Designed & Detailed

We recently had the pleasure of working with Designed & Detailed for our June 2024 wedding in Chicago, and we couldn't be more thrilled with the help. D&D gave us the flexibility to focus and plan on what we wanted to do and took care of a lot of the other less-than-fun aspects of wedding planning. Here are some key aspects that stood out: Great Communication: From the initial consultation to the day-of coordination, the communication was impeccable. We worked with Erin, one of the event planner/coordinators and she was wonderful. Erin was easily available to answer our questions, provide updates, and offer suggestions (she recommended our DJ and hair/makeup services, both of which were wonderful). This made the entire planning process smooth and stress-free. Highly Organized: The team demonstrated exceptional organizational skills. Every detail was meticulously planned and executed, which ensured that nothing was overlooked. D&D’s attention to detail was evident in every aspect of our wedding. Seamless Execution: On our wedding day, everything ran smoothly, thanks to their careful planning and coordination. Erin helped manage the vendors, handled issues that arose, and made sure that the timeline was followed perfectly. This allowed us to enjoy our special day without any worries. Overall, Designed & Detailed exceeded our expectations and played a crucial role in making our wedding day perfect. We highly recommend their services to anyone looking for a reliable and professional wedding planning team.

We are so grateful for the support we received from Designed & Detailed. Erin was our coordinator from the beginning & we couldn't have pulled off our dream wedding without her help! Erin the team laid a foundation for us to successfully host a wedding and I can confidently say, planning a wedding is no small feat. Erin provided us with endless amounts of insight and knowledge about the industry and we're so grateful for all her expertise! Erin & Cydnei really showed up on the day and they both had calm, cool & collected energy which means a lot when weddings can be already emotional and stressful. We truly didn't comprehend the caliber of wedding we were hosting and Erin & Cydnei were absolute rockstars throughout the day!

We used Designed and Detailed for our October 2023 wedding. We had the pleasure of working with Katie as our lead event specialist, and she was truly the best! Katie was always available to answer questions and help us through the planning process before the wedding. On the day of, Katie was amazing. She was always there to help us with anything we needed and was always thinking one step ahead. There were small details and problems that she took care of that my husband and I didn't even realize occurred. Her and her team set everything up and took everything down at the end of the night and brought to our hotel room, which was so helpful and made our day so much more enjoyable. Katie was so personable and made everyone feel comfortable on the day of our wedding. She had everything a bride, groom, or wedding party could possibly need. I truly cannot say enough amazing things about how hard Katie worked and how awesome of a person she is! We were so lucky to have worked with her on our wedding!

To put it simply, if you want to actually enjoy your wedding planning, hire Designed and Detailed. I think they have the perfect system where you can decide every detail or you can really let them drive the process. We did a mix which I thought was perfect. For example, they researched all the venues, scheduled visits, and came with us for viewing. Then we selected other vendors like band and catering from their recommended list and through our own research. It can be overwhelming to think about everything that goes into the big day, so the checklists and planning outlines they provide are so helpful to keep you on track but not overwhelm you with tasks. Erin in particular went above and beyond for us. She is the perfect blend of a professional planner but also was genuinely fun to be around. She also worked so well with our other vendors that everyone seemed so organized and calm on the big day which I think can be underappreciated. The day of the wedding she was so good at staying organized, but had so much fun with the bridal party. Our big day was stress-free and turned out better than we expected and a lot of that credit goes to D&D. My sister-in-law is now using Erin for her wedding after she saw how well everything went for us. Cannot recommend enough. Photo: Ian Rempel

Working with Designed & Detailed was one of the best vendor decisions we made for our wedding. During the initial consultation call with Alison, we felt reassured that we would be genuinely supported throughout the process. There is no way our wedding day would have gone as smoothly without our lead planner, Katie. Throughout the 3 months leading up to our wedding, Kate was communication with us on a regular basis with us and our other vendors to refine the day of timeline and coordinate day of setup. She brought up questions that we had not considered and presented ideas that we loved. Katie’s help at the rehearsal dinner was incredibly beneficial, especially since none of us had facilitated a ceremony in the past. We appreciated her focus and ability to reel everyone in. Her communication and rapport with the other vendors was so important to us and something we recognized throughout the planning process. On the day of, Katie and Jenna (our assistant coordinator) collaborated so well with our DJ and photographer to ensure the best day. Everything went perfectly and better than we could have dreamed. Her communication with us and support throughout the day was so helpful and helped ease our nerves. We can easily say that we were not worried about a single thing because we knew they had it under control. We had complete trust that they were going to execute our vision just as we had hoped (which they absolutely did), and if something were to have gone awry, they would have troubleshooted it without any problems. Katie and Jenna from Designed & Detailed were both absolutely instrumental in making the entire weekend flow seamlessly. We are so grateful they made entire process so smooth and beyond happy we decided to work with their team.

Designed & Detailed made our day so special. Alison and her team were with us every step of the way. They put us in contact with vendors that provided services that perfectly aligned with our vision. Throughout each phase of the planning process, Alison and her team ensured we knew exactly what needed to be done and seamlessly coordinated across all of our vendors to ensure the day ran smoothly. As the occasional unexpected (and inevitable) issue occurred on the day of, Alison and her team leveraged their detailed preparation and understanding of our vision to make the right decisions quickly, enabling my wife and I to enjoy the day without having to worry. I couldn't recommend their services more! Some other things that also really stood out to my wife and I about Designed and Detailed were: *Ethical vendor sourcing practices to ensure we got the best possible deals with vendors who would deliver the highest quality services. *High level of organization with all contracts and timelines throughout the entire process, ensuring we always were on the same page. *Managed expectations of family and friends who were involved in the wedding day to ensure the right people had the right information at the right time.

