If you want your wedding done right then hire Sally. She gets the job done and does all the dirty…read morework for you. She keeps things on schedule. She will also tell people NO if there is a problem. She makes sure things are done the way the bride wants them and makes sure she is taken care of. Highly recommend her for wedding or an event. Great job

Sally is wonderful! Made our wedding planning process organized and followed up with us when we…read morefell behind things on our to do list. The best part about hiring Sally was not having to worry or communicate with any vendors on the day of the wedding. She did such a great job organizing everything and keeping people on the timeline that our ceremony was actually ready to go a few minutes early. We as a couple felt so supported and couldn't have asked for a better wedding planner.

Bliss was our wedding coordinator for our wedding on 10/26/19. She was nothing short of amazing. My…read moreonly regret is that we did not start working with her sooner! She was amazingly responsive and always had a solution to any issues that arose. She was honest and forthcoming about all of the choices we made and what she recommended. She helped us through an unfortunate venue space change 3 months before our wedding; working to get us a refund from our first venue and working closely with our new venue to ensure we had what we needed to keep our wedding on track. She was even the person to flag to us that we needed to change our first venue; the best decision we made leading up to our wedding and we are forever grateful that she cared enough about us and our wedding day to help us make that tough decision. She kept a long check list for us to work through so we felt more in control and less overwhelmed with all there was to do before a wedding; and she was always available for questions with immediate options so you never felt lost. The day of the wedding, everything went seamlessly. She ensured everything including our custom alter and quick venue flip from ceremony to reception was flawless. She organized and coordinated with all of our vendors to ensure they had all questions answered and needs met to be successful. She and her assistant were on top of everything at the reception from what time we needed speeches to start to where gifts needed to go (we didn't ask for any so had no place for them) to managing the flip to how much we were spending on our bar tab. We had several relatives come up to us and say "I am not sure how much you paid for Bliss to be here but she was worth every penny" and "Your coordinator is amazing". We could not agree more. Bliss even went above and beyond to organize taking our decor to a storage unit we had booked nearby since we left for our honeymoon the next morning. This made our wedding even more stress free as we did not have to worry about what to do with everything that night. She was amazing every step of the way and we always felt taken care of. The day of was completely stress free and we did not have to worry about anything. She truly made our day perfect. We would recommend her to anyone who is looking for a seamless wedding.

Alison was the perfect officiant for our wedding this fall at the Durham Museum of Life and…read moreScience. My wife and I interviewed a couple of other officiants, but felt an immediate connection to Alison. She was very thoughtful, and considerate, but never stiff or overly formal. Funny, but not reaching for any laughs or reducing the ritual of our ceremony. And also so organized and experienced in leading the type of intimate ceremony we were looking for! After assigning us questionnaires to fill out with our backstories, Alison weaved together a beautiful, elegant, heart-felt script that both brought the two of us to tears and forced the corners of our mouths up into grins. Several of our guests asked how long we had known Alison, and were shocked we only found her online. I truly hope this review inspires some other lucky couple to pick Alison for their wedding!

There is no shortage of great things i can say about Alison and the entire experience. We found her…read moreon referral from another officiant who was booked for our day. Alison got back to us within a day, we did our zoom intro and got down to business. She was extremely receptive to our wants and needs and tailored a ceremony that was perfect for us. Communication leading up to the wedding day was stellar and the process couldnt have been any easier. On the day of she jumped right in, asked all the right questions and helped me wrangle our guests and kept everything on track. She made sure we had the best ceremony for us and left me feeling stress free and very well taken care of. Afterwards she took care of our marriage license so that we could get packed up and fly out for our honeymoon. I couldnt have asked for anything more for our big day. Working with Alison for your ceremony would be one of your best choices in what can be an overwhleming process.

We hired Priscilla just a few months before our fall wedding & we absolutely fell in love with her…read more The first thing we really noticed (and LOVED) about her was how prompt & prepared she was. She was early to all of our meetings which is a big plus! She was very attentive & got to know us so that she could incorporate aspects of our personality into our ceremony. Every little idea she came up with thoroughly impressed us. She worked very well with our budget, using her various connections to get us the highest quality at the lowest price. She spent alot of time listening to our ideas and making suggestions. Our ceremony was a dream come true. Priscilla saw to each detail so that we were virtually worry-free the entire day.She is amazing at what she does and is destined for greatness in her field. For someone so young, she is extremely dedicated, professional and passionate. We would recommend her for any event you plan on having people talk about for weeks, months & years!

