With Shellie's guidance overseeing every detail leading up to and including the day of the event, my husband and I were able to enjoy our wedding and guests. We received countless compliments from all of our guests about what an amazingly beautiful wedding this was and the credit goes to InStyle 100%. My venue's coordinator said that she was the best they've worked with. On the day of, Lacy with InStyle kept me calm and worry free while Shellie attended to the details, they make a tremendous team. For anyone getting ready to plan a wedding or event either near or far, hiring InStyle would be money well spent. Shellie will make that special day, one that will blow you away! Shellie, we absolutely loved working with you and will recommend you and InStyle Event Planning to anyone looking for a event/wedding planner. We absolutely loved working with you and your team. With sincere appreciation for making it all possible. Alicia & Scott Gilliam read more

Shellie, Shellie, Shellie. We had very had very high hopes for this 'well established" coordinator. She told us her fee was $5000, which she said was a $2500 discount from her usual price of $7,500 (because we had already booked a venue). Her website makes many promises, but does not disclose pricing (no transparency). Keep in mind, we were only planning a 100 person wedding.  After an initial call, before she did any work, she demanded a $2,500 deposit. Foolishly, we paid the deposit. After we hired her she sent us a recommendation for a photographer in an email. She offered only one option and did not suggest we meet with the photographer before booking. Naively, we agreed to use the photographer. She then send us a PayPal invoice to pay directly to her to book. Then she proceeded to ask about flowers. i send her a few pictures of things that i liked with heimpression that she would take the ideas and come up with a great company that would was our style. She gave us no options, but sent us an email right away with a PayPal invoice as if there was a sense of urgency to lock the date dawn (mind you this was months prior to the wedding). We panicked and payed the $2094.77 deposit and asked her to send us the website of flower shop so we could check out their work. Only after we made this request did she tell us she did the decor "in house." Again, a complete lack of transparency. At this point, we started to become suspicious. When it came time to pick s DJ, we told her we needed to see options up front. She sent three, one she highly recommended, one she discouraged as twice the price and one who was UNAVAILABLE on our wedding date. We again felt like we had no options. Given this frustrating situation, we did our own research and found a great DJ on our own. We met with him (without Shellie) before we booked. Notably, Shellie did not meet with us with any vendor before booking. When it came time to meet at the venue to review the timeline and see a sample of the centerpiece, Shellie brought a very sad looking example of what we were to receive. It looked pathetic. We expressed our disappointment. She apologized, telling us it was too expensive to produce a full example of the centerpiece and promised it would be better at the wedding. We were frustrated and doubtful.   Moving on, we asked if she knew a good place for linens and chargers.... he response was literally "since you told me your budget was not flexible, i didn't want to bring up ay extras like champagne flutes or chargers." What I took from this is that if you were not so cheap i could have planned a better wedding for you. However, her website boasts about making your budget go further.  As time passed, Shellie became very hard to get a hold of. She would not answer for days and then say she was just way too busy or the she had other events At some point I was very upset and was emailing her my unanswered questions; nothing crazy just things like "can you please do a mock up of the table with the chargers and linens, and with the centerpieces with he actual flowers we would see at the wedding. Her answer was no, she doesn't do mock ups. We ended up firing Shellie. After we terminated her she sent my finance an email saying that my emails were getting "bothersome." Bothersome? I just wanted my questions answered so I was sure my wedding would be handled properly. AlthoughShellie did not provide the flowers for the wedding, she did not offer to return the $2094.77 deposit The most troublesome part of all this is that we had several deposits that we had payed her through Paypal (very sketchy) instead of directly through the vendors like photography etc. Only after we fired Shellie (months after she collected the deposits) did she forward the deposits to the vendors. What we don't understand is why would Shellie take a deposit for a vendor but not send it to them right away? I guess the real question is why did we hire Shellie in the first place. Learn from our mistake. Stay clear of Shellie (In Style Event Planning). read more

Just last Saturday I had my senior prom at the US Grant Hotel which was coordinated and decorated by InStyle. The event was fabulous to say the least, and as a member of the prom committee I was very pleased with not only the service but the execution by Shellie to bring our Moroccan inspired event to life. It was even said by the administration of my high school how this was the "classiest, most elegant, and innovative" prom they had ever attended in my schools history. The extreme stress and confusion my committee and myself had the months leading up to our prom was alleviated when we decided to hire an experienced professional like Shellie. We owe the great outcome we had to her! Honestly. We couldn't have been more happy with the service we received from InStyle Event Planning!! :) read more

