Dee Lee Designs

d most of what they would do was confirm vendors and ensure logistics and timeline were followed day of. When we put together a pros and cons list of hiring a coordinator or hiring a planner, we decided to go with a planner. It was important to us that no one in our family or none of our guests would lift a finger to help. They would show up and enjoy the day with us. I have been a part of my fair share of weddings and while they are lovely, they are also tiring when you are tasked to help with everything. I understand that planning for a planner (hehe) requires budgeting, but when you think of your day, keep in mind the people involved, and most importantly, yourselves! I have seen brides and grooms argue, stress and panic over DIY details, and unfortunately that gets passed on to the family members and guests. So then came Dee Lee. She came highly recommended, and after our first phone call, I knew she was the one. I just knew, and I had spoken with about 6 other planners at this point. The call lasted an hour and not once did she rush me off the phone or make me feel like I was not a priority – and I was not even her bride yet! The passion and commitment from her confirmed my feeling that she was going to do everything to give us the day we wanted. And she did that, and then some (insert tears streaming down my face). My husband and I showed up that day and did not have to worry about a thing. No one in our family helped set up anything. Instead, Dee and her team helped all of us get ready, zip up dresses, fix hair, get our pad (lol) whatever it was – they handled it. In our initial chats, Dee interviewed my husband and I to see what we wanted out of the day, what do we envision, and what was important to us. Everything, and I mean everything we listed, Dee and her team delivered. We look back on the day a lot and honestly cannot pick something that did not go as planned. I know things happen and the day is not perfect (Dee was honest about that too, so she is not all clouds and roses, she gives it to you real), but we honestly cannot think of anything because Dee and her team managed it all so well that we were never bothered with it. My family and friends raved about how they just showed up and had fun. If you are looking for a planner – hire Dee. The cost will be worth it when you look back on your day and can’t find anything wrong because whatever did go wrong was taken care of by Dee and her team. I was also a COVID bride and it is stressful! Dee took so many late-night calls of me panicking, us changing things, verbiage for invites, everything! Dee was there for us and held our hand through it all. We are so thankful and appreciative for Dee and her wonderful team! She is now a forever friend. I have recommended them to all the future brides I know because they are THAT good. Dee and her team are worth it, just do it, and you can thank me later.

eeleedesigns through a FaceBook group called “Subtle Asian Weddings” and scheduled a free consultation. We set up a phone call just to chat about what I was looking for and gave me general advice. It wasn’t until months after that initial call that I messaged her again ready to commit – she was very patient and never pressed me or pressured me to book with her. Once we signed the contract, I felt like everything fell into place so effortlessly. Dee is very well known and respected in the wedding industry, and without her and her connections I don’t think I would have been able to have the amazing vendor list that I did. With her help, I was able to enjoy the planning process without stressing about it. If there was something that I did stress about, she was literally always a phone call or text away. Dee always made herself available and you can tell that she really cares about not only your event, but you as a person. We had so much fun together throughout the process. When the big day came, I was nervous for the execution but @deeleedesigns definitely delivered!! My husband and I had the best day of our lives because Dee made sure to carve out time for us to enjoy all the little moments throughout the day. The room reveal was epic. We are so appreciative for everything that was planned for us. 100/10 would recommend having Dee and her team plan your special day.

