Absolutely incredible service. This review on Swank EVENTS IS LONG overdue. I cannot express in words how IMPRESSED I was with their services. SWANK EVENTS saved my cousin's wedding from interior décor disaster, and from unnecessary accumulated debt. The disaster would have been my cousin and I, with expertise in health and not decor, trying to decorate the hall mainly on our own preferences.
We were working on less than a shoe string Budget, when I was graciously referred to Kelli. According to the person who referred me from Hummingbird bridal, another company that is excellent in working with couples and families on do it yourself miniscule wedding budgets, Kelli was who I needed on my wedding planning team. This woman couldn't have been more right.
The décor budget including cost of real flowers, and everything was 1,000. This may not seem so small if it wasn't for the fact that the hall we were decorating was a recreation space in the boys and girls club , ultimately used for youth events, and to seat 250 people.
A large kids' mural covered the wall on the stage where the high table would be seated. The rubber floor, had the blue, green, and red playground markings you would expect in a kids space. The walls were a dark brown brick color. There were red fire doors, and a ramp on the side of the room, with red metal bar as a hand rest. Our color scheme for the wedding was purple and gold.
How were we going to transform the kids room into an elegant space for a wedding? And On the budget we had? As a clincher, when we called in Kelli's assistance, we had little more than a week and a half left for wedding plans. The entire wedding was planned in three weeks.
Enter Kelli to the Rescue.
She adhered strictly to our budget, dealt masterfully and respectfully with opinionated family members, and soothed the worries of this maid of honor, along with the bride. Kelli was contacted less than two weeks to the wedding. Kelli is reliable, and compassionate. She didn't berate us for planning a wedding in a short period of time, nor tell us that we should have contacted her earlier. She came to our aid right away, returning our call by the next morning and arranging to meet with us in person earlier than we could have hoped with the short notice.
On the day we met her, she was running late, called to alert us, then arrived when she said she would. Kelli was incredibly professional and hardworking! She stayed longer than she had originally planned, requested to meet us at the site where the wedding would be held, examined every nook and corner that needed to be decorated in detail. We couldn't have asked for someone more thorough.
She gave us amazing cost saving ideas, and didn't balk at our budget as other wedding planners had. And don't worry folks, Kelli gently and wisely persuaded us that, though the colors purple and gold were pretty together, on our budget, we couldn't compete with the dominant colors in the room already, mainly muddy red paint on metal surfaces, and brown brick walls. She suggested we select red and gold instead, to complement the colors already in the room, and thereby not have to expend money covering up places in the room that clashed with the prior purple and gold scheme. I agonized over trying to cover the rubber floor, and Kelli rightly pointed out that with tables in the room, the floor would barely be noticeable. We also found a solution for covering the kids mural on the wall.
Kelli wasn't available the day of to help plan the wedding due to prior wedding planning engagements, but she got on the phone and contacted all vendors she knew to help us find out about renting a more appropriate hall space, when we were considering one. She did this over the weekend, on her own time. She was also available by consult over the phone, text, and email all the days up to the wedding, at no extra charge! She went above and beyond the call of duty.
She outlined exactly what we would need to discuss with vendors, like the florist. And she gave us some ingenious décor ideas. Kelli even donated numerous rolls of left over tulle she had to our wedding for us to use!! She felt so concerned for our budget, she made the consult fee pretty much negligible. Telling us that she wished she could be there to do more to help with the planning. She also checked in with us AFTER the wedding to find out how everything had went. She cared enough to even ask to see photos.
If there is a more down to earth, kind, compassionate, hard working, talented, culturally competent, efficient , generous, and creative wedding planner in the Boston area, I don't know of one.
The wedding turned out to be gorgeous. I have Kelli and my florist to thank for that. I highly recommend Kelli's services, and Swank events in general.
Khalidah , MSc.
Harvard School of Public Health read more