Blissful Events

Samar was fabulous! She was very accessible through our planning process, she listened to all our thoughts and was so on top of things the day of! Did a great job wrangling the big group during the rehearsal and everyone knew what to do. Thank you so much for all your help and support creating our big day Samar!

Samar was absolutely incredible! We recently had an elopement in Napa and it was beyond amazing. The team she put together for us was a dream. The flowers (plan decor) were beautiful, officiant (Stevi) was perfect, photography (Michelle) was wonderful - we couldn't have asked for anything better! Samar put together something classy and intimate for our families - everyone was impressed. She kept the day moving and made sure we didn't miss anything. From our first conversation, I felt like she got the vibe we were going for and she definitely delivered! We absolutely loved our day! I am so grateful for everything!!

We worked with Samar to plan our fall 2021 wedding, and our day was absolutely perfect thanks to her and her team! We think about it often and remind ourselves of how lucky we were to be able to pull it together in just the right time. - Samar has a wealth of experience and has seen it all, is a great problem solver, and was meticulous with the day-of details that ensured our day went off without a hitch. - We started planning about 5 months out and were worried it wasn’t enough time. Samar assured us it was possible, as long as we were efficient with decision making. That really put us at ease. - Samar was efficient when presenting us with vendor options. She knew what we were looking for and adjusted her recommendations as we learned more about our preferences. We both work full time, so it was helpful to get a focused set of options that made it easier to choose. If we didn’t like the options, she would find more based on our feedback. This helped us make quick decisions, and all of the vendors Samar recommended fit what we were looking for. - We planned remotely, so Samar had to do site visits for us and send us videos. I was nervous, but Samar’s videos and descriptions were spot on, and she answered our 100+ questions to help us narrow down to our choice. In the end we made the right decision, and felt so relieved once we were actually able to visit on-site and validate it was the perfect choice. - Samar is pragmatic and knowledgeable. When we started feeling iffy about rentals costs, she helped us figure out what to cut out, and what we should absolutely keep. For example, she recommended cutting out cocktail hour furniture since that portion is so short, but keeping outdoor couches for the reception since people would need places to sit with a late night wedding. We initially thought to save some costs on narrower dining tables, but Samar strongly insisted we keep the wider tables since it can all get really crowded with all the decor and tableware. Of course, she was absolutely right! - There were some points of stress, but Samar made everything very easy and never hesitated to hop on the phone any time we got nervous or needed help. I’m sure there were issues and hiccups, but Samar shielded us from them all so we didn’t have to stress. We are grateful for that. - The day of went off without a hitch, which at the end of the day is really what matters. Samar made sure we could just enjoy the day exactly the way we wanted. Some words of advice, ymmv: - When picking a planner, I realized we really wanted a strong problem solver with years of wedding planning experience (vs general event planning experience), who is great with logistics. Design, etc are nice but honestly someone who will listen to you and nail the logistical details is the most important. Samar is that person (but of course she is also so much more, including a great designer!) - Have a clear picture of what’s important to you on the day, and what’s not. Wedding costs add up. Unless you have a truly unlimited budget and timeline, you are going to have to compromise on something somewhere. We really feel we got the best of the best on all fronts and had a perfect day, and did not feel like we had to compromise much to have our perfect wedding on a ‘short’ timeline. Samar made everything so easy and fun. Thank you so much for bringing our special day to life, and pulling it off perfectly! We will remember it as one of the best days of our lives forever.

Samar helped make our dream wedding a reality. She is very helpful and organized. She gave us wonderful direction in the Napa Valley area with vendor selection. On our wedding day there were a few things that didn’t go as planned, but Samar quickly adjusted and was able to make things happen anyways. She really came through on a champagne wall that we had been very excited about but that did not get delivered. Samar worked with the venue to have them use their own trucks to pick up the wall. We had a fabulous wedding that everyone is still talking about. I married the man of my dreams and had a fairytale wedding in Yountville.

Samar is AMAZING! She is everything you want in a planner and so much more! Kind, caring, compassionate, organized, friendly, easy to work with... you get the idea. She is calm and collected no matter what may be thrown her way. If you want your event to run smoothly and efficiently, look no further. You will NOT regret it!

