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Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Rehearsals & Parties
- Wedding
- Reception
Awards and Affiliations
Reviews
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5
out of 5.031 reviews
Five Grain Events are truly THE BEST! I got married last week and Joan and Blake could not have been more organized and helpful! They seriously were the best. If you are looking fo...
r coordinators who help you feel more at ease during your wedding planning and the day of- Five Grain Events is the way to go!
We were so glad we hired Five Grain Events to coordinate our September wedding at the Chicago Athletic Club. Planning a wedding felt like the epitome of “you don’t know what you do...
n’t know”, so having our coordinator’s guidance on considerations and decisions we needed to make leading up to our wedding day was incredibly helpful. Jennifer our coordinator was incredibly communicative with us, our vendors, and my mother who was hosting our wedding. When their was an issue getting in touch with our florist the week leading up to our wedding, Jennifer was there to help (and calm me down!). When planning our day of schedule, Jennifer suggested that hors d'oeuvres and champagne could be brought to the room I was having my dress bustled in so that my husband and I could have a moment together between our ceremony and reception. Leading up to the wedding we didn’t think we would need that, but Jennifer suggested we leave it on the schedule as an option that we could decide on the day of. I’m so glad she did because that is one of our favorite moments from our wedding day! We cannot recommend Five Grain Events, and specifically Jennifer, enough!
We had a great experience working with Joan & Jesseca at Five Grain Events! They are very professional and knowledgeable - they thought of everything we didn't! Joan helped us with...
the initial budgeting planning/process and Jesseca was our coordinator. Our wedding with 175 guests was held at St. Giles Church, with reception at Chicago Athletic Association. Jesseca and the Five Grain team did an amazing job managing multiple vendors and making sure everything was organized, on time and running smoothly. Plus they are awesome people! Highly recommend the Five Grain team.
How can we put into words how incredible it was to work with Colleen and Five Grain? Wedding planning was easy up until the last few months when the decisions and organization bega...
n to completely overwhelm us. Colleen clearly had so much experience and knew exactly what to ask us to build our perfect day. She seamlessly took over communication with all our vendors. When it came to wedding weekend, she was always available and flexible. She's the greatest communicator which might be the most important quality in a coordinator. She bustled my dress and put flowers in my hair. She was always thinking of us. She dealt with all problems without us even knowing they arose and served as a go-between when we had a small problem with one of our vendors that night. It was truly the best day of our lives and she made it happen. And lastly, she is so incredibly nice and a joy to be around!! All of our vendors were great, but if I had to pick, Colleen was our favorite :) We can't recommend her and Five Grain more highly.
It was definitely the right decision to use Five Grain to help with our wedding coordination! It was really nice to be able to focus on my husband and the special moments of our d...
ay without worrying what was/wasn't getting done. I can't imagine if I had to handle questions, logistics, etc on my wedding day. I would have missed a lot more and probably been way more stressed out! Everything was flawless and honestly better and more beautiful than we could have ever imagined! I couldn't have pulled it off without Jennifer and the Five Grain team! Joan was also fantastic, she provided thoughts early on regarding vendors we were considering before we were assigned a coordinator.
Our coordinator, Jennifer, was on top of her game and it was nice to have someone to bounce ideas off or sometimes frustrations. She was also able to tell me what is "the norm" when working with vendors, etc. Also, my family members were really impressed with the detailed timeline going into the wedding day!
I can't speak highly enough of my experience working with Five Grain Events!
Hiring Joan and her team was easily the best decision we made in the entire wedding planning process! We hired Five Grain for full service planning, just after setting a date and c...
hoosing a venue. Joan helped us to create a detailed budget based on our priorities and overall budget, while factoring in the planning fee to make sure we wouldn't go over our all-in budget number.
Joan brought so many fun and interesting ideas to our wedding, helped us achieve our wildest ideas and visions (we entered our reception on a boat!!), and will always let you know when something is or isn't worth the spend or effort. She'll also exchange as many emails or have as many calls as is needed to feel confident and comfortable. Five Grain also sourced and helped us contract the most amazing vendor team to execute our day. As someone who is pretty type A and organized and also works in the event industry myself, I could not have had more trust in Joan and her team throughout the entire process. Five Grain alleviated so much stress and really made planning a wedding to be an enjoyable activity. I had a friend once ask if there was anything I regretted spending money on or wasn't worth the investment for our wedding, and I said that having Five Grain made that impossible because Joan helped us to be so intentional, logical, and efficient with our entire day. I always felt confident that nothing was going to be missed, forgotten, or overspent. My number one piece of wedding planning advice is to hire a planner, and make it Five Grain!
