About this vendor
Personalized Planning Options for Unique Couples
Devoted To You is a wedding planning company operating out of Pittsburgh, PA. This team of expert event coordinators believes that your day should be about you and should reflect your unique bond and personality as a couple. Creative, passionate, and innovative, they are ready to provide you and your guests with a bespoke celebration experience full of authentic emotion and wonder.
The coordination crew at Devoted To You is on-hand to put every detail of your once-in-a-lifetime occasion in place. Led by head planner Melissa, this talented team of planners brings a wealth of experience and an attentive eye to every wedding they arrange. As out-of-the-box thinkers, they love experimenting and trying new things to craft celebrations that are truly unforgettable.
From your initial consultation to your first dance as a married couple, Devoted To You will be with you every step of the way. They believe in ‘relationship-based planning’ and will help you design a coordination package that fits your unique goals and vision as a couple. They offer an invaluable selection of services to choose from according to your specific needs, including event design, vendor referrals, guest list management, and many more.
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Business Attributes
- LGBTQ+-owned Business
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Planning
Planning
- A la Carte Wedding Planning
- Budgeting
- Destination Wedding Planning
- Full Service Wedding Planning
- Wedding Design
Wedding Activities
- Rehearsals & Parties
- Rehearsal Dinner
- Wedding
- Ceremony
- Cocktail Hour
- Day After Brunch
Awards and Affiliations
Pricing
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4.8
out of 5.073 reviews
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I had the absolute joy of working with Lacey as my coordinator. She was beyond amazing. Always on top of things, incredibly helpful, and really did everything in her power to make sure the day followed seamlessly. I had a couple issues day of the wedding and Lacey jumped right in and took care of everything. She truly was such a blessing and I don’t know what I would have done without her!
We booked our wedding at Franklin on Penn and with doing so, we received a day of coordinator. We were assigned Lacey and she worked with us prior to the wedding to create a timeline for our wedding day. She reached out to all our vendors to confirm times with them and sent out a detailed timeline to everyone when it was completed. Lacey was so helpful the day of the wedding and was there for us when things were going wrong with our vendors. Lacey stepped up and did all she needed to make sure we didn’t stress about anything. She made us feel at ease and was very professional throughout the night. Even now that the wedding is over, Lacey is still helping me out with an ongoing issue with my florist. Lacey has been great through the stress of planning a wedding and we loved working with her!
Devoted To You truly devotes to you. Victoria D.G. of DTY (who was our wedding planner) is a force to be reckoned with; she can help turn your vision into reality AND simultaneously track and execute every little detail day of. Victoria is highly skilled in ensuring that every person and creature is comfortable and taken care of, including grandparents, human babies, vendors, and fur babies.
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If you're considering hiring Melissa, you'll want to read this. Forgive me for this is long, and I had to edit a lot to fit the character limit (my review on WeddingWire includes all details).
1. Working with Melissa was extremely stressful, and she really proved that she wasn't "devoted to us" at any step of the process.
2. She presented a budget that didn't include her own services; she made us feel cheap for trying to stretch our limited budget.
3. Her attitude throughout the entire year we worked with her was condescending and patronizing - she made us feel stupid for not knowing certain things about planning a wedding, and made us feel bad for wanting to stretch our limited budget.
4. She sometimes took weeks to respond, only answered the last question of many, and never apologized for late replies.
5. She cancelled, rescheduled, and even no-showed several of our Zoom meetings.
6. She provided few options for venues and made us feel pressured to choose one right away.
7. Setup was not even near finished by the time we arrived at our venue, 30 minutes before the ceremony was to begin.
8. Guests weren't being directed where to go, and walked into the inside space where all vendors were still unpacking and setting up. This was embarrassing. I asked Melissa to direct guests to the ceremony space and she did, but this isn't something we should have had to consider at all.
9. She was hard to find all day, and her attitude was quite rude to whomever talked with her.
10. We had a welcome mirror that was heavy and only waist-height. I told her that we want the mirror to be placed higher up - she reassured us that she'd put it on a bench and it would be fine. When we arrived on the day of, it was propped on the ground and tied to a pole. When I asked what happened, she nonchalantly mentioned "oh, it wasn't going to stay on the bench." She really didn't care.
11. Most guests told us later that they never knew the cake was available. We don't know what happened to it after the event and we never got to try any besides our small piece at the cake cutting.
12. When the event ended, I was baffled by how rude she was to my parents and our guests, ordering people to tear things down and clean up. She told our friend/officiant, who was a special guest to us and did us a huge favor officiating our wedding, to begin loading boxes into cars. It was extremely embarrassing for us that he was ordered around like this after all he did for us.
13. We didn't know what happened to all the leftover food. In the end it was a miscommunication error on her part, and she never apologized or acknowledged that she never asked us directly what we wanted done with it, and didn't seem to care that we were upset about not being able to enjoy the food we paid so much for.
14. We received zero follow-up communication from Melissa, honestly solidifying for us that she really did not care about us or our wedding, and may have been salty about not receiving a tip (I could not, in good conscience, tip her for the service she provided, and we did tip well the vendors who provided good service).
For what it's worth, her assistant Ellen who was there on the day of was very helpful, thoughtful, and caring - we only knew her for a few hours but wished she had been our planner instead.
Overwhelmingly, the most stressful aspect of our wedding planning was working with Melissa, and I could not recommend her to anybody.
Response from the Vendor on 05/08/2024
In reading this, to say I am highly disappointed and shocked is an understatement. At no point through the planning process did you express discontent with my services. A lot of the things you mention here are presented in a way that doesn't ac...
curately describe the process and our interactions and the way you described the wedding day is almost 100% false. I debated on whether to refute this review because of all of the inaccuracies, but in the end I decided that I would be remiss to not submit a response to this. I responded number by number, so excuse the long response.
1. Working with Melissa was extremely stressful, and she really proved that she wasn't "devoted to us" at any step of the process. - If there were things that made the planning process stressful throughout the time we worked together, I wish that would have been expressed to me. There was no indication that working with me was stressful at all. You said more than once after a call that you felt better after speaking with me and on the day of the rehearsal, your mother told me what great things the you had to say about me.
2. She presented a budget that didn't include her own services; she made us feel cheap for trying to stretch our limited budget. - On our initial call, I explained that my services would have to be excluded from the overall budget in order to keep you within the budget you wanted to be in and you said you understood. This is not uncommon for me to discuss with a client because I believe in being up front and honest especially when it comes to budget and money. I even discounted my full planning package 2K for you given that your guest count was smaller so that I could help with the budget a bit. I work with budgets from 10K to 100K+ and never discriminate based on budget. Some of the most fabulous weddings that I’ve done have been on the lower end. Money doesn’t matter and priorities are different for everyone. What I do as a planner is try to match the money with the priorities and expectations.
3. Her attitude throughout the entire year we worked with her was condescending and patronizing - she made us feel stupid for not knowing certain things about planning a wedding, and made us feel bad for wanting to stretch our limited budget. - Again, it was never expressed to me that this was how you felt. Had this been expressed, perhaps I could have adjusted my process with you or even assigned you another planner from my team if you truly weren't happy with how things were going. I’ve never been called condensing or patronizing and pride myself and my team for working with people with all different visions and all different budgets. I offered solutions to match your budget, which is what part of my duties are as the wedding planner. If you interpreted that as being condescending and patronizing, I unfortunately have no control over that.
4. She sometimes took weeks to respond, only answered the last question of many, and never apologized for late replies. - I don’t have a record of every single response time, but I do know that if there was ever a time it took "weeks" to respond, it was because I was away and taking personal time and not answering any client emails or I was dealing with other events and working on planning and keeping things on track for yours on the backend. There are times throughout the planning process where I am just doing my job and working on things and then once I have things to present to a client, I email. I explained that was my process.
