Off the Beaten Path (OTBP) did an amazing job organizing our celebration of 30 years together! Stephanie is kind, compassionate, efficient, and effective. The technologies she uses are easy to navigate so it is always clear where things are and what needs to be done. Our event was relatively complex with 100 people, 2 caterers, etc. and everything went perfectly on the day of the event. Her team joined in the celebration of love and made all of our guests feel welcome and special. Highly recommended! We will only use OTBP for future events. read more

Off The Beaten Path Signature Experiences - Renewal of vows ceremony - Wedding Planning Near Me

The Off The Beaten Path Team was so greta to work with! We are a photo and video team and love working with them on weddings. They are friendly and professional from start to finish. Can't wait for the next one we work together!! read more

Stephanie is an amazing wedding planner!! She helped guide us from start to finish on all wedding things big and small, most of which we had no idea we needed to do in the first place. Her extensive planning experience is SO apparent when speaking to her (why we chose her), and she has this calm, cool and collected energy that is lifesaving when you're in the thick of making a million small planning decisions. We always felt sure that nothing was going to go wrong (and nothing did!). She told us what we needed to do when, and helped us narrow down decisions with simple options and often reminded us of what we originally said we wanted, which is easy to lose sight of during the process. She connected us to the venue of our DREAMS, and the whole wedding weekend went off without a single hitch. Honestly, we partly didn't even realize how PERFECTLY Stephanie planned and executed our wedding until we attended a wedding as guests a few weeks later. All the little details that Stephanie did without even telling us suddenly became apparent - like having already opened bottles of wine on the dinner tables, so none of our guests had to wait, having ample lighting for evening time, having thought through the flow of the event, just everything. We are so grateful for her kindness and competency in the entire lead up to and during our wedding. Please choose Off the Beaten Path Weddings (her company) as she and the whole team are so lovely and amazing! We really are so, so happy we worked with them and can't recommend them strongly enough. read more

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Looking for a wedding planner? Look no further. We hired Off The Beaten Path May 2020 for our wedding on September 16, 2021 which was our first best decision we made. After talking to Stephanie the first time we knew she was a perfect fit. Price is very reasonable especially in the Napa county area, she is very sweet, extremely helpful (especially since we are from Hawaii), organized--of course super important for a wedding planner, and doesn't mind I emailed and texted her frequently. Stephanie was everything we needed her to be. She let me have my creative ideas yet was there to rely on for input and amazing execution. She helped setup introductions to any vendors, reviewed every contract, and looked into any questions we had. She let us feel at ease but did not take control of every aspect that let us design our dream wedding. Stephanie sent a website that became my most visited website over that span of one and a half years, Aisle Planner. I absolutely love organization and that website was just that, a website to organize tasks, retain info and ideas, progress percentage, and connect to OTBP. On to the wedding day, Stephanie made sure everything went so smoothly and went off without a hitch! Everything was done exactly how I wanted and even better. She directed our guests to where they needed to go and pay attention to. She truly is the best and was so essential to why our wedding came out like a dream. Glad we asked to take a photo with her in our Photo Booth before she left for the night. She will forever be apart of our fridge. Shout out to Gloria, OTBP calligrapher, who wrote on the growlers that we sent her for table seating which came out beautifully. Thank you Stephanie and the team at Off The Beaten Path!! read more

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Absolutely incredible planning and catering team. Stephanie is THE BEST - so knowledgable, so helpful, so professional, and most of all - super kind/sweet/awesome person. Wedding planning can be so stressful, but with Stephanie it was SO much easier. She also made sure the event went off without a hitch and as the bride, I could just have fun! The catering team is also absolutely amazing. Got tons of compliments about the appetizers, the drinks, the food, and the dessert. Overall, this is an incredible team and would highly recommend you to hire her if you are looking to make your dream wine country wedding come true. read more

OTBP was amazing to work with. Stephanie and Madeline were incredible - attentive, patient, and very accommodating. Coming from MN it was especially helpful to have knowledgeable people in town to guide us. They went above and beyond to make sure we were all set up for our big day. I'd highly recommend OTBP! read more

Stephanie's expert wedding planning skills helped us create a magical wedding for our daughter and her fiance at our home garden setting in Point Reyes Station. Guests said that it was the most beautiful, down-to-earth-yet-elegant wedding they'd ever been to--and they raved about the absolutely delicious farm to table food. Stephanie, Jamal, and their wonderful team facilitated our unique vision with flexibility and ease, making for a stress-free experience. I couldn't recommend them more highly! read more