We absolutely loved working with Five Grain Events. From the first meeting to the day after the wedding we felt so supported. Our day of coordinator, Jennifer, anticipated and help...
ed us plan for things we never would have even thought of. She also had a sternness that she delivered in the absolutely nicest way that is essential when you are trying to wrangle excited adults. We cannot recommend Five Grain enough and are so grateful that we had them for our day.
We had the absolute best experience with Five Grain Events! We wanted a Valentines Day themed wedding and boy did Five Grain pull it off! Everything exceeded our expectations and t...
he whole planning process was so easy and fun! We worked with Joan and she made us so excited for our day! The actual day went so smoothly and we were able to enjoy every minute without a worry! We would highly reccomend Five Grain Events!
Joan and her team were absolutely impeccable. My husband and I were supposed to get married September 2020, and when all of the stress and uncertainty and heartbreak of the pandemi...
c set in, Joan was the perfect person to have on our wedding team. She helped us inform and coordinate with all of our vendors our new wedding date, managed contract changes and gave us peace of mind. Not to mention when we did have our rescheduled wedding she made sure EVERYTHING went as planned so we didn't have to think or worry about anything. Our wedding was absolute perfection, and Joan and her team were a big part of that. Because Five Grains also does corporate events, I had complete trust they could navigate any situation and coordinate all of our vendors flawlessly. I tell everyone that hiring Joan and her team was the best investment in ensuring our wedding was perfect. Hire them!
We LOVED our experience with Five Grain! Jennifer was our dedicated coordinator and knocked it out of the park. We felt supported leading up our wedding as well as on the day of th...
e big event. Would highly recommend!
Five grain events were incredibly professional and organized leading up to and on the day of our wedding and had a ton of great advice. My wife stressed out about every detail of t...
he wedding and Five Grain could not have done a better job of allowing her to enjoy herself and get lost in the fun of the night. I would recommend them to anyone in a heartbeat.
Five Grain Events absolutely was the best choice we made in all of our wedding planning! Joan was incredible! She was on top of every detail and went above and beyond to make sure ...
our wedding was flawless. We had to reschedule 3 times due to COVID and she was monumental in reaching out to our vendors and getting all of our ducks in a row. I recommend her to all of my newly engaged friends and could not think of a nicer more organized person! Thank you again!
I was torn about hiring a planner, as I'm a relatively organized and type-A person who had already exceeded her wedding budget. Let me tell you - this was the best decision I made ...
in the entire wedding planning process! Looking back now, I don't know what I would have done without Joan and her expertise! The selling point for me was the realization that it doesn't make sense to spend thousands of dollars for an event without hiring a professional to oversee and coordinate the many moving parts involved. I didn't have to be the point person for all the vendors and most importantly it limited my interaction with my challenging venue manager. I got to just enjoy the day and not worry about anything - our wedding truly went off without a hitch (or I didn't know about any issues, which is fine by me!). There was a huge benefit of having someone with extensive experience give me advice and tell me what works well in various situations. Planning a wedding is an intense process and it was made easy by Joan and her team. I was able to trust and outsource nearly all of the last minute coordination between vendors, which was a huge relief with my demanding work schedule. I've since been to a handful of weddings where there were minor snafus (couldn't hear the vows, DJ didn't have the first dance song (!) etc) and I couldn't help but feel grateful we avoided any similar glitches. I have nothing but amazing memories from that day and I am truly grateful to Five Grain Events for being there for me.
Kelly and her team at Five Grain Events were indispensable to us leading up to and through our wedding day. Seeing that they had worked with many couples at our venue, we reached o...
ut. After the initial consultation, I already had two or three pages of advice, suggestions and tips, and felt like a load had been lifted off my shoulders. Though we only got month-of planning, the team provided great recommendation lists and other tips as we needed them prior to their work officially starting with us. I counted down the days until Kelly stepped in two months ahead of the wedding, and as soon as we'd had our official meeting, I was stress-free (or as stress-free as a bride could be!) Kelly and her team were a joy to be around on our wedding day, helped smooth out any small fiascos (like getting a tomato stain out of the front of my dress!), helped set up and tear our personal items beautifully (see the name plate table!) and went out of their way to not only take care of us, but our family and guests in ways both big and small. If you're questioning whether a coordinator is worth it, my husband and I would emphatically say yes - and all the more so with a professional, well-connected and well-experienced team like Five Grain Events!