5. She cancelled, rescheduled, and even no-showed several of our Zoom meetings. I don’t know what to say other than I’m human. - This is a false representation of what happened. This makes it seem like I was flaky and cancelled, rescheduled and no-showed all the time. If I canceled a meeting, it was likely something having to do with one of my children that I couldn’t reschedule. I never flat out canceled a meeting with no reschedule. And when I no- showed to 2 zoom meetings it was because of Covid. I explained that I was very ill and severe brain fog happened to be one of the side effects of Covid when I had it. I apologized profusely for that because there has only been one other time in my 13 year career that I no showed an appointment and even though the brain fog was the culprit, I felt terrible for doing that to you and expressed that.
6. She provided few options for venues and made us feel pressured to choose one right away. - Again this is false. I can't speak for how you felt, but to say I provided few options is not true. You had very specific venue wants, needs and priorities plus a specific budget that we were working within. I presented 7 options that I thought fit all the specifications. That is more than I typically present to a client because by the time we get to the part where I'm presenting them, I know they are a good fit but it's up to the client to decide based on preferences.
7. Setup was not even near finished by the time we arrived at our venue, 30 minutes before the ceremony was to begin. - You arrived 1 hour prior to the ceremony and it is completely normal to still have to put finishing touches on things. Even then though, the only things that needed finished setting up were things I needed a second set of hands for (which was the garland for the photo booth) and things I couldn’t set up due to the wind outside. (Table numbers, thank you notes, candles lit) But I should mention that all of those things were on the tables in a compact pile with a candle on top of it so they didn’t blow away before it was time for guests to come into the tent. Everything else was set up.
8. Guests weren't being directed where to go, and walked into the inside space where all vendors were still unpacking and setting up. This was embarrassing. I asked Melissa to direct guests to the ceremony space and she did, but this isn't something we should have had to consider at all. - Guests arrived 30 minutes prior and it was a balmy sunny 82 degrees. We directed them to the ceremony and they came inside anyway to come in from the heat. You are correct in saying that isn’t something that you should have directed. In hindsight, myself or Ellen should have stood outside and been more diligent about keeping all guests out there.
9. She was hard to find all day, and her attitude was quite rude to whomever talked with her. - I was around all day out in the open. There was no place to even hide at this venue. No back room for vendors or anything so there was no place for me to be but there. And even if there was a back room, you wouldn’t have found me in it. It is my job to be present and attentive on a wedding day and again, this is something my team and myself pride myself on.
10. We had a welcome mirror that was heavy and only waist-height. I told her that we want the mirror to be placed higher up - she reassured us that she'd put it on a bench and it would be fine. When we arrived on the day of, it was propped on the ground and tied to a pole. When I asked what happened, she nonchalantly mentioned "oh, it wasn't going to stay on the bench." She really didn't care. - That isn’t true. I did care and that wasn’t my response. I cared so much that when I put it on a bench and it was very unstable, I didn’t want it to be knocked over by the wind, so I propped it up against the pole and tied the sign to it with a very pretty ribbon in a space where all guests were entering so they could see it. That is what I said to you when you asked why it wasn’t on the bench.
11. Most guests told us later that they never knew the cake was available. We don't know what happened to it after the event and we never got to try any besides our small piece at the cake cutting. - The cake was out on 3 different tables in 3 different areas of the reception space. The caterer even walked around with some passing it out to guests. I’m honestly not sure how people could have not known it was there.
12. When the event ended, I was baffled by how rude she was to my parents and our guests, ordering people to tear things down and clean up. She told our friend/officiant, who was a special guest to us and did us a huge favor officiating our wedding, to begin loading boxes into cars. It was extremely embarrassing for us that he was ordered around like this after all he did for us. - I didn’t boss anyone around. That is not my approach to people in general, let alone to my clients and their friends and family members. What I did do was pack up all of the personal belongings and load them on to a cart so it was convenient for whomever was taking it to the cars to do so. I explained where everything was and what needed to leave the venue. I showed them the things on the cart, the stuff on the shelf beside the cart that didn’t fit on the cart and explained about the leftover food and cake being in the fridge. The only other thing that needed cleaned up was the cookie table and I wasn't in charge of that. Your parents were handling that. Everything else was neatly packed up and I was just relaying the info of where it was so people knew. I was not aggressive with these explanations. It was my typical end of the night routine.
13. We didn't know what happened to all the leftover food. In the end it was a miscommunication error on her part, and she never apologized or acknowledged that she never asked us directly what we wanted done with it, and didn't seem to care that we were upset about not being able to enjoy the food we paid so much for. - Again this is not true. I told your parents, as well as the group of people that were loading up the cars and the groom about the food. When I was saying goodbye and letting the groom know (you and he weren’t standing together at this point and you was talking with someone so I didn’t want to interrupt) where things were and what had happened already in terms of loading up the cars, I asked at the end if he or you needed anything else from me and he said “Yes, can you take a photo of me and my friends” Nothing else.
14. We received zero follow-up communication from Melissa, honestly solidifying for us that she really did not care about us or our wedding, and may have been salty about not receiving a tip (I could not, in good conscience, tip her for the service she provided, and we did tip well the vendors who provided good service). - I never expect a tip so to assume that and then put it in writing in a review for other people to see is poor judgment and honestly a bit of an attack on my character as a person. My follow up process is to send the follow up email within 2 weeks of the wedding. This is what I do for every client. Depending on my work flow and schedule, sometimes that email comes the day after the wedding and sometimes it comes at the 2 week mark. You wrote this review on day 9 so it hasn’t even been a full two weeks since your wedding.
In the end, I am sorry that you were dissatisfied with my services. That is never the end result I want or strive for.
I did want to submit this response though so that future clients who may read this review, can also see things from perspective.
I think to be a good wedding planner, you have to be equal parts teacher, cat herder, designer, therapist, spreadsheet whiz, friend, and time manager. It's a difficult job and the team at Devoted To You are great at it. Victoria was our rock throughout the process, keeping us on track, giving us space when we needed it, and pushing us to make decisions when time was of the essence. During setup and throughout the event she was right there with us and managed the whole show with skill and humanity. On top of all that, they're just dang nice people over there. If that all weren't enough, Victoria made outstanding recommendations for our other vendors and the team really came together and made our day perfect. Thank you so much!!!!
Response from the Vendor on 05/08/2024
Thank you!! I love all the hats we wear and are happy to do so! Thank you for such a beautiful review.
We knew we wanted a supportive, inclusive wedding planning partner, and Devoted To You was absolutely one of our best finds. We had NO idea what we were getting into when it came to planning this wedding, and Morgan and Melissa helped us pull off a spectacular event that our family and friends have been talking about for weeks. Being new(ish) to Pittsburgh, their vendor recommendations were extremely helpful, and resulted in an exceptional team that really knocked it out of the park. Their knowledge and experience helped calm us down when we were inevitably panicking about some part of the weekend, and Morgan in particular was so attentive and such a reassuring presence from start to finish. We cannot say enough good things and are so grateful for all of the support. The team is DEFINITELY worth the investment.
Response from the Vendor on 05/08/2024
Thank you!! We loved working with you and are so happy you trusted us with your day!
Everything went very smoothly and we had a beautiful wedding. Morgan kept us organized and on track throughout the past year of planning! It was invaluable to not have to worry about the details on the day of - thanks again!
We started out thinking we could plan a 150-person Pittsburgh wedding remotely from Virginia all by ourselves (oh, hubris). A few months in, I was overwhelmed and freaking out, which meant it was time to ask for help! Melissa completely understood and seamlessly picked up where we had left off.