celebration anytime soon, so we decided to plan for a 2022 wedding instead. Since we had so much time (2 years!) before the wedding, we thought it’d be possible to plan everything ourselves, but about 4 months in to the planning process, we knew we were in way over our heads! After talking to our wedding venue’s sales manager, we were introduced to Dee. From that moment on, everything just felt so much easier because Dee was there to lead us through every step! Dee is extremely knowledgeable and resourceful, and she is also very well-connected with some of the wedding industry’s best vendors. From the beginning, Dee asked about our budget and our vision for the wedding, and with those important details in mind, she tried her absolute best to help us choose a selection of vendors that fitted our price range, while not sacrificing quality. Dee also attended a handful of our vendor meetings with us, to ensure that our vision for the wedding was aligned, while also still making sure that we were staying within budget. Over the course of our 2-year planning process, Dee made sure to check in with us periodically to let us know about any industry changes, such as fluctuations in prices, which vendors we need to lock down, changes in COVID-19 safety protocols, and so much more! It was so reassuring knowing that things were being taken care of, even if the wedding wasn’t happening for a while. 2 months before the wedding, the stress really started creeping in, though it was mostly due to a lot of last-minute questions/additions/changes from our families. All of that took so much of both my husband’s and my energy, so it was such a comfort knowing that Dee was helping us in the backend to make sure all of the vendors and details were taken care of. Dee texted or called me at least twice a week leading up to the wedding, and she even scheduled calls after her working hours to help answer the questions that our families had and to offer her suggestions. I don’t think we could’ve gotten through those 2 months without her help! On the day of the wedding, we truly felt taken care of by Dee and her team. Huge shoutout to Judy and Savannah! They were the absolute best! Prior to actually planning a wedding, we never really thought about all of the logistics that actually need to be taken care of in the backend in order for a wedding day to go smoothly, but after getting married, we definitely understand the sheer amount of pressure and stress that it can be. Imagine worrying about floral deliveries or lighting issues, while also trying to actually take part in the wedding ceremony and remembering your vows or first dance. With Dee and her team coordinating everything on the day of the wedding, we were allowed to truly be present and enjoy all of the festivities with our family and friends! Thank you so much Dee, Judy, Savannah, and the rest of the Dee Lee team for all that you’ve done for us!

wedding planning. She is meticulous and a master at what she does! Usually the groom and bride (mostly the bride) start stressing out about many aspects of planning a wedding, then the family starts stressing and gray hair comes out. However, with Dee she made sure to update us on the process and kept in line with our budget. The most important to keep sane is the bride, Dee reiterates constantly how the bride should not need to stress about anything because she has full confidence in herself and her team to deliver a flawless event. Dee’s team is no different, all of them are held to the highest standard and are some of the best people we have ever met. Judy, you have performed and impressed all of us with your ability to communicate with both sides of our family and get everything stitched together throughout the entire day. Lynda, although we were not able to talk much, you had been going around the event making sure all the repurposing and layout was executed properly and timely. This gave us a seamless wedding experience for the guest as they had no idea some things were being re-used and still had the wow factor. And Kendall, oh Kendall you have taken off so much stress from the bride, my wife, that day by being such a wonderful, humorous, and relatable person. You catered to her so well and made sure she was taken care of. Everyone loved your humor! The three of you made our day so special and wonderful and for that, we thank you all so much. When I woke up the next day with my beautiful wife, I said to myself.. that was a perfect and beautiful day. Not even just the banquet.. but the tea ceremony and western ceremony that Dee and her team had also executed for us. My guests and family who are not easily impressed are still talking about how amazing our wedding was. Dee and Team, Thank you so much for creating our dream wedding and making it a reality. We love you all!

oes she deeply care about the result of the work, but also about the experience of my guest and I would have. Dee is so good at her job. She is responsive and reassured me. She also was willing to call me on her off hours to let me know the progress or reassure me with the questions I had. I made sure to be considerate of her time since I know she's also giving the same excellent service to many other lucky brides. Dee is heavily connected to the wedding community which gave me more options of choosing talented & trustworthy vendors that can execute my bespoke wedding. When I disagreed with the presented vendors, we would have a discussion of what didn't work and she would come back with a new ones. What I love about her is that she's not a yes woman. She will tell you her opinion if she thinks it's not going to work. She also kept me within my budget and let you know the estimate cost before you make your decision. On the day of the wedding, I felt taken care of. While Dee was handling the big boss things, her team took care of my bridal & groom's party. I literally did not have to think and allowed me the space to be present. Her team knew exactly what to do with me and guided me to every scheduled event as if I was a performer. They also made sure to check in on me if I was comfortable, fix my dress or hair, and gave me breaks whenever I needed them. I am beyond happy with Dee's work and all the vendors she hand picked for me (Two Fourteen Photography, Leta Verbena (florals), the Grey Orange Creative (Lighting & DJ), Seafood World (Chinese Catering), Fete the Venue, and Kate Leung (English & Cantonese MC). When I think back to my wedding, I can't help but to smile about it. The event was full of cheer, love, laughter, and dancing. So many of my guests complimented on how fun and beautiful the wedding was.