So happy we were recommended to Joan and the Five Grain Events team! Joan was a dream to work with and helped us with so many logistical decisions, including a rain plan that we wo...
und up having to put into place. There were many things she brought up early on that never would have have occurred to us and she was incredibly patient and organized (duh). Her and the team made our wedding day run so smoothly and always made it so we could enjoy ourselves and celebrate.
Five Grain Events provided us with an amazing wedding planning experience! Leading up to the wedding our wedding coordinator, Kelly, helped keep us on track and ensure we were meet...
ing all our deadlines for the big day. On the day of, Kelly and her team set up all of our decorations (as we did not use a florist) and laid out a very clear timeline for our wedding party and all the vendors. Kelly was with us each step of the way and we never had to question or worry during our big day. Not only were Kelly and he team members organized, professional, and experienced, but they were amazing people which made working with them very easy. We cannot thank Kelly and Five Grain Events team enough for everything they did. There's not a doubt in our minds: hiring Five Grain as our wedding coordinator was the best decision we made for our wedding! We highly recommend Five Grain!
I absolutely cannot recommend this company enough for wedding planning - this was probably the best money we spent on the wedding. We were lucky enough to have Kelly as our wedding...
planner, and she was a dream. She began working with us two months in advance of the wedding, which was a month before any other day-of coordinator we found, and she was fun, friendly, and completely on top of her game. She asked questions I'd never thought of needing to answer, she covered every single detail, communicated with our vendors without even having to be asked, and took such a huge weight off of our shoulders. I relaxed (as much as one can before a wedding) so much when we started working with her because we just immediately felt like she had every detail covered. I found out later that a couple of things went awry at the wedding, but I never knew about any of them because she had them completely handled.
I would 110% recommend Five Grain Events for your wedding, they're fantastic.
I cannot say enough good things about Five Grain Events, Joan (owner), and our wedding coordinator, Kelly. First of all, if you're still debating whether or not to use a wedding co...
ordinator, please save yourself the stress on wedding day and just get one! And second, do it right and go with Five Grain Events! We were introduced to Joan through my MOH, and I am so incredibly happy that we decided to use FGE for our wedding. From the beginning, Joan asked questions about what our wedding vision was, listened to our concerns about day-of coordination, and gave us options to fit our budget and needs. The "preferred vendors" list that Joan has was an absolute treasure trove - we booked hair, makeup, and our DJ from that list and they were all fantastic! Our coordinator, Kelly, ended up being an invaluable asset to us from the first time we talked. We met with Kelly and one of her FGE assistants about two months before our wedding and had a "brain dump" which literally covered all aspects and logistics of wedding weekend - this was quite funny because my husband (fiance at the time) had no idea I had thought through so many details. This session really put us at ease knowing that Kelly was on top of her game from day one and ready to help us out in any way possible. She had questions about details that I hadn't even thought of! Over the next two months, she took over communication with our vendors, introduced herself to our families and bridal parties, put together and modified the day-of timeline as necessary, gave us a wonderful solution to a transportation snafu, and coordinated so many different aspects of wedding weekend. She even sent an assistant to pick up some gluten free cupcakes for one of my bridesmaids on wedding day! Kelly was my reality check many times, and her experience was incredibly valuable so I could gauge what could/should and couldn't/shouldn't be done. On wedding day, she was with us from 11am until after the reception was over! Kelly made sure things were running on schedule (and when they weren't, made adjustments), checked in with us constantly, made sure people were in the right places, handed out tips, packed up the gifts and made sure they were in a safe place, and generally kept the entire day running incredibly smoothly. I had so many complements from guests that this was the most seamless wedding they had ever been to, and that was in large part due to Kelly's expertise and work! As you can tell, I seriously cannot say enough good things about Kelly and the rest of the Five Grain Events team. Highly highly recommend!!!
We planned our wedding with Joan for over a year, and she was with us every step of the way (even with a new baby!) She helped us pick out every vendor, offered recommendations whe...
never we needed them (which was often) and was a source of support when we had to change our venue a couple months into the planning process. Joan is solution-oriented and pragmatic, but also has a great sense of humor and fun personality. Additionally, we worked with Joan's colleague Christina on many details in the months leading up to our wedding, and she was also fantastic at remembering things we would've never paid attention to. I woke up on my wedding day feeling no stress because I knew everything was taken care of! I highly recommend choosing Five Grains (the earlier the better) to plan your dream wedding!
