About this vendor
FTD Events is an accomplished wedding and event planning company situated in Chicago, IL. They specialize in various wedding packages in both English and Spanish, and offer professional services from beginning to end. From consultation to clean up, this company strives to make every moment as magical as can be.
The team at FTD Events hopes to help every couple turn their dreams into a reality. The team of coordinators brings patience, collaboration, and talent to every event. Together, Fairy Tale Dream Events focuses on creating a personalized function that you and your guests will never forget.
Fairy Tale Dream Events is delighted to plan your rehearsal dinner, ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. They focus on creating a relaxing atmosphere with a venue visit, timeline, to-do list, guest-list management, and more. Their meticulous team provides full planning, partial planning, day-of coordination, plus officiating services to ensure that you receive all the assistance you want.
Details
Business Attributes
- Hispanic or Latinx-owned Business
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Planning
Planning
- A la Carte Wedding Planning
- Budgeting
- Day-Of Coordination
- Destination Wedding Planning
- Full Service Wedding Planning
- Se Habla Español
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Engagement Party
- Rehearsals & Parties
- Bridal Shower
- Couples Shower
- Engagement Party
Awards and Affiliations
Reviews
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4.6
out of 5.021 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 2
We hired Monica Alegria as our decorator and our day-of-coordinator for our wedding reception in April 2024. TLDR: she did not uphold anything she said she would do in either of th...
ese roles, and ghosted us after the event when we tried to get in touch with her to ask for a refund. We are now taking legal action against her.
Initially she was very communicative and always made herself available when we wanted to meet. In the last month leading up to our event, she began to seem very disorganized and distracted. She started to miss meetings, show up late to the ones she did attend, she was unprepared for our meetings, and did not seem to remember/have a record of things we had previously discussed in terms of decor, flower choices, and general logistics for the day of the event.
She had told us the decor would be ready by 10am the day of the event. I arrived at the venue around 12pm for hair and makeup and nothing was set up. My dad arrived shortly after to figure out what was going on, and Monica was nowhere to be found and was not answering her phone. She eventually arrived at 2:30pm and all she said was that she would take care of it. Finally at 4:30pm, an hour before the guests were supposed to arrive, she told my dad that the decorator she had contracted cancelled on her that morning and that she was trying to find a replacement. He notified the owner of the venue, who pulled some strings and was able to get some decor, but it was nowhere near what we had agreed upon and looked very substandard. I was very disappointed and embarrassed to have such a small backdrop and centerpieces for a 250 person event. We did not have time to take family portraits before cocktail hour and therefore had to miss cocktail hour, which we were really looking forward to attending.
Other things that Monica told us that she would take care of but did not follow through on:
- Sound check the previous day and providing the venue with the audio and video files that were supposed to be played during the reception. I ended up having to give the DJ my backup copy on a flash drive
- The main lights were not dimmed and brightened at the correct times - ruined the whole ambience of the hall
- Did not oversee the food being refilled - my dad had to ask two of his friends last minute to keep an eye on the food
- We had provided an approximate time for when the bar should reopen but we had explicitly said to not open it until after all speeches and dance performances were done. Monica and her team did not manage this, and the bar reopened in the middle of speeches and dances and created a chaotic situation where guests were lining up to get drinks and having loud conversations while the program was still going on
- She had told us that someone on her team would get plates of food for me and my husband, but she was nowhere to be found when dinner opened, so two of our friends had to wait in line and get us food
We are very disappointed and saddened by how this all turned out. We were looking forward to this event and meticulously planned every detail, only for none of it to matter because of Monica and her team. She is the most unprofessional vendor I have ever worked with and she ruined our big day that we had spent so much time and money on planning. Definitely would not recommend and will be sure to tell all of our friends and family to avoid her and her company at all costs.
Ghosted us and took our money. We're having to bring Monica to small claims court for $1500 she promised to refund after repeated failure to deliver and poor communication. This ha...
s ironically been the most stressful part of planning our wedding.
In December 2022, my fiancé and I reached out to Monica on The Knot about full wedding planning for our Chicago event. Our initial conversation with her was promising and we were excited to have Monica on the ground in Chicago (we’re planning remotely from Seattle). She shared her pricing with us and even offered a discount if we booked before the end of the year; in retrospect this sort of pressure tactic is a red flag.
With the contract signed, we were motivated to get started, but unfortunately the issues were immediate.
Our first order of business was choosing a venue, we had even narrowed it down ourselves to three we really liked. We asked for help weighing the pros and cons of each venue and what the approximate total costs might look like. Monica promised to follow up with details. Unfortunately, what we could’ve done ourselves, took weeks to deliver and came nowhere near answering the questions we asked. We gave this feedback to Monica and hoped to see an improvement going forward.
