When I got engaged last July, the first thing I did was start looking for wedding planners. I actually work in the wedding industry so I knew that working with me wasn't going to be easy. On one hand, after being surrounded by brides/weddings for the past 7 years, I was almost "weddinged-out" and wanted to basically hand my wedding planning over to someone else to deal with. On the other hand, I knew that the kind of wedding I wanted wasn't going to be easy to plan and that I had some fairly specific ideas about what I wanted.
I made a few appointments with established wedding planners I had worked with in the past and for good measure, googled and read reviews to make appointments with a few newcomers.
After an exhausting day of being interviewed about my wedding and receiving totally extravagant and ridiculous quotes, I met Michelle.
Walking into her townhouse/office was so calming and I immediately felt better. She had comfy couches and an array of snacks and drinks out on the table (which seems like a small thing but after meetings with planners who just sat me down at a desk in their office and were on their laptop the whole time, it was nice to feel like someone prepared for me). There was a slideshow of ideas going on the big screen on the wall that had been prepared just for our wedding based on what I told her when we talked on the phone the day before.
We chatted for about an hour. She was incredibly friendly and warm and I felt like she would be on top of the details without being pushy. As compared to some other planners who charge a percentage of what you are spending on your wedding AND limit you as to the amount of e-mails etc, you can send them, Michelle was a breath of fresh air. Her package was basically all-inclusive and was a flat rate, not based on how much we were spending. I signed up the next day.
During the planning process, Michelle and her team were amazing. Not annoying, not pushy, very laid back and took care of a lot of details behind the scenes without me having to deal with them. I could not have asked for a more fun planning process and I was able to enjoy every minute without being bogged down by details. Michelle screened every vendor and presented us with the top choices in every category that fit into our budget and style. She made all the appointments and dealt with all the contracts and negotiations. She was so good a picking vendors that I booked the first vendor in every category without needing to see more.
On the day of our wedding, Michelle was truly a gift. I knew (from talking to people afterwards) that there were things Michelle dealt with and catastrophies she was able to avoid without me knowing anything. I partied, ate, and enjoyed my day without having to deal with ANYTHING. She basically ran the entire day. My fiance and I agree she was worth every penny and so much more. She seemed to be everywhere at once - managing the flow of the day, dealing with guest questions, wrangling vendors and setting up photo shots. One second she's cueing the 2nd course and the next minute she's on the floor buckling someone's shoe before a picture - no joke. One of my bridesmaids complained off-handidly about her feet hurting and Michelle produced a pair of silver flats she had a bunch of just in case. We had a perfect wedding day and enjoyed every bit of it and 100% of the credit goes to her. read more