Words cannot describe how working with Myriam and her team made my mother's Surprise 60th Birthday…read moreParty the ultimate success. We had a short window to plan the event and Myriam was on top of EVERYTHING; she left no detail unattended. I was worried about everything because my siblings and I were planning this party from sunny California and the party was in Massachusetts. Myriam did an amazing job at putting my mind at ease. From her amazing recommendations of vendor choices to her innate abilities to capture the theme we were going for; her service is bar none. Myriam's business acumen is superb. Her patience and communication style made the three of feel like she wanted this party to be as big of a hit as we did. We hosted almost 90 people and Myriam had everything under control. From making sure the food arrived on time and working with outside caterers, wait staff, and entertainment; it was all taken care of. She even made sure we got all the family pictures we wanted, which proved to be the most valuable takeaway. Myriam has the expertise that you want when planning an event of any significance. I almost forgot to mention how much of a sweetheart she is! The thoughtful things she did (probably too much to go into here) made me truly happy that I hired her. I highly recommend her service to anyone I know hosting an event in the Massachusetts area and will definitely use her services in the future. Thank you so much Myriam!

Ever since we signed on with M&M, we tell every couple we know that the FIRST THING they should do…read moreif they get engaged is hire a wedding planner (more specifically, our wedding planner). A number of amenities were made affordable, and therefore feasible, because we hired M&M. The rates we received from vendors, with Myriam as our representative, were far more favorable then the ones we sussed out before hiring her. Not only were the prices great, but the service was also exceptional. Her professionalism and reputation spurred vendors to do an excellent job so that she would one day advocate for them, too. Before we hired Myriam, we had very little idea of how much we should expect to spend, and as a result, we were hesitant to make any firm commitments. We had been engaged a year and a half when we met Myriam, and had decided upon absolutely nothing. I am especially thankful for Myriam's patience with us as we got used to synthesizing and articulating the details of our dream wedding. Wedding planners have to be gifted arbitrators, since the traditions, wishes, and opinions of two people (and by extension, two families) have to be weighed equally, and ultimately reconciled into something unique, memorable, and beautiful. In the days leading up to the wedding, my bridesmaids frequently commented (with no small amount of surprise and relief) about how relaxed I was going into the big day. I think that's because I had entrusted my wedding to the right person.

Joe and Contagious Events were worth every penny! The whole team went above and beyond in making…read moreour special day possible. Couples use the Contagious wedding portal to track guest count, obtain vendor suggestions, and update financial spreadsheets. Additionally, the portal has a monthly tracker for couples to check off completed tasks. It makes the whole planning process so much easier to handle when you have all the information in one place, and broken down into easily digestible bullets. Joe also sets up monthly meetings to keep us up to date and on track with the planning process. Before I conclude, I also have to mention how absolutely helpful Joe was during Covid. Like so many couples, we had to reschedule our planned wedding in 2020 due to the pandemic. It was incredibly stressful and disheartening experience, but Joe really took a huge burden off of us when he reached out to all our vendors and ensured we were able to reschedule without hassle. That alone was worth every penny we paid. Joe is amiable, professional, organized and gave us great wedding advice! His assistance truly lifted such a burden off of my (now) husband and my plate during the hectic and stressful wedding planning process. Hiring the Contagious team was the best investment in our wedding we made! 5/5 stars!

We had planned a backyard wedding with our families and close friends and thought we could pull…read morethis off by ourselves...without a wedding planner. Two weeks before the date, we discovered Joe at another wedding that he had planned. He seamlessly pulled all the loose ends together, coordinated the caterer, the photographer, and the piano player, made floral arrangements on the fly, and created a décor that was specific and special to us. It allowed us to kick back and enjoy the day with friends and family. Joe and his staff made sure the guests had what they needed to have a good time. We are so grateful to Joe and his team for this!

