5 out of 5 stars and 97 reviews
5
(97)Hudson Valley, Upstate NY and Surrounding Areas
About this vendor
Cathy's Elegant Events is an award-winning full-service wedding planning and design company that creates unforgettable weddings and events. We provide each client with exceptional service and meticulous attention to detail, which has made us a leader in the industry. By listening to and understanding each client's unique needs, we craft one-of-a-kind concepts and bring them to life! We don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach!
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
- Destination Wedding Planning
Planning
- A la Carte Wedding Planning
- Budgeting
- Destination Wedding Planning
- Full Service Wedding Planning
- Wedding Design
- Wedding Website
Wedding Activities
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Rehearsal Dinner
- Welcome Party
- Wedding
- After Party
Awards and Affiliations
5-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2025.2019.2018.+2 more.
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Hall of Fame
Earned by winning 'Best of Weddings' four or more times.
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
5
out of 5.097 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
Cathy Ballone is, hands down, the very best of the best. You hear horror stories about some wedding planners, so we went into our own planning journey with low expectations. But w...
orking with Cathy makes us want to do the whole thing over again (and again!), because yes, she’s that good.
Words cannot convey how fortunate we are to have found Cathy, and that she was willing to take us on with such little notice. Our first venue unexpectedly fell through with only months to spare, and she literally saved the day. We were recommended Cathy’s services while searching for a new venue, and needless to say, our wedding quite literally would not have happened without her incredible professionalism and stellar attention to detail.
Hiring Cathy is like having a new best friend who is on call, 24/7, to help you achieve the wedding of your dreams. She’s warm, she’s funny, and she strikes just the right balance between keeping your nerves calm while gently nudging to make sure deadlines are met and vendor agreements are finalized on time. We had weekly planning phone calls in the months leading up to our wedding, which we genuinely miss having. During these calls we ran through a multitude of meticulously organized checklists (that Cathy provides, via Google Drive) which helped to keep everything on track, ensuring that every task item was completed on time and that there was plenty of buffer space in case contingencies arose. But outside of planning, Cathy always took the time on every call to ask how we were doing and how life was going, which was an added personal touch that made the process much more enjoyable and much less formal than you would expect.
Additionally, no matter what time of day or where she was, Cathy was available (and promptly replied) to every inquiry and question we had, regardless of how small. This was especially impressive given all the other weddings she was simultaneously planning, and made us feel like our wedding was the only one she was focused on. Very few people on this planet have that kind of energy or knack for high-level multitasking, but Cathy is truly blessed with both. Truly a white-glove service experience.
Following our weeks of planning together, we went into our weekend with full confidence — not only that things would go smoothly — but that our vision would be realized. But nothing could prepare us for just how great the weekend went and how beautiful everything turned out to be, from the seamless vendor coordination to the flowers & decor to the venue setup, with all credit going to Cathy (who was equipped with, along with her team, a wireless comms system, not unlike an NFL coaching staff orchestrating your very own Super Bowl). As an added bonus, Cathy – a fan of many things outside of planning, including birding and meteorology – has her own weather forecasting spreadsheet (containing formulas she developed herself!) that kept us calm about the forecast in the days leading up to our date. Her weather predictions ended up being spot on, and even though the official NOAA forecast was calling for rain, it ended up being -- as her spreadsheet had predicted -- a perfect, cloudless, sunny weekend. Talk about going the extra mile!
All in all, we cannot more highly recommended Cathy Ballone to anyone looking to plan a wedding in the Hudson Valley area and beyond. No one does it better than her. With Cathy on your team, you are in the best of hands.
Working with Cathy was truly one of the best decisions we made for our wedding! She partnered with us for over a year and a half, guiding us through every step — from the venue sea...
rch and vendor selection to decor, design, and all the tiny details in between.
Cathy is the most organized person you will ever meet. She kept us on track with regular calls, detailed timelines, and comprehensive documents that made the entire process feel manageable and stress-free. Beyond her impeccable organization, Cathy was always our biggest advocate — whether negotiating with the venue, communicating with vendors, or helping navigate delicate family dynamics, she always had our best interests at heart.
Her vendor recommendations were spot-on, and she was endlessly patient when we wanted to talk through every little decision (no matter how small!). We always felt supported and heard, and on the wedding day itself, everything ran seamlessly thanks to her meticulous planning and calm presence.
We truly can’t imagine going through this process without Cathy. She’s professional, thoughtful, and genuinely cares about her couples. If you want someone who will make your wedding vision come to life while keeping you sane throughout the process, Cathy is the one!
Cathy planned our wedding in September of 2025 and we are so happy and thankful that we had her leading our event! We would 100% recommend Cathy to any couples interested in hiring...
her and her team.
Cathy’s communication from our first call through the wedding day was best-in-class and she was always available to answer any questions we had. In the wedding planning process, it can be daunting to even know where to begin, but Cathy made everything so clear for us and set us up for success by using her deep experience and knowledge of local vendors to simplify the decision-making process. From there, Cathy did an incredible job of keeping us on track with bi-weekly calls and a running to-do list for us to tackle, while behind the scenes working with all of our vendors to allow for everything to come into place.
