My Event by Jen Kasten

from the moment that we sat down with Jen that we were in good hands. She is extremely experienced and knowledgeable, and she has a lot of great relationships with vendors. She made everything so easy for us. Planning a destination wedding could very easily be overwhelming and stressful, but with Jen it never was. She communicates with the vendors directly and would very clearly give us tasks or request decisions/information from us and then she would execute. We were so lucky to work with her and were so grateful to have her as a part of our special day!

website as I didn't want to be talked into booking a resort based on the commission an agent would get or the impersonal feel of using an Internet based company. Jen was a perfect solution! Jen met with us in person and listened to all our wants and concerns. She then did all the work of narrowing down the resorts she felt would be best for us and gave us options that were much more manageable to start! She did a great job of picking resorts that fit what we were looking for and allowed us to see the full spectrum of what we would get for our price range v. what we were looking for. She then helped us set up site visits at the resorts we liked best and meetings and tastings with the coordinators at each resort. This was amazing! I would have not known how to even begin this process. She managed the schedule for us and did all the communication with each resort to get a schedule that allowed us to stay and visit 5 resorts in only 3 nights. All the meetings were preset so we had nothing to worry about there and she was in constant communication with us the whole time to get our feed back and make us aware of any scheduling changes. She provided us with a list of questions to ask each planner at the resort which were questions I wouldn't have even thought of. Jen took the time to really listen to what we wanted. When it came time to book the resort, Jen handled all negotiations with the resort and communication which was great as she knew better what to ask for. It also helped with stress! There were so many perks Jen was able to get us because she knew the landscape and help us weed out things that wouldn't have been beneficial to us. It also is great that she speaks Spanish so she was able to communication with the resorts much more effectively. Jen presented all information to us in very organized spreadsheets and files which helped us compare all our options and the time spent gathering all that information is well worth Jen alone! Jen made us feel so special and you can tell she really cared to make our wedding as special as possible. Our wedding day was perfect, the resort we had our wedding at was perfect and we owe a huge part of that to Jen! My husband and I have said many times that using Jen was one of the best decisions we made when planning the wedding!! I HIGHLY recommend using Jen!! We loved her and we loved the experience because of her!

s me I know there will be another exquisite boutique style wedding ahead. Jennifer’s designed weddings are very photogenic, very well organised. I always admire her ability to connect to her brides, and to clearly transmit her ideas and visualise them. Even in the big weddings the mood is very intimate. In my opinion Jennifer always pays the right amount of attention to the couple during the wedding day. I don’t mind to go extra mile in Jennifer’s organised weddings because I love the way Jennifer treats her vendor team. The mood in the backstage is very inspiring. If you decide to go with Jennifer expect creative planning and precise execution!

le search. Jen appealed to us because she was local (in Chicago), and is a native of Mexico. She first helped us decide on a destination in Mexico, and then sent us on a site visit to Puerto Vallarta where she had organized a packed schedule for us to see a ton of venues and vendors (hotels, restaurants, caterers, photographers, etc.). Having had to the opportunity to see all sorts of options, we felt very comfortable about making our final decisions. Jen showed us options we know we would have never found on our own. As the planning process progressed, Jen made herself available to meet with us whenever we wanted and was always patient and generous with her time. She also created a to-do list of activities for us to complete in between each meeting which made the whole process very organized and stress free. In addition to planning our wedding reception, Jen also put together guest transportation, the rehearsal dinner, and a sunset boat cruise for our guests the day after our wedding. Jen really helped with the details that made our wedding feel special and unique. We couldn't have been happier about how our wedding turned out. It was truly amazing, Jen is a great planner and she was a pleasure to work with throughout the process.

l turned out a great party. That said, NONE of positive elements of the wedding were a contribution of Jen Kasten's wedding coordinator services. Her presence seemed to add only confusion and stress and her negative, uncooperative attitude put a bad taste in my mouth (as well as the other bridesmaids). Here is an example that illustrates her poor attitude (this is one of MANY instances): the five bridesmaids exited the bus in front of the church moments before we were to walk down the aisle. We each carried a small purse (containing bridesmaid essentials- lip gloss, compact, tissues, camera, etc.) and upon exiting the bus, we asked Jen if she would mind holding the purses for the duration of the short ceremony. She responded with a curt, irritated, "Girls, you should've thought about this ahead of time!!" before begrudgingly taking our purses (which again, were small and should've been no trouble to hold). I was floored by her rudeness and unprofessionalism. SHE should've thought of this ahead of time- it's details like this that my friend and her fiancé were paying her A LOT to think about and take care of. One of the main responsibilities of a wedding coordinator is to think ahead and anticipate the needs of the bride, groom and yes, the bridal party, so the day is smooth and enjoyable for all involved. Jen seemed like she couldn't be bothered to be helpful in any way which really mortified me since she was being paid to be there. I was married less than a year ago and paid the daughter of one of my mom's friends to act as a "day of" wedding coordinator for my wedding. This person did an INFINITELY better job than Jen and she doesn't even work in the industry and had never done anything like this before! She simply understood that her job was to be helpful the day of the wedding and think of things ahead of time that would make the day go as perfectly as possible. Jen does not seem to understand that concept. It also seemed like Jen was just lurking around serving no real purpose throughout the day, but then during important parts of the reception (toasts and dinner) found a reason to go bother the bride and groom- with God only knows what. Unless there's a fire in the kitchen (maybe not even then!), the wedding coordinator should not be bothering the bride and groom once everyone is at the reception- that's the point of thinking things through ahead of time. Overall, I found Jen to be incredibly unprofessional and to add no value to the overall event. I understand she has a bit of a niche market in Chicago (lucky for her)- being from Mexico and living in Chicago- but I would NOT recommend her services to couples considering getting married in Mexico. She's far more trouble than she's worth.