We had to be efficient with our vendor visits, because we were coming from out of town, and Melissa's coordination made those experiences so much easier. Every vendor we hired was overjoyed to be working with Melissa, and it's easy to see why! She has a great eye for design and interpreted our vision so well. We had a specific need for hair and makeup, which was more difficult to find than we had anticipated, but Melissa and her team worked hard to make sure all needs were met.
More than anything, Devoted To You was organized and efficient, both in planning and execution. We had a shared Google folder where all updates were recorded and I could ask questions/give comments between meetings. They also shared several helpful planning and timeline documents that kept my ADHD brain organized and on track.
Day of, we were both so calm, because Melissa and her team reacted quickly to every little thing that came up. We received so many compliments on the flow of the event from guests and the wedding party, but all the credit goes to Devoted To You. Their hard work allowed us to float through the day and focus on the reason we were there. We enthusiastically recommend them for any event!
Multiple people told us during our wedding that we were the happiest, most relaxed couple they'd ever seen and every time we told them "It was because of Victoria!" Devoted to You was the best money we spent on our wedding, hands down. We did the coordination and design package, and Melissa and Victoria held our hands through everything. From helping guide us to the best items to order and buy, to coordinating rentals; we had the most gorgeous, most "us" wedding we could have imagined, and because Victoria was there to keep the wheels moving, we got to sit back and enjoy every second without an ounce of stress. I can't stop singing the praises of this team, and their work. If you're looking for a funky, fun, unique wedding, don't even consider other options, this is the one for planning, design, and coordination.
Devoted to You is absolutely amazing! We worked with Renee leading up to our wedding, to ensure that we had everything in order and organized and then she and Victoria were with us for the wedding. Renee did not let a single detail go without being double checked. She made sure that everything was exactly how we had hoped, if not better! We cannot recommend Devoted to You enough! If you are getting married - you need to work with them and ask for Renee!
We highly recommend Devoted to You! Our wedding day went perfectly and was completely stress-free for us (except the whole getting married part). We had Melissa as our planner - she is kind and friendly, and overall incredibly easy to work with. My husband and I are indecisive people that just had a broad vision of what we wanted, but she really brought it to life and we could not be happier with how it was executed! We wish we hired Melissa for full-service wedding planner rather than just for design and coordination!
From the moment we hired Devoted to You, we knew we made the best decision to help bring our wedding dreams come to life. Renee helped us shape and cultivate our perfect day down to every last detail. Renee listened to our vision and helped provide stirring direction when we needed it. Renee provided a calming and reassuring presence once our wedding finally arrived, from our first look, to last minute once overs before walking down the aisle, she was truly our wedding angel. We cannot speak enough good things about Renee, Melissa, and the whole team at DTY. Do yourself a favor and just hire them. – C&L
We had a great experience working with Morgan! Not only was she attentive, organized and creative, but she was also our biggest supporter and cheerleader throughout the wedding planning process! I'm grateful to have had her by my side! The Devoted to You team is so experienced and well-connected within the Pittsburgh wedding community. You won't regret booking with them.
Words cannot describe how thankful I am to have Morgan with Devoted to You part of our wedding day. She not only made my planning process so much easier, but she is truly the reason our day went as perfect as it did. She understood the assignment and NAILED IT - from frequent communication up to the month prior to the wedding, working with me the week of the wedding to perfect the vision I was going for, to being my beck and call the day of (she literally gave me the socks off her feet). If you are thinking about booking a wedding cordinator, allow me to be the one to tell you to stop thinking about it and JUST DO IT. This was simply one of, if not, the best decision I made when it came to making our wedding dreams come true. Also, small shout out to Morgan once again for being simple the kindnest and sweetest human being on this earth - I don't know what I would have done with you girl!
Our wedding was AMAZING, and Devoted To You was a huge part of making it a success. We worked with Morgan for the whole process, and she was an amazing partner in planning out the wedding. She very quickly understood our vision for what we wanted, and pulled together a lot of useful organizational material- checklists, a month-to-month schedule, vendor lists, etc. Morgan was able to tap into a great network of trusted vendors and made some really great recommendations for people she’d worked with in the past who would understand our vision, and they were amazing! And she went above and beyond on locating other vendors - including two weeks before the wedding when we still hadn’t found the right ceremony arch, she managed to find a local company who was willing to buy one specially for us at the last minute! We also really appreciated how much we could trust Morgan to pull together details, like color coordinating linens for the reception dinner - we gave her a general vibe and asked her to figure out what would look good, and she nailed it. Day of, Morgan and her assistant Renee were on top of everything and made sure that all the moving pieces happened as needed. Overall, we could not have been more pleased with our wedding, the planning process leading up to it, and overall the amazing service that Morgan and the rest of Devoted To You provided us. Thank you!!
When I hung up from my first phone call with Melissa, I thought she sounded like a fairy godmother. She seemed too good to be true. I quickly realized that she was THAT good. Melissa and the Devoted to You team helped with the design and day of coordination for our April 2022 wedding. Melissa truly made the magic happen. She helped pull my many thoughts on the design together to create a beautiful wedding day, found a vendor at the very last minute to do ceiling drapery within my budget, tracked down taper candle covers despite a shortage two weeks before the wedding, and kept the timeline running smoothly. I never once felt stressed on my wedding day and I attribute so much of that to Melissa and her team. I personally loved how genuine, open minded, and understanding Melissa and her team were throughout the whole process. I never felt like a burden for asking a question or silly for wanting something a certain way. Melissa wants you to be you and will make sure that the day stays about you and your partner. She will be your #1 fan and you can feel that in every single interaction with her. I cannot recommend the Devoted to You team enough! BOOK THEM. You will not regret it!
These ladies are awesome and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a wedding coordinator!
We were introduced to Melissa through our venue The Barn at Maple Falls. She was able to answer every question we had leading up to our wedding day and helped plan everything. She gave us many awesome recommendations for our day and helped make sure we had everything we needed.
For our wedding, we were assigned Lacey for our day of coordinator and we truly could not have asked for anyone better. She is beyond patient and calm and honestly just the very best! She made our day way more amazing than anything we ever could’ve imagined or dreamed of. We were able to fully trust her to take care of every single detail of our special day so we could just enjoy it all. She worked so hard to make sure everything was perfect and running smoothly throughout the whole day. I truly just can’t say enough how blessed and thankful we were to have Lacey for of our day. I will recommend this amazing group of coordinators to everyone I know!
We worked with Morgan for our wedding and I could not recommend her more! From the moment we first contacted Devoted to You to the final moments of our wedding, Morgan was extremely professional, knew exactly what questions to ask (especially in our vendor meetings), and reassured me every step of the way. She truly went above and beyond (I cannot emphasize this enough!). We were originally a 2020 wedding and had to postpone twice due to Covid. Devoted to you helped us every step of the way and always kept me calm when I was completely freaking out!
We had a fiasco with my wedding dress zipper breaking 30 mins before my first look. Morgan came and picked my husband and I up from the hotel (because she was done setting the venue up early!), personally drove us to our photo location, and kept me calm the entire time. She adjusted the timeline for the rest of the day on the fly because we were running late while we were fixing my dress. Through this entire (very stressful) situation, Morgan was calm, collected, and focused. I mentally checked out because I was so panicked but she never flinched once and got me down the aisle only a couple minutes delayed!
Devoted to You has an incredible eye for design, excellent timeline management, and a solutions oriented mindset. They took all of my crazy ideas and helped me focus them/made them even better! All of our guests raved about how this was the most organized and unique wedding + TRUE to the couple's personality that they've ever seen! Morgan really took the time to get to know us in the planning process and it was very clearly reflected in the final event. It was everything that I had dreamed of and I could not have done it without the incredible work of the Devote to You Team!!
Morgan and Renee are really in the bride's corner! I hired them for day-of coordination which also included 3 months prior to the event of prep. I really went back and forth with the idea of hiring a day-of coordinator, but I am so glad I made that decision, because I know there were so many crazy things happening that day, and I managed to miss all of it! The entire day was as if someone copied what was in my head, and pasted it into real life.