Hiring Stephanie goes down in the books as the single most important piece of advice I would give to any couple planning a wedding. Everything else could have been a little different and the wedding would have been fine. But a Stephanie-less wedding would have transformed the year before the wedding from full of easy breezy joy to full of stress. And let's face it, look at her Instagram, her taste is 100 times better than mine. Without her my gorgeous wedding that could have been featured on some popular wedding Instagram account would have looked just OK. Working with Stephanie means no matter what, you will have a breathtaking wedding. Whether you are like me and you just want to show up to an Instagram perfect wedding without putting in the work, or you are someone with a vision of the beauty that is going to ooze from every carefully chosen wedding detail....Stephanie is your girl. Like I said, I more so fall in that category of "I want a stunning wedding but I don't want to make it happen." I showed up and was greeted by what was genuinely the most beautiful event I have ever attended. All I did was send Stephanie a pinterest board! Not that she did not give me every opportunity to be as involved as I wanted to be. She would often email and ask if I wanted to give input on a certain detail. And if I said yes, she crafted the input into a multiple choice question where I just chose between 3 darling options-totally my decision making speed. I have no doubt she will involve you how you want to be involved. I have no doubt she will ensure your wedding is stunning. I have no doubt she will flow the day along so you can just enjoy it and not once think about if those tables are setup yet or if the band is going to arrive on time. It felt like magic was gliding the wedding along-and isn't that what we all want-a magic forward day? HIRE STEPHANIE! You will not regret it. I still feel like I was so much less stressed than all my friends were getting married and I give her the credit for making that the case. read more

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What can I say - Mary Ellen and her staff are amazing - beyond amazing. I found Mary Ellen through another friend - Mary Ellen planned a fabulous wedding for her too. Mary Ellen has such an incredible amount of experience - she's been in the biz for years, and knows absolutely everyone in wine country. Mary Ellen truly does specialize in off the beaten path weddings - and she's managed to curate the most incredible collection of venues, and cultivate relationships with the very best vendors. She was always responsive, timely, worked within our budget, and had great and original ideas - and was also aware of things I would have never even thought of - another reason you want an expert planner with lots of local experience like her. In addition to all of this, she ALWAYS went above and beyond and truly takes pride in what she does. Our wedding was incredible - and so authentically us. All of our friends and family kept raving about the wedding - and the feedback all around - was hands down best wedding ever. Just another day's work for Mary Ellen and crew. If you're looking for a gorgeous nature inspired wedding, I'd recommend Mary Ellen without hesitation. Mary Ellen, thank you for everything - it truly was the best weekend of our lives - and it was all because of you! read more

Off The Beaten Path Signature Experiences - Wedding Planning Near Me

Stephanie and her team are amazing! As a wedding photographer, I work with a large number of vendors, and often planners that forget we are partners who are here to serve couples together, as a team - not Stephanie though! We were in sync the whole day, and in constant communication about how to make the bride and groom's day the best ever, even as circumstances beyond our control threatened the fun. I love working with her, and all couples would be lucky to have planner like Stephanie. read more

If you are looking for a seamless experience, a perfect balance between your dreams, and the impossible... Stephanie and her team are able to weave all of that together for you for the most magical memories to last a lifetime! As a property owner at Pythian House, we have had many years of over-the-top experiences with Off The Beaten Path, and would have rated them with 10 stars... ever-amazing food, staff, service, and attention to details...an unparalleled professional, thoughful and personalized experience...... for all of us! read more

Stephanie and her OTBP team planned our wonderful wedding in Sept. '18. It was a large, outdoor wedding with a lot of different personalized components, including a brass band and two whole roasted pigs, not to mention last minute changes due to weather patterns. Stephanie curated a day for us that captured everything we wanted. To this day, our friends regularly volunteer to us that ours was the most fun and/or favorite wedding they have attended, and not only do we have to agree, we know we owe OTBP for pulling it off! Throughout the planning process, Stephanie kept us at ease, staying levelheaded and keeping a great sense of humor. On the day of the wedding, OTBP crew were working so hard behind the scenes, and we did not have to stress over things that we found out about later from her (that were no fault of their team). In the end, we could not have been happier with OTBP and are so grateful that they were recommended to us! We would recommend them to anyone, especially those looking to create a unique and personalized experience for their guests. read more

