I think I've now officially had enough time to process that I can write Kelly the amazing review she deserves. We used her for our Memorial Day wedding weekend - our welcome party, our ceremony, our reception, and our farewell brunch.
WOW. No...t to be dramatic or anything, but our wedding would have been absolutely NOTHING without Kelly. Like, really. The fire marshal showed up 5 mins before our reception and threatened to shut it down because of a tent permit (minor oversight by our venue - yikes!) and she HANDLED IT LIKE A BOSS and didn't even let it show to me, our attendees, our families (most importantly).
Anyway, back to the normal stuff. I am a type-A planner myself, freshly "retired" from the event industry, and once we hired her and communicated our vision to her, I was able to LET. GO. without a care in the world, other than choosing between some great options she gave us along the way. Finding someone with a personality that fit mine & my fiancé's was a big priority, since we'd be talking and planning for a whole year. She won my heart after interviewing about 5 or 6 planners in the area.
She's got all the qualities of an amazing wedding / event planner - organized, efficient, flexible, priorities set, great connections, a style that matched ours - but she is so much more than that! For example, I had a crazy vision of having fireworks over the lake at the end of our wedding. I figured it was unlikely, but Kelly took my dream and ran with it. She hunted down a company, met them for a site visit, got the permit, and WE HAD FIREWORKS!! I also had an idea in mind for our "place cards" - I wanted to have "Christmas crackers" (a British tradition and a family tradition of ours). It's a small party favor you pull on both ends and a paper crown pops out with a little prize. SHE AND HER WHOLE TEAM MADE THEM. I didn't even ask her to and was ready to just buy them, but she was enthusiastic and passionate about these projects that make each of our weddings unique. I was so thrilled looking out at our reception of 230 people wearing different colored paper crowns.
We texted almost every day for a year and she was always keeping me on top of stuff and sending me amazing ideas. She kept our priorities straight, despite being in touch with both sides of parents while working on different events for the weekend. The weekend of, she was in her element - never appearing stressed, zipping from one venue to the next setting everything up with her team. She appeared with lighters for the bonfire, clear umbrellas in case it rained, and giant wire-cutting scissors I randomly asked for. She offered crucial tips to the bridal party, our parents, Zach and I, etc. that would never cross our mind. "Hold the rings like this so you don't drop them through the deck down the cliff" (important stuff like that).
You should hire her right now (or at least set up a phone call) and go forth and have the best wedding EVER. Every team member she brought with her or that I met along the way was on top of it and probably an incredible wedding planner themselves - I wholeheartedly trust that whole team!
Thank you for everything, All Buttoned Up Events!!! We love you!!!