I originally posted this on 10/2/08, but for some reason, it disappeared…read more I am reposting so others will know how great Nancy and Wil are! ********** If you want some help with your wedding planning, run, don't walk to hire Nancy Colombo of Relax the Bride (Relax). Relax is wonderful! We hired Relax to be our DOC (day of coordination) planner and were very happy that we did. Nancy is a very calm and organized person and went over many planning details with me. She had a lot of insights on wedding planning and offered suggestions and ideas that I would never have thought of. About 6 weeks before our wedding, we went over timeline of the wedding day and the checklist that Nancy prepared. We fine-tuned the timeline and checklist many times before the wedding. Nancy is very responsive to your concerns; she answers emails and phone calls promptly. When you hire Relax, you actually get two people - Nancy and her husband, Wil. They were there at our rehearsal and at our wedding. It made a huge difference to have them there on both days. My husband said that Wil was great because he was also very calm and offered very good suggestions at the rehearsal. I was so happy that they took care of any glitches that developed. For example, we had some problems with the string quartet we had hired. Nancy made sure that they were performing the job we hired them for and not taking too many breaks. My parents thought that Nancy and Wil were wonderful. After the wedding, they made sure that all of the items that were brought to the church and reception were taken home (i.e., cake server, toasting flutes, guest book, etc.). Finally, Relax is very affordable. When we were initially getting quotes for DOC planners, we received quotes which were substantially higher than Relax and did not offer as much value for their charges. I would highly recommend Relax to any future bride who wants to lighten her stress on her wedding day.

As a groom--and now husband--I highly recommend Relax the Bride for any couple. Nancy and her…read morehusband (who also helps, by the way) are very organized, very down to earth, and a complete pleasure to work with. Nancy will walk you through all of the details you need to consider during your planning, and will make sure things run smoothly on your wedding day. Even for the highly organized couple (we were) this still makes a huge difference. Whether it's making sure your vendors do their jobs, remembering all the little details (like where the cake cutter is!) or lining up the bridal party before they walk down the isle, Nancy will be there. Nancy's calm, confident demeanor should also help to relieve the stress you will naturally be feeling. And while Nancy is helping the bride, her husband, Wil, will give the groom valuable tips and reassurance. Finally, the modest cost of her service (Relax the Bride is significantly less expensive than many other planners) is well worth it. So go check out Relax the Bride--you won't be disappointed!

Cheryl helped us plan the last parts of our wedding, since my wife and I thought that we could…read morehandle everything. When it came close to wedding time, we still didn't have some things secured, like DJ, performers, lighting, MC, and any last minute planning. She reviewed and went over our schedule, made suggestions for improvements and time management. She got us in contact with the entertainment that we needed and got us a good price. She was on top of our last minute wedding schedule. Reminded us of things that still needed to be done or deposit deadlines to secure any vendors. She was very professional, listened to our needs, made suggestions when needed, and helped us get to our wedding day. Our wedding day turned out great. My wife and I are not sure how our reception would have turned out if Cheryl didn't help us out!

There's so many great things I can say about Cheryl...but where do I start??? Never did I think I…read morewould be one to hire a wedding coordinator. #1) Didn't think there was so much that went into it #2) Didn't think I could afford it...But boy was I wrong!!! It wasn't long (the save-the-dates) until I realized that I did need her help and she showed me that having a wedding coordinator didn't have to cost me an arm and a leg. Her services are very affordable yet priceless. Within our first meeting she understood my vision and helped me put it together without me even knowing exactly where I was going with it. She seemed to capture it perfectly. Throughout us working together she did a great job following up on her tasks: making sure everything was done but most importantly she made sure that I was doing okay emotionally as things got really stressful and tense as the big day got nearer. She made sure I knew she was there for anything I needed whether it was to get something done, some moral support or simply some venting. I don't know how many times I talked/texted with her just to let some steam off. This is the sweetest person ever. There's no doubt she has the talent but there's no doubt by her personality that she was made for this. The ultimate icing on the cake was wedding rehearsal and the wedding day itself when everything went off without a hitch. The only jitters came to walking down the aisle and not tripping and falling because I knew she had EVERYTHING under control. I had heard from every one of our vendors that she had been in contact with them days and weeks before the wedding to make sure everything went smoothly and so it did. I am forever grateful for Cheryl and her wonderful and supportive team. Not only do I consider her the most amazing and professional event planner but my family and I are proud to call her our friend. We would refer her to anybody considering her services in a heartbeat.