Hiring Mary Ellen and the Off the Beaten Path Wedding team was hands down the the best decision we made in the wedding planning process. We could not have imagined a more perfect wedding day and it was all thanks to Mary Ellen's detailed planning and her team's seamless execution. From the very beginning, Mary Ellen was professional and responsive. She helped us find the perfect venue for our personalities, budget and number of guests. She coordinated the food, the staff, the "styling" and all the details. She provided us with a detailed checklist and personalized timeline leading up to the event and checked in with us to make sure we were on track. We also worked closely with her team. The Chefs, Cheyenne and Amber, helped up design our menu from welcome drinks to craft cocktails, appetizers themed around our travels, an incredible family-style dinner & delicious dessert bar. Gloria, the Social Media / Graphic Designer / Chalkboard Artist Extraordinaire, helped us with the colors, styling & little details of the day. Mary Ellen and her team went above and beyond in the planning process, making it a relatively stress-free experience for us which allowed us to really enjoy the months, weeks, days and hours leading up to the wedding. We did not have to worry about anything the day of - they were on it! The details were all anyone could talk about the day after the wedding... The chalkboards, the beautiful cocktails, the parasols, the flowers, the table arrangements, the incredibly upbeat & friendly staff. The FOOD! Oh my god the food! I cannot recommend Off the Beaten Path Weddings enough. It was an incredible value and worth every penny! To Mary Ellen, Cheyenne, Amber, Gloria and the entire staff: Thank you for your vision, your attention to detail, you guidance, your patience, your flexibility, your knowledge of everything wedding related in wine country. We are so incredibly grateful and we could not have imagined a better celebration. It was perfect. Thank you! read more

Mary Ellen, Stephanie and Gloria - I don't know if a five star review will do justice to just how incredibly happy Mike and I are with how our wedding turned out. It's been a week since our wedding and we're still smiling ear to ear and continue to hear from our guests that it was the most romantic and magical wedding they have ever attended. From the table decor and florals, to the signage and gourmet food, you really pulled out all the stops. To top it off, the desserts and coffee station were a huge hit and I got to dance to my heart's desire thanks to your great recommendation to hire Vincent as our DJ. He was awesome. If I were to take the place of Bill Murray in the movie Groundhogs Day, I would choose Off the Beaten Path Weddings to plan and coordinate our wedding every single time. Thanks for making our day exactly as you promised it would be: a day celebrating our love for one another amongst our closest friends and family in the most special and intimate of settings. We will never forget it. Thanks a million. You three are truly the best. read more

I don't even know where to begin when I talk about the wedding Mary Ellen and Off The Beaten Path put on for us. It far surpassed every expectation I, the bride, had. Our friends and family are still raving about it: the the food was the best (and we both have foodie families), the drinks were the best, the location was the best, it was the most beautiful wedding people had been to, so classy and so uniquely us at the same time, and, yaaaaay, the most fun wedding people had been to. Incredibly, it managed to impress the most conservative AND the most bohemian amongst our guests. But the feedback I am most happy to get, is that it was magic, "like a dream" and my favorite "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" to which I reply- Mary Ellen and her extraordinary team. From the brand she has masterfully crafted- that pulls together a beautiful location, delicious food (including a dessert bar and espresso!!), tables lavished with flower and field, cocktails!!!!! (no wedding is complete without welcome cocktails BEFORE the ceremony!), and a ton of other incredibly thoughtful details and touches that make it beautiful and unique- to the insanely warm-hearted team she has picked to work with her, Mary Ellen not only has the creative genius to create memorable events but the experience of a seasoned pro to coordinate all the details. Is it a given that you will look back at your wedding and feel like all the time and money you poured into it were worth it? Definitely not. It's easy to get swept up in rituals and details that miss what is important- the love between you!!! And sharing that with your family and friends!! Because of Mary Ellen's sagely advice and her commitment to stripping down weddings to their important essentials- nature, food, family and friends- our wedding came as close to perfection as we could have hoped for and created a memory that will burn bright in the hearts and memories of all who were there. Thank you is an understatement. And I would do it all again in a heart beat. :) read more

The simple answer is that our wedding was more perfect than we could have imagined and all of that was because of Mary Ellen Murphy and her team. We are from Toronto and planned a significant amount through email and phone correspondence. Mary Ellen became almost a part of our family and now that the wedding has come and gone, she is missed. We also used her wedding officiant, Steve Thrush, who has an unmatched passion for what he does and took the time to get to know us and is now someone we consider a friend. Steve created a ceremony that was very personal and balanced the right amount of humour and class. We did however choose our own photographer and wedding DJ, which we had planned to do all along, as both were very important to us and we wanted a specific style for each. Also, we read the negative reviews here and proceeded with caution early on. Like any large commitment it is important to be diligent before you sign anything. But we have 0 complaints about the service, fee's or character of Mary Ellen Murphy We wish we could re live the day over and over, as do all of our guests http://imgur.com/1oavTAU read more