Priscilla Erwin from Orangerie Events was great! She had a unique situation with us in that we…read moresigned up for the middle package, then I got surprise-deployed to Afghanistan (which required us to change the date as well), so we stepped up to the highest package and she worked with my husband and mom for much of the time. When I got home I joined them and we got back into the full swing of things. It was wonderful planning together when I got back. She understood exactly what I wanted really quickly, and is much better at verbalizing that to vendors. She could also tell when I wasn't sure if their vision matched mine which is both an amazing and necessary skill for a high quality wedding planner. As someone who didn't dream of weddings growing up, but is a 24 yr old with certain things that I decided we wanted over our 2 yr engagement, this was just perfect! She chose our florist, cake vendor, hair and makeup, transportation, and invitations/stationary. All of these vendors did absolutely beautiful work (both wedding party and strangers commented on all of these individual vendors and their amazing products), and everyone but the invite vendor was easy to work with. On the day of, she was fantastic and my husband and I were stress-free. More importantly, our parents on both sides were stress-free. That's the MOST important part to us. She is WONDERFUL the day of! People joked that our wedding looked like it was sponsored by Pinterest. She made all of that happen, with the gorgeous details and intricate touches, while everyone involved with the wedding was able to enjoy the day and appreciate time with our loved ones. The only reason we didn't give a full 5/5 is for responsiveness. My family is both military and type A. To us status updates are crucial for our comfort in the planning process. Priscilla had it covered, but she didn't want to bother us with the info because she thought that's what we preferred. I told her that I actually preferred updates and liked to be inundated with info rather than wondering, so she adjusted and things were smooth after that. She's great at what she does, and is a pleasure to work with. She never shows stress which is great for brides. I was SO happy with her work and loved spending time with her! One thing I'd also like to add. My mother-in-law used to work with a florist and did a lot of weddings. Our flowers (Gregg Kennedy by the way) were gorgeous, and the price for which we got these flowers were a STEAL. My mother-in-law is still talking about what a great deal we got, and we would not have gotten such a deal without the benefit of Gregg and Priscilla's great relationship.

Kayelily was absolutely amazing to work with. From the moment we met her we knew she was the…read moreperfect person to officiate our wedding because she simply read previous weddings aloud to us and we had tears in our eyes not even knowing these couples but just feeling their story through her words. She was easy to email and willing to help where needed and made the ceremony creation and marriage license process a breeze. After the wedding my guests raved about her for weeks. I was told it was a wedding ceremony that was like no other and they almost wish it didn't have to end. I would highly recommend Kayelily to anyone!

Kayelily is an absolute master of her craft. If you are thinking of working with her, do it! She…read morehas done tons of weddings, and her experience makes for a seamless process and a beautiful ceremony. At the same time, she somehow manages to make you feel like you are the only clients on her plate. Throughout the entire planning process, no matter what time we emailed her, we got a response within several hours. I truly don't know how she does it. Kayelily knows the exact process of designing and executing a perfectly personalized and touching wedding ceremony from start to finish. She allows you to be as involved as you'd like to be. I remember reading in her reviews before we decided to work with her that many couples had gotten compliments from their wedding guests on the ceremony. I thought to myself how strange that was, I mean how often has a wedding ceremony stood out so much to you? Well, I have to say that the exact same thing happened to us! After the ceremony, wedding guests came up to us and said Kayelily was totally captivating and executed the most beautiful and personal wedding ceremony. Hire Kayelily! You won't regret it!