I can't rave enough about Laurie Gordon, both as an event producer and as a photographer…read more She can put on any size event from dozens to thousands (I have seen her do them!) with aplomb and originality. Completely professional, incredibly detail oriented, and consistently fun and charming to work with. Whether it is your wedding, a corporate event, or any other kind of party, you will have a wonderful time and you can leave it all in her capable hands. And best of all, for a vintage fiend like me, she specializes in time travel - period perfect Art Deco era events! Cars, orchestras, the DecoBelles chorus line (I had them at my wedding!), models, magicians, musicians - she has a huge roster of talent to draw from. As a photographer, Laurie is unparalleled for customer service (she remembers ALL the names of ALL the guests!), she takes gorgeous pictures at your best angles, she is full of great ideas for poses and groupings, and she knows how to move the photo session along smoothly so that you can get back to the party with the minimum of disruption. Our wedding photos are very precious - presented in a beautiful album and organized in an aesthetic way, they are a perfect distillation of our happy day. THANK YOU LAURIE!!!!

Laurie was the fabulous photographer at our wedding and she did such a great job! We couldn't be…read moremore delighted with our pictures! She listened to what we wanted, made a few suggestions, and captured all the important moments without being obtrusive. She is easy to talk to and made us feel comfortable. Also important to me, she dressed up for the occasion too. I can't believe that some photographers wear jeans to take pictures at a wedding but I've seen it many times.

Our wedding harpist bailed out on us three weeks before the event. We were panicked. Then Laura…read moreSimpson from Wine Country Harps came along and she saved us! She was prompt in her email responses, very courteous, discussed the playlist with us. She was just a pleasure to deal with and she played beautifully!

We started working with Annena last year on our Oct 26, 2013 wedding. My (now) husband had proposed…read moreto me right as I was moving from California to live with him in Brazil. After we determined that we would wed back in California (where we met), we then had the daunting task of planning the event...from another continent. We had a general idea of what we wanted, but hadn't a clue where to start. So we started looking for wedding planners. Amongst all those I talked to, I immediately knew Annena was the one for us. She was ultra responsive, highly detail-oriented, and incredibly lovely. We may not have been the easiest couple Annena has worked for. First, we unexpectedly had to postpone our first wedding date. Annena gently and supportively worked right alongside us to find another date in the same location. Then, we increased our expected headcount to the the limits of our venue's space. Then, a month before our wedding, my father had a stroke. In the final wedding planning stages I was utterly consumed by caring for him. Annena picked up my slack and I trusted her 100%. I can't even tell you how profoundly perfect our day was. The saying goes that the devil is in the details. Every minute detail of our wedding was perfect. This was the work of a true master! Even though the famous Carmel fog rolled in, Annena had that covered too by offering hand warmers to our guests during the ceremony. Nothing was overdone - just pure, timeless elegance through and through. The food was epic. The decorations were jaw dropping. The service was incredible. One thing flowed to the next seamlessly. The greatest gift Annena gave us, however, was the ability to be fully present with our guests the whole way through. We didn't have to ask or worry about a thing. Annena also followed up with us after our wedding to do a post-mortem. Coming from the tech industry, I'm very used to finding things that could be improved the next time around. I had no such feedback for Annena. Just a rave review! To anyone thinking of hiring Annena for any type of event, please do so without hesitation. She will create your event exactly the way you envision it and then some. She will be the best money you ever spend. We would hire her again in a heartbeat. Annena, we are deeply grateful for all you've done for us.

Annena did everything to make our wedding perfectly suited to us. The ceremony and the reception…read morewere everything we hoped for, and because she took care of every detail, we were able to enjoy every second without having to worry about a thing!

What I can say...they did our invitation for our wedding,our engagement photos, photographed our…read morewedding, and did our thank you cards, I mean really EVERYTHING! We were so happy with their service AND the photos were amazing, that till this day people are still talking about it. Although, they are located in San Francisco every email and phone calls were always returned especially for this bride that had many questions:) Jo & Mac are truly a dream team. They listen to what you need and they make it even better...wherever you are in the states, it's worth flying them to where you are:)

I was the gala co-chair for the BRAVO! Gala event for opening night at the San Francisco Opera…read more This was a big event for us and we really needed a fabulous graphic designer that was going to help us create an invitation that would appeal to our demographics and get people excited about the event many months in advance. Crisp Studios listened to our unique needs, took our vision and ran with it to come up with an amazing work product. We ended up having what I feel is one of the best invitation designs in our gala history and have Crisp Studios to thank for that! Thanks for all your hard work, follow-up and creativity!