We contracted Designed and Detailed to perform wedding management (Day of Coordination) services for our wedding at The Grove - Redfield Estate in August 2023. Our assigned planner was Erin Prohammer, and we were 100% satisfied with the services provided. Throughout the planning process Erin provided templates to help us organize our planning along with many other helpful suggestions. On the day of our wedding Erin executed our plan perfectly; she efficiently and effectively worked through the inevitable few issues requiring immediate attention which allowed us to focus on just enjoying our wedding. I would highly recommend Designed and Detailed for any wedding or event management needs.

We worked with Katie at Designed & Detailed and I am so glad we did. Our ceremony and reception went so SMOOTHLY because of Katie and her assistant. I am pretty type A so it is hard to give up control but Katie handled me and everything else so well. We purchased the 90-day package so we had a few meetings with Katie leading up our wedding day with one last meeting a few days before where we finalized all details (lots of emailing in between). I found all of my vendors but Katie coordinated them behind the scenes and found solutions to issues that would have freaked me out (e.g., cake delivery times did not line up with venue drop off times). I can't imagine trying to figure all that out myself. I highly recommend hiring Designed and Detailed so you can be as stress-free as possible on your wedding day!!

My (new) husband and I are so appreciative of Cydnei at Designed and Detailed for her help coordinating the flawless execution of our wedding ceremony and reception this weekend. She she liaised seamlessly with our vendors, and everything went incredible smoothly. We were able to enjoy the day without worry. I spent a lot of one on one time with Cydnei and appreciated her sweet and calm demeanor. She helped keep the vibe calm and fun! As the bride, I was warned countless times that "something always goes wrong" , but everything went exactly as planned. Our event ran on time - or even ahead of schedule, so my groom and I were able to enjoy the day without stress. Part of why I chose Designed and Detailed was because they designated a second coordinator to oversee the set-up of the reception. Nicole was our event assistant, and she was both lovely to work with and ensured our florist, rental company and venue staff were coordinated well. We also worked with Alison, the owner of Designed and Detailed during our wedding preparation process with our lead coordinator, Cyndei. She was knowledgeable and made the process enjoyable. A huge thank you to their entire team for a fabulous event!

Alison provided the organization, guidance, and leadership we needed to keep us on track and her friendship made the process feel effortless. She introduced us to vendors who really took our ideas and made them far beyond what we expected. On the day of, Alison and her team coordinated everything - from the venue, to the vendors, to the event schedule, to tear down. Our wedding was memorable and perfect with her running the show. She kept us on task, prioritized, while at the same time let us have our space, which was necessary with our busy schedules.

Hiring Designed & Detailed as our wedding planner was the best decision! We cannot thank Nicole enough for everything that she did to make sure we felt prepared and at ease day of the wedding. We chose the 6 month plan, and Nicole was on top of everything! Especially the behind the scenes vendor communication. Nicole was very organized at every point during the planning and day of, great at communicating, and also just an awesome person! If you are looking for a wedding planner that you can whole heartedly trust, you should choose this company. I am genuinely sad that I will no longer be meeting with Nicole and hope that we have more opportunities to work together on a different type of event in the future! Thank you thank you thank you!

Designed and Detailed saved my life! I was hesitant about booking a wedding coordinator and thought I could do it all myself and boy was I wrong! Alison was my lead coordinator and did so much behind the scenes and busy work I do not know I could have managed without her. She was always so sweet to take on new tasks and her bubbly personality kept my wedding energy up the entire time! I would recommend them to anyone and would hire them over and over. 500000/10!

Designed & Detailed was the best decision we made for our wedding!! Nicole was prepared for everything and kept us calm all day. The timeline she sent out kept us on track and helped our entire wedding party. I would recommend them to anyone looking for an event planner!

We used Designed & Detailed for our day of coordination and worked with Nicole. She was incredible. She was available for questions throughout the whole process and the day was great. I also loved that they took over three months before the wedding as opposed to only one month before, it was perfect timing for my stress! 10/10 would recommend Nicole and Designed & Detailed!

Courtney and Alison were so helpful with keeping us on track through the planning stages and keeping us on time during the wedding! They also allowed us to drop off some extra stuff on the night before, and we avoided having to unpack a bunch of stuff during the wedding day. They also did all the packing up after the reception and held on to our stuff whenever we were ready to pick it up after the honeymoon. I can't stress enough how helpful that is!!

Working with Erin and Allison was a dream. Our planning meetings were always productive and very thorough. They responded quickly to all of our questions (and we had a lot!) and made sure we were staying on track with our timeline. Their vendor recommendations were excellent, too, and we felt extremely confident with the team assembled. Our wedding day ran incredibly smoothly, and we give D&D a lot of credit for making that happen! We opted for the partial planning option, which worked well for us since we definitely needed day-of support and wanted some planning assistance, but didn’t feel like we needed the full planning option. Overall, we can’t say enough about the peace of mind we had knowing we had a great planning team that wouldn’t let any details slip through the cracks. We can’t recommend Designed and Detailed enough!

Hiring Designed and Detailed for our wedding was the best decision we made. From the start, Nicole was so accommodating. She listened to what we wanted and put together our day perfectly. She responded quickly when I had questions and gave me a lot of good advice/feedback when I was making decisions. From start to finish our wedding day went flawlessly and I owe it all to her. Not only that, she is super kind and personable which made it fun to work with her. I highly recommend Designed and Detailed for your wedding!!