A special shout out to Morgan and Renee - We were all told the day before that the venue coordinator was not going to be there on the wedding day, and that another person would be stepping in who did not know the details of the day at all. Because of this, I know Morgan and Renee really stepped up and took charge of the whole event. I am so thankful I had them in my corner, because I do not think the venue pulled their weight.
Something that really showed how thoughtful these planners were, is Morgan took a ton of cell phone pictures during the day and texted them to me the next morning. This was so above and beyond and I really cherished those photos while waiting for the professional ones.
Everyone was so sweet to work with, I was an out-of-town client and they were really flexible with scheduling and finding time to connect. If its within your budget, I really recommend hiring Devoted to You, they will give you a piece of mind and a sense of relaxation on your wedding day.
My husband and I got married at The Barn at Maple Falls in September of 2021. The barn itself had someone in charge who was fantastic and did most of the planning and communication up until a certain point when the barn had began using Devoted to You as their wedding planners. We were assigned Morgan as our wedding planner and got to work closely with her leading up to the wedding. It wasn’t until about 6 months out when things started ramping up and planning got more intense. Morgan helped fulfill our requests and make our day the most perfect day ever. We are very thankful for the process as well as the company who helped make it all possible.
Where to even start with these amazing Women! First let's talk about Melissa. We hired "Devoted To You" One month into planning our wedding. We started out with a Day of Coordination and quickly was calling her back adding on design services.The last thing we wanted was a cookie cutter wedding. We knew from our very first meeting with Melissa, that we had made the right choice for us. She was very professional, but more than that she was very unique and connected right away to our vision. Anytime through out this planning that we needed anything she was there to help us. The day of the wedding Melissa had brought along two of her staff Renee and Victoria. They made sure that we were very well taken care of. And could not have been more attentive to us.Absolute amazing women. As soon as we walked into the venue we realized that the "Devoted To You" team had knocked it out of the park for us. Everything we dreamed of was reality. And we left with not just a hired vendor but new friends. If there was 10 stars we would give them a 10!
After the excitement of celebrating our engagement, we started to plan our special day. That is when it hit us… holy *%$# planning a wedding is not going to be easy. Melissa was referred to us by a friend and after five minutes of talking with her for our consultation, we knew that Devoted to You Events was going to help plan us the grooviest wedding this side of the river. Melissa took every single idea that we had and made it even better, she added her creativity and flair. While visiting a vendor they referred to me as a “Melissa Crawford Bride” meaning my wedding was going to be out of the box, unique, edgy, and HELLA amazing and boy was she right. It is still such a compliment and honor that I got to be a Melissa Crawford (Devoted to You Events) Bride. Not to mention after having 90% of our wedding planned COVID hit. When I decided to move to NYC to work as a crisis nurse Melissa was one of my first calls. We both cried together, and she promised our wedding would still be as perfect as ever, and boy was she right. We truly can’t thank her and her INCREDIBLE team (s/o Renee & Morgan) enough. Not only did Melissa connect us with great vendors but they all worked seamlessly together. There was no stress at our wedding, only dancing, smiles, and even some karaoke! Every detail was better than the next and the whole day was flawless. When our guests talk about our wedding, they say that they have never been to a wedding that felt so much like the couple’s personalities. Melissa thank you for making our disco dreams come true, we are forever GRATEFUL!!!
XXX
Abby & Geoff
I have been waiting to write this review for a few months because I truly cannot capture the words to express how grateful I am for Melissa and her team! From the second I met Melissa, I knew that she was the perfect person to help plan my wedding! She brings a confidence and calmness to the table it is absolutely invaluable. She is creative, passionate, and just frankly awesome!
Our original wedding was scheduled for May 2020 and Melissa was there “pivoting” constantly through our multiple reschedules.
If you are hesitating whatsoever about hiring a wedding planner… Do not. Especially if said planner is ”Devoted to You.” Her knowledge, expertise, and relationships are worth more than you could ever imagine! To say that you get a big bang for your buck is an understatement!
A huge thank you to Melissa for absolutely every part of making the perfect day happen for us!!!
We first learned of Devoted to You via our family member who used Devoted to You for their wedding. We began our wedding planning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and had independently desired to have an in person wedding in Pittsburgh while also having an interactive virtual wedding. While we had this vision, we had no idea how to make this happen. We contacted Devoted to You and spoke with Melissa via Zoom. We shared our vision and she seemed excited to make it a reality. Melissa is someone who thinks outside of the box and makes you feel confident in stepping out of your comfort zone. She is also full of great ideas and is able to incorporate them into what we envisioned for our special day.
On our wedding day, we did not worry about a single thing- to this day, we don’t even know if there were any issues because she and her team took care of everything. From our standpoint, as a couple, the day went smoothly.
Melissa has a great network of vendors and each vendor we contacted exceeded our expectations (from wedding dress alterations, florist, signage, hair/makeup etc). She seemed to have a great working relationship with every vendor we decided to work with.
Through every step of the wedding planning process, Melissa was helpful, responsive, and resourceful- we couldn’t recommend her more.
We loved Melissa, she was amazing. She helped us navigate though multiple date changes and adjustments to our original wedding celebration. Our big day ran so smooth and on time thanks to Melissa. Our vision for the day was perfect. She truly cares about her clients and wants them to have the best day possible and will do everything she can to make that happen. She quick to respond with communication. She is always so supportive and helpful. We can't imagine our day without her.
Melissa was great to work with. When the pandemic changed our plans last year, she coordinated the rescheduling for us which was such a relief. This year, she made sure all of the vendors knew where to be and when, which took a huge weight off our shoulders. It was so nice to know someone was looking our for us that weekend. She even went the extra mile and picked up our wedding favors halfway through the reception.
The team at Devoted to You were phenomenal! Highly recommend. I felt like a guest at my own wedding. The attention to detail and being able to leave the venue knowing that every little thing was handled left us breathing easy and being in the new marital bliss. Thank you to the DTY team that easily moved the wedding a year due to COVID and being able to shift as quickly as the times were!
We are incredibly grateful to Melissa and her team at Devoted to You. Melissa helped us navigate the awkward logistics of postponing a wedding. There was a lot of uncertainty in our planning process - a closed venue, a drastic decrease in guest count, travel limitations - but Melissa stayed on top of every single detail. After everything, we had the best wedding and never could have done it without her.
Response from the Vendor on 08/02/2021
Thank you Kelsey! You and Andrew were amazing to work with throughout everything. We will have to meet up at Bar Marco for a glass of wine sometime soon!
I have worked with Melissa and her team at numerous weddings. Every single time I am blown away by how incredible they are at their jobs! The details are flawless, and a complete representation of the couple. Their demeanor is like working with a best friend, which creates such a harmonious experience and yields insanely good results. It's evident that Devoted to You really gets to know their clients so that their vision is brought to life. Melissa + Team- you are truly working in the field that you were born to work in. Your clients are lucky to have you, as am I for being able to work with you!
From our first meeting with Melissa in mid-2019, we knew that we were in good hands. She is a blend of detail-obsessed and laidback/calm that will put your mind at ease and allow you to truly enjoy the planning process. She also did not bat an eye when I provided two (2) photos of inspiration that I found acceptable from the entire world wide web. Melissa somehow transformed that into the visual storyboard for our wedding and perfectly articulated what we were aiming for as we met with prospective vendors.
As you might imagine based on that first meeting taking place in 2019, our wedding plans were upended by COVID. Melissa planned every variation of our wedding with ease and immediately updated timelines. I cannot even imagine what rev of the day's timeline she was on by the time we actually tied the knot...
If you want someone who will always make their best professional recommendation, keep you calm and execute YOUR perfect wedding, not Pinterest's version - you should hire Melissa.