I went to my best friend's wedding a few weeks ago, and we all had an awesome time. That being said.....I have never in my life seen an "event planner" or "caterer" that was this bad. First of all, she wasn't even at the actual wedding that she was paid to coordinate. Maybe she was off in a sand dune somewhere with a headset, but I never saw her (and I definitely would have as a bridesmaid). I'm just saying, if you get paid to do a job, DO IT. Next, the reception. When we got to there and found seashells (super cute) with our names on them. This is clearly the table assignments. However, there was no table name on them. Just a lone man in black (I called him Johnny Cash) with a list.....that was not even in alphabetical order, and he told people to find their own names. He tried to play it off as if the BRIDE forgot to do all this. BS. I know my BFF and her OCD ways (love you!). I know the list that was provided to the event planner because she was going to "take care of everything!" Have you ever had to ask for a wine glass at your table at a wedding? I doubt it, but there was no glassware (or enough at the bars). Food Service. Aside form it starting late, I was thankful I got to eat. Because 3 tables didn't. When you give a guest list to an event planner, there is clearly supposed to be enough food for all the guests (and it's not like anyone was going up for senconds and that's why there was no food). Three unsuspecting tables just didn't show up out of the blue and demanded food. The event planner thought about trying to defrost some questionable chicken to serve. Absolutely not. The bride and groom called Domino's to get pizza delivered. Domino's came on time, with the right amount of food ordered, and didn't overcharge. I would like to say thank you to Domino's for doing a WAY better catering job than InStyle. Oh yeah, and the nice dessert tower that the couple had ordered was not there. Just a sad looking table with some random desserts askew. Listen, we all know that not everything is going to go perfect at a wedding, and there might be some mishaps. My BFF (the bride) is actually one of the most laid back brides I have seen. However, this company and woman is a nightmare. The worst is the fact that she promised to make things right and refund the couple for the tables that didn't get food. Yeah, that hasn't happened. It's probably because she is a total con artist, and is listed under a variety of names and companies. Do your research and you'll find out. www.sdcourt.ca.gov Search court index, party name search, civil lawsuits, in all locations under all four of her names and you will find 40+ lawsuits (there are a lot more under her other names and companies). A lot of these lawsuits are from vendors as well (at least under some of her other names), so it's not just uptight brides sueing. Also, she is banned from the San Diego Bridal Bazaar. That should say something right there. I just want the women of San Diego to know about this fraud and con artist, and to look elsewhere for your bigday. I personally, will be calling Domino's. read more

My husband and I were wed on September 21st of 2012 in La Jolla California and it will be a day we never forget. When Ruben and I first started to discuss how we wanted to put together an unforgettable wedding, immediately we decided on a destination wedding, residing in El Paso TX, we did not have many options on venues for a beautiful wedding. We chose La Jolla California for many reasons, the beautiful scenery, the people always being so nice and most of all, it was were we first vacationed together as a couple. Right away I become over whelmed. Where should we have our wedding? Where do I buy flowers? How will I know what everything will look like from so far away? Where do I go to buy certain items we need for the wedding? The list goes on and on...I knew right away I needed a wedding planner. We searched the Internet for companies in the area but were surprised to find that InSyle was the ONLY coordinating company that had a BBB account, not only an account but an A+ rating, no questions asked, we called Shellie and I IMMEDIATELY felt at ease and the weight of the wedding world had come off my shoulders. The very fist time I talked to Shellie she made me feel like she had dropped EVERYTHING she was doing to cater to me and make sure I was at ease that the wedding planning was already taken care of. We hired InStyle in January, 8 months before our wedding and the entire time we planned our wedding with Shellie it was such a pleasant experience. She truly went out of her way to make sure I knew exactly what I was getting, what the venue was like, what it looked like and every single detail of the entire day. The biggest part that helped us was that Shellie already knew a ton of vendors and she know which one fit our needs and budget. She eliminated the need to interview and research every single vendor that is needed for a wedding, which I imagine could take months to do! The day of the wedding InStyle went into overtime. Lacy, the unforgettable mommy to be, was in and out of my room all day delivering items, checking on me, making sure I was calm and always had something nice to say every time I opened the door the let her in. Shellie, as busy as she was transforming the La Valencia Ballroom to a magical dream come true wedding site, called me constantly just to say "Hi" or "Is everything okay?" That alone made me feel like I was the ONLY bride she had and she truly and honestly cared for me and my husband on our wedding day. When I first walked into the venue, (trying to hide from my soon to be hubby) I cried. It looked like something out of a magazine and I could not believe it had all been done for us, little ole us from El Paso, it was a moment I will never forget. The flowers were so amazingly beautiful I thought they were artificial, but were not. The linens hung ever so gracefully, the diamonds and sparkles shined like the lights were focused on just that, the center pieces were something I had only seen on TV (David Tutera type stuff!) Shellie and I had previously discussed a adding a detail that was later not needed but she used the material to make private cabanas instead which added such an intimate touch. Any other wedding planner I am sure would have just chalked that up as a loss and just said they didn't need the material anymore, even already paid for. The ceremony site was another dream come true. When I walked down the aisle on a custom made beautiful aisle runner along side color coordinating orchids in beautifully placed glass vases I still couldn't believe my eyes. When I finally reached my husband underneath the custom made chuppah with beautifully flowing drapery and a chandelier (still in amazement) it finally hit me that Shellie was the BEST and none of these dreamed visions would have came true with out her. Thought out the wedding I noticed that EVERY SINGLE one of the vendors Shellie hired were absolutly amazing and did everything I had asked Shellie...how she kept track of all that, I still dont know! Every single detail of our wedding was beautiful and our guests are still calling just to tell us how beautiful everything was. I would not go back and change any detail of the most important day of our life...InStyle did everything over and beyond what I could have ever imagined a wedding to be. I felt like I had not only hired a wedding planner but a friend to hold my hand through it all, from the beginning to the end. read more

