I got married in 2016 which was the first year that Maria opened her business. I am super delayed in writing my reviews, but I kept putting it off since I didn't want to shortchange her. She was an indispensable part of wedding planning for us. I interviewed with a few wedding planners, but Maria was the most personable and helpful among those that I met. She was enthusiastic and even offered free advice at the consultation before I even hired her! For the most part, I planned my wedding remotely. We got married in Chicago but by the time most of the planning was happening we had moved out of state. Maria found the best vendors for us and was able to maximize our visits to Chicago. She wrote thorough and timely emails in response to my (admittedly neurotic) queries. She also knows a TON of people in the business. She found out that our caterer WENT OUT OF BUSINESS almost a full month before the caterer sent a notification to clients. She called us, explained the situation and already had plans of how to fix everything to make our day perfect. We turned a disaster into a minor inconvenience. A few days before the wedding, we moved the location of the ceremony due to rain. Maria handled ALL of the communication with vendors, reconfigured the schedule of events and handled the new last minute decorations. It was seamless and NOT stressful at all. That's not something many brides can say during the wedding week. On the day of my event, I felt like Maria was everywhere at once. It was amazing! She had previously mentioned (in passing) that she had another wedding that day - and you would have never known. Everything went smoothly (and if it didn't, I never heard about it!) If I ever plan another event in the Chicago area, I will reach out to Maria. She was a pleasure to work with and I am glad that her business seems to be doing so well. read more

I first have to say thank you to Maria and her team for making our wedding day more than perfect. We wouldn't have changed a thing. We were totally clueless going into wedding planning and Maria guided us perfectly. She has all the answers! She is so creative and came up with solutions to fit our budgets for different aspects of the wedding which was exactly what we needed. Without her we know that our wedding day would not have run as smoothly and perfectly as it did. She is extremely patient and organized. Let me say it again, organized. Somehow she managed everyone's expectations and requests. When it comes to making everyone happy she truly excelled especially with my parents. She was very attentive, professional and knowledgeable. Thank you for the best and most beautiful day of our lives. - Bryan and Allison read more

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Hiring Plum & Ivy was the single best decision we made of all the choices and decisions we had to make as part of this process. I was referred to Maria through a close friend and I will make sure all of my friends and family know about Plum & Ivy after this. Our wedding had to be planned 3 times due to Covid. At the end, we had to completely scrap our original venue and plan and Erika handled it all with ease. We ended up moving our wedding to Plum & Ivy's new venue, Walden, and the evening was absolutely perfect. I couldn't have survived one wedding without them, let alone 3 attempts! Thank you Maria, Erika and the whole team for making our day so beautiful and so easy for me!! read more

Plum & Ivy Events - Wedding Planning Near Me

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I cannot even explain how incredible Maria and the Plum and Ivy team was!! Literally every detail was perfect! if you tell Maria an idea she immediately envisions how to put it into place and make it a reality. My Husband and I opted for back yard wedding so literally everything had to be brought in, Maria did an outstanding job, every single detail was accounted for and perfect. As amazing as Maria is- she knows the MOST AMAZING vendors- our caterer, our florist, the lighting team, the band, the hair and makeup crew, everyone did an outstanding job! Her network is priceless. Maria should charge double what she does for as incredible as her services are. I cannot image my wedding without her- she even helped me go to the bathroom day of- too funny! The best detail though is that while taking pictures Maria ensured there was staff at the ready for us with fresh drinks (our favorite drinks none the less) and apps, literally their only job was to make sure we had appetizer and a cocktail! It was amazing! HIRE MARIA! Don't think twice she will make your day beyond what you can even envision! DO IT! read more

If you are considering hiring a planner for your wedding or event, hire Plum & Ivy. We did - and it was the best decision we made for our wedding. Maria, the owner, is an absolute delight and knows ALL of the ins-and-outs of planning the perfect wedding plus she has all of the industry connections to help put together a dream team of vendors. Natalia was our fabulous coordinator and she was a total fairy godmother, lifesaver, boss babe. Natalia was so helpful, responsive and she truly cared about all of the details of our special day. I really felt like I could count on her to make things happen and her compassion & support truly took so much pressure off of us. It was honestly the best feeling to get to wedding day and be able to simply enjoy every moment knowing that Natalia & Brichel had every detail totally under control. My hubs and I just got to have FUN and that's the best, most important reason to hire a planner. Our dream day happened just as we had hoped and we owe that to Plum & Ivy. Thank you for keeping this COVID-bride's spirits up and making my wedding day dreams come true. Plum & Ivy has my highest recommendation! read more