The recipe to a perfect dream wedding starts off with amazing vendors! The Backpocket Hero Team,…read morewho coordinated my special day in September, exceeded my expectations by working along side me in making my day momentous. Janice, the lead coordinator was detailed orientated, organized, and well focused about the execution. Let's start off with the bundle of assistance we needed as we were perplexed by how much coordination goes into a wedding celebration. Janice and her assistants supported us in refining our vision of the wedding, the overall flow of the wedding schedule, and most importantly the execution! As the months turned into weeks, our vision of the wedding evolved and often times became blurry. We needed to refocus. By engaging in weekly meetings with Janice and her team prior to the wedding day, we were able to resolve the details that appeared to rattle our nerves. Our vision became clearer that our wedding was about us and that all the planning would eventually fall into place. Planning a wedding always seems so easy but putting the parts together and making it happen is the struggle. We wanted to make sure every moment was captured and by reviewing our wedding day schedule carefully with Janice and the team, we were able to incorporate the moments we wanted. They provided thoughtful and realistic feedback that helped us keep the schedule moving along but still flexible. The team furthermore provided support at our Rehearsal smoothing out last minute details. When the day finally arrived, the team worked with our amazing vendors to make sure the operations ran smoothly for both our ceremony and reception. The team provided every level of support from monitoring the schedule to the setup up of personalized decorations. Everything was beautiful and breathtaking! When I arrived to my reception, there was a moment my heart skipped a beat because of how put together the venue looked. At the end of our night we were able to capture all the moments we wanted. We had the time of our lives! From the start to the finish, there really is no secret to the perfect wedding recipe. Just as long as you believe in your vendors, they will make your visions come to life. You will be in good hands with the Backpocket Hero team!

I contacted Janice at Backpocket Hero because the mess in my home office was holding me back--it…read morewas quite literally keeping me from expanding my business. Janice guided me calmly through the process of going through piles of papers and office supplies, keeping me on task when I got distracted. She was very hands-on, getting in and helping me dust and vacuum. Janice also helped me step back, look at the big picture, and think creatively about the overall organizing process when I got too caught up in details. The whole experience of working with Janice was great, but the best part of having her help me organize my home office might have been that she took all the things to be donated with her, so I didn't need to worry about about them! (This may be a particularly big deal for me since I don't have a car.) Thanks Janice!

I found Sarah early in the wedding planning process, after searching for photos taken at Lake…read moreMerritt. I loved the idea of the lake as a backdrop for our couples portraits, but I felt like it would be best to find a photographer who was already familiar with its various features and angles. When I found Sarah's portfolio I was delighted and immediately knew I wanted to work with her. This was a fantastic decision and I would unequivocally recommend her as a wedding photographer. We spent 12+ hours together over the course of pre-wedding couple portraits, rehearsal picnic, and the day-of. I didn't think ahead of time about how much time that is to spend with a stranger, but after a very short time she didn't feel like one. She's warm, cheerful and professional. She gave excellent direction, while still working to keep shots very natural, and very willing to take our input throughout the process. She was easy to communicate with by phone and email, her business info was well organized and it was easy to handle contracts, etc. I found her prices to be very reasonable for the quality of service and product, and I really loved the photo book she put together at the end of the process.

Seriously the greatest photographer you can have on your side for your engagement photos and…read morewedding photos. Sarah herself is such a genuinely kind and amazing person, truly an expert in her work. She made us feel so incredibly comfortable during our photoshoots, and we truly enjoyed her. Of course, her work itself is simply incredible. Whenever we saw her finished shots of us, we were so blown away. Many times we were like, "OMG is that us?!" Or, "WOW, that doesn't even LOOK like the same place we were at." Sarah has this ability to make her subjects and backgrounds look epic or incredible, or basically all the amazing adjectives you can think of to describe a photo. I have received numerous compliments from friends and coworkers saying how impressed and how much they loved how all our photos came out. Props to her associate photographer, Doreen, as well. She photographed our wedding day alongside Sarah, and she was also such a delight to work with and to have by our side. So much talent in Sarah and Doreen. A HUGE thank you for everything. You won't regret booking Sarah.