ESTOccasions *Events, Special Themes & Occasions*

Our wedding on July 16th 2016 was long anticipated, we were a long term couple with 16 years already invested. As the date came closer we were frustrated with many wedding details, work /life balance and guest lists . We decided we needed help. Someone to oversee our day. It was fate that Kia had availability so close to the date and free on the actual wedding date. I cannot imagine having to do this alone or even with trusted friends or family. She executed perfectly. Brought us drinks during a very warm photoshoot and kept my guests flowing in the right direction. Best decision by far, I asked Kia, "how does anybody get married without you??" Thank you Kia!

We could have had a wedding without Kia, but we never could have planned and executed *our* wedding without her: Kia is the best. My husband and I chose the all-inclusive contract, with monthly check-ins and vendor contract management. She kept us on task, calmed our nerves, and was flexible through all the curves and upsets of our planning process, including changing the date, the venue, and the feel of the wedding a few months before the date. Kia's ability to manage vendors, dates, and obligations was a huge asset, and her rapid response to texts and emails was great, but the best part was her ability to suggest options and alternatives to keep us sane, happy, and on-budget. The BEST best thing is Kia's personality: we immediately felt comfortable with her, and we knew that we could trust her.

About 4 months before my wedding, my Mother and I realized that we needed help with the planning process. After interviewing 3 different wedding planners, we opted to work with Kia. From the moment we met, she completely got our visions and helped us out in so many ways. She is one of the most down to earth people I have ever met. I do not know what I would have done without her on my wedding day. I never ONCE worried about one detail at the reception. Early on, my fiance would ask my why we chose a wedding coordinator. By the time the wedding was over, he totally understood why and now says he couldn't have gotten through the day without her either. Thank you so much Kia - I consider you a friend for life!!

When we started this planning, we thought a Day of Coordinator would be enough but overtime realized that we needed more help. From the moment we had our first meeting; Kia put my mind at ease, providing great recommendations and guiding us through the logistics. She checked in regularly to make sure we were on track and made sure to not overwhelm us. Kia is excellent and passionate about what she does and went above and beyond to ensure our day was flawless. On our wedding day, my husband and I were completely blown away when we saw how beautiful everything was and how the day went by so seamlessly. I can’t fathom going through the wedding planning process without Kia,, she is professional, detail oriented, knowledgeable, and always had a smile on her face! Thank you Kia for your help in making our day so absolutely amazing!

I'm so appreciative of Kia--it is hard to write a review that conveys my gratitude. Our outdoor wedding on Oct 3, 2015 was wonderful and magical!! Kia was instrumental in making our day special! She and her crew were attentive, fun, friendly and professional. It was such a relief to say "Kia will handle it" and know it would be done. We hired her for "day of" planning and she went above and beyond the day. She attended several planning events and made key contributions. I was able to email her with any and all questions from the day I hired her (6 months out) to after the wedding. She answered promptly with helpful information. She helped us plan for details/issues that we could not possibly have known or prepared for without her. She has a confident "let's get it done" attitude that I really appreciated. She listened to and heard what we wanted for the wedding and then helped us make it happen. Another nice thing is that she was not just a "yes, m'am" person. She let us know what and why some ideas wouldn't work and offered us better ones. She is not just a superb wedding planner--she's a good person. I will miss her now that the wedding is over. I am so glad we hired her!!! Thank you, Kia and crew!!!

I had a vision and what I thought was a plan until I started planning. What I didn’t realize is how challenging it can be planning the wedding with a busy work schedule and constant business trips which meant the my now husband and I were rarely ever in the same state. I spoke with a few planners but after meeting Kia it all started to make sense. We had a full weekend planned for our guests we needed her to make it work. We worked together for over six months and throughout it she was kind, detailed, creative, professional, flexible, sincere, and most importantly really good at wedding planning. She kept me on task and while I think of myself as an extremely organized person, she was able to handle logistical and timing issues I would have never thought of. When the day finally arrived, I had a sense of calm that I wasn't sure I was going to have when I started this process. At the end of it all, even my husband expressed how thankful he was that we had hired her. It will be the best money you spend in the scheme of all the expenses of a wedding.

My mom stumbled across Kia at a bridal event/show and I am forever grateful my mom sat in her booth and started chatting with her. Kia served as a Day of Coordinator (DOC) for us which meant she helped us at the rehearsal and managed everything on the day of the wedding. Although we only hired Kia to be the DOC, she went above and beyond. She answered all of my inane questions, helped make schedules and workout the timelines, kept track of the details that were overwhelming my brain, made good practical suggestions, helped find resources, and generally made me feel at ease so that I could enjoy my wedding day. She was my advocate whenever needed so that I could focus on being a bride. I really could not have asked for more. (And I am an insanely detail-oriented person.)