When it came to wedding day and the weeks leading up, Cathy made everything so smooth for us, our families and our wedding party. On the wedding day, we were able to just focus on enjoying the day knowing that Cathy had everything handled!
Cathy was a wonderful and thorough wedding planner for our son and daughter in law’s wedding. We teased her that she had a “Mary Poppins purse” and she could solve any problem. F...
or example, one of the groomsmen’s tuxedo arms were too long. Cathy had plenty of safety pins in her purse. She fixed the arms before the ceremony. Cathy was around and available but not in the spotlight. We highly recommend her.
We had the absolute pleasure of working with Cathy from Cathy’s Elegant Events for almost two years to plan our wedding in the Hudson Valley, and she was phenomenal every step of t...
he way! Cathy’s approach was "the sooner, the better"—she encouraged us to knock out big decisions and details early on (who knew music choices took so long to pick??), which made the final weeks leading up to the wedding and the day itself so much more relaxed and enjoyable.
Communication was seamless throughout the entire process. Cathy set up bi-weekly calls to keep us on track, and she was always just a text away if anything urgent came up. Her attention to detail is unmatched. She provided a comprehensive agenda, covering every single checkpoint with timelines that made sure nothing slipped through the cracks. Her ability to work seamlessly with vendors was also impressive; she handled so many of their needs directly that vendors who would typically require extensive back-and-forth didn’t even need to reach out. She had it all covered.
Cathy also went above and beyond in so many ways to make our vision come to life. When we realized the cost of a base for our signage was unexpectedly high, Cathy took it upon herself to build us a custom base—something she did so we could have exactly the look we wanted. During the wedding day, she handled every detail with grace. At one point during cocktail hour, someone accidentally stepped on my dress, and Cathy was by my side within seconds, stitching me back into the dress without missing a beat.
If you’re considering a wedding planner, we wholeheartedly recommend Cathy from Cathy's Elegant Events. She’ll bring absolute dedication to making your day unforgettable and we couldn't have done it without her!
We knew Cathy was the right fit for us as soon as we got off the first call. We needed somebody to bring structure, experience, honesty, and attention to detail for an 7 month plan...
ning process. Cathy gave off that first impression and delivered in spades.
To illustrate an example of Cathy's approach that worked well for us: Cathy set up a shared Google Drive, budget, timeline, and biweekly calls, where we only focused on the decisions / discussions that had to happen at that point in time and didn't needlessly worry about the rest. We were in a very busy season at work, and this allowed us to direct the limited mindshare that we had to the right things at the right time.
Furthermore, Cathy has experience working with the best vendors across the Hudson Valley. We trusted her to give us honest advice and a range of options that honoured our preferences and price points - particularly helpful for a couple based in Brooklyn and could not always visit vendors ourselves. She also knows the best sandwiches in town for when we did visit.
Finally, Cathy worked tirelessly behind the scenes during our actual wedding weekend to make it truly more than we could have hoped for, while we got to be carefree and present (seriously, we went jogging through the trails and had bagels the morning of!) She monitored the evolving rain situation all day, with backup plans in place. She translated every detail from our conversations to execution (including pulling off adapted Chinese / British tea ceremony, and making sure we both had change of clothing for the after party in case of rain or sweat). And she coordinated with our vendors and wedding party, so we didn't have to field any questions.
Thank you, Cathy! We strong recommend her planning services.
Cathy is excellent. We felt a connection with her on our very first call, and we thoroughly enjoyed working with her throughout the entire 15 month-long process. She is organized, ...
methodical, and was our partner and advocate every step of the way. Cathy brings expert knowledge and special thoughtfulness to planning. She knew the best vendors in the Hudson Valley to work with to execute our vision of a lush and vibrant summer wedding with our guests’ experience at the forefront.
She advised us through decisions large and small, listening to our ideas, spending countless hours working through the details with us, making expert recommendations. Cathy built and managed thoughtful, detailed timelines for the planning process and our wedding day. We came to rely on her as our trusted advisor, and felt assured that she cared as much about the finer details as we did. In the end, all our hard work together paid off. We had an absolute blast on our wedding day, and knowing Cathy was in charge played a key role in our enjoyment.
Moments before the ceremony began, Cathy discovered that Christine’s veil had been forgotten, and Cathy took off running to recover it. Another planner might have overlooked a detail like this, but Cathy took notice and immediate action to ensure our wedding went according to plan.
Heavy rain was on the forecast for our wedding day. Cathy diligently monitored the weather conditions during the weeks prior, and ensured our rain plan was in place the week of. The morning of the wedding, the weather appeared to have stabilized enough for us to proceed with our original ceremony plan. Nevertheless, Cathy remained prepared and had golf umbrellas at the ready for us.
We absolutely loved working with Cathy and would hire her again in a heartbeat. Along the way, vendors who had worked with Cathy in the past spoke highly of her work and genuinely seemed relieved (on all our behalves) that we had chosen her as our partner in bringing our dream wedding into reality. So are we!
We recommend Cathy’s planning services highly and without hesitation.