Adrienne and Elizabeth are seriously the BEST wedding planners in all of New England and more!…read moreHiring them as wedding planners was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and really made wedding planning a breeze. So many of my friends would often ask, "How is wedding planning going?" And I'd say, "I'm not doing much!" and that's really what it is like to work with wedding planners. I know it is a splurge, but if you're super super busy, have a lot of things to deal with, are planning from a distance, I cannot imagine planning without wedding planners. Here's what the process worked like for me: 1) During the initial set up, Adrienne and Elizabeth went over with me all of the things we had to do during the course of wedding planning - which vendors to book, approximate milestones, etc. 2) I shared with them my vision for what I wanted my wedding to look like - black and white with touches of pink, and they really helped affirm a lot of my ideas! They even came up with the really really unique idea of having a black and white dance floor, which I didn't know was possible. It was a great and unique touch to my wedding 3) GLE took care of all the contracts and back and forth with various vendors, which helped cut down on time on my end. They also found this great hidden gem of a venue for me that fit my vision - a grass field with trees, and a spot to have a tented wedding. I would NEVER had found this venue by searching on my own as they're not frequently advertised in wedding magazines or in blogs. I was also planning long distance - from New York, NY, and couldn't be onsite to visit vendors as often, so I relied on GLE to handle a lot of the Boston-side things. 4) They're always around to answer some of the questions that as a bride you just don't know the answer to! Like... how much are you supposed to tip everyone? How many hotel room blocks should I be holding? 5) They did so many last minute things like... pick up a bunch of candy jars for me for my candy buffet, set up my escort card display, help me with my veil, inflate helium balloons and set them up at the entrance to my wedding ceremony, clean up 6) They also attended my tasting with my caterer (YUMMY) and helped handle several last minute issues that happened along the way of wedding planning. These things always happen! And if it weren't for GLE, I would have had a much harder time figuring out how to troubleshoot things. I had a BLAST at my wedding - I wasn't running around trying to take care of things. On the day of everything that was under our control ran so smoothly (let's face it, you can't control the weather or a guest arriving late - but man, I had a perfect day). I had so much fun I slept so soundly the day after ;) I can't recommend them enough, and I've had several friends of mine use GLE as well for their wedding planners. I'm so happy to have them as my friends, and I would never hesitate to recommend them to anyone that is looking for a fantastic set of wedding planners!

My husband and I truly recognize Gracie Lou as a "must have" in planning a wedding. Our daughter's…read morewedding went off beautifully because of these two amazing, organized women and their intern. Responsive, respectful and responsible describe their interaction with all involved with our fall wedding. If they could have, they would have ordered drier weather! You can't go wrong by including them in your wedding planning. My husband , of all people, gives them the credit for helping to execute a fabulous time had by all. M/M J.A. Terranova Rhode island

We hired Azinga (aka Safiya) for day-of event coordination of our wedding. She was absolutely…read morefantastic. Her communication before the event was great. And on the day of the wedding, she deftly managed changing weather conditions, decor snafus, and a host of other minor challenges with grace and intuition. Highly recommend her for event management.

Safiya and her team at WGP&E were real aces! They were professional and trustworthy throughout the…read moreplanning process and offered partnerships to help us on-site during the event. Safiya and her team were attentive and friendly and we received several comments about their great work at the event. We hosted a truly successful surprise 70th birthday party and we could not have done it without them! Truly recommend their services to anyone hosting an event from 10 to 1110 people.

This was my first experience hiring an event planner. Shelli planned my sister's baby shower this…read moresummer. From start to finish. I posted for help using the thumbtack website and of all the responses I felt most comfortable with her. She's professional, serious about her job and basically down to earth. She asked essential questions (theme, colors, etc). I was working with a small budget and she still did wonders. She sent out invites and even made a social media invite. I really just put things in her hands and it turned out awesome. The decorations were perfect for a summer outdoor shower. She DIY many details to save money and made sure to have a back up plan Incase the weather was bad. Tables, seating, and not your typical shower games. I was very pleased that I didn't have to worry about anything and could really focus on celebrating my now nephew. I would definitely recommend her and I will hire her again in the future.

Peter was the best DJ that we could've asked for our wedding! He continuously connected with us…read morethroughout the planning process to make sure that we are comfortable with the planning process, gave us suggestions based on his expertise and became familiar with all our specific links for our requested Indian music! The guests had a blast on the dance floor, and he ensured that the night went smoothly with the reception hall! I loved all of the music at our wedding, and it was a night to never forget thanks to Peter!