We can't imagine how much crazier the wedding planning process would have been without Five Grain Events. Every step of the way, there was someone to answer our questions and provi...
de us with vendor suggestions! (And we just had the day-of coordination package!) Our day-of coordinator, Kelly, was so sweet, knowledgeable, and calm, and she made the process run much more smoothly. She got us to think about the fine details that we would have otherwise neglected, and yet didn't overwhelm us with them. It was truly a joy to work with Kelly and the Five Grain Events Team. We give you our biggest thanks!
Jennifer at Five Grain Events was our "day-of" wedding coordinator, but Jennifer started helping me and my family more than 2 months prior to the wedding date!
Having a day of coo...
rdinator was something I really wanted, not only for myself but really for my parents to enjoy the entire day. When I expressed this to Jennifer in our initial Skype session, I could tell she not only completely understood this desire of mine but also went through all of the littlest details that she would take off of our plate to ensure this would happen. From that moment, I knew I had to work with Jennifer and she definitely lived up to everything she said during our initial chat!!
As the bride and first to get married in my family, I can't express enough gratitude my family has thanks to Jennifer's amazing work and attention to every detail. Not only did she keep me on track with all of the planning beginning about 2 months prior to the wedding date, but she also made me feel extremely confident that I was not forgetting anything major or minor for the special day. She asked me questions at our initial meeting that I had not even thought about yet, and when I mentioned other details it was like she already was in my head and knew how I wanted things set up.
Jennifer also made me feel like I was the only client she was attending to, and thanks to Jennifer and her assistant, my new husband, me and my parents who were hosting our wedding were able to enjoy the entire day and night without a single worry.
We were all impressed with how professional and organized she was after our initial meeting. Especially having a Catholic ceremony, Jennifer knew what to expect from the church and asked me questions I didn't even know about regarding the church which was very helpful to look into before the wedding and rehearsal got closer.
She always responded to questions and emails extremely quickly, and even accommodated my request for our initial meeting to be the Saturday before Easter because my schedule was so packed. The owner, Joan, is also wonderful with alerting you of upcoming payments so you are never left trying to remember different dates and she also worked directly with my parents to help ease the process and make it more efficient.
My wedding day was absolutely perfect from start to finish and if there were any issues along the way, I still don't know about them thanks to Jennifer. I definitely would have felt much more overwhelmed and my parents would have been much more stressed had she not been involved in the rehearsal and wedding day, and I would recommend Five Grain and Jennifer specifically to any bride!
Anyone who is given the opportunity to work with Jennifer is very lucky and will not be disappointed in how their special day turns out!
Emily at Five Grain Events was our wedding coordinator and I can't express enough gratitude my family has thanks to her amazing work. As the bride, she kept me on track during the ...
last 2 months before the event, anticipated details I never would have known, and made me feel like I was the only client she was attending to. Thanks to Emily and her 2 assistants our parents who were hosting our wedding were able to enjoy the entire day and night without a single worry. We were all impressed with how professional and organized she was after our initial meeting. She always responded to questions and emails with poise and efficiency. My wedding day was absolutely perfect from start to finish and if there were any bumps along the way I still don't know about them. Without her I know I would have been a lot more overwhelmed and stressed both planning the wedding and over the course of the day itself. My biggest piece of advice to brides is to hire a day of coordinator you trust and respect because that is how I feel about Emily. Anyone who is given the opportunity to work with her is very lucky and will not be disappointed.
We had Jennifer as our "day-of" coordinator - misleading term as I was in near constant communication with her starting months prior! She was incredible to work with, I really can...
't imagine the wedding details coming together without her. Thank you for making our wedding day so perfect!
It was a great pleasure to work with Shannon and her assistant Kelly at our December wedding! We were initially on the fence about hiring a coordinator for our wedding, but it was ...
the best decision we made. I don’t know what we would have done without them on the day of the wedding!
Within a few months leading up to the wedding, Shannon started by creating a detailed timeline of the event, and included all of the small details of the day that I didn’t even consider. I was blown away over the attention to detail when I first read the 3 page timeline of the day. Then we had a few meetings where we walked through the day and nailed down all of the details of the set-up and vendor coordination. There were so many meetings and other necessary things to take care on the few weeks leading up to the wedding and it was a huge relief to have Shannon to take care of all of the major communications. She asked all of the necessary questions during the venue walk-through, and kept everything organized in her impressive 3 ring binder made especially for our wedding, where she kept all of the contracts, timelines, etc. She also took all of the decor items we bought or made the week before the wedding and made sure they were set up the exact way we imagined it on the actual day.