r consultation. We immediately bonded over the fact that we are both Cambodian and she was quick to understand my wedding vision which included a mix of all my family cultures of American, Vietnamese and Cambodian elements. Within that first hour, I was convinced she was going to be our wedding planner because she was clearly very knowledgable and passionate about all things wedding. She made planning our wedding so effortless especially when it came to the big day. I felt like she truly cared to make our wedding experience as beautiful, memorable and most importantly stress-free as possible. Dee did so much work behind the scenes, provided the best guidance and vendor recommendations that made the whole planning process seem like a breeze. She was so quick to respond to our questions and was very efficient in all of our meetings. I could not have asked for a more beautiful wedding. There were plenty of tears, not from things going wrong, but from just how happy we were with how everything turned out so right. My husband and I felt like Dee went above and beyond. We cannot express enough how grateful we are to have her help for planning every single detail to perfection. I wish I could experience our wedding day all over again. There were definitely hiccups along the way, especially on our wedding day, but Dee made sure to take care of everything allowing us to enjoy our special day to the fullest!

background. Planning a wedding always terrified me. So much work goes into planning such a special event and knowing all eyes would be on you didn’t help either. I don’t think I ever could have pulled off such a beautiful without Dee and her team. Dee and her team make things seem so easy! Dee helped me source out every vendor and made sure we stayed on track. We stayed organized and shared ideas via the Aisle Planner website. Dee really makes planning a wedding look so simple. She has so many great connections to vendors that she literally could connect you to any vendor for anything. For example,my (then) fiancé and I were struggling for weeks to find a boba vendor. After feeling so discouraged with boba vendors either not responding to us or not being able to give us what we wanted we told Dee and like a fairy God mother she emailed us a boba vendor she had worked with before in 2 seconds flat. Once all of our vendors were locked in we stated working with Agnes. She’s like the big sister I never had. I could reach out to her day or night with any questions or concerns. She definitely helped keep the stress to a minimum. Day of wedding she and her team were like magicians behind the curtain. They made sure the day ran smoothly and everything was just as we had planned. They even had emergency plans in place. For example, minutes before we were supposed to get ready to walk down the aisle I accidentally got make up on my dress! A member of her team was right there and whipped out this magical stick and was able to get the make up off my gown! Talk about crisis averted! I really can’t recommend a better event planning team to work with. Dee and Agnes always made sure things went according to plan and they took the utmost care to plan this wedding as if they were planning their own. I am truly blessed and honored to have been able to work with Dee and Agnes and the whole team. Thank you so much for making my wedding so amazing and even better than anything I dare dream of!

cted local planners and waited days or even weeks to get a reply. I got anxious and decided to search beyond the island. And viola! I found Dee! Dee is so cheerful, easy to talk to, replies on my inquiries asap, assures me that weddings are easy (who says that?) LOL 😅 Dee and her associate visited Hawaii 3 times prior to the wedding. Talk about customer service!! Fast forward to the day of the wedding. It was romantic and beautiful just as we envisioned! Her team that includes our photographers and videographers, who are also from California, were outstanding. They know how to make us relax and pose for the camera. Dee checks on me from time to time to make sure I was doing alright. We fly Dee’s team to Hawaii because we believe in their work and professionalism. Thank you so much for being there from start to finish, bringing in your own supplies so we can have a unique celebration, and for being very flexible for any last-minute changes. Mahalo nui loa from the bottom of our hearts! A hui hou kakou (until we meet again). 🌸