I don't even know where to start. Morgan was AMAZING. She planned every single detail for my engagement party and I could not have been happier with how it turned out. She was so patient with me and my crazy requests and she made me feel so relaxed. She made sure everything ran smoothly and perfectly. My pants ripped in the middle of my party & she even solved that problem. Lol. I am located in Fort Lauderdale and because of Morgan's amazing talent as a wedding planner, my fiancé and I are thinking about getting married in Pittsburgh. Our party would not have been the same without Morgan. I can't wait to start planning my wedding! :)
Melissa <3 Where do I even begin... Wedding planning is HARD. Especially during a pandemic. So many of our decisions were ever-changing and evolving; we changed photographers, changed venues, changed caterers, and cut down our guest list by more than half! It was a whirl wind of planning… we could not, and I mean could NOT have done it without Melissa! Melissa was our calm in this storm that engulfed us. Melissa rode out the storm with us, she was the light of positivity and possibility that guided us through. Melissa made the day SPECTACULAR! It was well thought out, beautiful, smooth, and an over all dream because of her. We had the reception in the back yard of my parent’s bar, a pea gravel lot located on a sketchy alley way and next to a construction workers dump site… Melissa and our vendors, vendors of which she highly recommended, transformed the space into an oasis of love and awe. She handled the entire day from start to finish leaving me and my wife absolutely stress free and let me tell you it was magical. If I have one tip for any couple starting to wedding plan it is: HIRE MELISSA! You will not regret it and you will be forever thankful for her. Her attention to detail, making sure you are on task, her work ethic, and sense of calm are spot on. Thank you, Melissa, and team, for all you did to make our day magnificent!!
Melissa is, in a word, amazing. We hired her and her team for day-of coordination and it was one of the best decisions we made. Melissa's expertise was invaluable as we adjusted our wedding plans, shifting from a large indoor wedding at a local venue to a small outdoor backyard wedding. We relied on her to help us navigate changing regulations, as we tried to determine what size wedding we could safely and legally host. Leading up to the wedding, she met with us a few time to talk through timeline and asked us questions to make sure we weren't missing anything. What I really appreciated on these calls was her ability to share her professional expertise and make suggestions for alternative ways to think about how to do something without pushing. She'd listen to my thought process and either suggest another alternative or tell me that I was being overly optimistic and needed to come up with a rain plan even if I didn't want one :) When we got to the actual day of the wedding, I trusted that Melissa and team had things under control - and oh did they. They worked seamlessly with the florist (GreenSinner, HIGHLY recommend), the sound/uplighting (Fireside Events, also highly recommend), our photographer (AllHeart - again, highly recommend), and our caterer (Gaucho - incredibly delicious) to make the small, random decisions that needed to be made as everything finally comes together. As things came together, I was able to relax and focus on being present in the experience of the day - and equally important to me - so were my parents, who generously offered their backyard and didn't 1000% know what they were getting themselves into. Melissa and team took care of everything, with humor and empathy. You will not regret hiring Devoted to You.
Response from the Vendor on 10/19/2020
Thank you so much Christie! These are beautiful and kind words and we were so lucky to have you and Sean as clients. Thanks so much for allowing us to be such an intricate part of your day!
Melissa is extremely awesome. She’s super nice and helpful, and she definitely took thr stress out of wedding planning for us.
My fiance and I moved to Pittsburgh and started new jobs all in the same year, and we definitely had a bunch on our plate even before wedding planning. We had specific requirements for our desired venue, and we really don’t know any vendors in the area, but Melissa was able to find us the perfect venue and connected us with vendors so easily. Even when we had to switch up our plans due to covid, she was able to really be flexible and made sure that our wedding day was magical. We highly recommend Melissa and her team!
Response from the Vendor on 10/19/2020
Thanks so much Victoria! You and Kyle were so sweet to work with and I can't wait to celebrate again with you in 2021!
Melissa and her crew are amazing!!! We switched our wedding last minute to an outdoor venue and needed a wedding planner to help with day of coordination. Melissa worked with all of our venues to make sure everyone was on the same page for our big day. They helped with setting up our venue, making sure the day ran smoothly, and helped tear down and clean up after the reception. They did an amazing job and I cannot recommend them enough!!
Response from the Vendor on 10/19/2020
Thanks so much Melissa! We appreciate your kind words! Glad we were able to help with everything!! :)
I cannot imagine how my wedding day would have gone if it weren’t for Morgan! We had our wedding at the Barn at Maple Falls and she made our day a breeze. When I needed to firm things up with our caterer, Morgan set up a call. When my sisters’ had to change their lodging at the last minute, Morgan contacted our shuttle to make sure the transportation was rearranged. When I had 1000 questions on the day of - the response was always “I’ll take care of it,” or “it’s already been taken care of.” Honestly, I wish Morgan could organize my every day life too! 🤣 She made everything so easy and stress free that I got to just enjoy the day! At the end of the night she had every single thing that we brought to the venue packaged and ready to take home. I am so grateful that she was there. If you’re thinking that you don’t need a wedding coordinator, you’re wrong. You need one and it needs to be Devoted to You!
WHERE DO I BEGIN. Morgan made my wedding day the BEST EVER. She is an absolute rockstar. I hired her just a few weeks out from my wedding because I was very hesitant to use a wedding planner initially. I thought that I would be able to do it all myself. However, the minute I made the decision a HUGE weight was lifted off of my shoulders. She helped my vision come to life, she assisted with timing and flow, and she made sure that everything was completely taken care of so that I could truly just enjoy the day. Morgan is one of the most kind-hearted, genuine, and fun people you will ever meet. I would recommend Devoted to You to anyone getting married, and I am so beyond grateful that I found them. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for making my dream wedding come to life, you are all the best!
Melissa is beyond amazing. I wanted a funky different vibe for my wedding rather than the traditonal hotel reception. My venue recommended her and I couldn't be happier. She was flexible with ever going changes related to covid and was able to support me not just in the wedding aspect but also in the stress of everything. We can't wait to work with her again next year.
Melissa will know you better than you know you by the time everything is said and done! She went above and beyond to make sure our wedding day was perfect. It was so much more beautiful than I ever could've imagined. Morgan was incredible as well on the day of!! We literally felt no stress and just got to enjoy the most special day of our lives. I could never put into words just how amazing they are or how much I appreciate everything - please trust me - you need them in your life ESPECIALLY in your special day!
I absolutely loved working with Devoted to You for my day of coordinator. Morgan was our go to and handled everything for our big day and Melissa was there to assist as well! They worked with us a few months out from the wedding date and helped to confirm timelines, vendors and set up at our venue which was the Energy Innovation Center. They made everyone feel super comfortable and I knew they had everything handled the day of. The way they were able to turn my vision into a reality was amazing. They took everything I had and set it up perfectly and everything looked beautiful. I would highly recommend having at least a day of coordinator for your wedding. I’m so glad I decided to do this and even happier that I chose Devoted to You!
Response from the Vendor on 01/23/2020
Thanks Alicia! We loved working with you too :) You and Jay were super sweet and Morgan and I were so happy to be a part of your day. Thanks for trusting us with all the details of your day!
We initially questioned whether to not we needed to hire a coordinator, but it turned out to be the absolute best money we could have spent. Our venue was nontraditional (a brewery) and doesn't host many weddings, so there were a ton of logistical things that needed to be decided. Morgan was amazing. She helped us develop a timeline and floor plan from scratch and kept the evening flowing seamlessly. On the day of, she helped keep us on schedule, told us where we needed to be, and coordinated all the behind the scenes elements (cookie table, family photos, etc). She had bobby pins when my hair fell out and even tracked down Advil for a friend. Couldn't recommend her more!