While we continued to wait for what we were promised, we were under increasing pressure to make a decision and ultimately we had to make an uninformed decision and move forward with a venue. Before signing the contract, we shared it with Monica to see if there was anything we should take note of, but she replied it was fine. After we read the contract more carefully we noticed several issues, including discrepancies in cost and stipulations we weren’t made aware of. Had we taken Monica’s word, we would’ve overpaid and been surprised later in planning. We discussed whether we should cut our losses and forfeit the contract, but Monica assured us things would improve.
This, sadly, was a theme throughout the rest of our experience. Despite much patience on our part, we repeated a similar experience selecting a caterer. Communication was slow, often going days between email responses, and even then the replies were rarely sufficient to make progress. We felt like our wedding planning was creating more work and stress for us than alleviating it. A final attempt to share detailed feedback and expectations, did nothing to improve the situation and so we finally agreed to part ways.
As part of severing our ties with Monica, we agreed to receive a partial refund for the time spent up until this point. A full two weeks, and several unanswered emails later, we were asked to wait an additional two weeks for the refund. Despite wanting to put this behind us, we're understanding, so we agreed. Unfortunately the agreed to date was missed, our emails and texts ignored, and it wasn’t until two months later we received only 1/3rd of the agreed to refund with a promise to return the rest ASAP.
We’ve continued to reach out to Monica for the balance of $1500 and have yet to hear back. We’re sad that it’s come to the point that we have to travel to Chicago to take Monica to small claims court to resolve this issue. This is perhaps the worst experience we’ve had with a professional in any industry and all we can hope to do is recover our money and warn others to avoid falling into the same trap we did. Our experiences with our new planner has been spectacular. Please do yourself a favor and look elsewhere.
Monica and her team brought our wedding vison to life! We initially booked Monica for the full planning package only and then decided to move forward with the FTD design services. ...
We were very happy with their services and everything was beautiful! Our wedding day was exactly as we imagined. Thank you Monica & team!
Monica was amazing to work with and was definitely worth the investment for day of coordination. She was very knowledgeable and friendly and made sure every detail was set for our ...
big day. She even had some of her own inventory for some decor we needed and made the day worry free from setting up, making sure all details went as planned and cleaning up. She reassured us that everything would go as planned and our day was more than we could have imagined.
Monica at FTD Events is THEE BEST. We contracted Monica for our wedding this past November 2021 and feel it was the seriously the best investment. Monica is so warm, funny, detail ...
orientated and resourceful. When you contract her as your wedding coordinator, not only do you have a skilled professional guiding you through the whirlwind that is wedding planning, but you ALSO you have access to her amazing inventory of table centerpieces, decor, etc. She always kept our wedding and our very large party organized and on track. Even when a few things out of our control went wrong on our big day, Monica always remained calm, cool and collective. She reassured us it would all workout and made magic happen for us by booking last minute replacements from her own list of professional resources. We cannot thank her enough for making our wedding planning experience and day so special. Monica is going to be our event planner for any future events we have.
Monica, and her team, were the perfect group to help coordinate our wedding. We used Monica for Day of Coordination services. I was a very organized bride, had a vision and had mos...
t of the materials to execute the vision (decor, signage, etc.). Monica, Dee and their team made it happen! Our wedding looked exactly as I imagined it because they know what they are doing! They were attentive to detail, thoughtful and collaborative throughout the process. While I was very organized, it was such a relief to have her team so that I could relax and not focus on the details. The day goes by so fast. Having Monica and Dee was so helpful to take in the moments and focus on spending time with family and friends the day of. Thank you Monica!!!
Monica and her team did a wonderful job planning our wedding! We had to move it up from 2022 to 2021 and we wouldn’t have been able to find a florist who would do our wedding if we...
didn’t have Monica helping us. Highly recommend her and her team!
Monica was a life savor! Her experience and time in the industry was incredibly helpful as she knew all of our vendors and communicated perfectly with everyone. Monica and her team...
made our day possible. I cannot recommend Monica and her team enough!
Enrique & I had a great experience with Monica. I know she had a lot on her plate that day with other events. We were happy with our overall experience.
Monica of Fairy Tale Dream Events was delightful to work with in planning my daughter's wedding! Monica provided a detailed outline/timeline of the wedding day events and coordinat...
ed all vendors. She is friendly, knowledgeable, and trustworthy. I highly recommend Monica for any special event, especially weddings, as a Day-of-Wedding Coordinator!