Shannon was there to walk the wedding party through the rehearsal, which was a huge help since I would not have known what to do or tell our friends what to do. On the actual day of the wedding was when Shannon blew us all away. First, she was constantly communicating with and directing our vendors, which would have been a burden for me to have to do on the day of the wedding. But also it was like she was reading my mind the entire night. Whenever I had a question, or lost something, she was there resolving the situation. She and Kelly were also so friendly and fun to hang out with, that by the end of the night they became our friends. My friend even mentioned Shannon in her toast :)
All in all, if you must hire Five Grain Events for your wedding, it is your best choice!!
Hiring Five Grain Events was the best wedding decision I made by far. I worked with Jennifer and she was amazing - so friendly, kind, responsive, and professional! I am an out-of-t...
own bride, so I really needed help and Jennifer was there every step of the way. My entire wedding ran so smoothly I can hardly believe it. Everything truly seemed effortless and I know that is because of Jennifer and Five Grain Events. I am truly impressed by what I saw, and the fact is that she was probably doing a million things behind the scenes that I don't even know about. HIGHLY RECOMMEND
Emily at Five Grain was our coordinator, and we could not have done it without her! She spent a lot of time working with us before the day, and made it so we didn't have to worry a...
bout a thing on a very busy day! Highly recommend her.
Wow! Truly a joy to work with Joan at Five Grain Events. She is ON IT. Organized and realistic in planning timelines, setup, and budget. She was incredibly timely in responding to ...
questions. Her openness and honest approach helped us set expectations for our big day and ensured it went off without a hitch. On the day of, her team was so friendly and helpful not only to us but to our guests. Five Grain is a huge reason our day was so amazing. Thank you!
We had Shannon from Five Grain as our planner. She was absolutely amazing. So kind, calm, organized. She made my life so much easier leading up to the wedding. Having her run the s...
how day of also enabled my husband and I to just fully enjoy ourselves, be in the moment, and not worry! I got so many positive comments from my parents, family, and friends regarding Shannon being great and on top of things.
Joan is amazing - helpful, calming and always kept us on track... and reminded us that the wedding day is about the bride and groom joining their life together. They did a beautif...
ul job and left us with out any worries.
I can't say enough positive things about Lauren at Five Grain Events. Not only was she easy to work with, but she made juggling dozens of balls in the air at one time look easy as ...
pie. My parents have no idea how she was able to be so organized, manage so many things at once, and keep everyone on time and in line, but she did it!
My one regret...not hiring her sooner. If I had any idea how much work and the literally hundreds of details a wedding was to not only plan but execute, I would have hired her before anyone else. Honestly, it should be illegal to get married without a coordinator - they are absolutely worth every penny.
Because of Lauren, my parents and I were able to truly relax and enjoy our wedding instead of worring about all of the details because we completely trusted Lauren's abilities. When you think about it, after all of the work you go through to plan a wedding, don't you want to enjoy it when it arrives? If you don't have someone you trust managing the vendors and timing of every detail (and there are so many more than you know!), you'll end up managing the most important day of your life instead of experiencing and savoring it.
My husband and I hired Five Grain Events for their day-of wedding coordination services and it was the best decision!! First of all, let's be clear - do not be fooled by the descr...
iption of 'day-of' coordination - because there is so much more that's involved!! My husband and I planned all the details for our wedding, and I thought that I would be able to handle all of the 'day of' stuff by just delegating to a few friends/family - boy was I wrong. As the day got closer, I realized just how much stuff goes on behind the scenes and I wanted to make sure that we were able to just enjoy our day. The first time we met with Joan I knew that she would be the perfect fit for us. She is extremely organized, very professional, fun to hang out with and she's assertive without being overbearing. I knew she would be the perfect personality to firmly but politely coordinate our vendors and guests. From the minute we hired her, Joan was in constant contact with us about ideas and making sure I was on target for all my deadlines. She met with us several times in person and really listened and took notes on how my husband and I wanted the details of our wedding to come together. Joan was fantastic at keeping all of my vendors in the loop with last minute changes and information and it was so much easier for me to have one contact instead of six! Our actual wedding went off without a hitch - it was honestly the best day of our lives and it went so smoothly. I didn't worry about a thing because I knew Joan was there to take care of it. Throughout the night Joan would find us to make sure we were okay and she stayed until the very end of our reception to help gather all of our gifts/guest book items and make sure they got home with one of our family members. Joan has a lot of contacts in the industry and any bride would be lucky to have Five Grain Events plan or coordinate their wedding!
Contact
Chicago, IL
Five Grain Events