Erin made our day so special! We really appreciated the three month planning in advance of our wedding. Erin was quick to respond to our emails and was super knowledgeable about everything we needed to know. On the day of the wedding, Erin was a superstar and the day went by so smoothly. She made sure our decor arrived, guided our two families to where we needed to be, and handled the unexpected brilliantly. We highly recommend Designed and Detailed!

Designed and Detailed were the planners for our wedding, specially Nicole. They helped us with all of the details as well as helped figure things out we hadn't considered. We had the 90 day out package and it was very helpful. They organized the vendors, helped with decorations and took care of the coordination day of. We would have really been lost without Nicole helping us. I would recommend them for anyone planning a wedding.

Hiring Designed & Detailed for our wedding was truly the best decision we could have made. We originally wanted to try to avoid hiring a coordinator and thought we could save some money by doing it on our own, but it became clear that there is just too much to keep track of and organize. We ended up hiring Designed & Detailed for their 90 day coordination plan at the recommendation of friends who used their services previously. Erin was absolutely amazing!! She helped us make sure we knew what we needed to be doing and kept us on track with a timeline for the months leading up to the wedding. Before the wedding, she took over all communication with our vendors, which was incredibly helpful. Erin was contacting vendors and organizing details that we never even knew was necessary. She also worked to create a very detailed day of timeline, which made coordinating with vendors, wedding party and our families much easier. On the day of, Erin and Ari did an amazing job of making sure that everything went smoothly! They were the ones who kept our other vendors on track and on time. Additionally, Ari made our visions come true by fulfilling all of our decorating dreams and making our reception space beautiful. I have no clue how we would have set-up all our decorations without having Designed & Detailed to do it. During cocktail hour and the wedding, Erin and Ari also kept track of collecting cards and gifts, and they kept the cards in a safe location. This ended up being another little detail that was something else we didn’t have to worry about while we were having fun with our guests. At the end of the night, they helped pack up all our decorations, gifts, etc. and helped load them into our cars. My husband and I did not touch a single thing to set up or clean up. When you are spending a large amount of money on a wedding, you want to make sure that everything runs according to plan. Hiring Designed & Detailed was the best money we spent in our wedding planning to ensure things went smoothly. We truly had the best day and did not have to worry about a single detail the entire time. We cannot recommend Designed & Detailed enough for their wedding coordination services!

It has been 3 weeks since my daughter’s wedding, I find myself reflecting upon that event, it had so many moving parts and all went without a hitch. There is one person in particular who made this so- Alison the Day of Coordinator from Designed and Detailed. Alison was perfect for this job. She was directive but kind and sensitive, like a mother herding her brood. She was competent, professional and seemed to always have her finger on the pulse. For example, the wedding party had to be at 4 locations the day of the wedding, this all occurred seamlessly including sandwiches and drinks on the shuttle. Alison’s goal was to take the pressure off the bride and groom- all questions and issues were to be directed to her- she handled this with aplomb! On a scale of one to ten for excellence, Alison from Designed and Detailed gets a 10!

Alison was absolutely amazing!! I felt incredibly overwhelmed and stressed out about even the idea of having to plan a wedding but Alison and her team made it the most pain-free and seamless process. Our wedding day turned out a million times better than we could have ever imagined all thanks to Designed and Detailed! Alison even took the time to help me detangle my hair piece for 20min during the reception. AND she stayed there until the very last minute helping us pack away the decor and miscellaneous wedding items into our car at the end of the night. These ladies really do go above and beyond for their clients! We cant recommend them enough!

Alison and her team were INVALUABLE to our wedding! We couldn't have done it without them. She was always attentive, friendly, and helpful, and I full-heartedly recommend this company. The timeline they created with our vendors was so helpful, and Alison was constantly a source of peace and calm amidst all of the craziness of my wedding day. If anyone I know is getting married, I will suggest hiring D&D. This investment proved the most valuable of ANYTHING we spent money on for our day.

I cannot recommend this team enough!! I was one of those brides that thought she could handle all of the planning and coordinating on her own, but I realized I was in way over my head after going to our final walkthrough a month before the wedding. Our venue manager highly recommended we try to find a coordinator to run the day for us, and I could not be happier that Designed & Detailed happened to have my date open and was willing to work with me despite how close we were to the big day! I think Allison could sense how stressed I was when we first spoke, but she put my mind at ease immediately. Erin worked with us to coordinate vendors and final details. I also DIY'd my decor, but Erin and Colleen knocked it out of the park day of despite it adding to the list of a million things they already had to do. I truly could not be more thankful for them both. Erin kept the day moving so smoothly and made sure everyone was on task. I've gushed about her to anyone who has asked about the wedding. Allison and her team truly go out of their way to make sure you're taken care of. They even stored our decor for over a week after the wedding until we came back from our honeymoon and were able to pick it up. Book this team ASAP!!! Request Erin if you can :)

Allison (owner) has assembled an awesome team at Designed and Detailed. We brought Designed and Detailed on fairly last minute as a day of coordinator and worked with Erin to create a day of schedule with every detail planned out. As soon as we brought Erin and her team on, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I really do credit Erin, Allison, and the whole team at Designed and Detailed for being able to actually enjoy my wedding day. As a type A overplanner, it brought indescribable joy to be able to hand over the reigns to someone else and really be in the moment for one of the best days of my life. Designed and Detailed took so much stress out of the day of and handled my freak outs before the day of with grace and calm.

There’s truly no words to describe how amazing Alison was at our wedding. I felt like I barely did anything and all the sudden wedding day was here and planned perfectly. She helped us find all of our vendors and coordinated everything perfectly so that none of the stress or heavy lifting was on us . We had so little stress leading up to the day and it was 100% because of Alison. If you were looking for a coordinator or full scale wedding planner, you want designed & detailed as your team!