Monica is every couple's dream planner! She is down to earth, meticulous and passionate about what she does. We started working with her a few months before the wedding, she always...
checked in if needed. On the day of, she stopped at nothing to make sure we had the most incredible day. She dedicated every minute of her time and was there from our morning ceremony to our evening reception. She made sure the ceremony went smoothly. And at the reception, every single guest commented on the beautiful decor. Monica and her team were very organized and detail oriented. We truly appreciate all the work that she did for us! Thank you!
B & C 06.26.21
This was a tough wedding season for everyone including Monica and myself. The day of her team made up I had everything I needed even when dealing with my eccentric MC. I appreciate...
the decor and over all service.
We hired Monica to plan and coordinate our microwedding (8 guests). Monica helped us search for an Airbnb to serve as a venue, and connected us to the florist, caterer, photographe...
r, and baker. We were impressed with all of her recommendations. Leading up to the wedding, Monica also took the time to meet with us on the weekend since we live out of town. During and after the visit, we were confident the wedding would be a success. The weekend of the wedding she was punctual, friendly, patient, and creative. Without having seen the house/venue, she was able to decorate quickly and gracefully. During the wedding, we did not worry about anything and she was attentive to our needs throughout the wedding day. We highly recommend working with Monica.
Monica was truly everything you could ask for in a wedding planner. She was communicative, prompt, organized and detail orientated. The list of her skills could go on! From start t...
o finish she was on top of everything. Her professionalism and how extremely friendly and nice she was carried through to the wedding. Myself and my wife are still re-living the best day ever thanks to her. Without thinking twice we would recommend her to anyone looking to have an amazing Wedding Day!
Although we live in NYC, we had our wedding at the end of September 2019 in Chicago at Zhou B Art Center. We were referred to Monica as a day of planner by someone else and we coul...
dn't have been happier! As we found out, there's so many little details and things about weddings that can make them very stressful. Of course we had no idea, but Monica knew everything and put us in the right place. She was able to answer all of our questions and give us some good suggestions for day of things too. She was awesome too as she was able to handle printing of meal cards, the welcome signs, and other things for us because we do not live in the Chicago area. Pulling off a wedding is logistically complex and Monica handled it very well. Our wedding went very well and everyone there enjoyed themselves a lot. Monica played a big part in pulling this off!
Much recommended!
Monica was a God send. From our first meeting she knew exactly what we were looking for...mind you I was one of those clueless brides but she out did herself with us. Our wedding w...
as well executed. she helped us find our dream venue, our dream florist, and put a lot of personal touches to everything.
Day of our traditional wedding we are running behind and Monica calls me to ask hey Suzy how many cars are coming? I have reserved parking spots for your entourage. This was a small detail i hadn't thought of but came in so clutch. She's one of the best decisions we made throughout our wedding planning. So blessed to have met you Monica!
Monica was simply the best! She coordinated with us early on in the process and as our wedding date approached kept us sane and organized. She was also able to provide us with last...
minute items like frames and easels which saved us time money and headache. We couldn’t have done it without her! Chat with Monica if you need a realistic honest helpful event coordinator. She’s also the sweetest!
Monica was such a joy to work with, she captured every detail I expressed to her and brought it to life. Everything was so elegant and beautiful and thanks to her I had the fairlyt...
ale wedding I always dreamed of. THANK YOU MONICA!!!! We love you!!
What can I say!! My wedding was absolutely amazing thanks to monica!! She carefully crafted every single detail! She made sure that my wedding day was less stressful! She answered ...
every call, every text message when I needed her most! She gave me advice on do's and don'ts to make sure my wedding went without a hitch! I would definitely recommend her for any new bride! She's well experienced and very detail oriented which is a big plus when you have a certain vision in mind for your big day!! Thanks for everything Monica!!
Monica was our Day-Of-Coordinator for our wedding at Stan Mansion and she was amazing! So helpful making recommendations and helping us pull together all of the small details that...
you might not think of initially. It was also great having Monica as our point of contact for all of the vendors - it makes the wedding day stress-free. Would highly recommend working with Monica, - her services are well worth the cost!
My husband and I hired Monica for our day of coordination at the Stan Mansion in Chicago and cannot say enough good things about her! From day 1 she was extremely professional, war...
m and welcoming. Throughout the planning stage we always felt that she was very much a part of our team, and gave us great suggestions and helpful feedback without ever being overbearing. Her responses to our questions prior to the wedding were timely, and the day of went off without a hitch-if anything went wrong, we didn't know about it! You can tell Monica is a skilled veteran when it comes to organization and building relationships with vendors. We would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a great wedding coordination experience. She really does care about her clients!
Contact
3520 S. Morgan St., Chicago, IL | Chicago and all surrounding Suburbs