Samar, first off thank you! I knew after our first call that I wanted to partner with you on helping plan/coordinate our wedding. She went above and beyond to make sure that the day was perfect, I walked outside at the ceremony (which was also amazing) and everything was done and in place and she really took my vision to life, all the decor, final touches, it was really incredible). Our wedding ran so smoothly and was such a success and in large part due to all the work you did on the backend coordinating with our many vendors but also day of. Our wedding flew by and not 1 thing went wrong or didn't match up. All of my vendors told me that she was super organized and had great communication on timeline and expectations - plus she had worked with a bunch of our vendors in the past so she knew the inside scoop and how to make things run smoothly. if you are looking for a wedding planner in the Bay Area - Samar is your girl! <3

Samar was not just my event planner - she was my Champion. Before Samar, I was single-handedly planning this event, and I was overwhelmed, lost, and frustrated. Once Samar stepped in to provide her expertise, guidance, and help, my life got easier and brighter. She is an expert at problem-solving; during our planning sessions I always started the meeting feeling overwhelmed and ended our time together feeling stronger, positive, and confident. The day of the event, she took care of all the tiny details so I could focus on being present and worry-free, and the event went exactly as envisioned and was enjoyed by all. Connecting with Samar for her help, advice, perspective, upbeat philosophy, expertise, and selflessly hard work was one of the best decisions I have made all year. Thank you, Samar!

Samar is an angel who rescued my wedding from the depths of pandemic rescheduling to the best day of our lives in less than 6 months. I cannot say enough great things about this woman. From the communication, styling of the event, ensuring we had all the details before the day of. The day of with the meditation and the mints and the peppermint spray on our 100 degree day. We are so thankful we found Samar, she knows how to make her clients feel like they are a priority and that she has your back no matter what crazy stuff happens along the way.

We hired Samar Hattar (Blissful events) many months into the pandemic while Covid restrictions were in place and planned to have our wedding after restrictions had been lifted enough to have an event, we wanted a small wedding anyway. She assured us that she would be able to plan our wedding despite the current restrictions. She charges 15,000 for services and has a nonrefundable 7,500 upfront fee. From the very beginning we saw mistakes being made. She had sent information to incorrect emails, spelled our names incorrectly multiple times on our “wedding planning” website and told us she didn’t want to communicate through text only emails. She invited her boyfriend to the only site visit she had made 2 months after we hired her and then canceled the night before for a mysterious “food poisoning” incident. She did agree to have a zoom meetings but I think the reality was she didn’t want to do the actual work of vetting vendors or calling and getting accurate information about how many could attend, what space was available and possible locations for an outdoor wedding sites. Most of the venues that were even a possibility were our suggestions not hers. After 4 months into planning and asking many times to help us keep things on schedule she had finally visited one wedding venue location. We feel she misrepresented herself as an “elite” planner and over inflated her abilities as a professional. She refused to refund any of our 7,500. I understand during this pandemic things are much more difficult to plan but she assured us She could help us navigate and plan around new guidelines. We were totally willing to work within the parameters of what was available to us and keep the wedding small and within guidelines. We feel she basically took our money and now we have nothing to show for it. She didn’t deliver anything but a google list of venues, zoom meetings that did not result in any valuable information or further the process along, and 1 site visit after 5 months.Working with a new planner showed us how incompetent Samar’s business practices were. We learned our lesson, just go off referrals from people in the industry who have working knowledge of their capabilities. There are much better options out there.

While I often use reviews to research various purchases and services its rare that I'm moved to write one. However, in the case of Blissful Events I simply had to share how outstanding my/our experience was. After a fair amount of research I reached out to Samar from across the country for help planning the perfect marriage proposal. From my very first phone conversation with Samar I knew my research was accurate and that I had found the right person to help me plan this special event. She took the time to learn what I was looking for, hear about my soon to be fiancé and I and then after some thought start presenting me with options. Based on our discussions Samar provided a manageable number of options each step of the way from venues to photographers to florists to transportation companies. Every detail was covered. She was available by phone, text and email and always responded promptly. Her level of care went so far that if she hadn't been to a venue before but thought it might fit what I was looking for she would plan a trip to the venue and report back with details, photos and even video. As I shared, I was planning an engagement in California wine country from my home in New Jersey which isn't the easiest task even with Google! Her level of commitment and detail helped me to take the vison I had in my head and make it a reality. In fact an even better version. I really can't say enough about Samar and Blissful Events. Should you select this company to help you plan your dream proposal or wedding I'm confident that you too will be thrilled with the results.