Hiring Nicole was one of the best decisions we made on our wedding day. Her, and her assistant Katie, made our day run so smoothly so my family and I didn’t have to worry about anything! Nicole even got on our trolley with the bridal party to ensure that everything ran on time and according to plan. From creating timelines for each vendor to set up/tear down to answering all of our silly questions, Nicole was an absolute pleasure to work with. All of our vendors even mentioned how on top of things she was! Highly recommend her and Designed and Detailed.

THANK YOU DESIGNED AND DETAILED FOR HELPING US PULL OFF A FLAWLESS WEDDING! We had an exceptional experience working with Alison and Nicole. They helped set us up with a hollow budget and timeline, which was really useful as we kicked off the planning process. Overall, this introductory meeting and initial tools were ESSENTIAL to getting us on the right track for our year or so of planning. We did get a bit too excited when we were told our initial budget was realistic in our first meeting with D&D (it absolutely wasn't, which became evident right after the meeting when they delivered an example budget) - so a minor piece of feedback would be that it may be best to wait to confirm a budget could work until after you build out the hollow budget outline to better manage expectations a bit. But again, minor compared to all of the support they offered us. We checked back in with them 90 days out from our wedding, and worked closely with Nicole to finalize logistics and had her support throughout the day of the wedding. She answered a ton of questions for us via email, helped identify open items and considerations at our sporadic check-ins, and then delivered the MOST value as she coordinated the day of schedule, managed all of the vendors and our timeline, and covered all of the little details and open things that came up throughout the wedding. Her support enabled me to truly relax the day of because I knew everything was in such great hands! True to the name of their business, Nicole and Alison ARE very detail oriented. Super competent. A ton of close family and friends have had mixed experiences with their own planners, but all remarked on how exceptional Nicole was as they interacted with her on the day of the wedding. TRULY couldn't have done it without you, Nicole!

10 Stars!! Designed & Detailed was an absolute dream to work with. Alison Grossman and her team had every single detail planned out on our wedding day. We had complete trust in Alison from the very first time we met her. We ended up having to postpone our wedding an entire year due to Covid. We had only signed and paid for the day of coordinator package, but Alison helped us contact our vendors and amend our contracts for the new date. She checked in with us every now and then which was so helpful and reassuring to hear that we were either ahead of schedule/on track or that we needed to get started on something asap. Our check-ins closer to our wedding day were much needed for our sanity. Alison went over every detail with us, helped us put together a timeline, contacted all of the vendors for us, and answered any and all questions promptly. One week out Alison texted me and told me to contact her any time for any reason if I needed her. She really went above and beyond to ensure we were feeling prepared and stress-free going into our wedding weekend. She also picked up all of our decor that was taking over our living space and all of the gift bags for the guest rooms days before the wedding. The Day Of…. where do I begin? Alison and her team were present at all times, but I didn’t even notice. If I needed something or had a question they were available right away. Before the ceremony our bridal suite was cluttered and messy from hair, makeup, and getting ready photos in the morning to hosting a 20 person lunch right before we walked down the aisle. When we got back less than an hour later our room was completely cleaned with no evidence of the chaotic morning. The entire day was perfectly timed and went without a hitch, and we never felt rushed or anxious about the timeline. At the end of the reception all of our decor was already packed up and in our room and all of the cards and gifts were in our safe. I highly recommend hiring Designed & Detailed for your wedding. They have several packages depending on what you are looking for and they are reasonably priced compared to other Chicago wedding planning companies.

Our wedding would not have been what it was without Nicole and Katie. My husband's sister used this company last year, and we knew we had to snag their help for ours! From the beginning, Nicole went above and beyond to keep us organized and on target. I appreciate her timely communication with us and with all of our vendors. On the big day, she truly helped me stay sane. My head and heart were spinning with nerves and so many emotions, so the fact that she could be the time keeper, communicator for everyone really allowed me to enjoy the day. One of the worst things that could have happened, happened; it rained. And of course, our ceremony was planned for outside. She helped me make the tough decision to chance it for outside, and while I was hiding my emotions and nerves, she was working SO HARD with our DJ, officiant and venue to make the outdoor ceremony happen. As if from a movie, the rain held off. Katie also helped my sister and mom with my bustle, as we struggled for a bit, but she saved the day! I cannot say enough great things about Nicole and Katie. Thank You!!

Cannot say enough good things about Alison & her team!!! She was absolutely amazing since the very beginning when we met for the first time through wedding day and even after! She is extremely organized and helps make the planning process as seamless as possible. She has such amazing advice about every little detail and has so much valuable experience. She could not have been more helpful on our wedding day and truly helped make the day as PERFECT as possible. Her assistants were also very informed and organized and helped set up everything perfectly on our wedding day. Would absolutely recommend to ANYONE planning a wedding!!! THANK YOU Designed & Detailed!

Alison was fantastic to work with! And she stayed with us throughout our entire journey from 2019 to now 6/11/2022. We had rescheduled our wedding three times during COVID and even had to start all over with the venue search when our first one went out of business. If it weren't for Alison's help, I don't think we would have made it through all of the changes!! She was incredibly helpful with recommending high quality vendors for our photos, flowers, etc and on the day of, she and her assistants were so attentive and helpful from start to finish. The wedding day would not have been the same without them. I'm very grateful for their help and would recommend Designed and Detailed to anyone who is looking for an effortless wedding day!!!

