About this vendor
Hillary Rae Events is dedicated to creating an unforgettable wedding ceremony and reception for you and your loved ones in Champaign, IL. This professional and experienced team is proud to design exquisite, personalized events to reflect your magical love story.
To begin with, Hillary Rae Events offers a private consultation to talk all things wedding and discuss your and your partner's needs. This conversation helps the team get to know you personally and direct you toward the perfect wedding day package. Before beginning the planning process, you will receive a welcome guide, planning checklist, and vendor recommendation guide to help you start on the right track.
Hillary Rae Events can also design a customized wedding package that matches specific needs and budgets. Should you require minimal assistance, day-of coordination is the choice for you. Alternatively, if you wish to sit back and relax and leave the planning phase in capable hands, Hillary Rae Events' full-service option ensures your wedding dream becomes a reality.
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
- Destination Wedding Planning
Planning
- A la Carte Wedding Planning
- Day-Of Coordination
- Destination Wedding Planning
- Full Service Wedding Planning
Wedding Activities
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Rehearsal Dinner
- Welcome Party
- Wedding
- After Party
Awards and Affiliations
4-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2023.2022.2021.2020.
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Hall of Fame
Earned by winning 'Best of Weddings' four or more times.
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
5
out of 5.057 reviews
I truly cannot say enough great things about Hillary! From the moment she came on as our day of coordinator, I felt an immediate sense of relief. She was incredibly helpful the mon...
ths leading up to our wedding - reaching out to all of our vendors, confirming every detail, and handing everything behind the scenes with so much professionalism and care. Hillary met us at our ceremony location for our rehearsal on Friday night to help our rehearsal run smoothly. She also took all of our decorations and items needed for our wedding day and set everything up perfectly the next day. On our wedding day, she coordinated everything with our vendors, made sure we stayed on time, and kept everything running seamlessly. I truly did not feel an ounce of stress knowing that Hillary was the one coordinating everything. On top of all that, she's incredibly kind, personable, genuine, and just everything you'd hope for in a day of coordinator. She truly allowed me to be present and soak in every moment. Hiring Hillary was one of the best decisions that we made!
Hillary made all of my visions come to life. She was extremely knowledgeable and made the wedding weekend go so smoothly. I can’t recommend her enough. Multiple guests and family m...
embers came up to me to tell me how amazing she was. If you are needing a planner- you have to have Hillary!!!
We hired Hillary for day of coordination for our wedding. We couldn’t have asked for anyone better! She’s extremely detailed oriented, responsive, knowledgeable and such a resource...
to utilize. Hillary helped our day go seamlessly and took a lot of stress off our plate. We highly recommend her services!
Hillary made our wedding flow seamlessly and made everything a dream come true. Hiring Hillary for our big day was our best decision/investment. She provides guidance and checks in...
frequently to ensure you feel at ease during the process. She is a true gem and the best event planner!!
Excellent team! Cannot recommend them enough. They ensured that our day was perfect.
Hiring Hillary was the best decision I made when wedding planning. I hired her for the full package meaning she was there leading up to the wedding and also to coordinate my weddin...
g day. I loved working with her. She made the process fun and took away the stress leading up to the day. Her experience, opinion and help hiring vendors was invaluable. I'll actually miss our conversations because I loved getting to know her too. Anytime I had an idea, she found a way to make it possible. As far as I know everything went off without a hitch because she handled everything. Despite some nasty weather on my wedding day, I felt confident and relaxed because I knew Hillary was there to handle any probelm that might have come up. My wedding was beautiful and everything I could have hoped for! I can't recommend Hillary enough!
I cannot recommend Hillary enough. She made our wedding day absolutely amazing and everything I could dream of. If you’re getting married you NEED Hillary to help you through every...
step of the process. I couldn’t be any happier with my experience.
Where do I even begin?
Carli Z with Hillary Rae Events was outstanding, beyond anything I could have asked for. She made herself available to me for every minor and major bump in...
the road. Carli was kind and encouraging, especially when I had to vent or have a moment. We had a couple of difficult family situations to navigate and she handled everything with so much grace. If it weren't for Carli, there wouldn't have been anyway that I would have been able to fully enjoy my day, but I spent my day completely worry-free knowing that Carli had my back and knew how to handle things so my vision came to reality. Carli was flexible and calm (even when I worried I wasn't during rehearsal) and offered valuable input on how to make the ceremony run perfectly. All of my bridesmaids agreed that she was wonderful and dubbed her as "the sixth bridesmaid". At one point I started crying (happy tears, mind you), when I saw my venue and she was ready to fix whatever was "wrong". When I told her how happy I was, the look of joy on her face told me that she took my happiness to heart. I hired coordinator and Carli absolutely busted her a$$ and gave me so much more. Carli, we love you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts, you're our girl!