Cathy was friendly, flexible, accommodating and professional from the very beginning. I couldn't recommend her more. Anything we threw out there as far as ideas or thoughts was wel...
l received without any judgment or pushing us to go in either direction. I felt very taken care of, heard and she followed through on every part of the planning we needed. Cathy's organization was something I have not seen before- extremely reliable and always following through on tasks not only on her end but made sure we did our job as well. I felt like she really cared about our happiness for the wedding weekend and not that it was just a job to her. I was very impressed and would hire her for anything in the future.
We cannot recommend Cathy highly enough. From our first contact with her, it was clear that we were over our heads planning a wedding, but the solution was simple: Cathy. Cathy imm...
ediately worked with us to create a vision board that made sure we all were talking a common language and had a singular vision. From there, biweekly meetings made sure we were making the progress we needed. Even better, between those meetings, Cathy was always available (both quickly over text and for in-the-weed phone calls). No detail is missed, because Cathy won’t let it be missed; she creates a masterfully organized Google Drive to make sure we are all working with the same documents and that nothing gets lost. We cannot emphasize enough how much easier life is with Cathy! I wish we could hire her to just run our lives forever.
If all the planning, contracts, vendor work, and tough love wasn’t enough, Cathy took it to the next level on our wedding day. In the midst of a torrential downpour, Cathy dug irrigation trenches to prevent our ceremony tent from flooding and got a friend to bring a tractor to help move a tree that was down and blocking the driveway to our venue. Then, because my wedding dress wasn’t bustled high enough, Cathy did emergency stitch work, while I ate dinner to make sure I could cut up the dance floor. Those are no hyperboles; Cathy literally did hard manual labor and on the spot seamstress work to assure we had the perfect day. And the best part, we had no idea either of those near catastrophic events had occurred. Nope, Cathy made our wedding day seem effortless and perfect, when without her it would have been the opposite of both.
In summary, Cathy has the organizational infrastructure to make your wedding planning seamless, a deep rolodex of vendors to make sure you have the right ones on your day and has seen it all. If you choose Cathy to work with you on your wedding day, you will end up wondering how you could have done it any other way.
I can’t say enough about Cathy Ballone. She is meticulous with all the details. She took my daughter’s vision and made it a reality. Everyone had a wonderful time. Best of all, the...
bride and groom and parents of the bride enjoyed every minute.
Cathy is the most organized person I may have ever met! She was on top of every aspect of our wedding from A-Z. She helped me stay organized with spreadsheets, files, and even let ...
me mail items directly to her to bring to the wedding so I didn't have to worry about setting things up myself. She provided a level of organization I didn't know I needed, and the whole day ran completely smoothly. She was a lifesaver! Highly recommend!!!
I have nothing but kind things to say about Cathy and her team. Cathy stood by us through the pandemic, 2 canceled weddings and a complete location, country and theme swift. We wen...
t from Upstate New York to New York City, and eventually Tulum, Mexico where the wedding was finally celebrated. Cathy is a superhero and she truly goes above and beyond for her clients. Cathy has a waiting list of clients, but made us feel like we were her only priority which was such a nice feeling. Our special day was better than we could ever have imagined, thanks to Cathy. She is always five steps ahead, extremely organized and amazing under pressure. It didn't take long for Cathy to figure out our vision and priorities, which is why Cathy is so good at what she does. I could use a daily dose of Cathy to keep my life in order. We miss her.
If you want a wedding planner who will actually roll up their sleeves and run the traps on all of the nitty gritty details of your wedding from start to finish, no matter how compl...
icated things get during the planning or on the day of your event, and who will do it with grace and professionalism, you should hire Cathy. If you want to leave all of that up to chance, hire someone else, but I promise you will regret it. My husband and I were in no position to take on the complexity of our vision on a 9 month timeline and Cathy was honest with us at every turn about what it would take to get things done. On the day of my wedding when a forecasted squall threatened the evacuation of our tent, Cathy calmly came to find me during hair and makeup, helped me appreciate the options, and then personally moved heaven and earth to make an alternative cocktail hour plan happen as the storm passed.
Cathy is a hard-working, honest, experienced planner. She knows every vendor in the Hudson Valley. She chases people down and will not rest until there's an answer (e.g. given a very bad peach harvest this year, how will I source 250 peaches to achieve my client's vision?) When you’re writing check after check for your wedding and the thought crosses your mind — “can I even trust this person?” Um, yes, I would trust Cathy with most anything. She is not the wedding planner you see on TV or that your friends lament “didn’t even do anything”. Oh, no. Cathy will keep you on track week by week, organized in GoogleDrive, and even on top of things she’s not contractually responsible for (e.g. have you selected accessories yet? How is honeymoon planning going?), and then, when cocktail hour is going swimmingly and the first rain drops start to fall, she will just APPEAR with an umbrella over your head like she is ACTUALLY MARY POPPINS. She excels at the knowledge work, the hard work (turns out this can be a very physical job!) and is very service-oriented with families and guests.
I was perhaps the happiest I have ever been on my wedding day and I know that having a trusted, experienced planner like Cathy (and her team!) — who genuinely cared about us, our families, and our friends — gave me the freedom to enjoy my day to the maximum. There is no greater gift to give yourself.
If I could give 10 stars I would - Cathy is absolutely incredible! I would not have been able to plan my wedding without her. She was meticulously organized, always available, and ...
willing to go above and beyond. Cathy is the absolute best and I could not recommend her more highly!