Kia and her team exceeded my expectations in all regards. As an event planner by trade, I had done all the upfront planning myself but needed someone I could trust to help bring it all to life. I'm so fortunate to have found ESTOccasions for this role. Kia managed all the details seamlessly and seemed to have the answers to any of my questions before I could even ask! Guests even remarked on how helpful and professional her team was. A huge thank you to ESTOccasions for helping execute my vision so well and allowing me to enjoy the day without a single worry!

I was planning my wedding in 4 months - remotely - and my mom and I were overwhelmed with all of the details and logistics, as well as uncertainty, having never planned anything as big or important as a wedding before. There was also the added difficulty of being far away from the wedding location, the vendors, and my mom. Kia was a lifesaver. She communicated constantly with both my mom and me, and she brought so much experience and assurance to the process. She was also incredible on the day of; we didn't have to worry about a thing because we knew the logistics were in capable hands. Kia is talented and great to work with. She helped my mom and me plan a wedding that felt special and personal, and we could not have done it without her.

I cannot say enough about the wonderful Kia Martinson and her business. From the moment I first spoke with her back in 2013/2014 I felt comfortable and at ease with all of my plans. I'm the kind of person that likes to plan every little thing, so I decided to go with her "Partial" wedding package. It was perfect in that I got to pick out and do all of the little bridaly things that are a kind of right-of-passage, without becoming overwhelmed. Times that I had questions she was a quick text away, and as things got down to the nitty gritty, she was there to save me time and time again with a smile on her face saying "no problem girl that's what I'm here for...now relax and go have a cocktail" lol. Kia became more than a wedding planner for me... she is a great, kind person and someone who I am happy to now call a friend. Thank you Kia and ESTOccasions for all that you did for Corey and I. Our dream wedding came true with help from you! XOXO

My son and his fiance were married back in June 2015 and engaged Kia to act as "day of coordinator" for their wedding at St. Clement's Castle. I was very involved in the wedding planning process, up until I needed back surgery a month before the wedding! Kia was amazing and was more than helpful both on the day of the wedding and also beforehand for meetings and phone calls. Originally I didn't feel that the bride and groom needed a wedding planner, but I'm so glad they hired Kia! She took care of all the little details on that day that you don't think of. Her assistant, Briana, was terrific also. Thank you Kia!

Kia was a logistical godsend especially as my partner and I were living on different continents, and neither one of us were close to the wedding venue. She scheduled weekly Skype check-ins, proposed innovative venue ideas, negotiated with vendors and set up meetings & walkthroughs on our behalf. During the wedding weekend, we didn't have to worry about a thing. Kia was there to make sure that the welcome drinks, ceremony, photos, and reception adhered to the schedule. She most importantly took care of our families and made sure that we had enough food and champagne to sustain us throughout the events. This was not an easy lift given the large extended families (and thus cultural nuances) involved and that half of our guests were traveling from overseas. We wouldn't have been able to pull off our highly unconventional wedding without Kia and highly recommend her talents.

Kia was awesome! I was a bit of a nervous bride, wanting to make sure everything was perfect and managed well so that our guests would have a great time. We had to bring all vendors in to our venue so there were a lot of moving pieces. Not only did Kia make sure everything worked smoothly and perfectly, she also made sure I was comfortable in a advance of the wedding. She was always available to attend meetings with our vendors, and many times took care of things before I even had to ask. It felt so great to have someone to rely on during such a hectic time. Thank you Kia!!! Our wedding was perfect!

Estoccasions made our wedding day a simple, elegant and joyful event. Not only didn't I have to worry but no one else in my family or wedding party did either. Our concern from day one was hosting a wedding at my parents house was going to be to much. Kia kept us on task, and kept things handled for us all and we were all thankful.

Speechless, as my title says. Kia is a rock star and such a pleasure to work with. Her professionalism and knowledge of the industry just shined through. I did not have to worry about anything leading up to and the day of my wedding!!! Seriously!!! My only worry was getting down the aisle without falling. Kia was so helpful in EVERY way!!! I want to thank her a million times for making the most important day of our lives special and memorable. It was a beautiful event that my husband, our families and friends all enjoyed. She is just the best!! I could have never pulled off all of my many demands if it were not for Kia!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you again for helping us tie the knot in style!!!

