After the Engagement

Courtney at After the Engagement was awesome. I will admit to being one of those people who was not convinced that we needed a Wedding Planner. I’m very organized and have definite opinions of what I want so I was really having a challenge in understanding why everyone was telling us we had to have a planner. The final ‘push’ was that our venue required a day-of coordinator. So, with that said, we met with Courtney and fully disclosed our hesitation. Well, from that first meeting it was clear that Courtney would ‘enhance’ what we wanted and guide us but not take over control which was my initial concern. We did agree to a package from the beginning that was more than a day-of so we could leverage all that Courtney had to offer. This wound up being one of our best decisions. Courtney was easy to work with and east to get in touch with. She responded to texts and emails quickly and met with us when/where we needed. She was fully of great recommendations for vendors and advise on how to pick them. She met with us and the florist and had some great suggestions which we took advantage of. She provided us with an overall timeline of what needed to be done when, and periodically checked in to make sure that we were making the progress we needed and staying on top of the key items. I never felt ‘pushed’ by Courtney and looked forward to her reaching out and checking in on things. As the day of our wedding got closer we were more in touch with dozens of little details that we did not know would come up. She was always ahead of things and we always had such great energy, support and enthusiasm when we interacted with her! We got to the point where I was very glad that for the actual day we would have Courtney there to keep an eye on everything and everyone and was completely comfortable that she would make sure we had the day we wanted and planned for. This was a huge acknowledgement for us and a huge relief! On the day before the wedding she was there to gather all of our ‘stuff’ and do a final walkthrough with everyone so that everyone was clear on who needed to be where and when. It was time to step back and let Courtney do her thing. And she did, wonderfully! Our wedding was a wonderful day and ran beautifully. Courtney and her team at ATE took care of everything as they promised and we enjoyed the full day. There was no craziness, no meltdown, no drama, and if there was anything that didn’t work out as expected, we did not know about it because Courtney and her team were on top of it. In short, if you’re considering a wedding planner…do it. And if you need to know who, definitely choose Courtney and the team at ATE and you’ll be in excellent hands. Thank you Courtney for being a part of our special day; and for making sure that all the work and planning came together without a hitch.

I don't know where to begin, as is often the case when you're talking about someone extraordinary. That is Courtney -- extraordinary. I can't imagine planning our wedding without her or *with* anyone else. The day after our wedding, one of the first things I said to my new wife was, "I can't believe we won't be talking with Courtney every week anymore!" We found Courtney when we searched specifically for someone whose website (or online persona, if you will) demonstrated inclusivity for weddings between same-sex couples. We didn't want to give our business to someone who hadn't yet updated their marketing to reflect marriage equality (and it's hard to believe but even in Los Angeles this proved difficult). It was clear during our first phone date with Courtney that her inclusivity wasn't just good business sense; it was reflective of her value system, too. But this is just one of a hundred reasons why you should consider partnering with Courtney. Here are the other reasons: she has VAST knowledge and experience of all things weddings. She's organized, responsive (her responsiveness/availability continually amazed me), professional, creative, thoughtful, fun, punctual... she's REAL. And she gives it to you real. When you ask for her honest opinion, she gives it to you (my experience is that some vendors tell you want they think you want to hear or they sugarcoat topics/ideas/feedback because they don't know how to be honest/straightforward in difficult conversations). She has an unbelievable amount of resources and an extensive pool of relationships with outstanding vendors (several with whom we partnered). I'll also add that our wedding was a little bit non-traditional because we had a ton of stations and activities for our guests and all this required a ton of setup and breakdown on Courtney and her team's part. It was flawless, people. Flawless. I'm also willing to bet there are a TON of things Courtney did to ensure an amazing day for us -- things I'm not aware of. Our wedding venue (ceremony and reception) was a blank slate -- it came with zero services so we had to find and hire for every single service. This required a lot of coordination on Courtney's part. Again, it was all completely smooth and downright perfect. Without question, Courtney far and away exceeded our expectations. Thank you, Courtney! We miss you!

After the Engagement was the BEST possible choice to help us with our wedding. We highly recommend Courtney and her team. Courtney coordinated the most fun event we could have hoped for. It’s more than four months behind us, but we are still receiving compliments from our friends and family - it was the most fun wedding they had been to in years! Courtney is this great combination of down-to-Earth and laid-back, yet very responsive and detail oriented. We hired her for partial planning, less than a year before our date. She did a great job of helping us prioritize how to spend our $$$, and she made sure we didn’t sweat the small stuff. She always presented vendor options and helped us narrow them down to who would suit us best. She kept our stress level low. About a week before The Big Day, we heard from our officiant that he would not be able to participate in our ceremony. I called Courtney late at night in a pretty anxious state. Thanks to her awesome network, we were connected with new officiant (whom we loved!) the next morning. No sweat. Our ATE package also included day-of coordination. Courtney and her team were great. Everything went smoothly. Our families only had to worry about showing up on time and enjoying the evening! The ATE team literally even packed my parents’ car with everything that had to be taken home. My parents were able to dance all the way through the last song and then they just had to drive off! Courtney is truly fantastic. Exactly what you should look for in a planner. Thanks again, Courtney! Much love, Amy & Bryan

I don't know where to begin, as is often the case when you're talking about someone extraordinary. That is Courtney -- extraordinary. I can't imagine planning our wedding without her or *with* anyone else. The day after our wedding, one of the first things I said to my new wife was, "I can't believe we won't be talking with Courtney every week anymore!" We found Courtney when we searched specifically for someone whose website (or online persona, if you will) demonstrated inclusivity for weddings between same-sex couples. We didn't want to give our business to someone who hadn't yet updated their marketing to reflect marriage equality (and it's hard to believe but even in Los Angeles this proved difficult). It was clear during our first phone date with Courtney that her inclusivity wasn't just good business sense; it was reflective of her value system, too. But this is just one of a hundred reasons why you should consider partnering with Courtney. Here are the other reasons: she has VAST knowledge and experience of all things weddings. She's organized, responsive (her responsiveness/availability continually amazed me), professional, creative, thoughtful, fun, punctual... she's REAL. And she gives it to you real. When you ask for her honest opinion, she gives it to you (my experience is that some vendors tell you want they think you want to hear or they sugarcoat topics/ideas/feedback because they don't know how to be honest/straightforward in difficult conversations). She has an unbelievable amount of resources and an extensive pool of relationships with outstanding vendors (several with whom we partnered). I'll also add that our wedding was a little bit non-traditional because we had a ton of stations and activities for our guests and all this required a ton of setup and breakdown on Courtney and her team's part. It was flawless, people. Flawless. I'm also willing to bet there are a TON of things Courtney did to ensure an amazing day for us -- things I'm not aware of. Our wedding venue (ceremony and reception) was a blank slate -- it came with zero services so we had to find and hire for every single service. This required a lot of coordination on Courtney's part. Again, it was all completely smooth and downright perfect. Without question, Courtney far and away exceeded our expectations. Thank you, Courtney! We miss you!