Melissa and her team are absolute rockstars. We used Devoted to You Events for our wedding in May and settled on the Day of Coordination package. Our venue would have to be flipped during cocktail hour and that wasn't something I wanted us or our family and friends to do. I had heard wonderful things about Melissa and after meeting her, knew that she would great to work.
The day of coordination really kicks into gear around a month out. Melissa scheduled a walk through with us and the venue and let me tell you, she is SO on the ball. My fiance and I left that meeting and his mom turned to us and said "Thank god you hired her. She's amazing." That is when we realized it wasn't just about the flip, a coordinator helps you with so much more. Melissa put together a timeline for us, ran our rehearsal, coordinated drop off and delivery with all of the vendors, helped us with our first look, set up our ceremony, made sure the night ran flawlessly, and cleaned up personal items at the end of the night. When our florist didn't have candle stick covers, Melissa kindly asked another florist if we could borrow theirs. When the second bus didn't show up on time, Melissa fixed the issue immediately. I am probably missing 100 other things she took care of behind the scenes. These are all things we would have had to take care of or ask our close friends and family to help with. I can truly say that the month leading up to our wedding was stress free and thank Melissa and her team for that.
If it wasn't for the flip, we may not have considered a coordinator so quickly, but my advice to every bride is to go for it. We trusted Melissa and her team with everything and that allowed us and our guests to enjoy every moment of the day. We believe some of the best money spent on our wedding was on Devoted to You Events because Melissa made the day fun, was organized, and gave us peace of mind throughout the process.
Melissa is absolutely amazing! My new husband and I thought that our wedding day was absolutely perfect and we owe it all to Melissa and her assistant, Morgan. First, throughout the entire planning process, Melissa was extremely professional and helpful. She is clearly very experienced and had great ideas and questions for vendors throughout the process. Every time I met with her I felt so much for confident and at ease with the planning process. I was so grateful for her help with this, especially since I hired her for her day-of services. She also did an outstanding job setting up the timeline for the day. Everything flowed so smoothly, we never felt rushed at any stage whether it be getting ready, pictures, arriving for the ceremony or reception. Things that did seem to move faster, like when guests finished moving through our buffet and eating much earlier than we expected, Melissa was quick to make adjustments and keep everything flowing naturally. Moreover, one thing I was particularly nervous about was the reception set up. Melissa and Morgan only had a couple of hours to have our venue, Federal Galley, a bar/restaurant on the North Shore, completely rearranged and decorated with fairly elaborate decorations. Melissa even encouraged me to get bulk eucalyptus, to help save me some money, even though it meant a lot more work for them on the day cutting the stems and placing them on the dining tables. The final look of the venue was so much better than I could have ever imagined. My husband and I were blown away when we walked in. Melissa and her team are absolutely worth every penny. Having them there allowed us to completely relax and enjoy the day without any stress about the details. I would recommend their services to anyone and you will have a gorgeous, smoothly-flowing, stress-free wedding day!!
I thought that I had wedding planning and coordination 100% under control. I hired Melissa and her team solely just to give myself (and my family members and friends) some peace of mind and for someone else to talk to abiut all things wedding. The week of our event- actually, the day before of our rehearsal- all of my best laid plans started to fall apart. If it were not for Melissa, her connection to other local vendors, and her amazing team- I would have been preoccupied and missed out on major once in a lifetime moments with my family and my husband. You can’t put a price on the peace of mind Devoted to You will bring to you throughout your planning process and in the days leading up to your wedding day. Her team is professional, organized and most importantly- they truly care about their clients and don’t treat you as an afterthought. Something I wasn’t sure I needed turned out to be the best money we spent on our wedding day. My husband, my family and I can’t recommend them enough!
Melissa couldn't have taken better care of us on our wedding day! With all of her coordinating and helpful suggestions in the months prior, I wasn't worried about a
thing. She ended up totally exceeding beyond all expectations! Melissa did everything to help my family and went above and beyond working with my other vendors. Her styling was incredible, the execution was perfect, and I don't think my overall vision for the day could have been brought to life any better. I would trust her to help us relive the day a million times over. We were truly given the gift of a stress free wedding day and nothing but wonderful memories.
Brides & Grooms- stop your searching and start right here!
I am so grateful to have worked with Melissa, Morgan and the team for our wedding! We chose a venue that was essentially a blank slate. We would need to hire and rent EVERY piece to bring it to life. We also were going to hold our ceremony and reception in the same space, so the room would need to be “flipped” as the guests were in the other room during cocktail hour. No small feat that could not have been pulled off more beautifully without the expertise and relationships of Devoted To You!
Melissa was so organized, informative and helpful from even our first conversation! She had worksheets to keep me organized and excellent recommendations for other vendors as well. Fast forward to our first walk through, I was amazed to see her mind in action! Things I would have never even thought of were being put in to place so everything would be perfect day of. Every vendor we worked with was just as excited to find out we were working with Devoted To You as well!
Day of our wedding could not have ran more smoothly and that is all thanks to Morgan! She made me feel so relaxed and comfortable that I felt like I had my best friend by my side all day. Morgan and Stacey made sure every element we had planned was in place down to even offering to run to Staples to pick up last minute prints. I’ll never forget the moment walking into the reception after they flipped the entire room and every small detail was just as I had dreamed.
There are so many details that go in to your special day and I cannot recommend this amazing team enough! Thank you Melissa, Morgan and Stacey for helping to bring the wedding of our dreams to life!
Where to begin... I'm originally from PGH, but now live out of town, so was looking for a partner to help guide me on design & execute on for my wedding. I interviewed many planners & felt like Melissa, although not overly enthused, at least seemed to know the vendors and other vendors spoke highly of her, so I hired her. I waited awhile to decide, so she was booked for another wedding that day & told me she would not personally be at my wedding before signing the contract, which I agreed to, but that she could still help. From then on she was very difficult to get ahold of. Emails went unanswered for weeks, phone calls unreturned and texts sometimes answered right away, others days later. I felt like I was pestering and bothering, but then I would remember I am paying her for this service and I need help! The woman is busy, I get it. But she did not feel "devoted to me." The main problem lies in the fact that Melissa does this all herself. She has assistants to help on the day-of, but these women also have full-time jobs and do not help leading up to the day, which means that Melissa is organizing & remembering details all on her own, for all the weddings she is doing (she had 4 total the day of mine). So guess what's going to happen? Things are going to slip through the cracks & the person assisting you on the day of your wedding is going to have been filled in a few days prior & unable to pick up the pieces.
Here are some of the things that happened on my day-of with coordinator Kristen:
-She went home with my marriage license leaving the Judge who married us in a panic
-Didn’t tell the groomsmen where or when to be anywhere and yelled at them when they didn't know where to go
-Things went very wrong with the bus & when I told her she didn’t have a plan to fix it. I had to tell her to call the company to deal with it & IDK if she did
-I kept asking her to call people and she said she didn’t have numbers. I told her to look in her binder & then she realized she did
-The decorations were in the wrong place that we talked about like the gate decor and the card box and when I told her she said where do you want them?
-She kept asking me questions that she could have asked vendors for or known already--it's my wedding day why do I have to deal with this? Isn't that why I hired you?
-The bathroom door was broken and the bathroom was filthy at the venue. We had to be all over them to fix it, she didn’t handle
-The band had to keep telling me when to do everything on the timeline. I realized we missed our thank you speech. When I asked her when it was she said when do you want to do it? I said let me ask my husband, but the moment had passed & it was missed.
-She wasn’t on top of anything or attentive to me. Could never find her. People kept handing me checks or needing to go the bathroom (needed a key) & she was always hard to find
-A glass broke on the dance floor and she didn’t know or help get it cleaned up until we told her
-All night bridesmaids and my parents were looking for her and asking me where she was
-Never met her other helper from DTU
-My sister asked her to find her to make sure the cardbox got home ok. She never did.