We just came off of the high from our incredible wedding week that would have been nothing without all of the help and guidance and detailed planning and hard work that Shellie of Instyle Event Planning put into it. I worked with her for about a year and half and she not only put up with all my crazy ideas but made them into reality even better than the dream created in my own mind! She was always available and ready to jump in to help at any moment even when I would send her emails at 3:00 in the morning the weeks leading to the wedding. She kept us on track and made sure we knew what we needed to take care of and when to get it done by. She offered great ideas and innovative ways of doing things I would have to say the greatest thing that we received from Shellie that you won't get anywhere else is how much money she saved us. She provided us with our charger plates, linens, vases, baskets, card boxes, emergency kit, frames, decorations for the ceremony and much more. The vendors she recommended always offered better rates and had better services then anything I found on my own. She actually paid for herself before we even hired her! we had gotten a couple quotes on our venue and she called about a half an hour after we inquired about her services and had already talked to the Hard Rock and got our venue quote down by almost the same amount as her fee, and even that was so incredibly reasonable. I would have paid ten fold for the peace of mind she gave us. She was there to calm me down when I had my little freak out moments and there were issues that were caused by other vendors that happened at the wedding that we didn't even know about because she took it upon herself to make executive decisions and everything went off without a hitch. I actually just got really defensive about this last review. It shouldn't even exist in my opinion, they must not be talking about the same company. We have never been more impressed with services like this in our lives at any event. I am actually in the entertainment business and work with event planners all the time, Shellie rocked our wedding day and all the months that preceded it. Not only did we realize all of the hard work her company put into our special day but we got compliments from many of our guests that noticed how amazing and on the ball she was. Thank you Shellie. I will recommend you to everyone I know, You went above and beyond in every aspect! Happily Wedded Bre & Ian read more

Let it be known that Shellie Ferrer from InStyle Event Planning is my hero. Like a fairy godmother, Shellie calmly took the reins from my inexperienced planning hands and created a gorgeous wedding beyond my expectations in just five months. She saved me & my husband money, time and most importantly, our sanity! Within minutes of our phone consultation, Shellie was confident that a wedding for 150 guests could be done on our small budget. She emailed me a breakdown of vendors and prices a couple days later, and that is when I realized that I had made the right decision contacting her. I would have NEVER gotten the low prices she quoted me no matter how much I researched on my own, simply because she gets incredible deals with vendors she does repeat business with. All the vendors were professional, experienced, and the quality of services were definitely worth more than what we paid. SCORE!!! Shellie was so on top of the wedding checklist, that we got a lot accomplished in the first month of signing with InStyle Event Planning. She takes on the task of following up with vendors if we have any questions, and sent me friendly email or text reminders if something was needed to be done that month (send invites, alter dress, venue visit, etc). She is always so accessible. The month leading up to the wedding, my husband & I often asked each other if we needed to do anything, which was a great feeling not to worry! Being able to spend time with my family the day before the wedding, and simply relaxing the day-of, knowing and trusting everything is taken care of by her, it was truly priceless. I arrived to a venue that was so beautifully decorated, it was like a page from a wedding magazine. Her assistant Lacey was so calm & efficient in making sure the time line was followed, and was always nearby in case we had questions. Shellie's staff was extremely attentive and professional also, that some personally catered to my husband & I to ensure we did not have to get up for food or drinks. I can confidently say that everything we requested was honored that evening! I cannot recommend Shellie Ferrer from InStyle Event Planning enough. It was the best decision I made in the wedding planning, second to saying "Yes" to my husband of course. Family and friends would comment that I was the calmest bride they've known, and I always say that it was because of Shellie. Thank you again to InStyle Event Planning for all you've done for us!!! read more

