Kelly Nelson Events

Kelly did an excellent job. We hired her for day of the event but she actually started about a month before with meetings and final details. She is highly organized and on top of all the little details you would never think of. She ironed out a few kinks the last minute with the decorator and venue that was much appreciated. She kept the day as smooth as possible and we didn’t worry about anything. The wedding and reception were beautiful. Thanks Kelly! We have told so many people about Kelly and agree she was by far the best investment.

Kelly was such a rockstar. Our day would never have went as smoothly as it did without her. She made all the calls I didn't want to make, which is an A+ in my book haha! She was so organized, patient, and always on top of things. The day of, I didn't have to think about any of the difficult things. She really allowed us to have the perfect day. Because of the venue package we booked, we ended up having a second wedding planner and they worked together seamlessly! We absolutely love Kelly!

We hired Kelly later in our wedding planning process, and we couldn’t have made a better decision to hire her. She was timely, detail-oriented, communicative, organized, and professional throughout our entire wedding planning process. Her knowledge of vendors and local connections were helpful as we navigated last minute changes in plans. Additionally, her poise was everything I never knew I needed. Because of her calming demeanor and solution-based approach, there was never a point in which I was panicked, and it truly allowed me to have a stress free planning process and wedding day. Thank you, Kelly, for making our wedding day and entire experience amazing! You’re the absolute best!

Kelly Nelson was the BEST wedding planner EVERRR!! She did such an amazing job helping us bring our vision to life! She made sure we stayed on track during our planning process and helped us stay organized! Kelly was available anytime we had a question or concern; making us feel like we were the only wedding she had on her schedule. Seriously the best! Thank you so much Kelly for everything you did to make our day perfect!

Kelly was a fantastic wedding coordinator and I am so thankful we had her. She truly ensure everything went off without a hitch and made the entire day seem smooth. She also was available any time I had questions leading up to the day and helped me to relax by taking over vendor communication. Highly recommend her!

I don't know what I would have done without Kelly! She made the entire wedding planning process so easy for me! Having her by my side and available with her broad expertise and knowledge made things so much less stressful than if I tried to do it all on my own. In less than 2 weeks of hiring this extraordinary woman, my husband and I had a list of venues and we had appointments booked for viewings! Our wedding day was perfect! Kelly was so on top of things and made sure things were moving along according to schedule. I cannot thank her enough. If you are second guessing whether or not you need a wedding planner.....you do. Snag Kelly while you can!

Kelly was the wind beneath my wedding's wings. I cannot stress enough how much she made our day absolutely perfect and seamless. Leading up to the day Kelly was a tremendous help in making sure we thought through all the details and truly went above and beyond. I cannot describe how grateful I am for her efforts! I highly HIGHLY recommend Kelly !

I am so grateful to have found and hired Kelly to plan our wedding! She is an amazing person, so easy going and kind. She helped us with everything - researching and hiring vendors, taking care of all vendor contracts and communication, keeping us on track with payments, helping come up with design ideas, and so much more. Our wedding day went so smoothly and was completely stress-free thanks to Kelly. We couldn't have done it without her!

Working with Kelly was the best decision we made regarding our daughter's wedding! She helped us step by step along the way and the day of the wedding was absolutely flawless! She is amazing!

We hired Kelly for wedding planning and day-of coordination. During planning, Kelly really understood what we were going for, always respected our preferences, and suggested options that matched our unique style. Planning was a lot of work but it paid off, everything went smoothly, we were relaxed and had tons of fun thanks to Kelly's preparation beforehand and guidance on the day-of. Kelly provided suggestions for vendors that worked out great, and she also collaborated well with vendors that we found ourselves. We were out of state for pretty much the entire planning process but Kelly was able to execute our planning process like a champ via email/zoom. We heard over and over from our guests that they had so much fun and felt that we did a great job making sure they would be comfortable and enjoy the event - all thanks to Kelly!