Just as Atlas holds the world on his shoulders at 30 Rock, so too did Cathy carry our wedding on our shoulders with grace, excitement, and professionalism. Cathy was by far the sin...
gle biggest reason our wedding was an epic, heartfelt day to remember for us and our families and guests. Throughout the planning process and the wedding day, Cathy and her team put us and our needs first and did everything they could to make the day special for us.
Cathy was super organized and kept us on track with her “To do” list and “Agenda & Checklist” docs, which she modified based on feedback we gave during the planning process. Cathy took on virtually all of the vendor research, contracting, and payment tracking, which made our lives a lot easier. She also worked around our schedules when scheduling our check-in calls and calls with vendors.
During the weekend of the wedding, Cathy’s heroics made a huge impact. When our rehearsal dinner venue had issues with parking, Cathy drove over to speak with the venue management and sort it out, even though she was not originally planning to be at the rehearsal dinner! On our wedding day, Cathy and her team worked tirelessly and discreetly to solve issues that came up with our venue and shuttle vendor. We didn’t notice these issues at all and that is a big testament to Cathy and her team’s professionalism and poise under pressure.
Last but not least, Cathy was very kind, laid back, and brought a levity and humor to the wedding planning process that really cut down on the stress of it all. We feel like we became friends with Cathy and we’d highly recommend her to plan your wedding!
HIRE HER!
To say we are two very type-A clients would be putting it lightly, and yet we were no match for Cathy. She handled us and every detail easily, including all of the tiny ...
design details we customized for the day.
The number of compliments we received about our wedding is one for the record books, I'm sure, but the compliments went far beyond what you might expect. Our vendors, bridal party, and even fickle doggo noted they LOVED working with this team.
Working with Cathy, Kristin, and the rest of the team was truly incredible. 12/10 would recommend.
I can’t say enough good things about Cathy & her team! I could not have asked for better service or support & she truly helped to make it the perfect day. First, Cathy assisted wit...
h Design (tent decor, linen choices, etc). She’s incredibly patient & made a detailed PowerPoint to help me create a vision & bring it to life. The day of the wedding, we were thrilled with how everything turned out! Cathy kept us organized and on track in the months leading up to the wedding - even when we were not putting wedding planning as a priority because life can be busy with work & travel & so many other things. So having Cathy to guide us & confirm all details with our vendors was so helpful so we never missed a beat or fell behind on a deadline. The wedding week- Cathy thought of EVERYTHING. She’s accessible at any moment to help & handle last minute changes, answering any random questions or issues that might come up. She ran an organized rehearsal so my family & bridal party all felt prepared for the big day. And on the wedding day - she kept us on time and running perfectly smoothly. But beyond that, she truly assisted with every last detail. From running out to get me & my bridesmaids solemates for walking in our heels in the grass, to getting water bottles for guests in case it was too hot during our outdoor ceremony, to keeping my groom, bridal party and me cool with ice packs & waters while we were walking around during pictures - I never would have thought of these details, but they were crucial to making it a perfect day. All of my friends & family were thrilled with Cathy’s service. There are nerves & stress on such a big day, but having Cathy to support & lead us was so comforting. We were truly able to just have fun & enjoy the day, and not worry about anything! One of my bridesmaids said, “Cathy is wedding planning goals!” We could not be more grateful or happier with how everything turned out. My advice to any bride would be to hire Cathy!
Cathy is literally the best. It's amazing how she made the process of planning our wedding stress free especially given how overwhelming I expected it to be. I even found myself lo...
oking forward to our planning calls! Cathy helped us execute our vision to a tee and the vendors she recommended were on point and worked so well together under Cathy's guidance. She is flexible and accommodating, and really wants the couples she works with to have the time of their lives. The wedding went off without ANY complications (of course, like I said, Cathy is the best) and many of our guests commented on it being one of the most fun weddings they've ever been to. Use Cathy to plan your wedding, seriously, you'll be so happy you did. By the end of this process I really feel like we've become friends with Cathy - I was even told she cried as we walked down the aisle :) "Your wedding planner [Cathy] was amazing, I don't know how she does it! It's like she was in 15 places at once." - My mom
Hiring Cathy to help plan our wedding was the best decision we made in this whole process. We found her via instagram (!!) as she had done weddings at our already selected venue be...
fore (the Roundhouse). From our first phone meeting back in 2019 we could tell she was diligent, professional, meticulous and thorough. She left no detail unexplored and had a fantastic system to keep things on track (which as a type A person, I appreciated so so much). Especially through the madness of re-scheduling (three times!) during COVID, Cathy was there for us and helped us navigate each and every hurdle we encountered taking in account our values regarding masks, vaccines, size, etc. She answered my calls at all hours - even when we went from postponing our wedding to 2022 but then deciding to move it back to 2021 -- it seemed impossible but she made it work! We appreciated that she helped us structure a budget that worked for us and never pressured us to spend more money than we felt comfortable. She found a perfect balance between cost and quality and helped us make many decisions that resulted in that absolute perfect wedding. Overall, she was the ideal wedding planner!