Planning a wedding from across the country could be daunting but not with the help of Maria and Plum and Ivy. We live in Connecticut but we are from Chicago and wanted a Chicago wedding. Maria took my concept and ran with it. She was always very responsive to any question or need whether it needed an immediate response or not. I am not sure what I would have done without Maria and her team. I have never felt more comfortable with anyone and never felt stressed about our magical day. Huge thank you to the entire plum and ivy team. We are so grateful we found you! read more

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I honestly couldn't speak highly enough regards for Maria and her team. We hired Maria as our day of coordinator but she went above and beyond, from the moment we connected she was there to answer any and all questions we had. She was extremely helpful and made the planning process less stressful. Her vendor recommendations were spot on and she always made sure we stayed well within our budget. The week of our wedding she allowed us to come and drop off everything for the wedding. Without hesitation, she took everything and was extremely thoughtful. It was one less thing we had to worry about on our special day. The day of our wedding she came to the hotel first thing in the morning and was with us the entire day. She helped coordinate all the makeup and hair schedules, the first look and all the pictures around the city. When we got to the venue everything was set up and even more perfect than we could have ever imagined. The only thing we had to worry about was getting married and having fun at our wedding. Maria and Maddie took care of everything. They even broke everything down and helped us load cars. We didn't have a formal after party, but they called a bar ahead for us and they had a section roped off for everyone that came. Every little detail they thought of and every situation was handled. The whole night went off without a hitch, and we owe all of that to them! We couldn't thank them enough for making our wedding perfect. They were the best money spent for our wedding, I couldn't imagine having planned or having the wedding run as smoothly without them. read more

Maria, Lauren, and Natalia with Plum and Ivy made sure our wedding day at Walden was everything we dreamed of and more. With Walden, we were given wedding planners that arranged every detail of our perfect day. We were provided a personalized app that had a to-do list with due dates that assured we were always on task and allowed for the perfect means of communication with our planners. They took care of every aspect from providing lists of recommended vendors, looking into vendors that we suggested, getting proposals, and contacting all the vendors about every detail of our day. They were along for the ride of planning through COVID and were amazing being open with communication through all of it with and the changes it caused. The day of, I could not have been less stressed or more relaxed knowing that Natalia could handle anything thrown her way (from coordinating vendors to leaking windows during a tornado warning to setting up all of our details and decor). We wish we could hire Natalia to be our life planner and we know who to contact when we need any other party planned. read more

Maria and Kristina were amazing to work with and did a fantastic job coordinating our wedding. They consistently went above and beyond and were super sweet and a pleasure to work with. We wouldn't have had as great of a time if we didn't have the peace of mind they provided by taking care of literally everything on the day of our wedding. They were super responsive and very knowledgable about all the things that go into wedding planning and throwing a great celebration. They thought of everything, kept the schedule going and even used their artistic prowess to do centerpieces and decorate for us. It was a perfect day thanks to their hard work! Would absolutely recommend working with them for your big day. read more

Maria is a godsend! We hired Maria for partial planning which included day of coordination. She was incredibly thorough, organized, and responsive through the entire wedding process. She comes to the table with so many creative ideas! Maria thought of things that were not even on my radar, and still kept me within my budget. She completely understood the theme and vibe I was going for with the wedding, and helped me to source all the right vendors for the perfect day. On the day of the wedding, my other vendors were even saying how impressed they were on how 'on time' our bridal party was for everything! Maria's itinerary had the entire day planned to the minute, so we had nothing to do but enjoy. I don't know how I could've survived the entire wedding process without her! read more

Words can't even begin to describe how wonderful Maria and Kristina are. My wedding truly would not have been the same without them. They are such a pleasure to work with. They helped me with all the details big to small. They were great at guiding me in the right direction while still letting me make decisions on my own. They thought of everything! There were so many aspects of the wedding planning process I never would have known existed and they were there to make sure everything was in place. The day of the wedding i felt so comfortable leaving everything in their hands that I was able to enjoy myself the whole time. I never thought about anything but being in the moment because I knew they had everything taken care of. Most importantly, on the day my mom and bridesmaids were able to enjoy themselves care free and not have to run around making sure things looked perfect. The professionalism of these girls is top notch and honest to goodness, the best investment of my entire wedding. Maria and Kristina make the wedding planning process as stress free as it gets and make you feel like your creating your big day with your friends and not what one would imagine as a "wedding planner" read more

To say Maria goes above and beyond would be a gross understatement. She gave 110% the entire day and night (and the months leading up to the big event)! Her energy and enthusiasm were contagious. Most importantly Maria's attention to detail, problem solving and organization gave us the luxury of relaxing and enjoying every minute of our daughter's wedding. It was perfect and flawless!!!!! Thank you Maria! read more