I honestly can't remember how we stumbled across Stephanie & OTBP but I'm glad we did and wish it could have been for longer! We originally wanted to hire OTBP for our full service planner & catering after seeing the website and reviews and knowing we wanted to have an al fresco wedding outside centered on Farm to Table cuisine; however, were so early on in the planning process the idea of signing a big contract for planner and catering prior to booking a venue felt overwhelming. Luckily we developed a quick repertoire with Stephanie after filling out a thorough questionnaire (about ourselves, guest count, budget, etc) and initial phone call and knew right away we wanted her to be our guide in bringing about the vision for our wedding. She graciously agreed to doing the "Venue Selection" option offered so we could work together and then decide what worked best for us after nailing down the place (a lot of Bay Area wedding venues have weird rules around catering so it made a lot of sense this way). After doing some back and fourth about our must haves Stephanie was presented us with some options and potential budgets. Being an admitted Type A bride I can say that Stephanie was super flexible and encouraging of any suggestions I had on the venue's. She was also very helpful in setting up site visits for us to go see together and was a great thought partner as my fiancee and I clunked through some of initial ideas. In the end, with COVID uncertainty and whatnot our priorities totally shifted and we ended up deciding to do a destination wedding instead. We feel great about forgoing the big (namely expensive) shindig here, but we are totally bummed about not being able to keep working with Stephanie over the next year on our big day (if we could we would totally bring her with us!). We would highly highly highly recommend working with her and definitely think you should, at the very least start your venue selection with Stephanie at the helm. Her knowledge of the area is great and she was so quick to get back to our (my) many many questions. For sure the right personality for a super detailed person like me but also just a really easygoing person for anyone who's not looking for an over the top, pushy, cookie-cutter planner like the MANY that are out there in this region. Even if they don't wind up in your final plan, go with OTPB you won't regret it! read more

We used Off The Beaten Path for our wine country wedding and it was the best decision we made to go with them! Stephanie and her team was absolutely wonderful to work with! Months later our guests are still talking about the outstanding farm to table cuisine, the espresso bar and dessert table along with the entire experience. It took a lot of stress off me to know Stephanie and her team would handle everything and the whole event was seamless. We could not have imagined anything better! read more

Mary Ellen is the BEST!!!! My wife and I had the most amazing wedding we could have hoped for. It was the perfect balance of being able to design the day we wanted but not having to worry about all the details. We wanted to find a unique location where we could move at our schedule. She found us an unbelievably beautiful venue that included a little redwood grove for a dance area! She took all of the stress off of our shoulders and everything was executed with perfection from the moment our guests arrived. The specialty cocktails were delicious, the food was incredible, and the service was excellent. Amanda and I can not recommend Off The Beaten Path Weddings any higher. It was truly an amazing day and we have Mary Ellen to thank!!! read more

Can you believe it's been a month since we got married? What a magical day you guys helped us put together. Our guests are still gushing about the venue, the food, the welcome beverage, the service, and all the little touches that made it so special. Truly, you delivered! The signage looked beautiful, the table escapes were just as we planned them, the head table was gorgeous, the servers had a lovely attitude, the cocktails looked picture perfect... you even had umbrellas for our guests during the ceremony, and beautiful lounge furniture for cocktail hour! Stephanie, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that you were *the star* of the night! My husband and I, as well as my mom-in-law and sister-in-law were both very impressed with your organization, confidence, and outstanding management of the event. They both say it from experience, as they put together plenty of events on a regular basis. Our guests kept admiring your competent, respectful, and professional demeanor. You were imperceptible, calmly managing everything on the background, yet always present when needed: From figuring out how to put the bustle of my dress up (the groom and bridesmaids spent a long time trying to figure it out, and you did it in seconds!); to cleaning my husband's face for the photos when we realized some of my make-up got on his face; to having a dinner plate for us at the end of the night because we didn't have time to eat - We noticed it all... the big, the small... we saw you! You should be very proud of how you managed everything. You have our outmost appreciation and respect. We travel a lot, and have experienced all kinds of service, and Stephanie, you are gold... Mary Ellen is lucky to have you on her team! read more