Cathy is excellent. Our wedding was complicated for a bunch of reasons. It was big, a little bit DIY, entirely outdoors during an unusually rainy fall (which required some last-min...
ute changes) and it involved a three-mile night hike through the woods. Oh yeah, and my husband and I became parents during the planning process, so we were busy and exhausted and probably insanely hard to pin down, despite our best efforts. Cathy rolled with all of it, letting us know when key decisions had to be made and when things could wait. She was patient, upbeat and a great sounding board. It's her style to help her clients arrive at a vision rather than coming with one herself -- which means she's very game to talk things through and weigh in with considered opinions. She's extremely hard-working and detail-oriented and will map out your wedding day in 15-minute increments (literally!) to ensure that all of the moving pieces fall in place. It was our wedding, our family, our friends -- but I felt like she was just as invested in pulling it all off as we were.
But seriously. Cathy is an incredible wedding planner, phenomenal professional, creative genius, and steady hand in a storm. Cathy planned my best friend's wedding where I was a Ma...
id of Honor. It felt like every time I called my friend and asked, how could I help?, she would forward a simple decision that had to be made with clear options laid out by Cathy. It made the wedding more about the excitement of sharing a day together rather than the harried rush of planning of wedding near New York City. On the day of, Cathy made sure everyone knew exactly what needed to be happening. I felt like I was only made aware of really really really important things, and everything behind the scenes went very smoothly. My friends were concerned about spending the money for Cathy, but by the end of the wedding, they said they were the best spent pennies in the entire wedding budget. I can't recommend her highly enough.
Hiring Cathy was the best decision we made with regards to our wedding planning process, hands down. It is no exaggeration to say that our wedding simply would not have come to fru...
ition had it not been for her, her hard work, dedication, meticulousness, patience, intuition, vast knowledge of just about everything, and of course, her big heart.
Prior to Cathy, our wedding planning process had endured some bumps and misfortunes that left us wondering how we were ever going to make our big day come to life. In came Cathy to single-handedly save the day. From day one she was an absolute pleasure to work with. No stone was left unturned with Cathy -- from her creative ideas to her practical suggestions, she had all bases thoroughly covered. Her attention to detail is truly one-of-a-kind, as we could always expect her to come to each planning call with extreme preparedness and the genuine desire to make our wedding day as special and memorable as possible for us.
After having to cancel at our planned venue due to COVID, she helped us put together a beautiful backyard wedding of our dreams in just three mere months, which obviously was no easy feat. Whenever any issues arose, Cathy went far, FAR above and beyond to resolve them and put our minds at ease.
If I am being honest, before Cathy, I was feeling overwhelmed, depleted and defeated about the whole wedding and was loathing the entire planning process because it was excruciatingly stressful. With Cathy's support, help and guidance I was able to actually enjoy the very special time that is wedding planning.
Ultimately, our wedding was absolutely perfect and we have Cathy to thank for that. We are eternally grateful for her and HIGHLY recommend her.
Cathy is the absolute best!! Hiring Cathy was the best decision we made during our wedding planning process. We had not initially planned to hire a month-of coordinator, but we we...
re so grateful that we did. We found ourselves saying, “Thank goodness for Cathy,” at least once a week. Cathy was incredibly organized and kept us on track throughout the planning process with precise, yet easy to use checklists. She brought things to our attention that we never would have even considered. Whenever we had a question, she answered us immediately. She was able to help us solve any problem that came our way. It is clear that she is incredibly dedicated to her clients, and her talent for wedding planning and coordinating is beyond comparison. We could never have pulled off our dream wedding without her!!
Cathy was integral to our wedding day! I am a total control freak, and for the weeks and months leading up to the wedding she kept me calm and collected, and helped us both track a...
ll the myriad of crazy details that continued to pop up!
The weekend of the wedding, she was basically in a million places at once, taking care of every detail you might imagine! She was fabulous, and we both highly recommend her!
Cathy and her team deserve a five a star rating for their excellent communication and organizational skills. She keep everyone on task, managed any last minute emergencies that occ...
urred and they do occur and made the day so enjoyable and stress free. I can't imagine the day without her. I thank you for your kind and friendly manner and would recommend Cathy's services to anyone looking for a stress free event.
As mother of the bride I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Cathy for all of her hard work and attention to detail as we planned our amazing event! From the planned p...
hone calls with the bride and groom as well as answering any questions that the mother of the groom and I may have had Cathy was always available and helpful. She answered each and every email and phone call immediately and made the day go off without a hitch!!! She is truly amazing at her job because she truly does care about each person!!!
I can’t say enough about her and her staff, they went above and beyond and it was truly appreciated!
Pretty sure nothing I could say could truly encapsulate how Instrumental Cathy and her team were to planning our wedding! By the end of it all, she was way more than just a planner...
, she was our friend! The way she structured planning made it feel like a lot got done at exactly the right times, so we were never really overwhelmed. We had phone calls with her every two weeks to go over what we needed to do before our next call and she really kept us on track. Even to the point where she would make me calendar events to pay vendors on time. When she told me we were having our LAST call 6 weeks before the wedding, I actually got a bit sad because they had really become a part of our process. Above and beyond is really the best phrase to describe Cathy. At one point during the actual wedding, a few of my bustles were coming undone and one string ripped off (too much dancing) and Cathy had the awesome idea to Zip tie them AND she made the ziptie invisible! The next day, I was walking to our farewell brunch and kept thinking....what went wrong?? And I couldn't really think of ANYTHING. We were told by several friends to expect 5% to go wrong and to not focus on it and instead to focus on the 95% that went right. Legitimately, every single thing went right. Best night ever and we hope to stay in touch with Cathy for many years to come!
