Novelty Events

Where do I begin!?! Melissa and her team are ABSOLUTELY THE BEST. We got married this October, but we started working with Melissa in September of 2021. From the moment we met with her, I knew she would go above and beyond to make our wedding day amazing (spoiler: she TOTALLY did!). Let's be honest, planning a wedding is daunting, especially when you aren't booking through a venue. From the get-go, Melissa put our minds at ease and truly walked us through EVERY STEP of the process. From our monthly meetings to the wedding planning portal, every single detail of our wedding was covered and discussed. Melissa is a true professional and it is obvious she is an expert in her field. She gave great recommendations, suggestions, advice - she was really there to support us in any way we needed. She is extremely organized, thorough, great at problem solving and overall just a genuine and sweet person. It is obvious that Melissa genuinely cares about her clients and that compassion shows in the work that she does. On our rehearsal day, Melissa spent the entire day with us at the site getting everything setup, coordinating rental deliveries, helping me decorate, and more. She is everything you would want and need in a wedding planner!! The day of our wedding was absolutely SEAMLESS thanks to Melissa and her team. They handled every detail with professionalism and ensured that no one bothered the bride and groom with any questions/needs which was amazing!!! My husband and I got to enjoy the whole day without a single worry about anything. They were awesome! It is truly bittersweet that this process is coming to an end. In a weird way, I feel like Melissa has become a friend or part of our family and I will miss her! I would recommend Melissa and her team to anyone looking to plan a wedding. I will be forever grateful for everything she did for us over the last year. THANK YOU MELISSA!!!!!

If you are still searching for a wedding planner, look no further. We interviewed several wedding planners and none stood out as much as Melissa with Novelty Events. Starting with the welcome meeting, we were introduced to Melissa and really connected to her kind and genuine personality. We were immediately impressed with her online platform which can keep all your design ideas, budget, vendors, and guest lists all in one place. Melissa is the best planner anyone could ask for, she not only took the time to get to know us as a couple but really listened to what we wanted for our wedding. She kept us on track for all the tasks that needed to be done before our big day and took the lead when we felt overwhelmed. The whole Novelty Events team was extremely helpful the day of our wedding. The entire day ran so smoothly and we couldn’t have done it without Novelty Events!

Hiring Melissa for our October 2021 wedding was one of the best decisions we made! We had a short engagement of only 8 months, and Melissa was all-hands in from the moment we started working with her. When Melissa says she loves working with ‘type A’ brides, I knew it was a match made in heaven. Right off the bat, Melissa had very detailed questioners to get to know not only us, but our vision for our dream wedding. My now-husband and I had a lot of very specific design and event requests that Melissa was always on top of and excited to help us execute. I never imagined I’d find someone who understood what we wanted for our dream backyard wedding in the way that Melissa did. When she presented us with our design board, we were in awe! She made sure to incorporate every design idea we had whether it was something I wanted to “DIY” or something we needed to rent/buy. She went above and beyond to hunt down the perfect pieces to fit into our colorful, fall, vintage wedding. On the day of our wedding she arrived bright and early with a ‘his’ and ‘her’ emergency kit! We were lucky enough to have two of her NE assistants helping at our wedding, and have nothing but positive things to say about them as well. Both Becca and Aryn were kind, knowledgeable and dedicated to making sure our day ran smooth. Melissa was always quick to respond and organized while always managing to make us feel valued, heard and important. You will not regret hiring her and her Novelty Events team for your wedding/event!