Kelly Nelson is an amazing wedding planner! She is so organized and kind. She kept us on track and created a timeline personalized to us and to what we were needing during the planning process. She is super experienced in all things weddings and would think of every little detail and make sure everything was planned out and perfect. Day of she was an amazing coordinator and made sure everything was running smoothly and if something did come up she would quickly fix the problem. I cannot say enough great things about Kelly! My family and I could not have imagined the wedding happening without her expertise. I would recommend Kelly to anyone and everyone planning a wedding in the near future, she will not disappoint!

Kelly was so amazing!! We hired her as our day-of coordinator and I was SO impressed that she remembered every single detail we talked about. She’s super professional, asks all the right questions, and kept the day flowing smoothly (and even acted as our own personal body guard when it was time for toasts and people kept stopping us on our way back to our table lol). She tamed my crazy wedding party, gave peace of mind to my parents, and just did a STUNNING job making our day everything we wanted it to be. People say “No wedding day is perfect” but now I don’t know if that’s true because ours sure felt like it thanks to Kelly ❤️ Hire her and thank me later!!

Kelly was very organized. Kelly has an in-depth plan of every aspect of what needs to be accomplished and when. Kelly was absolutely pleasant to work with, her energy is contagious. I absolutely would recommend Kelly to plan your wedding!!!

Kelly Nelson Events is the FIRST vendor you should hire when he pops the question. We immediately connected on our first phone call and she guided us through the process during our 2 year engagement. She remembered small details about us and our family and frequently checked in to ensure that our wedding vision was coming to life. Any request I had or advice I needed, she responded promptly with more than enough information. You can tell that Kelly is a true expert in her craft and I always felt comfortable relying on her. She helped set up, communicated with vendors, led the rehearsal with ease, and the wedding day went off without a hitch. We had countless vendors and guests commenting on how smooth the day went and how well managed everything was. She stayed the entire wedding day until the very end (even at midnight with coffee in hand hah!) and kept a smile on her face. We could not have enjoyed our engagement and wedding planning process without Kelly as our partner. Thank you for exceeding our wedding day dreams, Kelly!

We hired Kelly as our wedding weekend coordinator, and it was one of the wisest decisions we made. I loved planning my wedding, but I soon realized I can't do everything myself (especially on the wedding day itself). From the first time I met Kelly, I knew that she would keep the bride and groom's best interests in mind and support us every step of the way. She never told me "I can't do that" and shared her experiences in a way that was helpful but never forceful. I got lots of good local suggestions from Kelly, and she helped up book a getting ready spot and helped when we had to change churches. At our wedding weekend, she worked tirelessly to create and execute our perfect day (with no hourly restrictions, either). My husband and I were able to enjoy our day knowing that Kelly was there to alleviate any hiccups. I have no complaints! Originally, my husband didn't think we needed to hire a coordinator, but by the end of the night he agreed it was one of our best additions to the day. Thanks, Kelly!

We would highly recommend working with Kelly! She did amazing and was a joy to work with. She went above and beyond to make our lives as easy as possible!

I really don’t know how we could have successfully planned our large wedding without Kelly. There were so many things that we needed to do that we had never even considered and Kelly was fantastic about keeping us on track. Her support the day of was absolutely vital. There were several times where things could have gone wrong and she was quick to jump in and fix it each time!

There are not enough words to explain how grateful we were to find Kelly. She was referred to us through a friend for my daughter's wedding as a one day concierge. After our initial consultation, we knew we needed her services as a planner. We had booked the venue already but Kelly jumped right in and found the perfect vendors for our semi-formal vintage wedding. Then our wedding had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Kelly helped move all our vendors to our new date a whole year later. Fast forward to the months prior to the big day. Kelly kept us on track and helped reconnect with all our vendors. She listened and made suggests that fit right in with our vision of the wedding. If there were problems the day of the wedding, we didn't know! She handled everything from making sure the place settings were correct to handling guests to making sure we had all our personal items at the end of the night. We were able to enjoy the event without handling any details that day. If you want a professional, personable, and caring event planner, Kelly is the perfect match. We could not be happier with our experience with her!