I worked with Shellie Ferrer after meeting her at a bridal show. We used her as the florist for our wedding and were pleased. I interviewed quite a few florists and she was the most reasonable, willing to work with me and my budget, and was very patient. She did not try to upsell me by showing me a bunch of things that were clearly out of my budget (something another florist did which infuriated me). She was very easy to get in touch with, responsive, and overall a very professional vendor to work with. read more

Best San Diego Wedding Planner & Wedding!! InStyle Event Planning was one of the best investments we made in preparation prior and during our wedding day. Shellie Ferrer made our wedding the best experience of our lives through coordination, planning and execution. With our guest list at 430 people, we knew there were many challenges we faced in planning simply due to the size of our wedding. Shellie's leadership and professionalism made our process smooth and painless but most importantly it allowed us to enjoy the planning process and stay present in each and every moment of our wedding day. We would recommend InStyle Event Planning to anyone who is looking for the best in class wedding experience. We discovered InStyle Event Planning in mid-December of 2012 with our wedding approaching July 6, 2013. While we reached out to multiple planners, Shellie was the first to respond and we knew from the first call that she would be the one we could entrust our special day to. Her professional approach to building our relationship and gaining our trust made us feel so comfortable hiring InStyle Event Planning not only planning services but also for their amazing floral services. From the bouquets and boutonnieres, to the corsages and beautiful arrangements for the ceremony and the centerpieces for the reception, InStyle's floral services were outstanding and impressive. Their ability to bundle these services saved us a great amount of money as well as time. She did not hesitate to give us comparable prices to show the value that they provided from both services. Shellie is a networker by nature and she knows so many people in the industry. She recommended many of our vendors to us such as our photographer, photo booth, our Reverend, our cake baker, as well as our musician for our wedding and cocktail hour. She also had contacts for lighting, linens and other essential needs that we had for our reception. She coordinated with all the other vendors we dealt with to ensure that each vendor was kept in the loop and made sure she maintained a good relationship with them. With both of us being busy and having full time jobs, Shellie was great with communicating with us and keeping us committed to our deadlines and budgets and it was worth the investment by far. She alleviated the stress of the process and managed to continue to impress us all the way up to our special day and even after. On top of managing our vendor relationships, she also managed our RSVPs and provided us with weekly updates to who responded. Once the list was finalized, they put together a board with our seating arrangements. InStyle Event Planning also assisted with booking our rehearsal dinner and making our rehearsal for our ceremony easy and painless. As always, last minute things came up and Shellie made sure she handled everything to shield us from any stress which allowed us to enjoy every minute of our wedding preparation and wedding day. We would highly recommend Shellie and her staff to help with any wedding needs, in fact we have already recommended her to friends for an early 2014 wedding. We will continue to recommend InStyle Event Planning because of their excellent service and ability to execute our vision of our big day. Not only will they do an amazing job, but they will also help you save money with their relationships and the network they bring to the table. Thank you Shellie for everything and especially for making our wedding day the most memorable and stress free experience we could have ever imagined! read more

I was recently honored and excited to serve as a bridesmaid in one my oldest friend's weddings. The day was perfect in every way except for the wedding planner. My friend used InStyle Event Planning (formerly known as Martino's Catering and Events) and when she approached me on the dance floor at the reception and told me that three tables of guests had not eaten dinner because the wedding planner failed to order enough food, I was sad and angry for my friend and her new husband. I then watched as my friend, the bride, scrambled to apologize to and accommodate her guests for the rest of the night. If InStyle had done the job they were contracted and paid to do, the bride and groom would have enjoyed their wedding weekend instead of worrying over details the planner should have taken care of months before. The food at the reception was not the only problem. When the bridal party arrived at the ceremony, the wedding planner was nowhere to be found. We lined ourselves up and walked down the aisle without the direction we could have used from an experienced wedding planner. Following the ceremony, the reception was held at an amazing venue overlooking the water. The cocktail hour was supposed to take place outdoors so the guests could enjoy the gorgeous view, but it was cold out that evening and the planner failed to turn on a number of heat lamps on the terrace that would have kept guests warm through the cocktail hour. Instead, most guests congregated in a hallway inside the venue to escape the cold during the cocktail hour. By the time the bridal party arrived at the cocktail hour, the bar had run out of glasses. The planner was (unsurprisingly by this point) absent for most of the reception as well. At the end of the reception, several of the bridesmaids (myself included) stayed to help the bride's parents and elderly grandmother carry various items and gifts to their car. We were, therefore, the last ones to leave the reception and as we were waiting on the sidewalk outside the venue, three police cars showed up out of nowhere. The officers questioned us and shined flashlights directly in our faces as if we were common criminals instead of four bridesmaids (the matching dresses must have given it away!) standing on a public sidewalk waiting for a taxi. We found out the following day that the wedding planner had called the police on us, the bridal party. On the rare occasion the planner actually showed up to events that weekend, she was brusque and aloof. She did not have the friendly, energetic personality a bride hopes for in her wedding planner and was not dressed appropriately. When my friend approached the planner at the reception to ask about the missing dinners, the planner blamed the situation on the bride and instead of taking ownership and apologizing for errors that were clearly InStyle's fault, made unwarranted, personal accusations against the bride and groom. Since the wedding, the planner has avoided my friend and not provided a refund for the dinners that were paid for but never served (among many other services paid for and not delivered). I am in relationship management and would be unceremoniously dismissed from my job if I ever treated a client the way my friend, her husband, their bridal party and guests were treated by InStyle. InStyle's abysmal service, deflection of blame and default of contract place InStyle at the very low end of wedding planners in the San Diego area. Furthermore, their litigation record in California courts speaks for itself. Brides, save yourself stress, worry and lots of headaches. Choose a wedding planner that will be competent, organized, receptive to your concerns, present on your wedding day and will fulfill his/her contractual obligations. If these qualities are not important to you on your wedding day, however, InStyle is the business for you. You've been warned. read more

