Darlene and her husband Jim are a dynamic duo. They are fantastic and do it all. We needed a lot of help and they were there every step of the way. Since we don't live in the area, their experience and knowledge with vendors were so helpful. Their recommendations were spot on. My wife very much enjoyed them and is very grateful for their influence, guidance, and presence on our most special day..highly recommended read more

Weddings By Darlene - Wedding Planning Near Me

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We used Weddings by Darlene for our wedding in Sonoma, CA as a day of wedding planner. Darlene, Jim, and Shalene were excellent! Darlene and Jim did a site visit a few weeks before the wedding and gave suggestions on various touches to include for the wedding. Shalene managed our wedding the day of and kept everything running smoothly and on time. She helped arrange the tables and set everything up how we wanted at the venue. She was amazing! read more

I was so appreciative to have Darlene and Jim assisting with my daughter's wedding last October. They are very knowledgeable and professional and at the same time firm about keeping things on schedule. I plan weddings in Lake Tahoe so I know how hard this job is and they went above and beyond for our family. Thank you so much Darlene! read more

We used Weddings by Darlene as the "Day Of" coordinator for our wedding. I found the process very frustrating, and I was disappointed that someone who should be helping us added stress to my big day. Although she responded to our inquiry email quickly, after taking payment, Darlene was very hard to reach. She often didn't respond by email, which early on I attributed to her being busy with weddings in closer proximity, and was hard for me to reach by phone the few times I tried. Her references all said great things, so I was pretty confused why I was getting a different service. In addition to difficulty communicating, I was frustrated that Darlene changed things with our caterer without telling us (I only found out when the new invoice came in and I called to inquire about the increase in price), and I was frustrated that Darlene told the priest it was OK not to come to our rehearsal, even though he had told me he would be there. These sound like small-ish things but when you're planning a wedding every bit of stress counts. All this said, on the day of, most things went smoothly and Darlene earned her keep and her tip. Darlene certainly knows the venue well and has good rapport with the vendors. One of the few things that I was unhappy with on day of included that I specifically asked that she ensure the blinds behind the ceremony be closed (by email and personal phone call with her), and they were open (and are now in all of our pictures). read more

Darlene was fantastic! She had everything ready to go and organized down to the smallest detail. If it weren't for her and Jim I doubt the wedding would have gone so wonderfully! Darlene let me be the OCD bride until a point, and then she told me to relax and let her take over - she did and didn't miss a beat! The wedding was flawless due to her amazing skills! It was also extremely neat to have her husband perform our ceremony! What a fun piece of symbolism ;) Thanks Darlene! You made our day perfect! We are so thankful for you! read more

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Darlene and Jim are amazing! When we started, we didn't have any idea which vendors to choose or what we need to focus on for the wedding. They have worked in Napa for such a long time and know all the ins and outs of the process. They thought of all the little details and took the stress out of planning a wedding. We couldn't have asked for a more smooth wedding. read more

Most perfect experience because of Jim and Darlene! Ben and I were absolutely blown away by our wedding at V. Sattui...it was a thousand times more meaningful, enjoyable, and beautiful than we ever imagined. Jim performed a gorgeous ceremony and kept us calm throughout - his personal blessing had us bawling, and resonated with many of our guests. Darlene was an absolute rockstar during the entire process. She wasn't phased by anything we threw her way; her vendor recommendations were perfect, she was thorough and easy to work with, and the day itself was absolutely FLAWLESS (which I didn't think was even possible) If you're reading this, please PLEASE trust Jim and Darlene with your wedding...you will be so thankful you did. They are the perfect team and will make sure you enjoy, not stress, about every second of your day. We truly can't recommend them highly enough!! read more

Darlene and Jim were exceptional! On behalf of my wife and I, I must say that our day was perfect in every way and we couldnt have done it without this dynamic duo... Darlene kept this special day on track and on pace from the moment the weekend started. Not a detail was missed and everything came out wonderful. On another note and coming from the hospitality and business world I was impressed with how many people new Jim and Darlene at the venue. Everyone from the grounds crew to the servers to the general managers and local wine reps stopped by to say hello to Jim and Darlene... If youre looking for experience and someone to truly take charge of your special day this is the team!! read more

We had an excellent experience working with Darlene, Jim and Judy throughout the entire planning process. They were very helpful throughout each step of the process, organized and easy to communicate with. They created a timeline for us that was updated along the way and a great tool to keep everybody on the same page. They accounted for all of the little things that we would not think of. All three came to the venue a couple of months prior to the wedding to walk through everything and paint the picture for us. We worked with Judy for the rehearsal and the day-of. She kept everybody on schedule while remaining calm and collected. She handled every minor hiccup professionally and didn't stress us with the issues during the ceremony or reception. Everything went so smoothly and we've been told by countless guests about how perfectly organized and well planned everything was. My sister also used Darlene for her wedding and it was also perfect! Can't recommend them enough, very professional and organized! read more

