From the beginning, my husband and I knew we wanted to hire a day-of wedding coordinator to handle…read moreall the details, and (most importantly) any crisis that may arise. Given that we have both worked in events professionally, we know the kinds of things that can go wrong, and also the amount of work that goes on in the background to throw a great party - wedding or otherwise. We had to make the argument with our parents to not just assign these responsibilities to a relative instead of hiring a professional. It wasn't until the wedding day that they realized just how invaluable it was for us to have Katie there to support us and essentially run the show. In the words of my mother, "You were a God-send -- we would have been screwed without you there." After working for years for other companies managing events, Katie recently broke off to start her own wedding planning company, Pure Whimsy Events, so her prices are really reasonable. She also goes above and beyond for her clients, which is what we were told from an acquaintance who had hired her for their wedding in Fall 2013. Katie helped us keep everything organized and on time in the planning process, and referred several vendors to us including the transportation (which was much less expensive than others we'd looked into). While trying to keep everything straight and organized, I started feeling like I was losing my mind - but Katie was there to keep my head on straight (and in turn, my husband's). She reviewed contracts for us and called out anything that might seem abnormal. She created a detailed timeline for the day-of, was on time for ALL of our meetings (either one-on-one or with vendors), and of course made sure we had everything we needed throughout our wedding day - even offering to buy me coffee in the morning Unfortunately, she ran into several snags throughout the day but she still kept a smile on her face and got the job done. She even managed to get us an Uber car (the planned getaway car for us), which was really difficult on our wedding night considering it was the same night as the White House Correspondent's Dinner, and Uber was providing the transportation for them. Katie is sweet, enthusiastic, meticulously organized and hard working. It doesn't matter how simple your wedding is, I would suggest hiring Katie to help keep you sanity throughout the process and also so you don't have to worry about anything on the wedding day except enjoying it. She also knows when to crack the whip with vendors to make sure they deliver on their promises, which is not always easy to do. Thank you, Katie, for making the process that much easier and our wedding day so stress-free (for us)! PS. Her emergency kit is worth its weight in gold. There were things in there we didn't realize we needed until we did!

Katie far exceeded any expectations my wife and I could have imagined for a wedding planner. From…read morethe first meeting with her, it was clear that Katie was organized, experienced, and passionate about making sure our wedding went exactly how we envisioned it. Over the course of our roughly 18-month engagement, Katie could not have been more attentive to our needs. She laid out the schedule (managed through basecamp) for both our tasks and hers, and was always quick to respond to our questions. I would say one of her biggest strengths was in helping us fill in the gaps in our vision for the big day and knowing which questions to ask vendors and ourselves when it came to design preferences. She even made sure to reach out when it looked like we were starting to fall behind on our tasks, which we certainly needed. She always had stellar recommendations for vendors but never pressured us to actually take her recommendation. We learned quickly that when Katie recommends someone, they're probably the right fit for the job :) While I can't sing Katie's praises enough for her guidance in planning the wedding, she was unbelievable on the day-of. When we needed to resort to the rain plan- every bride's worst fear- Katie coordinated all the necessary changes with our vendors and made sure that set-up flowed smoothly. We have since had a few guests that thought the rain plan was our original plan all along! Of all the choices that went into planning our wedding, hiring Katie was the best decision we made, period. You will not regret it!

Working with Karen on my wedding in October of 2022 was a DREAM come true! My venue of the Omni…read moreHomestead Resort in Hot Springs VA. Karen did an incredible job seamlessly meshing the decor and space with my vision. Speaking of vision- Karen is absolutely WONDERFUL and took my vision (that I struggled to describe in words) and brought it life! Karen was extremely thoughtful in her design and communication. Karen helped me create the wedding of my dream, even encouraging me to lean into my love of color, emphasizing how your wedding is a reflection of YOU and your partner. Karen did such a fabulous job that our wedding was actually chosen of the Virginia Living Wedding edition in Feb 2024. I cannot recommend Karen and her suggested vendors enough!!