Stay as far away from Mary Ellen and Off the Beaten Path as you possibly can! I still have nightmares about her! For your own sanity, do not have Mary Ellen involved in your wedding. I used her full coordinating and planning services for our wedding in June and it not only added a lot of additional stress, but also I believe extra money along with many last minute costly "surprises". The complete list of things is too long, but here are some of them. Since we went with a basic package and wanted to add things on later on, I asked Mary Ellen before we signed up package many questions for example, how much would we be credited for dessert if we got it on our own (it was included in the package), how much is a dance floor, how much is a kids meal? We got all of this in emails, but when it came closer to our wedding date and we asked Mary Ellen these same exact questions, somehow the price increased significantly. Kids she said in a previous email was $25 per person, and now she was saying $45. The dance floor would be $1000 instead of $500, dessert would be credited $7 instead of $8 per person. She right-out lied to us about the costs. I feel that she did this so that we would sign a contract with her and be stuck with using her. Mary Ellen is also bad at communicating. She has taken on too much work and does not have enough time to do all of it. It was hard to schedule meetings with her as she would always have another potential client to show venues to. She prioritized potential clients and higher paying clients over us. I even called her the day after our wedding to see if there was anything else left over to pick up. I left a message, and she never called back. It is not surprising that all of our non-used alcohol disappeared. Mary Ellen was already rushing off to her next wedding and didn't have the decency to take one minute to call me back. Mary Ellen is very rude. She right out called us cheap an e-mail. We did not have the largest budget, but that does not make it ok to call someone cheap. I still have the email if you want to read it. It is extremely rude and unprofessional. This is the real Mary Ellen. Our guests told us that she was yelling at them during our reception, and this is not what you want at your wedding! She came up with extra surprise charges at the end. She told us that the owners of our venue would put up bistro lights by the time of our wedding so we would not need to order extra lighting. When I came for our rehearsal the day before our wedding, I noticed that there was some lighting on the dance floor. She said "That is a surprise I had for you, a gift from us since the owners were not able to install lighting before your wedding". Then, on our final bill, Mary Ellen charged us for the lighting at $200. When I mentioned that she said it was a gift, she wrote back with a nasty email saying that I am extremely ungrateful and to never contact her again, or she will forward it to her lawyer. Your wedding day is supposed to be the most wonderful day of your life. Because of Mary Ellen, it was full of stress and extra costs. I have many other examples as well as the list goes on and on. I would never recommend to a friend or even a stranger. Find someone, anybody else! read more

My husband and I used Mary Ellen & Chelsea for our wedding on August 4th 2012. We purchased Mary Ellen's full package including coordination, venue, rentals, catering and DJ. I would definitely not do that again. By purchasing the full package I put a great deal of faith in them estimating our needs properly and understanding our desires for the day. While I think they were able to do this in some areas, others they were not and I should have been more involved in order to avoid this. Additionally the company had another wedding the same day as ours. It seemed like they were stretched very thin when it came to service staff and focus and that many of our details may have fallen through the cracks due to this. I would also have to agree with some of the other reviewers about their communication. I don't think that their communication style is any worse than any other part time planner, but given that they are your primary vendor (managing dj, catering, rentals, venue, etc.) I would have expected a bit more conversation. A great deal of the coordination communication occurred in the week before the wedding, which added more stress to that already busy time. It seems to me that many of our issues could be attributed to a lack of attention to detail and advanced planning. There were not enough ceremony chairs, our place settings weren't the ones we agreed to, the recessional music was not what I had asked for, some of our rental pieces & supplied decor were not put out, the buses were mismanaged leaving ~60+ guests in the driveway of the venue for 30 minutes, they ran out of beef long before all our guests had eaten and the list goes on. While none of these things by any means ruined our wedding (it was still an amazing event), they were annoying since we had hired someone and paid quite a bit to ensure these things didn't happen or at least we as the bride and groom wouldn't know they were happening. We were very happy with the venue (Mary Ellen & Chelsea have exclusive access to some pretty spectacular places!), DJ Scott was fantastic and super helpful, and Rebecca on their staff was a dream to work with! The floral arrangements on the table were beautiful as well. We really loved our venue and our guests had a great time, but I would not recommend OTBP for their planning & coordination services as they did not deliver what was promised. read more

We had a very negative experience with Mary Ellen and could never recommend her to anyone else looking for wedding sites and services. She took weeks to get back to us with emails or phone calls. read more

Mary Ellen planned my cousins' wine country wedding over Labor Day and that day will go down as one of the most memorable in my life. It was like a scene out of Midsummer Night's Dream -- a magical forest with whimsical surprises around every corner. I know my cousins will recommend her widely and I'll be doing the same! I'm sorry that because she's one of those focused, on-the-job types, I barely got to speak with her on the day of the wedding. read more

