Grateful Gatherings

Hiring Grateful Gatherings to manage day of coordination was the best decision I made in planning our wedding! Jil was our lead coordinator and she was an absolute DREAM to work with. I’m an incredibly Type A bride and I went into our wedding day completely at ease knowing Jil had thought of every detail and had everything completely under control. From our first meeting to our wedding day, Jil truly did not miss a beat. One of my favorite memories from our wedding will be her coming in hot in a golf cart after our ceremony to pick me and my new husband up and take us to our cocktail hour. She brought us glasses of wine and a plate full of appetizers so we could enjoy a moment to ourselves before joining our guests. You will not be disappointed hiring Grateful Gatherings to design or coordinate your wedding! I would hire them 10x over!

Hiring Chelsea and her team was the best decision we made during wedding planning! We hired them for coordination and partial planning. Words cannot describe how incredible they are and how perfect they made our day. They're very organized, detail oriented, flexible, creative, and professional yet fun! Chelsea brought our vision to life and made sure everything was perfect leading up to the wedding. We didn't have to worry about anything on the day of the wedding and truly got to enjoy ourselves. We felt so supported throughout the entire process and are going to miss working with Chelsea dearly.

We hired the Grateful Gatherings team for our day of coordination. Jil was able to bring my vision to life and set up the venue beautifully. We had several issues with the caterer and bar service on they day of. The caterer was supposed to be serving wine with dinner and did not and also shut down the bar, Jil was able to get them to open a bar so guests could continue to get drinks. The food service was so slow that our timeline for our dancing went by the wayside, but Jil was able to work with the band and made some adjustments so that we were still able to get our first dance and a thank you speech. I don’t know what I would have done if we didn’t have Jil, she was a god sent.

Grateful Gatherings really knows what they're doing and they made the day completely stress-free. Jil was a pleasure to work with and went above and beyond. Even little details like helping with a dress bustle and making sure we had a plate of food at the reception went a long way. Jil was highly professional and capable, and also kind and calm throughout the whole process.

Hiring Chelsea and team was the best decision we made for our big day. She made everything so easy and stress free for not only us but our families. We didn't have to sweat the small stuff. My husband and I constantly talk about how thankful we were for Grateful Gatherings. We honestly don't think our day would have been half as wonderful or enjoyable without them. Do yourself a favor and hire them, they are worth every penny and more.

Our wedding day was everything we envisioned with the help of Chelsea and her team. We felt so blessed to work with Chelsea during such a busy 2020 wedding season. Chelsea was very detailed, creative, fun and professional - we really enjoyed our time working with her. Save yourself the research and just book Grateful Gatherings, you'll have the wedding of your dreams!

Chelsea and her team were absolutely wonderful! They were organized, professional and so kind. Chelsea made the whole wedding planning process much less intimidating and I felt supported throughout. She was also totally incredible on our wedding day. If you're considering Grateful Gatherings, I definitely recommend them.

I run the Perfect Choice Band from Cleveland, OH. We were chosen by the bride and groom to be part of the special day on July 10th, 2021 in Onekama. MI at Portage Point Resort. I got to work with Chelsea and it was a great experience. She contacted me a few weeks before the wedding to provide timeline and to talk through some of the details that we could before we arrived. We also had a great phone consult to talk through details for meal, lodging, etc. It was a relief to have that information way before the 6+ hour drive we would make and no personal knowledge of the venue. Once we arrived for setup, Chelsea helped us with coordination and logistics for where we needed to be and where to load in. She walked me through the locations for ceremony and cocktail hour and what the agenda was with some slight changes. It was great to know things were in good hands. Once the reception started and we got up to play, everything was well in hand. It was great to know that we could "do our thing" because Chelsea had "done her thing" to get us seamlessly to the rockin' part of the reception!!

Chelsea was so great and easy to work with! I hired her for a month of coordination package, so I chose my vendors and she did all the coordinating with them after they were booked! During my planning, she was organized, sent great suggestions over, and was really helpful in jumping in when needed. A little over a month before the wedding, she sent over a series of questionnaires to understand by wedding day and we had a couple of calls to talk through it all. No detail was left unknown! She showed up on time for a walk through rehearsal on Friday and knew exactly what to practice and do! Then for Saturday, everything went so smoothly and perfectly. Her communication with vendors was amazing - I even had multiple vendors mention to me how prepared and on top of things she was! Could not imagine my day without her!

Chelsea was hands down the best money we spent on our wedding. Without going into too much personal detail, she was on top of the following and probably so much more that I don't even know about because our wedding went off without a hitch! Chelsea if you are reading this, THANK YOU, you are the best. <3 Highlights: - reaching out to us during the COVID uncertainty. Hearing her perspective and what other brides and venues were doing or not doing was VERY helpful. - She was available whenever we needed her. If I needed to speak with her that day she made time for me and my concerns - She is tight with all the local vendors and trusted! Can't tell you enough how far that goes - She handled the timeline, reaching out to the vendors beforehand making sure everyone knew where to be and when so my family and I didn't have to worry about it - She had umbrellas available for guests when we didn't even think about it! - She came up with the idea to put the string band under a catering tent, out of sight so we could have the music we paid thousands for and the musicians felt comfortable - She set up all of our decor PERFECTLY! - She packed it up PERFECTLY! Not one thing missing. - Did I mention she is funny, sweet, organized and professional? She put us at ease the entire night. She is the best!