I recently worked with Alison Grossman of Designed & Detailed, and I can't overstate how valuable her help was in planning my daughter Hannah's recent wedding. I needed coaching on many steps, not being an experienced event planner, and Alison helped me from start to finish. Especially as we neared the wedding day (or as I thought of it, "the finish line" (!)), Alison kept us on track. On Hannah's wedding day, Alison's encouraging, very organized presence was very helpful, and the wedding pretty much felt perfect. Alison is a delight to work with, and Designed & Detailed is a great company.

Nicole was a GEM! She and her team was the best thing I could have ever asked for leading up to and on my wedding day. Her team is flawless and was ready for anything on the day off. There was nothing I had to worry about, as I knew I was in fantastic hands! Highly recommend if you are looking for a 3 month out or day of coordinator!

We are so happy we booked Designed and Detailed for our wedding! We had the pleasure of working with Nicole and she was the absolute best! She was a dream to work with, sweet, funny, organized, and always available! It was so easy to relax and let Nicole take the reigns on our big day. We can truly say our day was absolutely perfect and the credit goes to Nicole!

Designed & Detailed is the perfect choice for your planner! They were there with us every step of the way during our planning. They made sure to communicate clearly with us and did an amazing job working with our vendors. Nicole and Erin made sure everything went smoothly on the actual day and were beyond professional.

Alison and her team at Designed and Detailed helped us plan our wedding at Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago. Alison is professional, detail-oriented, compassionate, and approachable - she made us feel comfortable and confident as we planned our wedding. At first, we didn't know where to start. But as soon as we found Alison, she guided us through the planning process with vendor lists, decor checklists, and day-of timelines that helped us visualize our perfect wedding. Alison helped us navigate rescheduling and replanning our wedding during the pandemic - we always knew Alison had our back in figuring out how to make our big day amazing despite the many changes. As the wedding got closer, she took over managing our vendors and venue. And day of she solved last-minute problems so that the bride, groom, and our VIPs actually enjoyed themselves! In the end, we had a perfect Chicago wedding and we couldn't be happier with Alison and her team. We would strongly recommend Alison and the D&D team to any family or friend for their wedding.

Booking Designed & Detailed was one of the best decisions we made with our wedding. You cannot put a price on the professionalism and expertise we received with their services. Our wedding planning process had a lot of bumps in the road due to COVID and a very uncooperative venue, but our D&D team was there every step of the way to make things as smooth as possible. Christina was there through the entire planning process to keep us on track and handle communications and details that would have otherwise added a lot of stress. On the day of the wedding, Christina and Colleen worked tirelessly to make sure our wedding was perfect. I’m almost positive that the venue was still difficult on the wedding day, but my (now) wife and I never had an inkling because those two would not let a single piece of that fall on our shoulders. We are both so grateful to the entire D&D team for doing their part in making our wedding day perfect. You will not regret hiring them!!

Alison is WONDERFUL!!! Some people think they don’t need a coordinator but let me tell u what Alison and her team do is AMAZING! Everyone needs an Alison! She made my planning and wedding day so stress free there was not 1 thing I had to worry about. I knew no matter what Alison and her team would make my day perfect and they did just that! Quick responses, very organized, so many suggestions are just a few of what they will do for you! She will be your go to for ANYTHING!! I owe having a stress free wedding day all to Alison and her team, thank u guys again!

What can I say? Alison and her team made my daughter’s wedding a wonderful experience for her and for me. As the mother-of-bride, problems will land at your feet on the day of the wedding. (You do not want anything upsetting your child on her special day) Alison was the best investment I ever made. She stepped in to manage issues/problems and allowed me to enjoy the day. I can’t say enough about her patience and flexibility. We had to reschedule my daughters wedding 5x. Alison always remained positive and focused on what needed to be done to reschedule and finally to actually execute. She is a gem. I don’t think you could find a better wedding planner. She is the best.

The best wedding planner in Chicago (and maybe the entire world?!). Alison is beyond amazing - we cannot say enough good things about her. She is a complete professional and there is no way we could have had our wedding without her. She is the absolute nicest/sweetest/best human and we were so lucky to have her!!!

How can I begin to express our gratitude to Alison and her team for making my son's wedding perfect. We began planning in 2020 but due to Covid had to move to Sept 2021. She stayed on top of everything. Helped us through the process, especially the change due to Covid. As my husband said during his toast, this wedding could not have happened without Alison working with us. Alison and her team orchestrated the entire event and made the event without incident. One of our friends stated after all of the planning and changes due to Covid, the wedding was uneventful which is the biggest praise we can give to Alsion and her team. Please use her if you want the best experience.

Our daughter used Alison to help coordinate her wedding. With all the ups and downs of Covid, changing dates, and dealing with a last minute bus breakdown, Alison kept her cool and solved all our problems. She kept my daughter on track organizing vendors, planning for all variables, etc. We cannot say enough good things about her!!!

Alison and her team are incredible! Alison went above and beyond to make our wedding day perfect! Between a postponement and then a last minute venue change, she made everything happen and made it look easy! Our families and everyone in our bridal party are still telling us how amazing and helpful she was. Our wedding truly wouldn't have happened without Alison and her team. She has the warmest soul and is so kind to everyone she works with! We love the D&D team so much! Thank you for everything!!!

Highly recommend Alison and her team! From all the ups and downs with COVID, she was there to help us every step of the day. She made things go off without a hitch day of and is a wonderful person who was so genuine and easy to work with. You will be so happy to have her as a part of your team for your big day!

I cannot thank Designed & Detailed enough for making our day so special! From navigating us through COVID-19 and helping us reschedule so we could have the wedding we dreamed of to recommending the best vendors imaginable and ensuring everything went smoothly when it finally did happen! I literally cannot even imagine this wedding would have been possible without Alison and her team! Absolutely fabulous experience!

