Selecting Parasol Events as our coordinators was the single best decision we made for our wedding.
When I got engaged and started planning for our wedding, I decided to hire a wedding planner for several reasons: my free time is limited, this was a semi-destination wedding, and I had a very vague vision on what the Big Day would be like. To give some background, I am a surgical resident physician living in the East Coast and my fiancé who serves in the military was deployed to Afghanistan during much of the planning phase. I didn't have a pre-determined "dream wedding" in mind and felt intimidated that I was starting from a blank slate. I also felt responsible to make sure that all our family and friends who will have traveled to Oahu from as far as New York, Canada, Germany, and Taiwan would have an amazing time. I phone interviewed several "top" wedding coordinators on the island. When speaking with Laura, owner of Parasol Events, it became very obvious that her experiences and breadth of knowledge of the wedding industry would not only lower the stress of wedding planning, but will actually make this a fun process!
As it turns out, Laura was already hired for my wedding date so I had the unique pleasure to work with both Laura and her associate, Jessica, throughout the process. Laura was the main coordinator for the planning process and Jessica was my day of coordinator. Both ladies were extremely professional, organized, timely, and personable. They also collaborated well together at helping me figure out what I wanted.
Parasol Events helped make the entire wedding planning process creative, enjoyable, individualized, and meaningful. Often times, the service with Parasol Events was so exceptionally outstanding that I felt that I was their only client! For example, when I told them that I wanted a groom's cake in the shape of the helicopter my fiancé flies, they found the perfect vendor to make it happen (thank you, CakeLava!). In another example, when they learned that my mother passed away several years prior, they suggest bouquet charms containing my mom's picture to honor and give her presence at the wedding. My mom's side of the family was deeply touched when they saw the bouquet charms on the wedding day. One last example (although there are so many more I could provide) is when my fiancé and I wanted to learn a choreographed wedding couples' hula dance to surprise our guests. Laura and Jessica found a self-teaching DVD for my fiancé to learn while in Afghanistan and myself to learn in the East Coast, then they organized a dance lesson a week before the wedding (which required coordination of an instructor and studio) so we can practice together in Hawaii. It was an extremely amusing idea, and our guests were tickled to see us pull it off!
I realize some people hesitate to hire a wedding coordinator due to costs, but my experience in hiring Parasol Events proved to be effective in time and money. Hiring Laura and Jessica was time-saving for obvious reasons: they were knowledgeable about different venues and vendors in Oahu, they guided me in the specific order to hire vendors and make payments, and they researched topics that I wanted to learn more about. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that hiring Parasol Events was also cost-effective because it is a reputable company, which means a lot for other companies on this island. Therefore, several times we were able to get either get a "VIP discount" for being a Parasol Event client or were able to negotiate certain aspects of our contracts with vendors. There have been numerous times I was CC'd on an email from a vendor that stated, "because this client works with Parasol Events, we will make an exception/provide a special discount..." Additionally, Laura and Jessica often took initiative in asking for a courtesy military discount.
Lastly, should anything go wrong... you will be so grateful to have Parasol Events on your side. In short, a month prior to our wedding date, the wedding venue we reserved was forced to cancel due to circumstances beyond their control. By this time, we had already made payments to all our vendors and our guest have purchased flights and booked hotel rooms. Instead of panicking, Laura and Jessica came up with contingency plans B, C, and D. Within 48 hours, I already had a list of venues that were available on our wedding date, which ones were able to accommodate our wedding size and vendors (including a fire knife dancer), and a detailed list of pros and cons to each of the available venues. We were all able to transform a nightmare situation into an even more gorgeous wedding than I could have imagined.
Parasol Events exceeded our expectations and helped make our wedding so very special. We have many precious memories from our wedding day that I know our families and closest friends will treasure. For many of these reasons, I give Parasol Events the highest recommendation. read more