DJ Peter did an amazing job for our wedding. He stayed in touch with me through the whole planning…read moreprocess making sure we were on the same page and everything was exactly how we wanted it to go. He was so great about reading the room and knowing what everyone was wanting. We even requested a song from one of our friends small band and he was able to find the song and play it for us. We even had guests come up to us and rave about how great the DJ did. I absolutely recommend hiring Peter for your future events and weddings.

I genuinely wanted to write a glowing review for BEL and the work they did for our wedding at The…read moreOlio this past April. Unfortunately, I can't ignore how disappointed I was with their overall execution and communication. Lighting was one of the few elements of our wedding my husband truly cared about--and entrusted to BEL. We contracted them to provide three key lighting features: a large custom GOBO sign, pin lights for 12 tables to highlight our floral centerpieces, and a disco ball to enhance the ambiance. To be fair, the disco ball was executed beautifully. It created the exact mood we were hoping for and truly added to the atmosphere of the evening. That, however, is where the praise ends. The pin lighting was a major letdown. Despite several conversations with Jason, Fritz, and the BEL team about our expectations--particularly that the pin lights should spotlight our centerpieces for optimal visual impact in person, in photos, and in video--the results fell drastically short. The lighting was virtually invisible throughout the event. It failed to appear in our professional photos and videos, and not a single guest I spoke to recalled even noticing it. I specifically chose this lighting to elevate the look of the tables I had spent a great deal of time and money curating. That effort was completely lost. I reached out post-wedding to get clarity, and instead of accountability, I was met with blame. Their response was that I didn't book a lighting tech with my package. But isn't that the reason we hire professionals--to ensure our vision is executed properly? At no point during the planning process did they offer meaningful guidance or advise me on the limitations or considerations of pin lighting. Instead, it felt like I was being upsold, rather than truly supported. A simple conversation about whether pin lighting would achieve the look I wanted could have saved me nearly $1,000 and a lot of disappointment. As for the custom GOBO, it was initially projected in a way that was visually unappealing--cropped and too small. Thankfully, we caught this during a private venue walkthrough and were able to correct it ourselves before guests arrived. That should not have been our responsibility. To any future couples considering BEL: be extremely specific. Ask every question imaginable. Do not assume that you're hiring a team who will take ownership of helping bring your vision to life. In our case, what we received felt incomplete and careless--all because we declined to hire a lighting technician for the day. We expected a professional service. Instead, we received bare-minimum effort.

We contracted Boston Event Lighting for our association's annual meeting and workshops, exactly…read morebecause of the great ratings and reviews. I am the CEO of a non-profit organization with an international membership, and we discussed our meeting needs (part in-person and part virtual) with this company in advance. They promised a flawless execution and, based on the reviews we were confident that they would deliver. As you guess from my rating, they certainly did not deliver. They messed up presenters' presentations where slides were not displayed well, embedded movies were not played, symbols and letters were skewed (although they claim to have tested them in advance). Their equipment look old and didn't work for half of the time - they didn't even have functioning microphones. Even working on AV for our board meeting (simple zoom connection) turned out to be a half-day program, using their equipment which failed along the way. And the attitude of "I know better" was really exhausting. They wouldn't listen to our needs and tried to tell us how we should be running our meeting. We spent 5 days where everyone involved in the planning of the meeting had to micromanage the AV staff and struggle to get anything done. A very stressful experience. Overall, unprofessional, poor execution, and unacceptable delivery. Definitely a NO!

I hired Nick for the music for my father's 70th birthday party. My parents love dancing so it was…read moreimportant to me that I got this element right. I was awed by the diverse but approachable mix of songs that Nick put together. He clearly put thought not only into what music would be right for the age group and music tasted of the guests, but also the general arch and timing of the night. He had great songs for time spent dancing and eating and great songs for dancing. He also ended on a great note. I'd recommend Versatile Sound Productions for any event because they really understand audience. Nick knows how to play music in a way that will get people of all generations and tastes dancing and having a good time. Very impressed.

Nick did a great job for our daughters wedding this summer in Vermont. Great to work with, he had…read moremusic going from cocktail hour through the end of the reception. The music was great for all ages which kept the dance floor full all night. He took a list of likes & don't plays and put together an evening that flowed perfectly.