BEST! EVER! My wife and I seriously cannot say enough good things about Designed and Detailed! We thought we could plan our wedding on our own but quickly realized we were in WAY over our heads, especially once COVID hit. We felt completely lost and hopeless, and were looking for a professional wedding planner with an actual -plan- to help us pull off the biggest day of our lives, (instead of "We're going to make the most of it" or "Oh, don't worry, it'll be fine!") Needless to say, Alison and Kate didn't disappoint and we cannot thank them enough for making our wedding a huge success! If you're planning a wedding, or any event for that matter, you would be doing yourself a HUGE disservice if you didn't at least reach out to the Designed & Detailed team. Still not convinced? Here's all the details: From the very first call, they were extremely proactive, professional, and responsive to all of our needs (there were a lot).. They also didn't BS us on anything or set us up for disappointment - with COVID restrictions putting a huge damper on our tentative plans, they were transparent and upfront on everything. Not only that, but they were always "in the know" on updates before they were even announced and had a plan of attack to set our wedding up for success. We couldn't have been happier with the end result, even amidst a pandemic. The planning process was smooth and always on track - Alison was always a phone call, text, or email away and promptly responded each time we'd reach out. She also copied us in on her regular emails organizing everything with our vendors and venue - (I swear, she was a head coach or General in a previous life!) That transparency was a huge relief, knowing that things were still moving along behind the scenes leading up to our big day. If it were possible to give a 1000 star review for our rehearsal and wedding day, we totally would. Everything was seamless for us! Whenever we needed something or a problem popped up, Alison was there to mitigate and made sure we didn't have to worry about a single thing. She was like a Walgreens, Uber driver, and master problem solver all in one. (Imodium? Got it. Bandaids for the bride's feet? No problem. Groomsman passed out during the vows? Under control. Party bus driver is requiring a balance paid off? Handled. Hotel shuttles are way off schedule? She handled that too on our behalf, and made sure we're getting a refund because of it! She even picked us up from getting our pictures taken down the street so the bride didn't have to walk in heels!) Not only that, but she organized the cleanup so we didn't have to lift a finger until picking up our decorations a few days later. No stress, no hassle! Seriously, "Godsend" doesn't even begin to describe how clutch Alison was for us from the very beginning. We cannot thank her enough for helping pull off the best day of our lives! Besides getting engaged, hiring Designed & Detailed to plan our wedding was the best decision we made throughout this entire process. Give them a call, you seriously won't regret it!!

My husband and I were fortunate to meet a member of the Designed & Detailed wedding planning team when we were showing our wedding venue (Salvage One) to our family. There are three reasons why we loved working with Designed & Detailed: `1. Knowledge of Salvage One – Designed & Detailed owner Alison had gotten married at our same venue and had a strong rapport with all of the vendors. 2. Value for service - Unfortunately, we were a COVID couple and adjusted a 140 person spring 2020 wedding to an intimate 18 person fall 2020 wedding with a livestream for the remaining friends and family. Alison was supportive and available every step of the way. She went above and beyond hopping on multiple calls to develop a new plan that best fit our needs and also giving us perspective from the industry that helped inform our decisions. 3. Solid Execution on day of wedding – On our wedding day Alison handled any challenge or hiccup with such grace and composure. The type “A” in me has a hard timing giving up control but Alison was extremely calm, cool and collected. It made for an incredible experience. We enjoyed working with Alison and would highly recommend Designed & Detailed to others planning weddings in the Chicagoland area!

Booking Alison and her team is the BEST CHOICE you will make for your wedding! To any bride that wants a knowledgeable, dedicated, creative, communicative, fabulous veteran planner, Alison is all that and more! Alison is so talented, organized, thoughtful and a pleasure to work with... all while having fair and reasonable pricing! My only regret is that I did not have Alison do MORE of the planning which would have been worth every penny and then some! I really wish I had gone all-the-way and done the full-service option! She went above and beyond my expectations in general and I really regret not having her handle every aspect of the event! Alison was so easy to trust and made me feel so comfortable and calm through the whole process. She really listened to my likes/dislikes/vision/needs/wants and made everything run smoothly. She was my eyes and ears and I loved being able to just know that everything was taken care of on the "day-of" for both of my events. Alison worked with me on doing a two-event structure with a small, intimate ceremony and dinner and then a reception later in the year. The ceremony and dinner were lovely and exactly what I had envisioned! The reception was a big party which is what my fiance and I wanted with so much less pressure and no wedding day jitters since we got to just sit back and enjoy. Alison's organization and planning made this whole process significantly stress-free! The only parts of planning I was stressed about were the things I DIDN'T have her handle and that was a big mistake. If I had to do it all over again, I would go with the full service without even batting an eyelash and would know that everything would be just as it should be. Anything that came up, Alison and her team had a plan and were able to pivot or change things up if needed - which is critical and bound to happen. I am so incredibly grateful to Designed & Detailed for working with my mom and I (and my fiance too I guess lol) to make my days so incredibly special! My mom and I are both SUPER type-A and are used to paying attention to detail and being on top of things and with Alison and her associates, we were able to actually enjoy the events we planned! Imagine that! We love Alison and Designed & Detailed and cannot recommend her enough! Do yourself the best favor of your wedding experience and hire Designed & Detailed ASAP!

To say Alison made my day PERFECT is an understatement. Alison was our day of planner and she executed beautifully. Anything I forgot, she had - anything I needed, it was in her bag of tricks! She even wiped a dirt stain off my dress... Alison made a timeline that made my day run so smoothly, she connected all of the vendors, and was just a pleasure to work with. She is extremely professional, personable, and kind. My family & I don’t know what we would’ve done to have Alison’s assistance on the day of my wedding. If you’re on the edge of hiring a day of planner, I would HIGHLY recommend doing it with Alison. You will not regret it! Thank you for EVERYTHING, Alison!