My fiancé and I had a very disappointing experience working with Karen Duckett Events…read more When we first hired Karen in late 2022, there were immediate red flags that I ignored, thinking that maybe we started planning too early or that I'm an over-communicator.  However, as time went on, working with her only became more difficult.   Her partial planning package offered three in-person meetings, with unlimited communication via text/email/calls. But when I did reach out to her with questions, my messages could sit for weeks without a reply. It seemed as if they were going into a black hole. She even forgot about the date and time of one of our early meetings. There were other problems.  Two months passed without her sending us the design/mood board she was to prepare based on a Pinterest board I had submitted (at her request).  She changed her cell phone number without letting us know via her website, an email, or a text; we ran across the new phone number in an Instagram story.  And she sent us budget advice without looking back to see what our budget actually was; her advice assumed a budget that was $20k off the actual amount. After a month passed without her responding at all to my Pinterest board, I decided to reach out to some of Karen's other customers to find out if my concerns were justified or if I was just not accustomed to how wedding planners work.  My concerns were validated by the first former customer I spoke to.  We then decided to terminate our contract. While we regret having chosen Karen as our wedding planner, we are fortunate to have terminated the relationship far enough out from the wedding date to choose someone new.  In the process of canceling, we also found out that Karen has been removed from the list of wedding planners that our venue recommends. I hope this review helps others avoid what we went through.  So far, Karen has been the most stressful part of our wedding planning experience. We initially ended our contract amicably, with Karen agreeing to refund $1,200 (half our retainer) if she could fill our wedding weekend with new clients.  She would still keep $1,200, which we felt was more than adequate for the minimal services she had provided.  Later, Karen walked back our agreement, based on a contract provision that says the retainer is non-refundable (as if she hadn't breached the contract herself). We now believe it was well worth the $2,400 we lost to end the frustrating and stressful experience of planning a wedding with Karen.  After working with our new planner for two months, we know we made the right decision.

Ellen Dubin is phenomenal…read more We chose her based on a referral from friends who've had her do their various bar/bat mitzvahs and weddings. There were several things that made our wedding planning rather challenging - an April wedding in DC with unpredictable weather, a wedding taking place at a private home requiring everything to be imported to that site, and a bride, a groom, and parents that were in three different locations in two different time zones. Ellen was very flexible and adaptable and cleared her schedule to make the most of the limited time we had with her when all three of us were in town. I think one of the best and most useful things about using Personally Yours was the access that Ellen had to various vendors - three things - the tent, the decor, and the food - were the most important part of this wedding and all three were phenomenal. Our wedding was on somewhat short notice - about 8 months to plan - and she was able to acquire Joel from Occasions and Jeffrey from Fox Ventures and Davis from Sugar Plum Tents. All three were exceptional and made multiple trips to our wedding site to plan and coordinate the event. All three had rave reviews about Ellen and it was clear that the people and vendors she surrounded herself with were all people very familiar with each other and worked well with each other. Ellen was able to provide experience, wisdom, and advice about the way we were trying to shape our wedding. She listened carefully and made significant efforts to understand what we wanted for our wedding. There were certain things she was adamant about that we had never really considered including the flow of the guests, the rhythm and scheduling of the band in conjunction with speeches and meals being served. How to introduce a WOW factor for guests when they stepped into our tent. And she paid close consideration to the theme and atmosphere we wanted to have. We wanted to go for a vintage chic / garden wedding that was intermingled with the natural beauty of the house where we were getting married. She advised us on the position of the tent, the dance floor, ways to accent the natural warmth of the home, and how to make sure everyone was fed and watered without any glitches. Ellen is experienced and has done what I'm sure are hundreds of weddings. Before hiring her we had concerns that since she does bar and bat mitzvahs too, that the wedding wouldn't have the perfect wedding feel- but that was not an issue whatsoever! Our wedding was a dream come true. It was perfect - like a work of art in motion. If wedding planners could be named artists she's a Van Gogh or da Vinci. She works so hard and is brilliant at it too! Ellen listens, executes, is efficient, and gets the job done. She is very much about business and there are some times when she might say some things are less feasible than others. It's not difficult to believe her because for most things she'll bend over backward to execute and have her staff work accomplish. But she is honest and will let you know when she disagrees with a suggestion or would like to tweak something and see if you'd like it better that way. The second place where her brilliance comes in is the day of the wedding and ensuring everything goes smoothly. The order of the ceremony, the flow of guests, collecting gifts, re-bustling my dress as she predicted the bustle would come undone, directing bridesmaids/groomsmen, getting the crowd onto the dance floor, and making sure shuttles are coming and going etc. Things were flawless! We wish we could go back to last weekend and relive it all over again! Thank you Ellen!

Ellen and her team at Personally Yours are absolutely phenomenal! She was the planner for our…read morewedding, and we couldn't be happier with how the event played out. First of all, Ellen was completely dedicated to making sure that the wedding reflected us: our choices, our vibe, our personality. While she has opinions about how to make sure you get the best vendors and the best quality service, she made sure that the event was about us: not about her, not about our parents, but about us. But boy, did she assemble a dream team! Her extensive experience in this industry means that she knows who the best people are, and everyone she chose, from the caterer to the florist to the photographer, were absolutely excellent. I really appreciated how she made a point of figuring out what our vibe was and what we were looking for, and then matched us with a top-quality vendor who could deliver that vibe. We also can't help but mention how organized, thorough, and patient Ellen and her team are. They thought of everything, every little wrinkle and nuance, and they navigated those nuances through a decidedly larger-than-normal planning committee of six people! Not only will Personally Yours deliver an absolutely amazing, personalized event, they'll do it in a way that can make you, your guests, and even your in-laws proud and happy. We can't recommend them strongly enough-: if you want a fantastic event, go with Ellen and her team.