I was a bridesmaid in my friend' s wedding in March. The caterer/ planner she used was a nightmare for her and her fiancé. Detailed below are a few of the issues. - Dinner scheduled to start at 7 p.m.but did not start until 8:30 PM. and went until 10 PM. - InStyle ran out of food with 3 tables (24 people) remaining who did not get to eat dinner. - As a result the groom had to order Domino's pizza for these guests - 1 buffet line instead of 2 (as promised) making dinner making service very slow - No "beautiful dessert tower"- no wedding cake because there was supposed to be a tower - InStyle ran out of glassware at 6:30 PM. and served all drinks in martini glasses - The seating cards had people's names, but the caterer/planner forgot to put the table name, so people were wandering around confused about where to sit - Too few wait staff to accommodate the number of guests - Inexperienced bartenders who did not know how to make the drinks even though the recipes and alcohol were provided for them. I feel very badly for my friend and her husband because they spent the time at their reception ordering pizzas and worrying about their guests. read more

The BEST money my husband and I spent on our wedding was on a wedding planner. Worth every single penny! At our first meeting with In Style Event Planning I knew we had to hire them. It was essential that we hired someone to help plan and make recommendations since we lived in Orange County and our wedding was in San Diego. In Style was so personal and so genuine but always maintained that professional balance. They asked questions about us and wanted to get a good feel for what we were looking for. I loved their energy and how passionate they were about our wedding. I cannot stress enough how much better off we were in the long run because we hired In Style for full coordination for the entire year before our wedding and it ended up saving us so much money!! Shellie Ferrer was our wedding planner and I cannot say enough wonderful things about her. She was efficient, organized, helpful, kind, detail-oriented, has impeccable taste, and she was not phased but the incessant questions I asked! Shellie handled the details and helped keep everything on track. In particular she helped us save so much money on my wedding dress, transportation, our photo booth, photographer, room blocks, flowers, DJ, Band, linens, etc.....you name it and she negotiated it no matter what and made it work! The money she was able to save us was more than worth her personal fee. When I arrived in San Diego for our wedding weekend Shellie had everything organized and was available to handle all the last minute details. I was able to let go of the wedding-related stress and enjoy my weekend with my family and friends. Everyone commented and how seamless the ceremony and reception were and how everything just flowed. Well, that was all thanks to Shellie and the In Style staff. It was such a joy working with Shellie. She truly cares about her brides and makes you feel like you are planning your wedding with your best friend. In Style Event Planning leaves no detail overlooked and are so wonderful to work with. They worked with my husband and I to achieve our vision and helped us stay within our budget. My wedding was amazing!! If you are looking to get married anywhere give In Style Event Planning a call. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! read more

Dreams do come true!!! We give Shellie and her staff the highest recommendation. My daughter and her husband, both active duty military, were married on Coronado Island, CA on December 30, 2015. The entire experience of this beautiful event was accomplished through genuine caring and involvement by Shellie. Her professional experience provided excellent recommendations for venue and vendors, as well as all the personal extras to make their day so special down to the smallest last minute requests! Because of her years of experience, she made many helpful suggestions and was able to coordinate all the details with ease and calm. She very patiently dealt with their very busy work schedules as well as the holidays to make the overall experience joyful. As mother of the bride, I so appreciated Shellie's encouragement and excitement about the wedding. She stayed in contact with me and responded to questions and concerns immediately. We felt, that even though she was involved with other weddings, this one was special and important to her. Seeing Shellie there at the beach the day of the wedding, gave us, especially the bride and groom, a sense of peace, excitement and in many ways relief!! She will exceed your expectations and together help you create the day of your dreams! read more