My husband and I signed up for the wedding package provided by V. Sattui Winery. Included in the package were Darlene and Jim Forbes. She, the day-of-wedding coordinator and he, the officiant. From the moment we met them, we felt we were in good hands. Darlene and Jim are warm and easygoing :-) Darlene was sharp and very organized. She knew all the details of our wedding: the rehearsal, the caterers, music, wedding cake, flowers, and photographer etc. She created a detailed wedding timeline and that made our wedding smooth and stress-free. The day of the wedding, neither my husband nor I worried about where everyone was supposed to be and if things would get done. Darlene made sure everyone did their job! She was there before the wedding and stayed until the end of the evening until the very last guest departed. Jim was wonderful too. He provided us with sample ceremonies/vows. We chose one of the samples that Jim gave us and it was perfect for our wedding. We appreciated the easy communication between us and the encouragement to ask them any questions. They went far above and beyond what we expected, especially since we were told Darlene was a "day of the wedding" coordinator. read more

Darlene & Jim are a dream team when it comes to wedding coordinating. I used them for my day-of coordination and they really helped to take all of the stress of off me and make sure everything ran smoothly that day. Darlene & Jim will even meet with you ahead of time to make sure you are thinking of everything when it comes to your wedding. They were much more reasonable than other wedding services in the napa area and really great to work with! read more

We hired Darlene and Jim as our officiant and day-of-planner. From the beginning, Jim sent us some sample ceremonies and from those examples, we were able to create a very touching and personal ceremony. In addition, Darlene and Jim met with us several months before the wedding to take care of initial plans. Although most of my wedding planning communication prior to the wedding was with their assistant, Tracie, I have to say I was thankful that Darlene's attentiveness the day of the wedding made up for the miscommunication I had with Tracie through the planning phase. Jim and Darlene, however, were superb the day of the wedding and their fees were the most reasonable we could find. Not one person had to worry about the specifics of the day since Darlene and Jim took care of it, and that's exactly how it should be. They stayed late to take care of the small details and we are so thankful. We could not recommend a better day-of-planner for a wedding in the Napa or Sonoma area. read more

I would give this team of Darlene and Jim a ten-star rating if I could. The absolute best thing we ever did for our daughter's wedding was to hire Darlene. We met her and her husband, Jim, by chance while visiting one of the wineries in St. Helena where they were preparing a wedding. Amidst all the hustle and bustle they were overseeing, they took the time to talk with us and we made an instant connection with them. We learned that Darlene has been connected to the wedding industry in the Napa Valley for years and, when her husband retired, he joined her. Her experience and knowledge of everything connected to wedding planning made the planning experience for us stress free and fun. Putting everything in their capable hands made our trips to the wine country a fun adventure and something we looked forward to. Her recommendations of vendors were also spot on, and we were so impressed with each. We also felt so lucky to be getting two for the price of one because they work together like clockwork. Jim saved us tons of time by making phone calls and getting answers to our questions, while Darlene was busy with the planning and coordinating. Any questions we had were not only answered immediately, but in almost all cases, handled by them. My husband and I agreed that the wisest money we ever spent was on hiring Darlene and Jim as our wedding planner. read more

We also selected Weddings by Darlene via V. Sattui. We were satisfied for the most part with their service, though Jim was a bit shaky with his officiating. He just seemed really nervous, but it ended up being fine. Darlene was well organized and you could tell she had done this many times before. My big problem came with their demanding payment on the day of the wedding. To be fair, Jim did give me an invoice the night before the wedding, but it was after our rehearsal dinner and he didn't communicate that it needed to be paid by the next day. At the end of our reception the following evening, Darlene basically cornered my wife and demanded that she pay her right then and there. Of course my wife didn't have $700 cash on her, so she then demanded that my mother in law write her a check on the spot. Once I found out this was happening, I offered to pay them right away with a credit card, but they did not accept cards and said that we had to settle with them right then. It became a debacle and made my wife break out in tears and essentially ruined the rest of our evening. I was shocked at how unprofessional they were in this aspect- we spent $25k on our wedding, we were not going to stiff them for $700. Here it is seven years later and I still have a bad enough taste in my mouth to write this review. At the end of the day, the planning and coordination led to our ceremony going off without a hitch, so in that regard I would give them a higher rating. But given the fact that our evening ended in such a terrible fashion, I have to stick to 2 stars. I would have paid them in advance had they simply asked. read more

Jim and Darlene are fabulous! We hired them as our wedding planner for our wedding at V. Sattui and were so lucky we did! They really did an excellent job and they are so easy and fun to work with. They really know their venues and vendors and helped us select all our vendors and helped us with our rehearsal dinner. Their vendors are the best in the business. We selected Jim and Darlene's full service package and are very glad we did because the additional help with hotel bookings for guests, guest transpiration, rehearsal dinner and full vendor coordination was so worth it. I'm sure their day of package is good as well but we just got so much value from them by getting their full service planning package. They prepared a really in depth timeline and they are very detail oriented -- helping me with many things I didn't even think -- and let me tell you, I am one very detailed and somewhat ocd bride! They are also just as sweet as pie and such a pleasure to work with! We miss them already! read more