All-in-all perhaps if you get Melissa the day-of things are different, but for a service that should alleviate stress it was not worth the stress it caused. Also, I communicated this all to Melissa who apologized and said she'd talk to her, but that was it. Very disappointed overall and wouldn't hire again.
Response from the Vendor on 12/05/2018
I want to start by saying (as I said on the phone when we spoke a few days after your wedding) that I am deeply sorry that you were not satisfied with Kristen as your day of coordinator the day of your wedding.. In the past 3 years, Kristen has...
coordinated over 35 weddings as the lead and assisted on too many to count. She (as well as all of the girls on my team) are well versed in how to efficiently run a wedding, coordinate with the venue as well as all of the vendors and the client. You and I talked in great detail about it, and you brought up some great points from a client perspective that I promised I would speak to Kristen about and I did. As a business owner, I think it's imperative for me to hear how the day went from a clients perspective because even though we may be doing our job, if there are things we can do better to grow as individuals and as a team I want to know about them. You laid a lot out here in terms of the day of and what you were unhappy with so I want to address it one by one...
The marriage license was an honest mistake. She did not mean to take it home with her and she remedied that by dropping it off personally at the judges office the Monday following your wedding.
I wasn't there to see how she spoke to the groomsmen but I can say that I've never seen her yell at a client, their wedding party, their friends and family or another vendor. And in terms of them not knowing where to go, we provide a detailed day of timeline and typically rely on the bride and groom to tell their wedding party in advance of the day of the wedding day where they need to be and when and we always reinforce that the day of the wedding if someone doesn't know where to be.
In terms of the bus, they took the wrong way (which ended up being a longer way) to the ceremony. I don't know that there is a way to fix that other than to call the bus company and speak to both the manager and the driver directly to make sure that they know about the issue and also that the second driver didn't do the same thing. Both of which she did. She did not communicate that to you (which we talked about was one of the things she could have done better) but you also have to remember that on a wedding day, we can be coordinating and trouble shooting various different things all at the same time and we don't always report back to the bride to let her know that we made a phone call or addressed the issue...the client typically trusts that we know how to do our job and that we handled the situation.
Because of the tight timeframe and the bus situation and Kristen trying to remedy that, she got to the venue after their staff had already started to put decorations out and my second assistant (who was there and I know this because I paid her to be there) was working on the escort card table and was focused on completing that before anything else was done. Normally the bride or groom or any of the family does not arrive at the same time so anything that has been set in the wrong place or not set up at all yet is remedied before you even know about it. Kristen did not have a chance to do that because you all arrived at the same time and as soon as you noticed things were out of place, you started mentioning them to her not giving her a chance to even get situated, check in with her assistant as well as the venue coordinator so that she could get started on what she needed to do. With that being said, once she did have a chance to do that, she did move the decorations to where they were supposed to be and where we had all talked about.
The bathroom is the venues responsibility. If it dirty or locked or the toilet is overflowing, our extent of troubleshooting that is to tell the venue coordinator or maintenance staff about it (which she did multiple times) It cannot become our responsibility to provide maintenance on a bathroom.
The timing of the thank you speech was absolutely a mishap on her part and I talked to her in great length about that. It is definitely our responsibility to make sure that things happen that are on the timeline and if they don't happen, it's because the bride and groom have chosen not to do it. Once the band started playing, she should have realized that the thank you speech didn't happen and went over to them to let them know to immediately announce it after that song. The fact that that didn't happen was definitely something she should have caught.
In terms of all the question asking and not being able to find her on the wedding day, we are constantly moving around doing things and checking on things and talking to vendors (coordinating details) that you may or may not see. Which means we may or may not always be visible depending on that. And from what I know from what you told me and what Kristen has said, she spent a lot of her time that night dealing with things that should have been the venue's responsibility such as unlocking the bathroom and the bridal suite whenever anyone needed it. As I said earlier, I was not there that day, so I can not say exactly how the day went, but I can say that my company is built on principles of integrity, dedication, and hard work and my girls always give forth their best effort and do their best to please the client.
Now I want to address what you said about me personally and your experience leading up to the day. I have to say that I am surprised by everything that you wrote here, because when we talked on the phone, you didn't mention anything about being unhappy with my services and the planning processes...everything that you were unhappy with had to do with the day of and Kristen. So when I opened this I was shocked to read what you wrote. Over the course of our planning (which was a month of coordination plus design package) our communication and my level involvement was definitely above and beyond what I typically do for that package. We had 3 consultation meetings with three different florists, a linen consultation, 2 on site venue meetings, a tasting with the caterer, a finalization meeting with the florist, several general planning meetings and countless emails, texts and phone calls throughout the process. There was a point in our planning that I switched email carriers and had an issue receiving some for a short period of time, but once I realized that I called and had it fixed. I pride myself on my response time to my clients. I never ever have taken multiple weeks to get back to someone no matter what it is. During busy wedding season, there were definitely times where I took up to 5 days depending on how urgent the issue and/or question was but NEVER took two-three weeks. And my general threshold for where I draw the line in between "work" time and "personal" time is pretty flexible and lenient. I always tell my clients that if you send an email and you don't get an immediate response from me and if you need one to please text me because that is quicker, especially during busy season. I answered your texts on Sundays after 5PM, on wedding days before 8:30AM, weekdays after 9PM and weekdays before 9AM. This is not typical and/or expected but this is how I run my business. I try to be available and answer things when I can because this is your wedding and I want you to feel like you are important and that I am a partner in your planning process. If there was a time that I didn't answer a text right away, it's because I was with family or away on vacation and I do draw the line there and try not to work when I am spending time with my children. In terms of the way I run my business and how I delegate, I was very upfront with you (and I am with every client) on that from the very beginning. If you were hesitant about me not being there the day of your wedding or "not overly enthused" with me even before we started to work together, then I'm just not sure why you signed the contract to begin with. I make it a point to tell potential clients that hiring someone to help you coordinate your day is essential and if for whatever reason you feel that we don't click or are not the right fit, don't let that stop you from hiring someone. Overall, again I am so sorry that Kristen and I did not live up to your expectations of what you wanted in a wedding coordinator but I can tell you that we worked hard and both were dedicated to you, your planning process and your wedding day.
Hiring Melissa and her team was some of the BEST money I spent on the entire wedding!! Weddings are so stressful and having Melissa help me 3 months before hand and then Morgan there the day of, was such a blessing. It was so helpful to have someone establish a timeline, run the rehearsal, confirm with all the vendors, and then execute our vision the day of. It looked even more beautiful than I had in my mind and part of that was the true talent of Melissa and Morgan.
Melissa was fantastic! She is kind, personable, and has an exceptional attention to detail without making you feel overwhelmed by the process. Having her by your side will for sure alleviate much of the "day of" stress, and you can trust her to take great care in making sure your day goes off in the way you had hoped. She spent hours ensuring all of our special wedding day details were packed up and left just the way we delivered them, and she does everything possible to ease your worries on your big day (including running out for medicine for a fussy flower girl!). She is an essential part of your wedding day!
Melissa was the coordinator for my friend’s wedding. As a bridesmaid and observer (and someone who is recently married), I was highly disappointed with her services.
Leading up to the wedding and on the day itself my friend confided in me about the experience. On several occasions my friend would give instructions or information, only to be asked the same question later with Melissa completely forgetting about the instructions. When you’re planning a wedding, you want to be able to trust a coordinator and not feel the need to double check. There’s already enough stress.
On the day itself, the wedding felt disorganized and left the guests and wedding party not knowing what we needed to do next. There was no schedule or plan. The floor plan wasn’t set up to spec and we had to wing a few things. We’re all pretty laid back, but as a bridesmaid who knows her friend paid a decent sum for wedding day coordination — I was very frustrated to find her at multiple times throughout the reception snacking and chit chatting with others rather than keeping things or supporting the bride and groom. Now I know my friend appreciated her for set up and clean up services; but I believe that coordination for day off includes more than that.