Hillary Rae was wonderful (obviously!), fielding my questions in the early stages of the planning process! She made the initial consultation phase so easy.
If you're looking for any kind of planning/coordination, stop right here, you've found it. Hillary Rae Events is worth its weight in gold! To the whole team, thank you!
Love,
The Connellys
If you're unsure if you need a wedding planner, do yourself a favor and just DO IT! I had to do a little convincing but I can tell you that my now husband and I have ZERO regrets a...
bout hiring a day-of wedding planner and owe the smoothness of events and ease of the day all to Hillary Rae Events, specifically to Carli. We curated our wedding timeline from rehearsal dinner to the last call of the evening and they thought of things that I would never had. Carli was there before myself and the bridesmaids arrived, ensuring that all the vendors were arriving and setting up and that things were going according to plan. She was everywhere all at once and ensured that everyone was where they were supposed to be. She made our day stress-free and so smooth, I cannot thank her enough. I can assure you, you will not regret booking Hillary Rae, but you may regret that you did not. Their services were worth every penny.
If you need a wedding planner/coordinator and if you are looking at anyone else, this is your sign to stop now and just hire Hillary!!!!!! She is the epitome of organization, great...
taste, fabulous communication - and the cherry on top is that she’s just one of the nicest people ever. She made my wedding day this weekend go so smoothly. Literally nothing went wrong - it was all perfect. Give her a call ASAP because, trust me, this is someone you want as a part of your wedding vendor team!!!!!!
Having Hillary as a part of our wedding day was one of the best decisions we could have made! She played a critical role in helping the day of our wedding run smoothly and exactly ...
how we wanted. We met with her about a month out from our wedding, at which point she helped us feel SO much better about the timing and everything on our big day. She was able to be on some final calls with our vendors and connected with them all the week of our wedding to make sure everything was still running according to plan. Her organization on the day of our wedding was flawless. From set up to take down, schedule and flow, Hillary was the key to making our wedding be exactly the way we imagined it! We cannot thank or recommend her enough!
Hillary is seriously the BEST! I could rave about her for hours. I knew I needed help planning my dream wedding and Hillary truly went above and beyond. I couldn't have created m...
y vision without her help and guidance. She helped me each step of the way, helped me find vendors, came to vendor meetings, came to our tasting, and was with us the whole wedding day to ensure everything went smoothly. She was always available to answer my questions throughout the process and I truly cannot recommend her enough. She was amazing!!
Having Hillary be a part of our wedding day was the best decision! Her organization and communication put me so at ease! We utilized Hilary as our day of coordinator and coordinate...
she did! She’s a true joy to be around and truly removed all stress on our wedding day by handling our vendors and keeping us on schedule! We cannot thank her enough!
I am SO glad I hired Hillary. I was on the fence about a planner at first thinking I could do everything myself. She saved my sanity!! It was a relief knowing that everything leadi...
ng up to and during the wedding was running smoothly and in good hands. Hillary is super professional, completely on top of things, very detail oriented and organized, and not to mention great to work with!!
Hillary was amazing and I’m so glad we chose her to help with our wedding day! I was so stressed about wedding planning and she made the whole process seamless and so much less str...
essful. We had hired her as our day of planner but I wish we would have hired her for the entire wedding planning process, I would recommend her to anyone!
Hillary is always a joy to work with and an expert at what she does!! We rented the color block back drop from her and actually used it as our seating chart. It was stunning!!
We used Hillary Rae Events for Day-of Coordination for our wedding. She met with us twice-- an initial call to get to know more about our wedding plans & vision and a second meetin...
g one month out from our wedding. She listened to our ideas and provided her expert opinion on things we weren't sure about. We had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted and she helped us execute on the day of. She coordinated with our other vendors and family members who were part of the wedding planning process so we didn't have to worry about a lot of the details and logistics. She was a great day-of coordinator for us and we'd recommend her services to anyone. Our wedding was perfect and Hillary helped us achieve that.
I saw this Hexagon on Pinterest and was given Hillary’s information from another vendor. The backdrop looked amazing and Hillary made sure to communicate with us through the proces...
s. I would recommend them to anyone!
Hillary took away all worries that I had on my wedding day! I knew that she had everything under control, so I didn’t have to sweat about the small stuff, and sure enough, everythi...
ng turned out perfectly and ran seamlessly because of her planning and attention to detail. All of my bridesmaids mentioned to me how great and helpful Hillary was throughout the day. Thank you Hillary!!