We live in the Washington D.C. area and wanted to have a destination wedding (2nd marriage) in Sonoma. The prospect of arranging an event over 3,000 miles away from home was a bit scary... and my (happily now) wife talked to a couple of wedding planners in an effort to enlist some help. Be warned! All wedding planners are not built equal - the first planner (not Blissful Events) that we talked to was extremely inflexible and basically wanted to upsell us with a set of pre-configured services (no doubt with a significant kickback). Working with Samar was completely different... she LISTENED to us and then worked to build an absolutely fantastic dream wedding. Multiple guests commented afterwards using words like "magical" and "memorable". We had the service and reception at The General's Daughter... and here a few highlights: - I wanted to sing to my wife at the reception (with my 2 adult boys)... Samar arranged for us to rent a piano and sound equipment... - We were very particular about wine (it was in wine country after all)... and we were able to pick out our own wine for dinner. - Decorations, decorations, decorations. I can't speak enough about the gorgeous flowers, candles, and little touches that we had throughout the property. - We had hand crafted signs with quotes from our favorite songs... I could go on and on, but I think you probably get the idea. And while the final event was incredible... the fact is that working with Samar to craft the event was also a joy. We toured MANY properties before settling on TGD... Samar was very patient and was always available on the phone with my wife and me to talk through different ideas. I actually tried to hire Train (no kidding) to sing "Marry Me" as part of the service... and she was able to get to the agent to have a discussion. The cost was a bit prohibitive, but the point is that Samar got us to a point where we had the conversation. She's extremely well connected and every vendor - photographer, DJ, musicians, flowers, FOOD, etc... overperformed expectations. I cannot recommend Blissful Events and Samar highly enough. Hire her and you will have memories of a lifetime and the photos to prove it.

Your search ends here! Samar is absolutely top notch and amazing. She was always there to answer ANY and ALL questions I had throughout our engagement no matter how big our small - and had the best answers to them all. I do not know how she does it! Our timeline was perfect, her vendor recommendations were perfect - she got who we were as a couple and what we were trying to execute in terms of our vision for the day of. I was freaking out the week prior and Samar was my rock. The day of, I put placing all of our decor in her hands - and dang, even I could not have done a better job even though it was my vision! It was better than I could have imagined. On top of all this, she is so fun, sweet, down to earth and an incredible human being.

Samar really made our event so special, unique, and perfect. She is one of the nicest, most supportive and positive people I have ever met which is perfect for the wedding planning process. She is incredibly organized and punctual and made the entire process stress-free. She was a perfect match for us! She was very helpful in recommending excellent vendors, and I loved every one she suggested. She was also mindful of our budget throughout and helped us stay on track. On the day of the wedding she was amazing. She kept everything running smoothly and was a wonderful calm presence. Multiple guests came up to me at the wedding to tell me how great she was. Thank you Samar!!!

Samar is everything you could hope for in a wedding planner and more! We feel so fortunate to have worked with her and can't imagine what our wedding would been like without her. We gave Samar a vision of a California themed wedding without much detail and she took the idea and ran with it. She quickly got to know us and designed a wedding that was the best reflection of us and our relationship that we could have ever hoped for. Samar's best qualities: - Her personal touch. She quickly picked up on and adjusted to both our personalities and how we operate. She pushed us to make decisions when appropriate but never put pressure on us to make those decisions. And looking back on the year of planning we appreciate her calmness and your reassurances throughout the process. - Samar's fantastic knowledge of and connections with vendors. Samar presented us with the best options for vendors so finely tuned to what she knew was our vision for our wedding. - Samar understands the importance and value that planning a wedding should be fun! She made the whole process fun from start to finish and we will remember not only the wedding, but the entire process leading up to it as a wonderful time in our lives. Thank you so much Samar!

Absolutely 5 stars all around! Samar is amazing! We planned our wedding from a distance - living in Michigan planning for a wedding in Sonoma, CA. Samar help to create a beautiful wedding down to the very last detail. She provided tons of recommendations of vendors to use in the area and even went out of her way to meet with vendors that we found who were not on the list of recommendations from the venue to ensure their quality and work! Planning a destination wedding is hard (and may I say stressful!!!) but Samar made it painless and almost too easy. The timeline flowed smoothly, every detail came together perfectly and not a thing went wrong on the day of the wedding (or at least if it did she did a great job at covering it up from the bride!!). As the bride, I was so worried about all that I would have to do once I arrived In California for the wedding week but really aside from last minute arts and crafts, Samar helped to console my worries and stresses that the day would be perfect as well as ensure that the vendors all came together to do just that and make it a dream come true. The day prior and the day of the wedding our families and ourselves did not do a thing for the wedding, instead we left it up to Samar and took her up on some of her local recommendations and went out wine tasting instead of stressing! I could not have been more grateful to fall upon such a wonderful panner. She made the day (and ALL the days) leading up to the wedding easy, painless as it could be and fun! She has such a fun and loving personality that she blended in perfectly with our guests and seemed like one of them herself! We cannot thank you enough Samar (and team!). You and work work are absolutely beautiful!! XO Mikaela & JC Laughlin