If I were you I’d find another person to help you make sure your day is exactly what you want it to be!
Can’t begin to express our disappointment in the services received devoted to you . There were many promises made to us that were unfulfilled by Melissa. Guests told us of unprofessional behavior such as yelling at kids and rolling eyes at guests. Most of time the “planners” were on their phones. From our first meeting we were told at the end of the reception the truck would be packed with all of our decorations, that was NOT done. All of our flowers were tossed in boxes and crushed by other items, majority of items were not loaded. We refused the partial refund offered as we felt strongly that giving prospective clients an accurate review of services NOT rendered and promises NOT kept would save someone else from wasting money on a day that can’t be repeated.
Neither of us have very much experience with weddings and we aren't originally from Pittsburgh, so having a wedding planner was really important to us. I can't say enough good things about our experience with Melissa. She is extremely knowledgeable, creative and has relationships with some of the absolute best vendors in this region. She was extremely responsive and answered our many questions thoroughly and quickly. I honestly think of her as a friend now and I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for a professional wedding planner. Melissa and her team at Devoted To You Events are simply THE best :)
Words can not describe how amazing Melissa is and I am so happy that she planned our wedding. She helped with everything from contacting vendors to getting champagne glasses the day before the wedding (because I last minute decided I wanted to have a toast). She really made our wedding beautiful and fun. She also made sure everything ran smoothly on the day of, which was amazing because we were both able to really enjoy our wedding day. I highly recommend Melissa and devoted to you events!
I've been putting off writing a review for Melissa because I really don't even know where to begin... After talking with Melissa on the phone for 15 minutes the week after we got engaged, I immediately called my fiance (now husband) and told him that we HAD to have her. We used Melissa for the full wedding planning, and it was hands-down the best decision that we made. Our wedding was PERFECT!
Melissa, along with the vendors that she helped us choose based on our style and budget (Tyler Norman Photography, greenSinner, Oakwood Photo and Video, DJD, Mediterra Bakehouse) took the limited "vision" that we had, and turned it into something that was better than I ever could have imagined!
Within 2 weeks of the wedding, we were moving across the country, buying our first house, and starting new jobs. I can honestly say that because of Melissa, the wedding was the only thing that I wasn't worried about during this time. Melissa took care of everything, especially managing the small details that we did not have time to worry about. I cannot imagine what we would have done without her!!
A day of coordinator was definitely the best money we spent and you can't find one better than Melissa and her team! She has a ton of experience and definitely knows what will work best to make your day flow perfectly. We could not have done it without her. We had a few hiccups in the planning phases and she was always there to help and guide. Our night went off without any issue and we all got to just relax and have fun. It was really important to me that my parents and bridal party got to just enjoy the night and they certainly did. We had to bring in everything for our venue and I cannot tell you how nice it was to wake up on the day of the wedding and not worry about any of it. Highly recommend!
I am so happy that I went with Melissa as my wedding planner. she is extremely organized and kept me at ease every time I started to panic. she offered great advice during the entire wedding process which I appreciated. she recommended other vendors that I couldn't have been happier with. and her execution day of. OMG. I couldnt have been happier when I walked in to see the venue. it was perfect and our family's couldn't believe the transformation she helped create. my wedding flowed so smoothly and I owe that all to Melissa. I would recommend her to anyone without a doubt!
I am so happy I chose Melissa. After our initial meeting we couldn’t financially afford. Wedding planner but as we continued planning our wedding we needed a day of person and i figured why not. Well ,We encountered some major issues with our wedding. Without Melissa we would have been broke, upset, and very unhappy on our wedding day. She handled everything with grace, a smile and a “I got this you don’t have to worry” . From finding us a new caterer and rental companies 3 weeks before our wedding to coordinating everything with them. She was the shining star of our day and a must have for any wedding or big event!
I cannot say enough great things about Melissa and her team. I used Melissa's 'month of coordination' package for my venue that did not provide a coordinator, which began with meetings and phone calls in the months before my wedding to ensure every detail was perfect. Melissa exceeded every expectation I had and I am confident that I would not have had such a perfect day without her help. I would recommend Melissa and Devoted to You Events to anyone considering hiring a wedding coordinator, she is the BEST!
I don’t like how I delt with the owner for a year and the last day (the wedding day) she gave me to someone else (Morgan) who didn’t know me at all or my tastes. The ceremony was missing important things ( like a linen on our sand table) that completely set off wedding photos, I found a box of stuff shoved under a table that I brought to set out at our reception that she completely missed. Our guest book was set up wrong and we rented a mirror from her with the bridal parties names on it and she left off names on it which hurt some of the bridal parties feelings since that mirror was our program to the guests. The owner suggested Tim Carson as our officiant and he was awful. I’m mortified at our ceremony! That stuff just seems like stuff the wedding coordintor that you paid good money too should of been on top of.. My experience with this company started out great but when they gave me a completely new coordinator on the day of my wedding she didn’t know what was going on I don’t see the point in meeting with the owner for a year and getting to know her and then You get someone else? She should of given me Morgan to work with from the beginning.
Melissa was SO great to have as a "Day Of" coordinator for our wedding on 10/20/17 at the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. When we initially decided on the venue the staff informed us they did not do much in the form of assistance during the wedding so my mother and I thought it would be smart to hire a Day Of Coordinator-and boy we're glad we did! Melissa was always easy to get a hold of and really helped get all the final details in order in the weeks prior to our big day. She was great to work with and really wanted to make the day everything I had envisioned. I would most definitely recommend Melissa or another one of her employees to help with wedding planning/coordinating needs!
Melissa and her team were some of the best money I spent on my wedding. Having someone who coordinated all of my vendors, set up all of my personal items at the reception, cleaned everything up at the end of the night and dropped everything back off in my hotel room was worth every penny. Melissa was my go to for etiquette questions, logistics, and any other concern I had. I wanted a coordinator who would truly be behind the scenes and not bossing people around the day of the wedding, and Melissa and Kristen followed my wishes to a T. If you're every questioning whether a day of coordinator is worth it, believe me, it's worth it. Thank you girls for everything!!
There are not words to describe how truly amazing Melissa is. She went above & beyond to make sure my wedding day was perfect down to every last detail. She took my wedding vision and made it come to life and I was honestly blown away. Despite only having her as a "day of" coordinator, she was there with me every step of the way to make sure that everything would be executed perfectly. She put so much time and work into helping me plan everything exactly how I had envisioned (and I was very particular). I honestly could not have asked for a better experience and my wedding day was beyond perfect. I wish I could re-live the day but thankfully I have beautiful pictures to remind me :)
Melissa was fantastic! I hired Devoted to You for "Day Of" planning and coordinating when I knew I was in over my head. She came on board and took the reins ...from coordinating vendors, to a timeline only a pro could put together , to handling reception glitches with ease...Devoted to You will not disappoint! My daughter's wedding was wonderful and I have Melissa to thank you that.
Melissa & Stacey were unbelievable and went above and beyond for my wedding day. We met several times before to go through details and check lists. They help me come up with ideas but most importantly helped me develop a timeline that made my entire day seamless. Melissa had THREE weddings the day of my wedding and still made and effort to stop by while I was getting ready. Stacey was with me all day and also came to the house to make sure we were running on time - now that is above and beyond! I didn't have to answer to anyone except Stacey on the day of and I definitely didn't have to worry about A THING. Even though my ceremony and reception space at the Carnegie Museum of Art had day of coordinators, having Melissa and Stacey was a breath of fresh air. I would recommend Devoted To You to every bride in Pittsburgh as a must-have in your wedding budget!