If she is available for your wedding date BOOK HER NOW! Alison was the best “gift” my husband ever bought me. I knew how I wanted my wedding to be and she gave me that and so much more. From the initial meeting, to the details to the day of she kept me on track and calm through out. She goes above and beyond with a suitcase kit for anything that could possibly go wrong! She kept my day going without a hitch. During the process my husband reached out to her separately for some advice and felt so comfortable doing so. She had a team with her the day of my wedding to ensure it all went off smooth, and even had sandwiches ordered for the bus between wedding and reception before we got on it!! This women is AMAZING!

Alison and her team are incredible wedding planners and made sure everything was perfect on our wedding day. She goes above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the day is flawless. Absolutely recommend to any future brides/grooms!

After hiring Alison for our wedding, she feels more like a close friend than a hired vendor. She helped us plan our vision for weeks and executed it effortlessly when the big day was upon us. She was available for every question that I had throughout the process. She spent the time to understand every detail of our big day to ensure all vendors were clear on our expectations. Designed and Detailed is the perfect company name because it is exactly what Alison gives.

Alison was by far the most important person I hired on my wedding day. I honestly can't imagine my wedding day without her. Our entire day was so absolutely awesome and we really have D&D to thank for it, it was soooo stress-free and Alison was completely in control from beginning to end. If you're on the fence about hiring a day-of-coordinator, trust me and hire this team immediately... they do so much more than advertised and they're involved way beyond just your wedding day. Also, it doesn't hurt that Alison is cool as hell!

Our wedding was perfect thanks to Alison and her team! Everyone always says to plan on one thing going wrong at the wedding, but thanks to Designed & Detailed everything went smoothly and perfectly! Alison makes sure to communicate with you at every step and was so on top of things during the wedding. I couldn't have planned my dream wedding without her <3

Designed & Detailed was referred to me by a colleague who told me of how great of a job Alison and her team was for her daughters wedding. Alison far beyond exceeded our expectations and was a big part in making our wedding a successfully beautiful and joyous occasion. Alison immediately made us feel comfortable when she first met with us and from that point on she always made herself available for even the most mundane question. The prep sessions held are very valuable helping to set expectations, eliminate concerns and gave my husband and I the confidence in our planning allowing us to fully enjoy the day. From providing advice, acting as the primary contact between ourselves and the vendors to executing day-of logistics the team at Designed and Detailed are experts that my husband and I will forever recommend.

Alison was our lead coordinator for our wedding on May 11th at Bridgeport Art Center and hiring her was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding day. I went back and forth about the idea of hiring a coordinator. I am pretty on top of things and like to be in control (lol) so I initially thought I could probably handle it myself. And word to the wise, just because you can, DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD. As I look back on the day, I realize how stressful it would have been to do it on my own and how happy I am that I had Alison by my side. From the initial meeting I knew I vibed with Alison. If you are looking for someone who is direct and gets things done without the fluff, she is your girl. We hired her about a year out from our wedding and as the months passed we reached out to her for guidance on many topics and she was always easy to reach and happy to answer every question we had. There are so many “what if” moments and judgment calls when planning a wedding and it was so nice to have a professional to turn to with those questions. At about 3 months out from the wedding, Alison helped create our timeline, finalize our décor and details, and took over communication with our vendors. It was SO NICE to be able to hand things over to her and relax a little before the big day. On the actual day of the wedding, Alison and Erin did a fantastic job. Alison was with me the entire day, keeping us on time, communicating with all the vendors, making sure I didn’t run into my fiancé on the way to do the first look, directing the party bus driver, setting up church décor, WASHING MY DRESS (literally in the bathroom of the church), and generally running around making sure that my husband and I were totally stress free. I cannot thank her enough for taking the burden of everything off of our hands and letting us enjoy the day we spent so much time planning. As I told her the next day, she is worth her weight in gold. Things went wrong and we got off schedule, but we never knew about it or cared because Alison and Erin handled every single thing that came up while we enjoyed our day. That is how you should feel on your wedding day and that is what a coordinator should offer you. Thank you Alison for allowing us have the best day ever ☺ If you are on the fence about hiring a coordinator, I guarantee you will not regret hiring Alison.

Alison from D&D was the perfect day of coordinator for our big day! She *magically* appeared every place we needed her throughout the day, made everyone (including our vendors) feel at ease and happy, and kept every special detail in mind. Without Alison, the day wouldn't have been the same.

Alison was absolutely awesome to work with during the weeks/months leading up to our wedding. She is wildly thorough and thinks of every little detail (and then some!). She took over correspondence with our vendors to make our lives easier. She even came to our apartment to pick up items that needed to be delivered to the church and venue the week before our wedding. When the actual wedding weekend came around, we both felt completely calm just knowing that Alison was on top of everything (our moms were just as calm, which says a lot!!!). She is a human security blanket for your wedding. She was so professional and we just knew our wedding weekend was going to be seamless because of her and her team. The big day went off without a hitch and Alison was 10 steps ahead of everything, as expected. We can’t thank her enough for everything she did for us, but most of all how at ease she made us feel. She’s truly the best!