Sandi McCrakin is the absolute best! We planned a destination wedding, so the majority of our communication was over the phone or via email. Despite this, Sandi managed to capture the true essence of our relationship. The ceremony was better than we could have ever expected, and all our guests raved about it! Sandi is kind, thoughtful, and truly talented. Thank you for giving us the perfect ceremony!

My wife and I agree hiring Samar was the best money spent during the entire wedding planning process. I thought I could handle planning our 130 person wedding on my own. Less than three months out from the wedding date I realized I was in over my head, and needed a professional. Samar jumped in to an unconventional situation, taking the reigns of our half-planned wedding as time was ticking down. Samar asked great thought provoking questions of us in pre event meetings and made appropriate suggestions while shopping for rentals; she’s organized to a T, and has fantastic contacts with vendors. She was upfront and communicative about budgets, and worked within our limits. Our venue did not typically host weddings, we needed to rent everything and contract with outside staff. The date was a holiday weekend and staff was hard to find on short notice; Samar made it happen. The event was beautiful, hospitable to guests, and a reflection of my wife and my relationship. The details I would not have thought of, like lighting, signage, and flow of the event made all the difference. Samar has the day-of timelined out to the minute. We got to fully enjoy our wedding day, get ready with our bridal parties and know that Saamar had everything taken care of. Working with Blissful Events is a wedding gift to yourself! I recommend Blissful Events wholeheartedly!

Thank goodness our friends referred us to Samar and Blissful Events for our pre-wedding and day-of planning. I don't know what we would have done without her! Samar met with us several times in the lead up to our very DIY wedding at a venue that had never done weddings before. Together with Samar we were responsible for every detail. Thanks to Samar's careful planning nothing was missed and the day went perfectly. There were no missed details, and thanks to her presence we were able to enjoy every moment of our day as participants rather than planners. A few things I'll highlight that were amazing/helpful: 1) Samar has developed a well-tested wedding planning toolkit which we used extensively. There definitely would have been missed steps without this, and without her careful review of our plan. 2) Samar offered creative solutions to problems we didn't know how to handle. For example, the spot we wanted to get married on had a big burn mark in the grass from bonfires. We had no idea what to do about it. Samar came up with the perfect solution: use a square of sod to cover it up! Cheap, effective, and easy to do. 3) Samar helped us coordinate several different vendors, meaning I didn't have to think about it at all on day of. That was an enormous relief. 4) Samar kept her cool all day. Everything felt totally under control. She even indulged me by texting me photos of the reception area set up so that I could see that everything was going exactly according to plan. 5) Samar arranged for a bottle of champagne and clean room to be awaiting us at the end of the night. I didn't realize it, but coming back to an ordered little sanctuary at the end of that amazing day was so important. On top of all of this Samar was responsive, friendly and just generally fun to work with. I couldn't recommend her more highly, and have already passed her name along to several good friends who are engaged. You will be in great hands with Blissful Events!!

Planning my wedding is so much easier than I could have ever hoped for. All my visions are coming to life. From the very first phone call I knew Blissful Events would be perfect. I'm so excited for our wedding. Thank you Samar! -Jaime

WOW! Samar was absolutely wonderful to work with. Our daughter was married last month. The wedding was at a somewhat remote site and Samar made EVERYTHING seamless. As mother of the bride we were not sure we needed a wedding planner but now I tell everyone it is a necessity. She made our daughters day perfect and trouble free.

Samar is absolutely the BEST at what she does! She is attentive, organized, detail-oriented, professional, has great taste and style, and keeps a calm demeanor and a smiling face no matter what the circumstances. She will make your event flawless and memorable, and make sure you have nothing to worry about.