We hired Shellie and Adrian late in the process about two weeks prior to our wedding to help us bring everything together, coordinate with our vendors, and make sure things ran smoothly on the wedding day. We were very happy with the results! First of all, Shellie completely took the vendor coordination out of our hands, so that we could focus on enjoying the lead up to the wedding and the wedding itself. Shellie's professionalism ensured that the vendors arrived on time for set up and received their final payments on the wedding day without any effort on our part. In addition, Shellie and Adrian's were able to give us great advice on prepping the flowers, something we didn't even contract them to help us with. This is something we both were a little stressed about because we had zero experience creating floral arrangements. With Shellie and Adrian's advice and recommendations, however the flowers looked great on the day of our wedding. On the wedding day, Adrian and Shellie did a phenomenal job of setting up our venue and ensuring that it looked even better than we could have imagined. Most importantly, after making our center pieces, we had about 200 extra roses. Shellie was able to make sure every one of those roses were used as decorations at the venue. When you're spending a lot of money to throw a wedding, you want to make sure every dollar spent was actually put to good use. This small touch was very meaningful and added to the beauty of the venue! At the end of the evening, when everyone was exhausted from a long day, Adrian and Shellie quickly and carefully packed everything up and put them into the mother of the bride's car. This ensured nothing was left behind and we were able to keep all of the important keepsakes we wanted to! Overall, even though Adrian and Shellie joined our wedding plans late in the game, we were very, very happy to have brought them into the plan. Not only did their coordination skills ease a great deal of stress leading up to the wedding, but their experience provided some exceptionally helpful recommendations and ideas that we would not have thought of and their creativity ensured our venue was the perfect setting for our "happily ever after." read more

We booked with InStyle for our wedding and were very pleased. We were really impressed with the food when we did our tasting and she really delivered on our wedding day as well. I've heard stories where the food at the tasting and at the actual even can differ with some vendors and everything was very consistent--great quality and our guests could not stop raving about the food we selected. Shellie also helped us pull off a miracle when our cake vendor flaked and did not show up. She recommend a local vendor and we had 120 cupcakes delivered and set up from this other vendor within less than 1 hour. Her staff was friendly and provided great service and Shellie provided many extra touches to help make our evening unforgettable. I highly recommend using Instyle for your wedding or special event. read more

What a disaster. Shellie is easily one of the most unprofessional people we've ever dealt with and was a complete no-show at our wedding ceremony and reception. I just wish I had read the other bad reviews of her prior to her ruining my wedding. Here are some of the many failures of her catering services. The day before the wedding, I spoke with Shellie while she was performing another catering job at the botanical gardens in Encinitas. She sounded in perfect health to me and also appeared healthy to my wife, who saw her in person at the botanical gardens. Amazingly, Shellie didn't even recognize my wife, although she had met her several times. However, at our wedding the next day Shellie was nowhere to be found. She never contacted anyone to say she wouldn't be coming or who would be performing the catering. Turns out she had her husband do our catering job, which turned out to be a complete joke (he wore shorts; apparently, he thought it was a beach barbecue and not a wedding). Once we were several hours into our wedding/reception, I sent Shellie a text message saying I hadn't seen her and detailing our problems that night. She said she was sick and asked me to direct all of our problems with her husband, whom I'd never met. I didn't hear from her again until I sent her a letter after our wedding demanding some of our money back. When she finally responded, she claimed she had sent me an email saying she had "addressed" the problems at our wedding. I guess she just made this up because I had never received any communication from her attempting to address the many problems with service. Food service began an hour late (it was only a five hour food service), so everyone in attendance was unable to enjoy the pre-ceremony hors d'oeuvres that she agreed to provide and which we promised our guests would be provided. Well over eighty of us went hungry until 6 p.m. Also, Shellie's company brought only a fraction of the desserts she promised. The service staff told my mother-in-law that they brought only 40 parfaits (for over 80 guests). And I found out later that a staff member admitted that 2 of the 40 desserts had been "reserved" (aka stolen) by the staff for themselves. My mother-in-law was forced to ask for the two "reserved"/stolen desserts because otherwise there would have been none left for her and her husband to eat. Also, Shellie provided only two of the three dessert options she promised and my new bride and I were forced to split a dessert that wasn't any good. Also, there was no hummus at the Mediterranean station, although it was promised. Shellie apparently expected our guests to eat dry, store-bought pita bread with only chunks of cheese and pickled peppers. The taco station was also inadequate. We were promised hand-made tortillas but store-bought tortillas were used. We were also promised nine different salsas and instead received three. And the pork was completely different from what we had at our tasting. To make matters worse, the taco and sushi stations had no lighting and were thus blanketed in darkness. (We found out later that Shellie did make a brief appearance at the wedding site the afternoon before the wedding, was aware of the lighting issue and did nothing to fix it). Our guests were forced to light these stations with their cell phones to be able to see, as best they could, what food was on them. My wife's vegan parents were forced to disregard these stations entirely for fear of accidentally eating meat or fish. Shellie's staff/husband also often allowed the taco station to run without any tortillas. What's a taco without a tortilla? Meat. There was also a fraction of the soup that we needed so many of our guests didn't get to eat soup. The large piece of lounge furniture that was provided to us did not have the promised pillows. The garage that the lounge furniture sat in (and where the dance floor was located) had no lighting whatsoever, although Shellie promised to provide all lighting. Lack of lighting was a theme for the evening, apparently, as was the awful, unprofessional catering. If she does ruin your wedding, she will likely attempt to rely on an unenforceable liquidated damages provision that she wedges into all of her contracts attempting to limit her liability to $500. Run away, far away from Shellie and her hack catering business. read more