Handled last minute issues so I didn’t have to stress! Hillary handled all communication with vendors leading up to the day so I was able to enjoy.
Hillary Rae Events helped out with my wedding this past weekend and it was amazing! We could not have asked for better help. Hillary is extremely efficient, accommodating, and so n...
ice. I got multiple comments on how smooth and prompt everything seemed. She made the planning side of things seem effortless so we could enjoy our big day. She is a must to hire for a seamless wedding!
Hillary Rae Events is worth every single penny. She made the day run so smooth and perfect. I never had a single worry about anything that day. She understood my vision and took c...
are of it perfectly. I love that she was available for me up until the wedding. I love that she was just so organized and got all my other vendors organized right before the big day so they were all on the same page.
Hillary Rae was the coordinator for my daughter's wedding on Labor Day weekend at her now husband's family homestead in Easton, Illinois. Hillary was pivotal in transforming a bar...
n/shed into a "Magical" venue for the wedding reception to celebrate Lauren & Landon. Hillary did not miss a detail and the wedding and reception occurred flawlessly. I would highly recommend Hillary to coordinate your wedding or special event.
I found a dog named @doryfritz in November of 2019. When my partner and I learned that she would be ok and able to join our family, I felt the time was right to propose after 11 ye...
ars together. My Krystal loves surprises :) So I did it on the Ellen Degeneras show.
Covid changed our original plans and timeline, and when we felt ready to plan a safe, unique, fun and intimate celebration with our closest family and friends......we called Hillary.
We wanted our dogs in the ceremony
We wanted an interactive art piece for our guests
We wanted to jump in the pool at the end of the night
We wanted some traditional wedding things. We wanted some things to be completely different.
Hillary was amazing to work with. She helped my fiance and I feel less overwhelmed by the wedding process, and she did everything to make 10/2/21 the most perfect day of our lives. We highly recommend Hillary's Event services. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING HILLARY!
Love,
Bryant, Krystal, Dory and Finn
Hillary is absolutely incredible!! She gave us the wedding of our dreams :)
Hillary and her team were fantastic to work with. We hired Hillary Rae Events for our wedding & it was one of the best decisions/investments we made. Hillary provided guidance thro...
ughout the planning process, communicated frequently, and ensured we didn't have to worry about a thing on the actual wedding day. Highly recommend!
Hillary was very quick to respond and handle all my questions. She was very professional and extremely sweet. She really did relieve so much stress I had building up the week of t...
he wedding. I truly appreciated her.
Hilary was great to work with. Experienced and knowledgeable to provide the details that make your event amazing. Professional and easy to work with. She was amazing!
Hillary and her team were amazing!!!!!!! So friendly and helpful in more ways then I could have imagined. They were very professional, but not only that, you can tell they truly lo...
ve what they do. They took my vision and made it come to life...beyond my expectations. She was always quick to respond to my emails/text messages and always seemed happy to answer any of my silly questions;) I highly recommend hiring her! She is trustworthy and very thorough with what she does. She pays attention to the small details, which I miss all of the time. Our experience with her and her team, overall, was 100% the best!! Thank you!!
Our wedding was beautiful & magical thanks to Hillary! She is a fantastic planner with an eye for detail. It was so much easier having Hillary by our side through out the process. ...
She helped us hone in on how we wanted our wedding day to feel for both us and for our guests. We were able to forward her communication from vendors to coordinate details on our behalf, and we could ask her questions whenever we were split on a decision or roadblock of some kind. We loved working with her and would absolutely recommend Hillary to any couple in need.
If you think you wont need a wedding planner, think again! With rescheduling our wedding three times due to covid, having Hillary was a true blessing! She took care of a lot for us...
! For example, she called all our vendors the week leading up to the wedding to buff out those last minute details. She gave us both a girls and guys “Day of” itinerary. The Day of itinerary included hair and makeup schedules are well, which kept us on track! She even helped me put my garter on at the reception! Lol! I am so glad we decided on having a wedding planner. Hillary took a lot of stress off of my mom and I, especially my mom! She was able to just relax and enjoy the day rather than having to worry about where everything/everyone was. Hillary came out to Willow Creek with us on set up day as well. Hillary always had great suggestions and tips on how to make the wedding day go smooth.
Words cannot describe how amazing and helpful it was to have Hillary Rae Events help plan our wedding. Hillary was so helpful during this pandemic. She knew what was happening, and...
how to navigate it all. Hillary communicated to every vendor and made sure everything was ready to go for us. We didn't need to lift a finger for anything! She was always there no matter the question, no matter the time, even while planning her own wedding during a pandemic! We loved working with Hillary and look forward to the day we need her again!