Hi Kelly, I’m just now sitting down and writing this note after all the family has left and I can catch my breath. I wanted to tell you how much we appreciate everything you did to make Brooklyn and Richard’s day a perfect one!! You don’t know what a relief it was knowing we could enjoy the day and not worry about anything! All of the beautiful decorations, all the directing, all the details and lastly, all the clean up and packing! You made it perfect from start to end! We just can’t say it enough that you were the life-saver and the best money we could have spent!! Jim even said, she’s worth her weight in gold😄!! If you need any references, feel free to give our names!! We will tell them you can’t go wrong with Kelly if you want your wedding to be perfect❤️🥂❤️!!! Thanks again Kelly!! Jim and Mitzi Burton

If you are getting married in central IL, Kelly is your person! She was, hands down, the best decision we made for our wedding. My husband and I both work full-time, high-pressure jobs and Kelly was the calm in our storm! She did not miss a single detail, asked all the right questions, kept me and whole my family on track and absolutely nailed our vision for the weekend - all while being very professional and pleasant. All of my guests noticed that everything so well thought out and not a single detail was missed and that was ALL Kelly!

Kelly was amazing!! My sister was the Bride so I was the Maid of Honor. Kelly not only made the day go literally perfect and smooth, but she made everyone else feel special too. Highly highly recommend her! Can’t say enough great things about her!

As father of the bride, I wanted to give my daughter everything she wanted on her special day, but like most parents, was working with a very tight budget. When the idea of hiring a wedding planner came up, I shrugged it off like most men would probably do because I didn't think it was necessary. However, I can admit when I'm wrong. Although I didn't participate in a lot of the detailed pre-planning of the wedding, I did witness how Kelly worked so well with my wife and daughters to plan the perfect day. I also watched my wife's stress level minimize and was happy that she could just relax and really enjoy the day with family and friends. Without Kelly Nelson Events, the brunt of it would have fallen on her for sure. Dads, let me speak from experience when I say that the relatively small portion of the overall wedding budget that you set aside to hire Kelly Nelson will be so worth it in end. Thank you, again, Kelly!

Wow! Where should I begin? I'm not sure the allowable character count will be enough room to share all the good things I have to say about Kelly Nelson Events. Planning a wedding can be challenging in normal circumstances, but try doing it in 2020 with the goal post constantly moving. There is absolutely no way we could have done it without Kelly's help and we are so very thankful to have had her on our team. After planning for almost two years, we had to change everything in a short amount of time, but Kelly kept us focused and on track to create the perfect day for our daughter and new son-in-law. She is not only organized, flexible and extremely friendly to work with, she is creative, well-versed in wedding etiquette and truly understood our daughter's vision for her perfect day. Kelly partnered with us, made us feel like we were all in it together and that it would be ok. That meant a lot to ease the anxiousness of a nervous bride and her mother. On the day of the wedding, everything we worked so hard towards came true. Kelly took charge and made sure everything was perfectly in it's place and that everyone knew what they were doing. And as exhausted as she must have been that day, she didn't show it at all and actually stayed to see it through to the end. I finally had to tell her that she accomplished an amazing feat and it was time to relax as the day came to a close. When developing a budget for your big day, make sure you start with Kelly Nelson Events. She is by far the best investment when planning a wedding. If you think you can do it alone - and come out on the other side unscathed - think again. Thank you, again, Kelly! We couldn't have done it without you.

My groom and I were determined to get married on a budget, so I decided we didn't need any help. Our wedding was in October, in August I realized how foolish I was and broke down and called Kelly. I could not believe how much extra stress I caused myself by delaying contacting her. Probably extra money too. Kelly was amazing from our first conversation. She put me at ease, she asked all of the right questions, she helped me organize all of contracts and the day of schedule. We ended up having a beautiful fall wedding at Allerton Park, and Kelly was critical in making our day special (and stress-free). With her there, I wasn't worried about any of the details and I was free to enjoy the experience. On top of Kelly being great at her job, she's also a lovely person so working with her was a treat. I cannot stress how important and helpful it was for us to have someone managing our day, and after working with Kelly, I would recommend her to anyone looking for planning help (at any stage in the process).