SCAM ARTIST ALERT!! This is a warning to all brides and grooms to be to do your research. Although my spouse and I have many feelings surrounding what happened at our wedding reception, we have chosen not to include emotion in this review and purely facts. Below is a factual account of the many problems that occurred at our reception and a list of websites and public record that you can reference for information about this vendor. When searching public court records and the other sites, remember to search under InStyle Event Planning, the owner's name (I will not post it here due to Yelp's privacy guidelines), the previous name of the company, Martino's Catering and Events, the owner's previous name (once again I will not post it to respect Yelp's privacy guidelines). It is crucial to search under all 4 names as the owner has changed her name and business name making it more difficult to find accurate information. Public record...www.sdcourt.ca.gov Search Court Index, Party Name Search, Case Type: Civil, Case Location: Unknown- All, Party Type: Defendant...search all 4 of her names/business names and you will find 40+ civil lawsuits....that's right over 40. Also see www.sandiegorestaurantreview.blogspot.com and www.bridalinsider.com. In addition, she has been banned from participating in the Bridal Bazaar at Del Mar Fairgrounds and from advertising on their website due to Better Business Bureau complaints (under company name Martino's Catering and Events) and failure to pay vendors for services rendered. You can feel free to contact the owners o confirm this information (visit www.bridal bazaar.com for the phone number). Here is a comprehensive list of what was detailed in our contract and not delivered on our wedding day: - Dinner scheduled to start at 7 p.m. finish at 8 p.m. but did not start until 8:30 p.m. and went until 10 p.m. however... - InStyle ran out of food with 3 tables (24 people) remaining who did not get the dinner we paid for (meat & fish, vegetable, and potato) - As a result we had to order Domino's pizza for these guests (it was late and this was the only place open to deliver) - 1 buffet line instead of 2 (as promised) making dinner making service very slow - No "beautiful dessert tower" - InStyle ran out of glassware at 6:30 p.m. and served all drinks in martini glasses - The seating cards had people's names, but the caterer/planner forgot to put the table name, so people were wandering around confused about where to sit - We paid a "day-of" coordination fee, but she was not present during the ceremony or the reception - Too few wait staff to accommodate the number of guests - Inexperienced bartenders who did not know how to make the drinks (we had provided the alcohol & recipes for 6 drinks) - No wine service at dinner - This vendor promised to make things right and give us a refund, but cancelled two scheduled meetings and failed to show up for a third meeting that she had scheduled to give us a refund - Requested we sign a non-disclosure agreement stating that in addition to the two of us, our friends, family, guests, other vendors, and even people who did not attend the wedding cannot discuss the incidents of what happened at the reception to anyone and cannot post their experiences on the Internet. If any of the above parties were to violate the non-disclosure agreement, InStyle is entitled to seize $100,000 to $1,000,000 from us (including our personal assets, cars, real estate, stocks, bonds, and savings). - We felt based on all of this information, the most morally responsible thing to do was to inform the public and potential victims. We feel we were scammed and it appears many others have had similar experiences. read more