I got married a few hours from my home, and didn't have any referrals for a wedding planner. I looked on the Knot, found Hillary Rae Events and took a leap of faith! From our very ...
first call, Hillary was everything I knew I wanted in a wedding planner, and everything I didn't know I needed. Unless you personally plan events and/or weddings for a living, you don't realize the number of details that go into planning, that need to be remembered and managed on your big day. The last thing you want to do as the Bride or Groom is be worried about everything falling in place. The day goes by too fast as it is, and you should be relaxed and enjoying every moment. Hiring Hillary put my mind at ease that everything I envisioned (and more) would come to life exactly as I hoped. She was kind, fun, accommodating, attentive, and truly went the extra mile. There were so many ideas I had that she helped bring to life, but there were so many things I didn't think of or I was unsure about Hillary guided me through - all of which proved just how experienced and committed she was to making my day perfect. We had nearly 200 guests and 16 people in our wedding party, and she handled it like a BOSS. I would highly recommend Hillary Rae Events - you will not be disappointed!!!!
My husband and I can’t say enough good things about Hillary Rae Events! We highly recommend them if you’re planning a wedding! Weddings are always stressful to plan, but throw in a...
pandemic to plan around and you’ve got yourself a real nightmare! Despite all of this, Hillary helped us create a beautiful, perfect, stress free, flawless, dream come true wedding. She had to have a back up plan to her back up plan with this one, and she never missed a beat! We appreciate all you did to help us keep our sanity through all of this and allow us to all thoroughly enjoy our daughter and son in law's big day. Thanks to you and all the awesome and also highly recommended vendors who made this day so special for us!
Good customer service. I appreciated her support after our venue cancelled our wedding due to COVID-19.
Hillary and her team are AMAZING! I was planning a destination wedding and had no idea where to begin or who to contact and she came to the rescue! She helped me plan every little ...
detail while keeping track of it all! She had great ideas and great vendors to work with as well! It left the planning process easy and stress free for not only me but my mom and my fiancé as well! I would recommend her to anyone planning any event! She is my go to girl for all party planning things from now on!
Being the FOB. From the first meeting with this young lady I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. And I wasn't she told me exactly where to stand where to go and what to do. She was an...
absolute delight very professional and made my little girls day go off without a hitch. Look no further hire this professional.
Hillary was beyond amazing! She helped me through the whole wedding planning process. As far as dealing with vendors, she was fantastic. If I had issues with any vendors, she wou...
ld deal with them through phone calls and emails. Also, she helped me find a gluten free/dairy free cake place due to my dietary restrictions. Weekend of the wedding, she set up our venue and made sure everything went smoothly and it did. I would highly recommend her to anyone, even if they don't think they want a wedding planner.
Hillary and the staff with Hillary Rae Events are incredible! From our first meeting to our last, Hillary was so thorough! She did absolutely everything possible to keep my stress ...
levels down. Planning big events is not my thing. Some brides enjoy planning/ designing things for their wedding and to me it was work. Hillary took all the weight I felt off my shoulders and made my wedding day run smooth. She was with me through it all, from vendor appointments to follow ups, to making sure I had purchased last minute items. I had no worries because I knew she was there. I cannot recommend her enough! She is amazing at what she does and is just an amazing person! I didn’t just “hire” a wedding planner, I gained a beautiful friend!
I can not thank Hillary and her team enough! Hillary is so kind and easy to work with. If I was feeling stressed during the planning process, she reassured me that everything was o...
n track. The wedding timeline and other tools she uses made planning so much easier! It was so nice to enjoy our day stress-free, knowing that Hillary and her team had everything under control. Our wedding came together perfectly and Hillary is a huge reason for that!
Hillary was amazing. She is so organized and detail oriented. She relieved so much of my stress by making my day of timeline, contacting vendors, being the communication person for...
everyone, etc. I would definitely recommend Hillary to anyone!
Where to start....
When my mom, mother-in-law & I started planning our wedding we were pretty confident we didn't need a wedding planner. We booked all our vendors and worked on a...
ll the "big stuff" right away after our engagement. Our venue was very unique to where we had to bring all food, bar, alcohol, tables, chairs, etc. in ourselves. We LOVED our space and the fact that we could customize how we wanted to, but there were downfalls. Every little piece of planning was all on us. When we were about 3 months out from the wedding day, I was in the process of also opening my own business. In that, I hardly had anytime to plan. My mom and mother-in-law took on a lot of responsibility. That is when Hillary came about. My mom researched local wedding planners and thought Hillary would be a great match. I was still skeptical on what her role would be. Little did I know that this would be the best decision we made!