Creative. Organized. Accessible. Caring. Flexible. Calm. Professional. All words that so perfectly describe Cathy and the services she brought to our daughter's wedding. Her expert...
ise and attention to detail allowed everyone (including the bride and groom) to enjoy the day. It was a perfect wedding.
Cathy was everything we hoped for and more! We had our ceremony and reception at a venue that required us to bring everything in. We knew we wanted a day of coordinator, because ...
we wanted to be able to enjoy our day/ weekend and not worry about communicating with all of vendors. Cathy made sure everything went smoothly and stepped in in more ways than I expected, including meeting with us many times over our planning process to touch base and give us advice for ANY questions we had. The day of she made sure we had everything we could possibly need including hot tools to touch up our hair that was flattened due to the fog, bustled my dress, and repaired my dress not once, but twice, when a button the buttons on my dress wouldn’t stay closed and my dress got stepped on and the bustle ripped! We can’t thank her enough for being the support we needed to make our day so special. Definitely recommend!
Cathy, cathy, cathy...
She should be referred to as Saint Cathy, because that’s what she is! Cathy was our month of planner and is the only reason my husband and I made it down the...
aisle. As many may have experienced (although I hope none ever have to) the wedding day does not always go as planned. For us, weather was an issue, buses were delayed, itineraries had to be modified; all of which Cathy did without batting an eye. Both my husband and I didn’t feel the slightest bit of stress going on all around us all because of Cathy. She helped my husband & myself every step of the way, wayyyyy before our “big day”. Cathy kept us sane and unruly groomsman in line. She may appear tiny, but she is fierce. Cathy is incredible at her job, painstakingly mindful to every minuscule detail, and an extremely knowledgeable resource. We would honestly trust Cathy with our lives! Again, we can’t stress enough that if we did not have Cathy, we wouldn’t be Mr. & Mrs. today. Her professionalism is unmatched and we could not thank her enough. She made our day the amazingly perfect day that it was! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! <3
Heath & Hope Walden
Cathy was the party planner recommended to our son and daughter-in-law for their wedding at The Farm at Pond Lily on June 17, 2017. From the first meeting, Cathy impressed me with ...
her warm and yet professional approach to helping us navigate the many choices involved in planning a personal, individual wedding. She is patient and very thorough and the result was virtually no glitches, no surprises and no need to answer questions as they arose during the entire day of the wedding. Cathy had anticipated everything! She knew the couple's desires and outlook that helped her take appropriate action as the day unfolded. There are so many things to take care of: the vendors, the guests, the bride and groom, their parents and siblings, the bridal party, etc. Cathy was relaxed and in charge. Nothing fazed her. Not the last minute weather decisions, late arrivals, lost guests, and other logistical challenges that inevitably arise. We had close to 200 people, an outdoor ceremony with threatening weather all week, a buffet dinner, and everything went smoothly and met the hopes and dreams of the bride and groom. As a party planner myself for about 17 years, I can honestly say that I thought Cathy is better than I at this! She is absolutely fantastic at her difficult job, which is to help people realize their dreams. I recommend her to anyone who is lucky enough to find her available to help them plan a most important event in their lives.
We used Cathy from start to finish, from the moment we first had a tour of our would be venue to the day of the wedding. We had a really clear vision of what we wanted our wedding ...
day to be like, and she perfectly executed it down to every last detail. We wanted a very relaxed, but detailed bohemian aesthetic. She understood our vision immediately, even though I'm sure every wedding and couple that she works with is entirely different. We went into the entire process thinking that if we had the design aspects down and knew the big vendor choices, we had the hard stuff done with. But there are so many logistical aspects to wedding planning that few couples ever understand the true scope of beforehand, and Cathy made our lives ten thousand times easier by taking on the majority of them herself and/or seamlessly guiding us through them. When it comes to the actual day of the wedding, there is no one better. She coordinated everything with all the vendors, from caterers to musicians to shuttle drivers to florists, etc. We had our wedding in upstate NY, but the majority of our vendors were from NYC. It didn't matter. She pulled off the set-up and timing of the motions of the entire day without one single hiccup. Best of all, she is such a sweet and enjoyable person to not only speak to and be with for the many months leading up to your wedding, but she is just such a calming and pleasant energy to be around the day of the wedding when emotions are running high. We cannot thank Cathy enough for a perfect wedding, and the memories we'll have for a lifetime to come.
Cathy was so well organized and so insightful to all of our needs. As the mother of the bride , I must confess that we never could have had this type of wedding (in a barn) without...
her help and guidance. She not only provided assistance whenever we needed, was always available when we needed it but she went beyond our expectations for what a wedding planner does and literally guided us all down the aisle! We recommend her highly and you are a lucky bride and bride's family to have Cathy as your guide on this great wedding adventure!!