plan. And she definitely did all that and more! Covid was tough to navigate, from contracts to changing city and county mandates, and she was always on top of the information and what venues and vendors were doing. It's her connections throughout the industry that made the difference, of course including finding the best deals and the right vendors for every job. Her honesty and keen eye were crucial to bringing all my ideas to life in an organized and beautiful way. If something came up that I didn't understand or stressed me out, she would calmly explain what was happening and why. The planning process was so much fun, and how could it not be when you're both foodies and have a planning session over noodles and mochi dounts! There were a few little things that went wrong on the wedding day, but that's to be expected with such a huge event, and mine surely was. But one of my top priorities was "guest experience," and all my guests continue to remark on how seamless everything felt and how all the details (that Dee and I spent hours creating and hammering out) made the wedding feel so special and unique to me and my husband. They ate great food, danced to great music, felt taken care of, and therefore think my wedding was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. And it was the most incredible wedding I could ever have asked for. I really truly couldn't have done it without Dee. Her specific knowledge, connections, cultural insight, organization, aesthetic, and communication made the process smooth, fun, exciting, and I wish we could do it all over again.

acher’s patience (she used to be a middle school teacher). She was able to walk us through planning every detail of our wedding, from the type of flowers to the color and fabric of the napkins. We really enjoyed how collaborative the planning process felt--Dee really listened to our feedback and never pressured us into anything we didn’t want. The wedding felt personalized to us and uniquely ours, but we were so glad that Dee was there to guide us through the planning process and execute our vision. Dee is also extremely hard-working and dedicated to her clients. She puts in a ton of time into planning, and on the day of the event, she got up early and stayed up late in order to ensure that everything went smoothly. We definitely threw Dee some crazy curveballs the week of the wedding, but she and her team helped us through those challenges and did it with a smile. If you are looking for a creative planner who is mindful of your budget, who is calm under pressure, who can answer any and all questions you might have, and who genuinely cares about her clients, you can’t go wrong with Dee.

make everything possible, and she is able to adapt to change. We were very lucky to have her on our side as our wedding would not have been the same without her.

y, bring my vision to life! Fast forward to now a week married and having time to reflect on our experience, and I can whole heartedly say, I would hire Dee again and again if I could for all my life events! She is not only fantastic and passionate at what she does, she truly cares for her bride and groom, and the entire bridal party. She counseled us on what was worth spending, what are creative options to stay within budget, and she worked hard to build a great chemistry with all the other vendors and resort staff on our team. As soon as we all arrived in Aruba, Dee and Judy were on-call, foot on ground, ready to support me regardless of the ask - whether it was the rehearsal dinner plans, put together welcome bags, last minute re-designs, healing a finger wound, or just checking in to make sure I was breathing, staying calm, and just enjoying myself instead of worrying. You will love working with Dee and her team. You will be taken care of, and you will laugh, cry, and love every moment! We got our dream wedding because we made one of the best decisions to go with Dee!

took care of all the behind the scene tasks. You ran around making sure everything was in place (a huge plus for the bride and us bridesmaids since we were all wearing heels). You communicated well with guests and I appreciate that you did it with smiles on your faces. You truly made me see the value and importance of wedding planners.

g we had imagined. She takes everything you want into consideration while also being conscious of your budget. She genuinely cared about making our special day even more special and something we will always remember. Dee, there are absolutely no words to express how grateful we are to you and your team for making our day so amazing and going so above and beyond what we imagined our wedding could and would be! Thank you so much!

le have. She even went above and beyond in having a cake topper made for me last min two days before my wedding when I told her I didn’t have one. It’s sad because people will ask me how I planned my wedding and my legit answer to them has been the same, “I did nothing. My wedding planner did it all!!”

for us. Our tropical chic wedding went off without a hitch and our friends are still raving about it weeks later. Thank you Dee and your incredible team for making our wedding wishes come true.