Chelsea was such a life saver for our wedding, I don't even know where to start! I was hesitant to get a planner at first, but it was the best decision. We had our wedding all planned, and then the pandemic happened. Chelsea was able to navigate this uncharted territory like a pro, and was able to make every change needed to follow continuously changing recommendations so we could have a safe and fun wedding. She also essentially planned a whole second wedding as our backup. I can't explain how much of a weight she lifted from us. Not to mention, anytime she would let us know about an unfortunate change in plans, she would quickly follow with a "but I already have x, y, and z for you to choose from instead", so we literally never had anything to stress about (and that says a lot for pandemic wedding planning!). She also saved the day when I showed up to the venue for photos, but my airbrushed foundation rubbed off in a perfect circle on my nose from the mask I was wearing (very clown-like look). My bridesmaids and I are in a panic because we couldn't fix it. But then Chelsea whips out a whole makeup pallet from her emergency suitcase! Throughout the day, she would keep doing touchups for me as needed :) She also had a really nice surprise for my husband and I. Immediately after the ceremony, I think she could sense we were a little emotional and swept us off to a cute little hidden spot in the orchard where she had two chairs and plates of appetizers and drinks for us. We were able to have a private moment for us to reflect and it was honestly probably one of our favorite moments of the night. And throughout the whole day/night, she had everything taken care of so we literally never had to answer one question that whole day and could just go with the flow. I should also mention that she has a decorations rental business as well, which was extremely convenient because she could fill in the gaps of things we needed! There were so many other little (and big) things that Chelsea did to make our day so special and stress free. We just loved chatting with her and really feel like she became a good friend during this whole process! I couldn't recommend her enough.

Put your wedding stress at ease. Don't hesitate another minute, hire Chelsea! I have experience planning events, but truly nothing compares to a wedding. I worked with Chelsea at her "Event Management and Coordination" level and she really helped guide me along throughout the entire process. She spoke to me as if I was a friend and not just another client or wedding in the books. Every call and e-mail was like a little hand on my back guiding me through the process, reminding me of things I didn't think of, and providing vendor suggestions for those I was having a hard time with. She even helped me secure transportation "uncomfortably close" to our wedding day. The wedding day went off without a hitch. Chelsea and Jill worked swiftly with our venue manager to make minor weather adjustments and brought a cool as a cucumber attitude throughout the day - communicating with all vendors and even fashioning a wrist loop on my dress when I decided I didn't like my bustle. Chelsea will truly set you up with everything you need to be successful. Trust her and enjoy the ride.

Grateful Gatherings is the best choice you can make for your wedding planner! Chelsea was absolutely amazing. She went above and beyond to make sure our big day was not only perfect, but also exceeded our expectations and hopes. She was fun to work with, had great communication, proactive and has a ton of knowledge, resources and connections, and she just totally took care of things. So helpful throughout the whole process and I didn’t have to think about anything on my wedding day aside from soaking in the joy and being in the moment. It sounds cheesy, but GG made the wedding of my dreams a reality! Highly recommend!!

Having spent many decades in event management and hosting my daughter’s wedding on our property, I wasn’t sure if I’d need a wedding planner. I contacted Chelsea because her rates are very reasonable and I thought she could provide assistance the “day of.” What she delivered was months of creativity, flexibility in brainstorming options through pandemic planning, and excellent use of resources. I’m not sure there could have been a more challenging set of variables to manage (date changes, vendor changes, government mandates, safety precautions, thunderstorms...the list goes on) and yet she and Jil managed all of it with poise and grace. In the end, the wedding was stunning from ceremony to send off, the bride and groom were delighted and our guests couldn’t have given better reviews. Chelsea and her team worked hard to deliver for us - even somehow managed to arrange a rainbow 😉 and I will always be grateful for her support! Highly recommend.

Chelsea is a master at her craft. She is very organized and efficient, we never missed a beat at our wedding. From guiding the bridal party down the isle to the cake cutting, everything was on time and ran very smoothly under her guidance. Even though she made a wonderful timeline layout weeks prior to our date, it flew from my brain the day of the wedding in a crazy dream like experience, I can honestly without Chelsea there I would have been lost at my own wedding! Chelsea is very professional and does her job well. Highly recommend!

Chelsea’s the best. Her attention to detail is one of her many strengths. While meeting with her to plan your big day/event she’s great at listening to best understand what your vision is and how you see your event/wedding day going. She has a great sense of style and keeps herself educated on what the current trends are. She’s not afraid to be the boss on your big day! She wants to make sure everything goes according to plan. Her sweet personality and boss babe attitude will leave you feeling cared for, comfortable and confident!!!! It’s so nice to have someone help you with all the details so you’re able to really enjoy your important day. And Chelsea’s the perfect person for the job.