I recently had the honor of working with Zartasha at a rooftop patio event, and I was so impressed…read morewith her ability to orchestrate the details of an extremely complex setup. She dealt with the inevitable setbacks with poise and expertise, and she kept a smile on her face the entire time. She treated her vendors with respect and gratitude and truly made the event unforgettable. I can't wait for the opportunity to work with her again. Celeste Vee

Zartasha - the ***Rock Star Event Planner*** helped with the "Day Of" planning of my daughter's…read morewedding. We got off to a rocky start as she did not want to engage until a month before the event. However when she did engage - she was wonderful. She is experienced, personable, plans for all scenarios, handles everyone with a great deal of professionalism and goes "over and above" I found her in my kitchen kneading dough because the priest asked for it !!! Recommend her in a heartbeat. Loved her :)

I used timely partner for a company event. I was extremely happy with the service. Everything went…read moresmoothly from food, decoration and all the logistics. I was a little bit skeptical at first since timely part is a relatively new company, to my surprise they deliver their service above and beyond my expectation. Jonathan P. President Asset Management Group, Inc

We used Timely Partner to arrange a large family reunion event. Timely Partner coordinated the…read moreevent and had amazing decorations (flowers, table pieces, etc.). Every aspects of the event (including venue, decorations, food/drinks and entertainment) was handled and coordinated by Michelle so we did not have to worry about anything. Her attention to detail made the event proceed smoothly and everyone had a great time. Highly recommended!

The good: -Decor…read morewas beautiful for my two events and I was grateful. - Wide selection of things depending on your style The bad: - Liz was arranging bouquets for me (the bride) and all my bridemaids and family and she left them in another location. While we understand Liz had a family emergency it was unacceptable that there was no one to handle her business and we were left scrambling that day trying to find at least one bouquet for me (the last thing you want to do the morning of your wedding). The rest of my party walked empty handed and I didn't like how it looked. - she also asked for hotel rooms the week of the wedding which was never brought up until then and not in the contract. When it's the week of the wedding you have no choice and I didn't appreciate being put in that situation so last minute on top of other stress. She felt terrible and compensated us but as I look back on my photos months later it always makes me feel so sad that they're missing. Liz is nice but it was a BIG miss on my wedding day and I wouldn't recommend this business.

Do not hire Liz Decorations! We hired her for ballroom drapery at my wedding. She did not properly…read moresecure the drapery and it all fell down ONE HOUR before my wedding started. The incident destroyed my centerpieces, DJ equipment, and caused my wedding to start over an hour late. I have reached out to her for refund and compensation for the damages multiple times but she has completely ghosted me. She won't even respond to the insurance claim I have filed with her insurance. Avoid Liz Decor at all costs!

I hired High Table to plan an event my nail polish brand was hosting in Los Angeles. Nnenne took…read morecharge of everything and we are very happy that we hired her. She contacted the vendors, found the caterer, and was proactive in thinking about potential issues and having solutions ready. On the day of, she was on the ground making things happen! Our truck to pick up the high top tables was unavailable and Nnenne found a car and went and picked them up herself. She went above and beyond and my event was a huge success thanks to her. I will definitely be returning for my next event and highly recommend!

It's been 7 months since I married my husband, but my appreciation for the work my wedding planners…read moredid only increases as time goes by. Amber Karson and Emily Butler--who are twin sisters, by the way--took this ADD bride by the hand and created the most spectacular, meaningful wedding day imaginable. They were helpful for the entire year of my engagement, but they morphed from mere mortals into something truly mind-boggling on the day itself, shepherding every vendor, guest, and detail in the schedule. Since our wedding, a lot of our guests have come up to us and said something along the lines of the following: "I usually just say this to be polite, but in your case I'm serious: that was the most fun I've ever had at one of these." I'd like to pretend it was because my husband and I are just awesomely magnetic people who create instant fun in a 90-foot radius, but ha ha, no, it was entirely down to Karson Butler Events. Hire them.

My wife and I were traveling to D.C. to get married and were starting from scratch with the…read moredetails. We quickly realized we couldn't manage the process on our own and were so very blessed to have found Karson Butler Events. We loved every second of our perfect day and are so grateful to Amber and Emily for all they did to make it so special. They listened to us and were able to create an event that reflected who we are as a couple. We both agree that we wouldn't change a thing about our day and we have Amber and Emily to thank for that. If you are looking for a wedding planner, we highly recommend you call these two. Once you talk to them, you'll want to choose them to share in your day.