My new husband spent the last 18 months joking that he was leaving me for Cathy. She is incredibly organized and efficient-- yet also patient and flexible. She was always accessibl...
e, easy to work with and fantastic with my high maintenance parents. We used her services at Pond Lily-- she also helped with rentals, transportation, and other areas where we would be lost and confused without her guidance. She was indispensable in making our big day perfect- and we cannot rave about her or thank her enough.
Multiple times during our wedding planning process, we looked at each other and wondered out loud how any of this would be possible without Cathy. Working with her made any alterna...
tive completely unthinkable. There are not enough positive adjectives to describe how fantastic she is, both personally and professionally. Cathy and her staff were incredibly helpful and informative throughout the entire process, and were always able to respond to our many, many questions quickly and correctly. We met Cathy through The Farm at Pond Lily, but would unreservedly recommend her for any event of any size. Her wealth of knowledge about wedding planning is unparalleled, and she worked seamlessly with every vendor we used. Her reputation preceded her with everyone we contacted, all of whom had nothing but good things to say about her. Although the planning process can be overwhelming, Cathy remained helpful, comforting, and down-to-earth about everything. Her organizational prowess is awe-inspiring. Simply put, she gets shit done.
Why are you still reading this? Go hire Cathy now.
Cathy was absolutely amazing to work with! I cannot imagine having planned the wedding without her. She made every vision I had for the wedding a reality.
Cathy was absolutely essential to our September 2017 wedding day - we could not have done it without her! My fiancé and I got engaged while living abroad in London...and we took on...
the task of planning a wedding back in NY. With family from the East Coast, the Midwest Canada and guests invited from the UK to Dubai…we knew it was going to be an undertaking! I wanted to find a trustworthy, organized and detail oriented planner to help me through the process - and Cathy fit the bill and then some! From the very beginning she kept us on track: creating a consistent call schedule, to do lists, inspiration boards, etc...she encouraged us the make our day special and unique and armed us with the tools we needed to do so. We were married outside and had the reception in a tented pavilion – the pavilion was essentially a blank slate and we needed to create the desired rustic/romantic aesthetic ourselves. Cathy was able to introduce us to amazing vendors and helped us to do just that. On the day of the wedding, when nerves were running high, Cathy was such a calming influence. She always was completely in control and allowed me to simply sit back and take in / enjoy the day. She kept the groomsman in check, made sure the whole bridal party was organized, the family had everything they needed – and everything went off without a hitch. She even planned out how to get my 2 year old flower girl down the aisle! Cathy and her team went over and above what we could have ever expected.
My fiancé and I also really enjoyed getting to know Cathy as well – we enjoyed our weekly calls and appreciated that she understood our personalities and worked so well with us. (I.e. I am a very indecisive person sometimes and she helped me find my vision). As the bride, she was always there for me and supported me through everything from dress choices to invitation stresses – and what I valued most was her directness and honesty. She always used her past experiences and insight to help me make the best decisions for our day.
I absolutely loved every moment of our wedding day – it was perfect. It would never have been the same without Cathy and her team and I can’t thank her enough for her commitment to making our ideal wedding day come to life.
One of the reasons we chose our venue was because it came with Cathy’s day of coordinating services. Turned out to be a phenomenal decision. Cathy knows every detail of a wedding ...
inside and out. I was never nervous that something would slip through the cracks because I knew Cathy would catch it. Similarly, Cathy was patient with and appreciative of my attention to detail and worked with me to make sure I had the wedding of my dreams. When our DJ did not meet our expectations the day of (played the wrong song for the processional, called me by the wrong name) Cathy followed up and was able to get our money back by the time we woke up the next day. She is a calm, professional and knowledgeable advocate and I cannot recommend her services highly enough.
Cathy Ballone may be the best wedding coordinator in the world! She is so thoughtful, creative and organized, that planning my wedding was a breeze. She was incredibly easy to comm...
unicate with and displayed the utmost professional attitude and behavior at all times. Sadly, Cathy was not available for day of coordination for my wedding but her associate Angie filled her space. Angie was also just as organized as Cathy and had a smile on her face from the minute I met her. She totally understood my vision for the day and helped to make my day extra special. Her sweet and friendly disposition was noticeable even to the guests. She took care of everything for me. I needed superglue...she magically appeared with three tubes!! She even video'ed my first dance with my husband! How sweet is that?! I would have been lost on my wedding day without her. I can not thank Angie and Cathy enough for all their help and support. They are truly an incredible duo. I would highly recommend hiring Cathy's Elegant Events for wedding planning!
We cannot say enough fabulous words to describe Cathy and her team! By the end of our planning, Cathy had become family! Cathy helped us create a beautiful camp wedding weekend (br...
inging in everything) and working with us on every aspect from Friday nights dinner to the wedding reception itself. Her organization made everything possible and she shows her expertise while also letting her clients achieve their own visions. Cathy will go above and beyond to make sure her clients feel comfortable and take the stress away from the big day. We highly recommend her for all types of weddings and events!