fun part of wedding planning, while she took care of everything else. She not only ensured that myself and my husband had the best wedding experience, but she also made sure our family and guests were taken care of as well. Judy was Dee’s assistant that was with myself and my bridal party the morning of the wedding, and she was so incredibly sweet and attentive. I highly recommend Dee to any brides looking to have an easy wedding planning experience!

ce of family and friends we started looking for a wedding planner who could help us through to the finish line. From the beginning consultation call (for an hour!) Dee impressed us with her knowledge of the industry, her wide network of industry contacts, and especially the numerous creative ideas she gave us (for free!) to help make our wedding even more magical. She was always available for a phone call, text, email to talk through our event and made us feel like a part of her team’s ohana. Dee gave us a ton of ideas to make our wedding more personalized to us, such as being from Hawai`i and having live hula performances. She helped us get in touch with what made us, US and bring our personalities and interests into the wedding . Not only that, but she was able to get us thinking about aspects of our wedding we would never have come up with on our own (i.e. creating and printing menu cards and having the wedding party florals sent to the hotel for pictures). Our love of food came through to our guests in our choices of catering (she accompanied us to the tasting) and our mochi/Krispy Kreme donut wall (big thanks to Dee for the inspo). At our tasting after hearing our feedback, she requested to speak with the chef and venue coordinator to respectfully share our opinions and requests. This wasn’t just specific to the tasting, as Dee had the same approach to every aspect of our wedding. She also helped source additional vendors for us including a floral lei maker and photobooth (which was a big hit for all our guests). We absolutely loved the rest of the team who also helped us leading up to and during the day (shoutout to Agnes and Judy for being absolute stars and helping us feel prepared and calm throughout it all). We had our event for a set period of time, and she helped our typically late Filipino and Hispanic families keep to our time table. We honestly worried about absolutely nothing on the wedding day, and we owe that totally to Dee and her team. Thank you guys for everything! Mahalo and Aloha from the Cubas’.

endors that she recommended were all fantastic and really delivered. She thinks about things you had no idea you should be thinking about. Five stars - she made our wedding day perfect!

he wedding ran like clockwork under Dee and her team’s gentle guidance. She was able to seamlessly plan my friend’s big day to include not only a church ceremony and reception but also a traditional tea ceremony along with photoshoots, hair and make up, transportation, and everything else in between. With Dee, you know you are in good hands!!!

w lapses in communication, but, Dee being who she is, always accepted our feedback and adjusted. When the day came my (soon to be) wife was trying to get involved with a lot of last minute tasks. Dee took control of the situation and quarterbacked the day so we wouldn't have to worry. I will be recommending her to any couples that are planning to get married.

t/effort into designing weddings during covid. For us, she definitely created a safe but fun environment so that we could continue with our wedding plans. As expected, we had to make some adjustments the night before our wedding (because of weather) and Dee was quick to pivot and still make our dreams a reality. Dee is also the queen of multitasking so she was able to answer calls, field questions and help make the bride make sound decisions throughout the entire wedding planning process.

y changing. She has a large network of vendors, extended team members, and provided us pros and cons around design or financial decisions we needed to make for our wedding. When we decided to change our wedding to a destination wedding, she was open and managed through all of the uncertainty with us. She truly emphasized the need to make sure we had the wedding of our dreams and our wedding was executed in a way where we could fully be present and have fun! If you’re looking for a Los Angeles or Orange County Wedding planner or someone who has experience with wedding planning in Hawaii during these trying times, you should give her a call. If you’re Teochew, it would be hard to find Gaginang in the wedding industry that could vibe well with the parents!

on the day of our wedding everything went smoothly, she didn’t leave anything to chance by constantly supervising every aspect of the event. Despite the COVID pandemic, She was present at all our meetings with the vendors, gave valuable tips and recommendations, listened to our desires and paid attention to our vision of what we wanted our wedding to be. Her attention to Detail and wedding design really complemented the theme and vision we wanted. Everything about our wedding day was spectacular! We highly recommend Dee Lee to many future couples planning their wedding celebrations.

to my dream wedding. Her preferred vendors, resources, and experience made this bride’s stress disappear!