If there is one thing I can recommend when planning a wedding it's to treat yourself to a wedding coordinator. It will give you peace of mind leading up to and on the big day. For us, Maria Collins and her team at Plum & Ivy Events was the perfect choice and it didn't break the bank! We hired her as our Day-Of Coordinator. Don't let that title confuse you. Maria was an amazing resource months before our wedding. She especially came up big as we were planning our Chicago wedding from Connecticut. Maria has a great pulse of the area, and was able to connect us to other outstanding vendors (for any budget). She was also very easy to reach when we had any concerns: that includes speaking with our parents when they had LOTS of questions. When our wedding week finally arrived, my wife and I were at ease. Maria and her team are just so organized and had everything under control. Checklists were given to us to make sure we didn't forget anything, all our vendors had already been in talks with her and were ready to go, and our rehearsal ran so smoothly. On the day of the wedding all we had to "worry" about was getting married. The Plum & Ivy team set up breakfast for the bride and her bridesmaids. We also gave the team all the vendors' tips to hand out later that night. Shout out to Annie. She was firm and calm with both of us. It was clear she just wanted us to have the best day possible. Annie was in charge of the first half of the day, and she made sure everything went as planned. I encourage any couple to hire Plum and Ivy! Our goal was to have the maximum amount of fun at our wedding, and we were able to because Maria and her team took all our stress away. All the tips Maria gave us really made a difference, and we couldn't be happier with the end result. read more

I hired Plum & Ivy to assist my daughter with her wedding. I live 2000 miles away from my daughter and I wanted her to enjoy every minute of her wedding and not to worry about a thing. From the beginning planning stages to the after party, Maria and Maddie were simply FABULOUS! And I can say this from a place of experience since I spent the previous 10 years as an event planner. They were even in the room at 7am when the girls were getting their hair done, putting final touches on breakfast and lunch for the wedding party, coordinating with the venue, photographer, dj and florist. She brought linens from Chicago and assisted me in ordering special wine for the evening. Maria even handled (with calm and grace) a "small" snafu when the venue hadn't received my final payment 2 days before the event. It was the most perfect day ever because of Maria and Maddie. I love you both! Poppy-Tucson Arizona read more

My husband and I chose to work with Plum & Ivy for wedding day of coordination services, and could not have been happier!!! We worked with Maria and Erica prior to the wedding, then Maddie and Emily on the day of the wedding. Maria and her team were absolutely amazing! I would hire them again in an instant. Maria was SOOOO thorough. After our first meeting, she sent us a shared google folder with tons of tips and info to help us with planning, and also lists of things that we needed to do - including checklists for suggested items to provide and timeline outlines. As the day approached, they helped iron out the timeline, down to the minute almost, and I was completely confident in the flow. Even though Maria was not present on the actual day (she is present for full wedding coordination), Emily and Maddie were knowledgeable, had all of our info ready to go, and everything went off without a hitch. The girls were with the bridal party starting at 7am when hair and makeup started, through to the end of the wedding. If anything went wrong behind the scenes, I never had a clue. I am a pretty organized person, and plan things well in advance, and originally thought I would not need a coordinator, but I was WRONG. We would never have been able to think of all of the things they went over with us, or organize an event of this size on our own. I am so so so happy with Plum & Ivy! read more

I don't even know where to start with how much Maria/ Plum & Ivy events made our day so amazing. I will start with if you are debating on getting a wedding coordinator, do it! Maria was by far the best investment we made during our wedding planning. We first met with Maria and she had answered every question/ concern that I had with planning a wedding and she had an answer or idea for everything that I said! After leaving the initial meeting my now husband said, I just saw a huge sigh of relief from you while sitting there! Maria is just so personable and knows her stuff! I will admit I am a bit of a crazy bride and on top of my stuff and emailed her more in the year of planning my wedding than I admit I should have, she always responded so quickly. She helped with vendor recommendations ( all amazing), ideas, and helping let me know what I needed to do with accomplishing my dream wedding. Maria/ Plum & Ivy makes sure that you have everything perfectly ready for your wedding. Now for the day of, I could not imagine my wedding with out Maria / Maddie. They were just amazing! Everything ran so smoothly and when people ask me if anything went wrong, I honestly can't say it did (or at least know it did). Maria ensured our timeline was on point and that everything I wanted set up at the venue was done to what I wanted. I could go on and on about how amazing Maria and Maddie were, but I think you should just hire them for your selves to see! Maria made my fairy tale wedding come to life and all I can say is my wedding was just perfect because of them! read more