Stephanie and her team from Off The Beaten Path were an asset in planning our wedding. I interviewed a few different planners, and I especially liked Stephanie for her ability to be professional while also being easy to talk to and laid back. It was especially important for us to hire a planner because we were having our wedding at a family member's private residence - so there would be a lot of logistics involved that I would not know how to approach. Stephanie and her team were SO incredibly helpful in coming up with a layout for the day, and problem-solving logistics like lighting and ceremony and table placements. On top of the logistics, Stephanie and her team helped us bring our decor vision to life - helping to organize inspiration photos we liked and giving input on design choices. Maybe the best part of hiring Stephanie and her team, was having her and her staff there for day of coordination. Everything went smoothly, and they rolled with the unexpected changes. We also enjoyed the catering. The guests were very impressed with the food and the service. Thank you to Stephanie and her team, for helping us through the process of planning our dream day! read more

We attended our friend's wedding in Napa and were so impressed with this company. They were courteous, professional and handled everything with ease and grace. This is the kind of company I would want to be attending to our guests and I am glad we got to experience such an incredible event with their expertise leading the way. read more

I want to personally thank Mary Ellen, Stephanie, Gloria and the rest of her amazing team for putting together an amazing wedding for Ashley and I. We couldn't have found a better group of high character people that exceeded all expectations. From the initial visit - I knew Mary Ellen was the right fit. Also, she got us access to a venue that was truly remarkable. People came out of our wedding saying it was the best wedding they have ever been to. No detail was missed by Mary Ellen and her team and we can not thank them enough for their hard work and dealing with Ashley and I over the months of planning. I personally tried to thank as many of her staff the day of the wedding as I could - they are the backbone of the operation and they did it in spades. A true pleasure, thank you Mary Ellen and team. I wish we could get married every year and work with you and the OTBPW team. Cheers. Matt + Ashley read more

My oldest daughter was married 4 years ago in Washington DC. She had an absolutely terrific wedding planner. When my youngest daughter became engaged our standards were high and we didn't think it was possible for anyone to fill those shoes. OTBP was recommended to us and we liked their philosophy of good food, good company in the beautiful outdoors. However we were hesitant as we felt like we were putting all our eggs in one basket. In hindsight, we could not be happier. Stephanie is worth gold!!! She is professional, extremely organized, pays attention to the smallestt of details, truly wishes for the bride and groom to have their special day and is a wonderful person. She kept us on a timeline that made us feel in control even though we only had 4 months to plan and kept us on budget. Costs were always transparent. There was no pressure whatsoever to use their recommended vendors but having done so on most things helped streamlined the process. Stephanie was in close contact with all vendors regardless where they came from. Due to terrific planning and a terrific leader the day of the wedding was seamless. The venue looked gorgeous. The guests loved the food and it was all done quietly and professionally. The wedding was on the same day as the royal couple. As one guest put it, "Sorry Meghan and Harry but this wedding was one for the ages." We credit Stephanie and her team. I would highly recommend OTBP. You will have a beautiful wedding and work with a special person with special talents. read more

We used Off the Beaten Path for our September wedding in Sonoma. Stephanie and her team did an incredible job of scheduling and organizing every decision that needed to be made, keeping a lot of the stress and burden off of us. She listened to our vision and executed it perfectly as well as incorporating details all over the place that really brought everything together and made the whole day magical. They say that weddings are supposed to be stressful and that something inevitably goes wrong - but with the OTBP team behind you there is nothing to worry about! read more

Stephanie and Mary Ellen are hands down the way to go for your wedding in wine country..don't think I could write a more apt thank you note than the one from the Mother of the Bride below: "So here I sit, trying to think of a word bigger than thanks.... because thanks doesn't do justice to the gratitude we feel for the amazing experience of Saturday evening. From the moment the ceremony began, Kelsey and Brian seemed to float through the evening in utter bliss -- everything that they had envisioned for their wedding (and more) unfolded before them and they relished every second of it! Russ and I, too, were completely transported into the magic -- we ate, drank and danced the night away without a worry in the world. And our guests... well, they couldn't stop gushing... everyone was intoxicated as much by the place, the food, and the experience as they were by the wine! You two, together with your team, literally made dreams come true. Small as the words may seem in light of the big sentiment I want to express... THANK YOU.... Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to tap into your extraordinary talents for design, organization and execution. From the selection of the venue back in December to the loading of the last shuttle on Saturday night, the service you provided and confidence you inspired in all of us made every stage of the wedding planning process a pleasure. Thanks to you, Mary Ellen, for sharing your exquisite personal taste and gift for "outdoor design". It is an extraordinary feat to put together decor elements that neither distract from nor get overshadowed by the natural beauty of the Pythian property. Your floral arrangements and other thoughtful touches struck the perfect chord -- seeing those long tables bedecked with the simple but elegant white florals on the grey linen took my breath away! Thanks to you, Stephanie, for being our unflappable "boots on the ground" at site visits and in countless phone calls, texts and emails. And for your amazing calm as the loose ends inevitably came together just as the shuttles rolled up with the first guests! You're the absolute best at what you do and it was a pleasure getting to know you. I'll miss our frequent contact! Finally, thank you to your extraordinary team of chefs and servers and bartenders, who prepared delicious food, kept the wine flowing, and generally made us all feel like guests of the king!" read more