Going into the Wedding planning process we had time and the ability to plan a lot of details in which I wanted to make sure would be executed the day of the way I had envisioned. That being said, our venue only allowed an hour and a half prior to guests arrival to begin set up. Therefore, getting a day of coordinator became an extremely important piece to making the day come together. As I did with any vendor I heavily researched prior experience, read reviews, asked for referrals and set up meetings. Kia from Estoccasions was not the only DOC I reached out to in the area and to know she was available for my wedding day after doing all of my research gave me a sigh of relief. Even though we had chosen the DOC services due to my interest and having the ability to do a lot of the planning, Kia was not just there for the day of. Communication with Kia was constant from the moment we signed on. From doing a walkthrough of our venue, to giving ideas we had never even thought about (or seen on Pinterest!) to letting me know if I ever had a question – even if I thought it was silly – that she was there and able to help, you could not feel more relieved to have someone on your side that has this experience. The month of we had several meetings, (some on skype as I am out of state which was a huge benefit) – Kia also was on my conference call with our caterer to make sure everyone was on same page for the Wedding Day. She followed up with all Vendors to make sure they were aware of where they needed to be of and when, helped me with any of those silly questions I may have had and also just made me feel so relieved and at ease everything was going to run smoothly. Fast forward to wedding weekend – and she surely did everything she said she would and more! My now husband and I are at the age where we have been in lot of weddings and we have never seen a more efficient rehearsal. Kia was able to direct everyone while still having fun! Of course…some of the groomsmen forgot to bring along some of the last minute details we were supposed to hand off to her, and Kia made arrangements to meet up with them the following day. Then for wedding day she greeted me with a big hug, helped direct the girls and I to bridal suite, coordinated picture taking and making sure she was in communication with groomsmen so the groom wouldn’t see me, to helping set up ALL of my details, to then getting everyone’s flowers pinned and everyone ready to go! After helping conduct ceremony we went straight to pictures and Kia and her team had drinks and appetizers ready for the entire bridal party. She was running through the trees and garden at times to help ensure I had something in my belly, had something to drink, and my lip gloss was refreshed for pictures! I mean – how amazing?! I was so nervous at one point she was going to sprain her ankle at how amazing she was being literally dodging large rocks to make sure my veil was perfect or if I needed additional fluffing of my dress for the pictures! Following this – you just couldn’t ask for better help with checking in on us, running up to grab my sparkly flip flops for a shoe change, and to always making sure we were having a good time. Oh, and did I mention Kia and her team pack up and store your wedding items for you until the next day or after your honeymoon? If you are reading this as a potential couple – call her immediately. I promise it will be one of the best decisions you will make!

My now husband and I rented a private home as the location for our wedding. While we planned much of the day ourselves, we knew there was absolutely no way we could run the show all by ourselves. Hiring Kia was the BEST money we spent!! She made sure all the vendors were taken care of, guests happy, and had a cold beer for us every time we turned around. She's very easy to work with, happy to help out, and a wonderful person all around. I don't know what we would have done without her :-) Pricing was also affordable and, again, well worth every penny!

Kia had all the bases covered, things I would have never thought of, she really knows her craft! Easy to work with, professional, and thorough - would definitely recommend ESTO to anyone!!

I had a vision for my wedding, and I had no doubt in my mind I could execute exactly what I wanted. After being in a ton of weddings, I know about all the things people can overlook when planning a wedding and I wanted to hire someone to take care of these things so I didn't have to stress one bit. I've also worked a few events myself, so I'm definitely a little more critical about someone's work than the average bride. Thank god I found Kia! Upon meeting her with my mom and fiance, I instantly felt this sense of calm come over me. She was the last vendor I booked, but I wish I found her sooner. She responded to all of my emails in a very timely manner. She was there for me when my surprise groom's cake got exposed during my venue run-through two days before my wedding (I was a crying mess in the bathroom and she calmed me down). Despite a wedding day of 105 degrees, missing pieces for the guys' tuxes, and last minute photo location changes, Kia was there for me. She kept me in the loop about everything that was going on, and was able to keep me, my husband, and my 17 person bridal party in line. My wedding day was perfect, and it wouldn't have been as enjoyable of an experience without my amazing wedding planner! If you're considering hiring a planner, definitely hire Kia!

When I became engaged, I was thrilled. The first few planning steps that I took were easy but then I started to notice there were things that weren't easy. I would meet with two vendors and love them both and not know how to pick and what to look for. That is when I found Kia, (she was recommended by a co-worker) and we just clicked. The ease of planning returned and knowing that someone had my back was the best. Also knowing that I could ask what I thought at times were silly questions and get an answer quickly was a blessing for not just me but my parents and now husband. My wedding day was what I had wanted and thank you to Kia for helping make it all come together.

Kia was absolutely wonderful!!! Very helpful and professional!! Definitely would suggest her services to anyone!!!