I hired Samar with a month to go before my October wedding. Last minute I decided to hire a day-of coordinator so I could actually enjoy my wedding. I contacted about 10 different coordinators and Samar was the only one that I felt was actually listening to me!!! I felt like most of the coordinators I spoke with were pretentious and all about themselves. Not Samar though, she wanted to hear about my vision and how she could help me. She was easy going, but super professional. She was great about keeping me updated and was always there when I needed her. I highly recommend Samar! She will make your wedding happen exactly how you vision. The girl gets things done!

We hired Samar as our day-of coordinator and some additional pre-wedding design help for our wedding on September 21, 2013. We were away on our honeymoon until just yesterday, so I didn't have a chance to write a review sooner, but Samar was AMAZING. I had so much fun meeting with her before the wedding during the planning process. She was incredibly helpful and always had wonderful ideas. Her warm, bubbly personality was a pleasure to work with, and she worked SO well with all the other vendors at our wedding. At the last minute, our weather forecast changed and it appeared that we would have a rainy wedding. The morning of the wedding it was pouring rain. However, Samar was attentive and flexible and ready for everything. I did not have to worry about a thing the day of my wedding, and I was able to simply enjoy the entire day with my husband. During the reception Samar checked in periodically to remind of things like cake cutting, etc. and to keep people where they were supposed to be, but she was so kind and relaxed about it. Everyone had wonderful things to say about how on top of it, yet calm Samar was. The sun ended up coming out just in time to dry everything up and make a beautiful appearance at our wedding. Our day was a dream come true, and we simply would not have been able to enjoy the day like we did without Samar's help!

Samar and her team were the reason our vision came to life. We loved every minute of working with Samar and Blissful Events and they made it very easy on us especially taking into account that we were planning from afar! Always fun and now my husband and myself consider Samar a friend as well as our wedding planner! s&j

As a vendor, all you want when working with another vendor is that they're organized, on top of things and extremely helpful. Samar was all those things and beyond! She goes out of her way to take care of both her brides and the vendors she hires for her weddings. We'd recommend her to any bay area bride!

We hired Blissful Events for day-of wedding planning. Samar was extremely accommodating to our needs during the pre-wedding meetings, going beyond her contractual duties and taking extra time to make sure she got all the details and information she needed from us. Come wedding day, she and Elizabeth were wonderful. As far as I knew, the wedding went off without a hitch—which means they did an excellent job :) They were polite and unobtrusive, yet managed to orchestrate all the components smoothly and on time. Do yourselves a favor and hire Blissful Events.

I cannot say enough good things about Samar. We really could not have pulled together our wedding without her. My husband and I live in New York City but decided to have a small (40 person) wedding in Santa Rosa this past September. It’s very difficult to plan a wedding on the West Coast while living on the East Coast, especially when you can only fit in one 3-day visit during the entire planning period! Luckily, Samar made sure that everything came together perfectly. From our initial meeting with Samar, she really understood the vision for our wedding. As our planning progressed, I never felt nervous about our timeline or our budget. Samar seemed to have it all under control. She works efficiently and calmly which really helped us to feel secure and confident through the whole process. When my husband and I came to California for our one in-person planning weekend, Samar set up numerous meetings with a host of amazing vendors while also leaving time in our schedule for us to enjoy California. In that short time frame, we came away from the weekend with a florist, caterer, cake baker, venue, and unlimited excitement for the wedding. On the day of the wedding, Samar flawlessly coordinated everything and everyone while making sure everything stayed on schedule. When lipstick accidentally fell on my dress, Samar was there with an “emergency” kit to fix it! She literally does it all. My husband and I did not have to worry about a thing. We were able to enjoy ourselves knowing that everything was in Samar’s more-than-capable hands. In addition to being a great wedding planner, Samar is a great person to work so closely with for months. I am happy to have made such a great personal connection with Samar and look forward to being in touch with her for years to come! I honestly can’t think of one aspect of our wedding that I wish we had done differently. It was like a dream, and we have Samar to thank for making it happen! If you are looking for a wedding planner, I would highly recommend Samar!

Samar Hattar of Blissful Events is wonderful. We hired her as our Day-Of Coordinator for our October 1st wedding and honestly it wouldn't have been what it was without her. My husband and I planned every detail of our wedding ourselves, but on that day we didn't have to think about anything, knowing Samar was taking care of all the details and making sure everything was in place and ready to go. I'd recommend her without reservation, she will always have a sweet spot in our hearts.

Blissful Events is the best Event Planner company that we have ever been involved with. They are very talented and knowledgeable about the wedding business and what makes weddings perfect