Mary Ellen, Stephanie, Gloria and the rest of the team really outdid themselves! Working with the OTBPW team was such a great experience! Our wedding day was more perfect than we could have imagined! Honestly I had very high hopes, but I didn't think it was actually possible to achieve what I had envisioned...they blew our expectations out of the water! It has been nearly a month and our guests are still talking about how wonderful our special day was! Many have said it is "the best/most beautiful wedding they have every attended," which is a HUGE compliment and never gets old hearing! All of the thoughtful details by OTBPWs were perfect and recognized by so many, from the beautiful signage, to the florals, the stunning tablescape, the gourmet food, and I could go on and on. All of the staff were just amazing...so friendly and accommodating! It is a spectacular team to work with and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a special wedding in nature! Just a beautiful evening in all...thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of the planning, organizing and special details! It was truly perfection! read more

I hired Stephanie / Off the Beaten Path after our initial wedding planner had a medical emergency and Stephanie was thankfully able to step in. She was an absolute pleasure to work with, so organized, helpful and wonderful at handling the entire family and all the logistics. Not only did she handle all the details seamlessly, but her aesthetic is wonderful and the table settings/decor looked SO much more beautiful than I could have imagined! I am truly so grateful we were able to work with Stephanie and highly recommend her! read more

I could fill up multiple pages about how amazing our experience was with Stephanie, Gloria and the entire Off the Beaten Path team. We started our journey with Stephanie two years before our wedding date. That just tells you how excited we were to work with her. From the get-go, she was incredibly responsive, organized, creative, and overly accommodating. I can't say enough about her fabulous ideas, talent, and hard work!!! Our wedding day was not the easiest due to the wild winds and Stephanie and Gloria remained cool as cucumbers, handling everything with such charm and grace. Even when I was melting down, they kept this crazy bride in check! Lol Steph and Gloria truly created the most magical wedding experience! Not only were they the most amazing planners and creators, but Trent and I have now gained friends for life. Again I cannot say enough wonderful things about OTBP. A true blessing and total gems to work with!! read more

The entire team at OTBPW is incredible! We could not have been happier with the entire planning process and then the Best Day that we had ever experienced. Mary Ellen and Stephanie truly know how to make wedding planning easy, fun, and as stress free as it can be! They were with us from the very beginning and always very responsive to our questions/need/requests. They designed the most beautiful setting and made sure no detail was overlooked. They truly take pride in what they do and do it well. Our day went so smooth because of all the wonderful planning, and I could not have even dreamed of how beautiful everything looked when it was all set up and arranged. The food was amazing, the dessert bar to die for, their vendors were awesome, and their staff truly gold. Our friends and family still remind us regularly about how amazing the day was, and it would now have happened without these lovely ladies and their team. If you want a truly authentic, personalized, and incredibly beautiful wedding, this is the team for you! read more

We both want to thank Mary Ellen and Chelsea with Off the Beaten Path Weddings for an unforgettable wedding day!!! It's hard to put into words just how special and surreal our wedding day was for us. We had an idea of what we wanted and they both surpassed everything that we had envisioned in our minds. Our wedding was absolutely perfect and it flew by so fast, we both wish that we could do it all over again! We can't thank Off the Beaten Path enough for all of their hard work and planning and for making sure that every last detail was taken care of. Our guests ALL told us that it was the best wedding that they had ever been to and so many of them said they felt like we thought of everything. We were all impressed with the parasols on the chairs, the beautiful flowers, the AMAZING dinner menu, and our unique desserts. Veronica and Betsey who did our hair & make-up were wonderful and all of the girls loved spending the morning getting ready with them. We were so impressed with the professionalism and creativity of Julie and Nathan from One Love Photography. Our DJ Sean did an amazing job and was so sweet! And our officiant Steve is an incredible man and the ceremony reflected us and our personalities perfectly, he was just outstanding. The orange detail in the welcome drinks and the straws, the beautiful setting at Twisted Willow Farm...the whole day was about fun and family, our guests had such a great time together. People that didn't know each other beforehand are now friends, it was such a wonderful, beautiful event. In all, it feels like thank you just isn't enough. We wish we could do it all again, or at least have found a way to slow it all down. It was an absolutely magical night, and as stressful as weddings can be, thanks to Mary Ellen and Chelsea's love, care, and attention to detail, we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves. It is still hard to believe how perfectly the event seemed to fit us, our families and friends, and our dreams for a perfect wedding. Thank you for giving us our PERFECT wedding, it is a day that we will never ever forget. We can't wait for our pictures to come in! ~ Emilie & Jim read more