Before Shellie I thought only wealthy people used wedding coordinators and that coordinators were for very large weddings with even larger budgets. After our experience I realize that you cannot afford NOT to have a wedding coordinator, and in Southern California, Shellie and In Style Event Planning are the best. Shellie made our dream wedding come true for the amount of money we told her we could afford. I chose Shellie and her team because she came highly recommended from a friend and recent bride. My husband and I were very happy with her services. My advice is to buy the full package. I was hesitant at first because of the cost, however, Shellie SAVED US MORE MONEY THAN SHE COST US!! And we quickly found out how much we really needed her! She took care of everything and her decorations and flowers are top notch. She even got a specific flower I wanted that was out of season at no extra cost. I think we got a steal of a deal for all the work she did. Our wedding looked absolutely beautiful. She referred us to the best vendors in town, and rather than pocketing her vendor discount (I know this sounds crazy, but I have heard many coordinators do this) she passed on the discount to us. We saved over $4,000 because of her. She negotiated the price down for our guest meals, corkage fee, the cake, the photography and the photo booth. She has hook ups for everything. She even helped us get discount table service in Vegas for my bachelorette party. Shellie even helped my maid of honor with my bridal shower by providing all the linens and decorations and came on a Saturday and helped decorate for FREE!! She also reviews all contracts to make sure you are not getting any shady charges or hidden costs. Her advice is invaluable. We had SO MANY questions and she gave us great advice. She also gracefully made sure our financial support came on time from family members that were taking a long time to write a check. Basically to a stressed couple that wants to save money but have a beautiful wedding, Shellie is a life saver. I highly recommend her services and again advise you to get her on your wedding team ASAP. Many brides and grooms realize too late that they needed the expertise of a professional and cannot undo commitments to vendors that are not giving them what they ask for. A wedding is a very stressful long term process, do yourself a favor and hire the best of the best to take the pressure off you so you both can enjoy your special day. read more

Awesome!!! I had the privilege of working alongside Shellie this past weekend and I have to say, the wedding would not have been the success that it was if it wasn't for InStyle Event Planning. Shellie and her team KNOW what they are doing. I've been a professional DJ now for the past 11+ years and let me tell you, I have seen a lot of weddings and I have worked with a lot of coordinators, but Shellie and her team were by far the best I've worked with yet. If you are looking at hiring a coordinator and aren't sure what the difference is between InStyle and other company's or you are debating on whether or not you need a coordinator.... Think of it this way; At any given wedding their are several moving parts. There is the DJ, the photographers, the videographers, the caterers, the bartenders, the waiters, the table and chair company, the linen company, the flower company, the cake company, the lighting company, the hotel staff, the volunteers and that doesn't even include the bride and groom and their guests. It is no easy task to keep all moving parts moving together as one team. InStyle has figured it out, and they do it with perfection. Last weekend I was able to do my job with ease because everything at the wedding was running smoothly. I even had fun...! If you want to have a wedding where you don't have to worry about anything and just want to enjoy your amazing day, then I highly recommend InStyle Event Planning. read more

"The Best Wedding Ever!!!!!" - This is the statement that I happily continue to hear from many friends and family members about our 125 person wedding in early December. This statement would not be possible without the wand-waving, magic workers at InStyle Event Planning! Less than 2 months before our wedding, I realized that I was up a creek without a paddle and that I would need someone who has experience in planning weddings to carry me over the finish line. In a panic, I searched the internet and stumbled across InStyle and decided to give them a call. Within a few hours, Shellie was on the phone with me: listening to the obvious panic in my voice, calmly providing suggestions and continuing to tell me, "Don't worry about it, we will make everything beautiful." Whew! That was a load off my back when I heard Shellie utter that statement alone!! In addition to carrying my wedding over the finish line, Shellie also played part therapist on the other end of the phone - listening to me drone on about all the crazy drama that always unfolds when planning a wedding, taking my calls at odds hours, even talking to me when she went on vacation for her anniversary! Aside from her wonderful "bedside manner", Shellie also has the most infectious laugh - when she laughed, it made me laugh and the rapport that we developed so quickly made me relax about the wedding planning for the first time in 10 months! (word of advice: don't wait this long to call InStyle! Do it right away, after you get engaged!) After our initial consultation on the phone, Shellie accepted the challenge of handling our wedding day-of activities. Some, but not all, of these tasks included coordinating ALL the vendors for the day-of, coordinating ALL bridesmaids and groomsmen (we had 20 people in wedding party!), handling ALL reception room decorations and executing an enormous lighting project that was involved in our outdoor, pergola covered ceremony space. My vision for the entire ceremony and reception completely came to life through Shellie's skill and perseverance. She went above and beyond the call of duty by "laying down the law" when I had an issue with any vendor. Bottom line, she was the perfect coach for my wedding day and she executed all the right plays at the right time! I know I could not have had a better wedding and I will be forever thankful that InStyle gave me my dream day!!! read more