Kelly was recommended to us by my friend Halie (check out her review). I knew Kelly would do a great job for us since I had already seen her work at my friend's wedding. Hiring Kelly was the best decision my husband and I made. We didn't know how to plan a wedding at all and felt overwhelmed by all the planning we had to do. Our wedding was a small, backyard wedding and it took place at an Airbnb home in Champaign. Having Kelly as our coordinator made the wedding planning much less overwhelming and it gave us peace of mind. Kelly helped us with everything, contacting vendors, asking for quotes, finding an affordable catering company, sticking to our budget and being a main point of contact. Thanks to Kelly we were able to have a photographer at our wedding that we could afford. Kelly is a wonderful person to work with, she is organized and keeps track of pay dates, and appointments. She pays attention to detail and has good ideas and smart suggestions. Kelly is without a doubt an excellent wedding planner and I could not imagine planning our wedding and having it being a success without her.

GET A WEDDING PLANNER! Do it! I don’t care if you’re organized and punctual and have it all together, you 100% need KELLY to help you! My wedding ceremony was at a church in Monticello, IL, and then my reception was at Hudson Farm in Urbana, IL on Sept 14, 2019. Anytime I (the bride) had a question, concern, or some sort of vague suggestion, she always had ideas, solutions, or answers. She created a payment schedule for me to keep track of when to pay the florist, DJ, shuttle service, linen company, venue, photographer, etc, as all of the deadlines are different, and it can become extremely stressful to keep track of if you don’t have some help. There are a million contracts you’re signing with different rules and payment information as well, and she has it all in hard copy and electronic copy for access at any time. Kelly helped me come up with ways to save money that made it worth the expense of a planner, and the peace of mind she gave me the whole time was a bonus on top of that! For example, right off the bat, you’re looking at save the dates. There are so many options and questions you’ll have. Someone who is in wedding mode as a career knows what companies are available and which ones are most affordable (or whatever other characteristic you’re looking for in a company). She completed tasks incredibly quickly, she was always there and on time for meetings, and she helped me stick to a detailed timeline/to-do list. I feel like I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy my engagement if I hadn’t had Kelly to always ask, “am I on track?” She always put me at ease. She prioritized tasks, and there was never a question of “where do I begin” or “what’s next?” There are so many details that you won’t think of that she will have you prepared for, such as having a table for vendors at the reception (that had not even crossed my mind, they would have had to sit on the floor if I planned alone). Kelly was extremely punctual, organized, and professional, but she was also fun, relaxed, and just made it seem like working with a friend. She also took care of day of mishaps, so I could enjoy myself. They are impossible to avoid, there will always be one! And while friends and family may be there to help, they shouldn’t have to stress about that stuff either. You want them to enjoy the day, too. You will not regret having her help you plan your event. Thank you for everything, Kelly!

KELLY IS INCREDIBLE!!! At the start of planning for our wedding, I was certain we didn’t need an event coordinator of any kind. Now I just wish I had worked with Kelly sooner. She was absolutely amazing and went above and beyond in every single situation. She took initiative, was well organized, and made the entire process of planning a large wedding way less intimidating. I could not get over how smooth the entire wedding day was and that is all due to Kelly’s hard work. It was a day that our families could enjoy without a single stressful moment. She kept every person involved well informed and was sure that the entire day went perfectly. I honestly can’t recommend Kelly enough! If you need someone to help coordinate an event, she is the one to go to. Kelly made our wedding a day that we could celebrate, rather than stress over and I can’t thank her enough!

We loved working with Kelly, and I have been receiving so many wonderful compliments from guests about how smoothly the wedding went (and this was definitely Kelly, because I was mentally checked out and have no idea what even happened that day, and apparently a bunch of things almost went wrong but then didn't because Kelly was there). If you are looking for a knowledgeable and guiding presence to help you plan your wedding, Kelly is definitely the expert to help. Plus, her fantastic knowledge of the Champaign-Urbana area resulted in a lot of great ideas we had never thought of and helped us save a lot of money on catering. Her warmth, kindness, organizational skills, and general calming presence were absolutely critical to getting us through the whole wedding process. We are so grateful our photographer suggested we reach out to Kelly!