She talked back and forth with my mom for quite sometime trying to get our vision down. Our first meeting she met us at our venue and got us on track immediately. There was SO much that we had looked over that she recommended us doing. From there on out she was on top of contacting our vendors, setting up delivery times, etc.
When it came to the week of the wedding, Hillary was at our rehearsal dinner and helped us decorate on a couple of different occasions. The day of the wedding she ran around getting things where they needed to be, situating transportation, getting our venue ready and so on. Her and her husband were SOOOO helpful that night. They loaded gifts in our car, helped keep the bar stocked and so much more.
All in all, my family and I, all give Hillary Rae Events 11/10 on every category. She went above and beyond to make sure that every aspect of our wedding week went perfectly. Whether you think you need a wedding planner or you don't think you need a wedding planner- HIRE HILLARY RAE EVENTS! <3
Hillary was absolutely AMAZING to work with! We had a 275 person wedding at Willow Creek Farms in Urbana, IL on August 10,2019 and everything ran SO smoothly. We used Hillary as ...
a ”day of” coordinator for our wedding, but got SO much more than that! Hillary was always easy to reach, and kept me informed through the whole wedding planning process. She was also super organized, good-hearted, and had great communication with all of our vendors. Hillary made sure our wedding was everything we wanted and more! Thank you for making the day absolutely perfect!
Hillary did an amazing job assisting my daughter and I in planning her wedding. Her recommendations were extremely helpful from chairs to linens. As we had two very different venue...
s for the wedding and reception that were roughly 30 minutes apart, she did an excellent job somehow being in two places at once. We had time to enjoy the moment and relax throughout the day which was the exact reason I hired her. Take the stress out of your big day and hire Hillary and her team.
Hillary and her team are amazing!! We booked the day-of-coordination and were completely blown away by how helpful Hillary was through the entire process! She was extremely quick w...
ith responding to any questions or concerns I had and gave SO much great advice. Hillary was unable to be there for our entire wedding day since she had her sweet baby boy a few weeks prior but her assistant Claire did a fantastic job of filling her shoes on our wedding day!! We couldn't have been more pleased with Hillary Rae Events and we are very thankful that we booked them as a vendor!
I reached out to Hillary only a few months before our wedding for some help with reception decor set up. We'd planned to DIY the majority of the wedding, but our timeline for setti...
ng up our reception ourselves was getting too tight.
Hillary was wonderful throughout the entire experience. Even though we only contracted her to do set-up and tear down, she offered assistance to ensure our food and bar set up was correct, she helped us with getting the decorations to the venue and back, and she tracked all our rentals to ensure everything got returned correctly. She was incredibly professional and helpful. She was also very flexible with us - we had some last minute decoration changes as we assembled our florals, and she was able to pull everything off perfectly. The venue looked exactly as we pictured, and it was such a load off to know that a professional was taking care of us! Thank you so much, Hillary!
Everything went smoothly, and all details were taken care of. We also had a couple of unexpected things pop up (who doesn’t), and Hilary (and her team) handled them all flawlessly....
The professional was there, and helped make sure the day was as beautiful as the couple. I would recommend them over and over! Great experience!
I don’t even know where to begin. Hillary was a life saver in my wedding planning. She took all of my stress away and made all of my dreams a reality. She helps with everything fro...
m which vendors to choose at the very beginning , all the way down to helping with setting up the venue the day of the wedding. I cannot say enough about how amazing Hillary was through my entire year of planning my wedding! If anyone is in need of a planner, Hillary is your girl. She is not only my event planner, now she is my forever friend.
Hillary was priceless to us for planning my daughter's wedding! We had picked a unique & new venue that hadn't done a large wedding yet, and Hillary came through with the organizat...
ion and creative ideas needed to pull it all together. I didn't even know I needed a wedding planner until after we hired her! I quickly saw all of the details she was handling and honestly was so thankful the whole day that she was around. I was able to relax and enjoy every moment of my daughter's big day and now worry one bit. I'm not sure how we could have done it without her help. I would 100% recommend Hillary Rae Events for ANY event big or small. She is top notch!
Hillary was fantastic in providing the experience, guidance, contacts, and planning expertise to make the wedding a wonderful event that went smoothly. She was pleasant to work wi...
th and really helped us all feel at ease so we could focus on the joyful family time.
Contact
PO Box 1187, Mahomet, IL | IL
Hillary Rae Events