Michele is fantastic! My husband and I hired Michele about 18 months out from our wedding to be our…read more"month out" coordinator. I told Michele at the time that I wanted her to take over planning a couple of months before the wedding because I would be studying for my residency board exam prior to the wedding. We made plans to meet up and have her take over closer to the date. From the get go, Michele was on board to support me fully during the exam studying and not contact me unless necessary. The three of us met up for a meeting prior to starting my study block and then for 6 weeks while I was studying, she and my husband handled everything. Michele is experienced and initiated all contact with vendors and knew exactly what to-do items needed to be completed and when. She was happy to handle things and visit the venue prior to the big day! In regards to the actual day, Michele was very detail oriented while still being able to see the big picture which allowed the event to run smoothly. Michele kept us on our timeline while still being flexible and allowing us to linger when necessary, that meant we could actually enjoy the reception portion. Michele would frequently check in on me and my husband to make sure we were comfortable and happy. She was skilled at delegating tasks to others but also willing to get her hands dirty to make things work (moving tables herself, carrying chairs and setting up) even if physical manual labor was required to get the job done! The entire time she maintained a great attitude and was also funny so it made the weekend even more enjoyable. Our venue (The Pavilion at Nicks Road) was extremely challenging and difficult to work with - she still handled so much that I think only the rest of my family knows about so that my husband and I could enjoy the day. Multiple people came up to me during my wedding weekend to say I was the most calm looking bride they have ever seen - I am sure that can be attributed to the fact that Michele was in charge and when people would ask me something I would just point them towards Michele. You should absolutely hire Michele for your wedding. We had so much fun and our weekend was perfect. My only regret is not considering full wedding planning services with Michele - I am sure she would do an amazing job in that scenario too.

Spark Notes Version - I HIGHLY recommend working with A Southern Soiree! They will make your…read morewedding day magical. Extended Version: I was married at The Carolina Inn in May and I had the absolute privilege of working with Gina from A Southern Soiree. When you book a ceremony at The Carolina Inn, they include day-of coordination with one of the area wedding planning companies as a part of the package (amazing deal - everyone should get married at The Carolina Inn). Having seen A Southern Soiree in TONS of blogs and websites, I asked right away if I could work with them for my wedding. I ended up working with Gina, and based on my contract with the venue, assumed that we would just meet a couple of times to cover the basics and that Gina would primarily just be there to support the actual wedding day. I could not have been more wrong, in all the right ways! Gina was an absolute dream to work with and well exceeded my expectations throughout the wedding planning vision. She helped so much throughout the planning process. She was also professional, quick to respond to emails, had great ideas for my wedding day, and has such a great personality - I had so much fun at all of our meetings! When the day of the rehearsal dinner came, I had everything packed in my car and drove over to the venue, starting to feel overwhelmed with pre-wedding stress. As soon as I parked my car at the valet, Gina and her assistant were there coordinating getting my car unloaded. I gave Gina a rundown on what I had in all the boxes and where it needed to go, and she took over from there. There was no stressing out about setting out favors, making sure programs made it to the ceremony, etc. because Gina had it 100% taken care of. At the rehearsal dinner I was feeling overwhelmed, and Gina's assistant stood there with a glass of water for me the whole time just in case I needed it. They wanted to do whatever they could to make sure they day was stress free and that everything was wonderful. Gina and her assistant were like magical wedding planning fairies the day of the wedding making sure that everything was executed flawlessly. Before the wedding, people told me to mentally prepare myself for "something" going wrong, but when the wedding day came...nothing went wrong. Literally, everything was perfect, and I'm sure it was because I was so fortunate to have A Southern Soiree there to cover all the details. Even my father-in-law the day after the wedding could NOT stop talking about how amazing Gina and her assistant were. He was still in a state of disbelief over how they were able to pull everything off so perfectly. You can't go wrong choosing them as your event planning company and I would definitely recommend them to all of my friends and family.

Alyssa and her team executed an exceptional job! My daughter's wedding at the Umstead in Cary was…read moreflawless! Alyssa's support was incredible- from addressing emails promptly to arranging an extra in-person meeting. My daughter Nanny and I had complete peace of mind with her overseeing everything!! I highly recommend her for anyone considering a wedding at the Umstead or anywhere else this company serves. Alyssa excelled in coordinating with vendors and creating a timeline for my daughter's special day!

Erica was a great presence to have throughout our wedding planning process. She is extremely…read morecalming and made it easier to deal with the planning stress. She recommended several vendors and the online planning website she uses is super helpful!