I would like to echo many of the comments in the other reviews on this page. Put simply, Cathy and her team are amazing at their jobs. She is a true professional who is detail orie...
nted without being obtrusive. Throughout the process, my wife and I counted on her to sweat the small stuff so we didn't have to. Cathy's level of organization, event planning knowledge and positive attitude helped significantly mitigate the stress and anxiety that can be inherent to wedding planning. She truly helped us focus on what we felt were the "important" aspects of our wedding; the ceremony and having FUN. I can unequivocally recommend Cathy and her team.
Hiring Cathy was by far the best decision we made when starting to plan our wedding! From the very start she went out of her way to make sure the process was smooth, efficient, and...
as pain free as possible. She is warm, compassionate, open minded and will listen to your wants/needs as well as make her own suggestions along the way. She has great connections in the Hudson Valley and NYC area and was able to recommend terrific vendors that made our wedding a huge success. Our actual wedding day turned out better than we ever could have imagined and we have Cathy to thank for that. Not only did we leave with memories that will last a lifetime but also a new friendship as well!
Cathy did a great job day of with our wedding ensuring everything went off without a hitch. Last minute we decided to move the speeches to earlier and she ensured everything was co...
ordinated and no one knew there was a change.
Cathy was on top of every detail, helpful, and flexible, and her hard work and obvious commitment to what she does helped make our wedding day perfect!
There aren't enough words to describe how incredible Cathy has been for my husband and I throughout this entire past year in wedding planning. From the moment we spoke with her in ...
the beginning of our planning process, she instantly eased all of our anxiety. She is organized, smart, flexible, friendly, knows the best vendors and the best prices, and most importantly- always available when you need her. I can honestly say that we would not have been able to do it with out her. When there were bumps in the road and stresses from vendors- she always remained calm, cool, and collected- which is exactly the type of person you want when you're planning a wedding. Cathy and her team were professional and amazing during our actual wedding as well. There wasn't a moment that they weren't right there handling everything. Cathy and her team made sure my husband and I enjoyed every moment of our special day- and handled all of the issues our venue was having. My husband and I had no idea all of the minor glitches that were going on with our venue- and that's exactly the type of person you want as your coordinator. The day goes by so fast- and it's nice to have a great team to keep you calm and let you enjoy yourself. Cathy has not only been a complete god send- she has also become one of my friends, and I was so sad to see our work together come to an end. I highly highly recommend Cathy's Elegant Events...you need her in your life!!
We can say without a doubt that Cathy is the best in the business. No matter what time or day it is if you need her she is there and I needed her a lot. I keep saying that if I did...
not have her help I probably would not have gotten married and it is true she is so organized which I love! She makes sure you have a print out of time lines and so on so you know what you should be doing each month this way you are not doing things that do not need to be done yet. She is amazing you will not be disappointed by booking her to help you plan your wedding she really is the best. Thank you Cathy for everything!!
Cathy was the perfect combination of incredibly thorough and utterly sensitive to the mood and spirit of our family. The event went flawlessly and this is largely due to her hard w...
ork and expertise. Highly highly recommend her services!
Cathy enabled us to enjoy our wedding day in a way that just would not have been possible without her. She was extremely helpful leading up to the wedding; before speaking with Cat...
hy, I hadn't realized how helpful it would be to have someone to help guide you regarding vendors in the area- very important!! She created meticulous, thoughtful layouts for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception for both rain and shine, as well as the BEST day-of schedule (all of our other vendors were SUPER impressed with Cathy). Cathy worked with my husband and me to find times to chat on the phone, despite our crazy grad student schedules. On the day of the wedding, I was totally confident that Cathy knew all of the details, and I could finally let go and enjoy the day we had been planning for so long. She was the person we turned to throughout our wedding to help with issues as they arose (thanks for handing us some food and water, and for asking me if I needed help with my dress that I had ripped dancing and totally ignored... continuing to dance until you grabbed me for two minutes to sew my dress back up!!) Cathy even helped us to deliver our wedding flowers to local nursing homes the next day - now that's above and beyond!! We are very grateful to have worked with you.
Cathy was very accommodating and did everything she could to make sure my day went as smoothly as possible. Went above and beyond to make the day magical.
First of all, let me just say that Cathy is an all around awesome person. It was so fun getting to spend time with her and getting to know her during this process. Cathy made every...
little detail of our fairytale wedding come true. She was terrific during the planning process. When I wanted to try to handle projects myself, she stepped back and let me handle them, but was always there if I needed advice or help with anything. When I needed her to be more involved and hands on, I felt completely confident and comfortable letting her take things in the direction that she felt was best. She was always quick to answer emails and talk on the phone to hash out big picture items or last minute details. The week leading up to the wedding Cathy was AMAZING. We spent almost 2 hours on the phone making sure every last detail was taken care of and exactly the way I envisioned it. She ran our ceremony in the pouring rain and was always cheerful and positive, she was there for me for moral support all afternoon while I was getting ready, she helped setup the barn and ceremony beautifully and made sure every detail was in order. During the ceremony and reception, she made sure that my husband and I were taken care of the entire evening. Our day was absolutely perfect from start to finish and Cathy's expertise, guidance and help played such a huge part in the success of our wedding day. Thank you Cathy!! Tim and I are so grateful for all the hardwork and love you put into making our day great.
Contact
Hudson Valley, Upstate NY and Surrounding Areas
Cathy's Elegant Events, LLC