Alison and her team did day of coordination for my 9.9.18 brunch wedding at Danada House. Overall, I had the best day ever and a great vendor team. Design & Detailed definitely contributed to that, but there are a few areas of improvement I would also note. Strengths *First meeting: Alison shined pre-wedding. She is personable, easy to talk to, and asked great questions. I instantly felt at ease knowing she was on my team and would get me on track for the day of. *Vendor relationships: Alison has been in the industry for awhile, so she has great vendor relationships. I knew her great rapport with Danada House (venue) and My Chef (caterer) would help the day go smoothly. She also helped make the walk-through super valuable since she knew exactly what to expect. *Price: I initially was drawn to Designed & Detailed for price point. Alison was even able to work with me further on it given how far I was in the process. *Extras: Alison did some great extra little things - like recording the ceremony day of, always coming to me for our meetings, and bringing her "box of items" for anyone emergencies day of. Improvement Areas *Timeline: We had issues getting the timeline up to date with my feedback, and I was never able to provide a bridal-party only version since it was out of date with the master. Alison was experiencing software issues, but this was one of the main reasons I hired a coordinator, so I expected it to be right without multiple rounds of feedback leading up to wedding day. *Team: I had been told by Alison that there would be three people on site for my day. Due to some team changes, it was only two people, which led to moments where the card box was left unattended and inability to find coordinator support when I needed it on the day given how stretched the two of them were. *Day of breakdown: Items went "missing" after the day (my veil, a sign loaned to me by my sister in law). Although Alison assured that these items were packed, it was frustrating to discover this after the wedding when it was too late. A huge reason for me to hire a coordinator was to take off the pressure of worrying about keeping track of these items day of. *Reception: A few issues occurred during the reception that surprised me: (1) I requested multiple times to not have a bouquet toss. The bouquet toss was still announced and I had to rush over to the DJ to ensure it was skipped over since Alison was not present at this time. (2) Towards the end of the reception, Alison was breaking down and packing up instead of helping with the flow of the end of reception. It led to an awkward end of the wedding where I was not sure at which point we should exit. (3) I requested ubers be ordered for my wedding party by Alison's team. This never happened and when I inquired why, she said she "did not have my phone." Overall, the team did great leading up to the wedding, but I would request a little more attention day of and a little more responsibility taken for the issues that happened. I hope this helps improve experiences with this vendor team in the future!

Alison and her team did a phenomenal job coordinating my wedding. Alison took all the stress out of wedding planning, and helped to ensure that the day was flawless. Alison and her team were always available to help answer questions, provide any recommendations, and help ease overall stress when planning a wedding. I never had to worry about a thing! Our wedding was perfect, and we have Alison and her team to thank for that! I would HIGHLY recommend Alison!

Alison and her team did an amazing job coordinating our wedding! When interviewing various day-of-coordinators, I instantly felt Alison was the one I was most comfortable with and was confident she and her team would be able to execute the decor details I had planned. She was definitely a huge help in planning the timeline for the day and adding her valuable input to make sure the day would run smoothly. She even went to pick up our donuts and cake for the dessert table, even though our friends had volunteered, in order to ease the load and make sure our friends could enjoy the event. Thank you Alison!!

I believe that is was simply fate that my husband and I were able to meet and work with Alison. After our initial consultation, we both felt the weight of the world lifted off of our shoulders almost immediately. We ended up hiring her as our day-of (more like month-of) wedding coordinator and it was the best decision we made. Every meeting leading up to the wedding we left feeling more and more weights lifted. By the time our wedding day came, we were both completely stress free and were able to enjoy our wedding day as if we were guests and not the host. To me that was most important. You shell out so much money for your wedding, for goodness sake, you should be able to enjoy everything you've worked so hard to provide; and we were definitely able to do that. From day one, Alison worked with our budget, schedules for meeting and soothe or worries each step of the way. If there was something that went wrong on the day of, we honestly had no idea about it; and that's the way I preferred it. Alison also has a wealth of industry knowledge and contacts, which are critical during the planning process. She was able to give us some great referrals for flowers and our altar backdrop. Our wedding truly was the most beautiful, stress free day. We so appreciate Alison and her team for coming along to piece together all of the stressful details, right at a point where we were the most stressed during the planning process.

We first found Alison through the Knot in November of 2017. At first we weren't sure if we really wanted or needed a day-of-coordinator, but after our first meeting with Alison, we were sold! From the very beginning Alison was easy to work with. She was very personable and was so excited for every detail we had planned. Other coordinators we'd spoken with did not include much decor setting in their packages, and Alison was game from the get-go to help us set up every detail. She even worked with us to customize a package that fit our needs and budget. She helped us organize our ideas and gave suggestions on what would work the best for the flow of the day. She was always easy to get in touch with, was responsive and timely, and was always willing to help us sort out a last minute idea over text. For any DIY couple out there who's got it all planned, but needs someone to take it to the finish line, she is your woman! On the day of, she was absolutely a lifesaver and miracle worker. She did everything she said she would and then went above and beyond that. Our wedding would not have run as smoothly as it did without Alison and her team. By the end of the day, we considered her a friend. We consider having hired Alison to be one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. We owe her so much. Thank you Alison and Christina! Hannah and Mike

Alison & her team were fantastic! I couldn’t say more!!! Having them coordinate the day allowed my team & I to just focus on photographing our beautiful couple & ensure that we were focused 100 % on them instead of almost managing everything else! And I know our bride couldn’t agree more! Countless times throughout the day I heard her say that Alison was a Godsend & she didn’t know how she would have handled the day without her & it couldn’t be more true! I hope to work with her again & often! I will be recommending her to all of my brides!! Thanks again for all that you are & all that you do Alison!

I had so much fun at my wedding and I owe it all to Designed and Detailed! Alison and Christina were a step ahead of me all day and worked so hard in the weeks leading up to our wedding. Designed and detailed is Worth every penny!! I can’t thank them enough <3