Mary Ellen and Stephanie are absolutely phenomenal! I'm not sure how to even put into words how happy we are with how our wedding went. From the beginning, they know all the right questions to ask to make sure they get the details right. They truly help you customize your wedding and it feels like it was made just for you (which it was!) rather than feeling like another wedding churned out. It has been a month since our wedding, and we are still getting glowing compliments about our day, with one of the most common being how well organized our wedding was and how attentive the planner (Stephanie and Mary Ellen) was to the guests and us, the bride and groom. Best of all, Mary Ellen and Stephanie are the sweetest people to work with -- you will truly have fun throughout the entire process, and you'll come out on the other side not only having had an amazing wedding, but with 2 new friends :) read more

TLDR; Stephanie and the OTBP team are the best, hire them. Stephanie was recommended to us by the phenomenal team at Vezer Winery (where we were married in June), as we were looking for planner with intimate local knowledge who could adeptly navigate the somewhat chaotic intricacies of an Indian-American wedding. From our first conversation we knew Stephanie was the one--the one who could deliver a glorious three event (two day) wedding celebration. Throughout the planning process she was engaged, helpful, positive, and always there when we needed a question answered. She, and her team, brought their collective expertise, honed over many years, and their vendor connections to deliver the perfect table setting, food, or service that we wanted (even if our needs evolved over time). When it was our big weekend, Stephanie adeptly went about executing a complex series of events that brought together a large contingent of 200 family members and friends. Our wedding went off without a hitch, everyone had an amazing time, and we couldn't have done it without the OTBP team. read more

I wanted to say a warm thank you to Tim who accommodated my onion allergy during a friend's wedding with no advanced notice. I ate very well and did not feel like an outcast at the dinner table. Thank you Tim! read more

Mary Ellen and her amazing team created a magical and romantic wedding memory for my daughter and her husband last weekend in Sonoma. From the start Mary Ellen showed them the venue of their dreams, a place where they would be able to create a vision of their perfect day...and it was a perfect day. This venue was truly unique and spoke instantly to the bride and groom. The transformation of the property into a fairy tale wedding was all the teams' doing. No detail was too small, the flowers, the signage, the placement of tables, the table settings. Oh, and did I mention the food?! Without question, every single guest at the wedding of 155 commented on the excellence of the food...not something you always come to expect at a wedding this size. My daughter and her husband are "foodies" and this piece was extremely important. What they discovered was that Mary Ellen was an active listener to their ideas and an incredible executer...even with a new creative chef on her team. As for me, the MOB, it was incredibly stress free! We put our confidence in Mary Ellen and her team and they did NOT disappoint. We were told by a few future brides that this event would be a tough act to follow...I am just glad we found OTBP first!! read more

I still wonder how I was lucky enough to stumble upon Off The Beaten Path Weddings! After my first Napa Valley visit, I knew my dream location for a destination wedding was Napa Valley! I luckily found OTBPW online and gave Mary Ellen a call, prepared for the likelihood a Napa wedding of the OTBPW's caliber would probably be out of budget for us. I felt from that first phone call, ME and I got each other. I immediately trusted her, and after she reassured me we could have the wedding within our budget, we were on board! The process of planning for me was as low stress as having and planning for a wedding could be, however, I think I'm a little bit of an exception because besides providing some color schemes and some dinner/drink preferences... I left the rest in OTBPW's capable hands. Through only a handful of phone calls (we live in Houston), I trusted them and felt like the got our vision! Fast forward to our wedding day in May: amazing! I felt I was literally in a dream! The venue was just stunning! It was at the base of the valley amongst the vineyards... The entire day, as far as I'm aware went off without a hitch. The guests were immediately in awe of the venue, and all I hear from our guests is how amazing everything was... And fun! We all just had so much fun! The details, the signature cocktails the decor, the music, desserts, the dinner were all spot on! It was better than I could have imagined. During my first phone call with ME I told her that my goal was to wake up the next morning and wish we could do it again rather than be glad it's over... And that is how we felt! Our day was a beautiful blast... And I still wish I could live it one more time, the same way! (Except I would eat more appetizers and charcuterie). (I got distracted and didn't remember to seek those tasty things out during our cocktail hour). I highly recommend OTBPW.... Particularly for the bride looking for a low-stress experience! They do it all for you! Thanks again OTBPW for the most amazing start to our marriage!!! read more