Choosing Melissa as our wedding planner was without a doubt THE best decision we made for our wedding. We started working with Melissa in October 2019 with our original wedding date in September 2020. Little did we know that we would face a pandemic for nearly 2 years and have to reschedule our wedding to August 2021. Melissa guided and supported us EVERY step of the way. First, she got to know us as a couple and what matters most to us on our wedding day. She is an incredible listener and you’ll see she even remembers small but meaningful details. Melissa gave us options for catering, flowers, DJs, etc. and we would then decide if we wanted to move forward or interview any of them, or request that she give us more options. SHE was the one in contact with all the vendors… she emailed, she called and we didn’t have to lift a finger! That alone relieved so much stress for the both of us. Melissa helped us weigh the pros and cons and supported our decision to reschedule. Again, SHE was the one in contact with every single vendor we had already booked to see if they could do our new date. We had our wedding at an Airbnb home in Lake Arrowhead, which turned out to bring more challenges than expected. If a problem arose, Melissa already had solution(s) so we could decide which is best. AMAZING. Of course you get disappointed when things don’t go as initially planned, but I was never worried that it wouldn’t work out because Melissa is so good at what she does. Here are a few examples of what Melissa accomplished for us (1) Parking and shuttling 150 guests to the home in the mountains on a small road (2) layout of all the tables and chairs for 150 guests fitting in the back yard of the home (3) the “flip” of our set up from ceremony to reception during cocktail hour (4) a complete timeline for all our vendors and wedding party so everyone knew what they had to do and where they had to be (5) a wedding day kit completed with everything you and your wedding party could possibly need (seriously, think of anything you might need last minute or forgot to bring and it will be in that kit!) (6) one of the vendors brought the wrong chargers for our tables and couldn’t bring the correct chargers in time, BUT within an hour Melissa had made some phone calls and was able to work out getting similar glass chargers - I don’t think any other wedding planner could pull that off! (7) Melissa has a great team of women who were with us the whole wedding day… they made our whole wedding party feel very comfortable and helped us with ANYTHING we needed on that day - helping direct people where to go, helping my mom bustle my dress, helping me switch from heels to shoes and then putting them away for me, bringing down extra lipstick I left upstairs in the bedroom, taking off my veil and putting it away for me for the reception, and so much more. Melissa really went above and beyond for us over the past 2 years. Even on our wedding day she was shuttling vendors to and from the home with her own car since parking was limited, and she helped set up the tables and made sure they looked perfect. There’s so much more that she did for us, I can go on and on, but she truly made our wedding day special. We knew she was incredible, but when your other vendors and wedding guests tell you what a great wedding planner and team you had on your wedding day - you really know you picked the best one! Thank you Melissa and Novelty Events, we are forever grateful for you!

There is no simpler way to say it, Novelty Events was worth every penny! We hired Melissa ahead of the pandemic not knowing that the industry would be turned on its head. She had great foresight into hiring vendors ASAP so that we didn’t lose them as other weddings rescheduled. Melissa had great ideas to make our wedding unique and was so patient with my new wife and I whenever we became overwhelmed. She has a great attitude and is very organized which makes it so easy to work with her. She has great relationships in the industry which led to a great list of preferred vendors and dare I say – even some discounts 😊 On the day of the wedding, her team executed perfectly and made us feel like everything was completely under control. They left us with no worries, and we enjoyed our day! Sad to say the experience is over because we enjoyed working and getting to know Melissa over the last two years. We highly recommend Novelty Events to plan your wedding!

Where do I even begin?! Melissa was such a pleasure to work with and she truly made our boho desert dreams come true. We had such a small budget but she didn't turn us away! She consulted with us and took us on. Our timeline was super short but she turned an elopement into a tiny wedding and I honestly didn't know that was possible. During the planning process we had our original catering food service cancel after having a signed contract and balance paid in full. Melissa fought for us. She was stern and assertive and requested we be refunded immediately. Not only did she have our best interest in mind, fight for her clients (us) but she came to me (the bride) with a solution before making me stress. Her vendor list is aaaamazing! Every vendor at our wedding raves about how they loved working with her and I can see why. She is the most genuine and knowledgeable planner there is. She was involved in every step, attended every vendor meeting and made sure our wants, needs and wishes were met. She truly gave us a beautiful, fun and intimate wedding just like we asked. Her assistant the day of was so helpful and just as sweet! If you need a planner novelty events is your spo

Melissa has now coordinated 8 (YES 8!) of my families events, 6 of which were wedding or wedding related. What can I even say that would do justice to just how special she is?! Each event has been unique and special. Each with their own special touches that nodded to our personality and vision. She really understands what you want, and makes it come to life. Always better then what I had envisioned! She has really honed her craft and is truly the best event planner in Southern California. Trust me, I’ve done the leg work. What she really gifts us when she coordinates our events is time for memories that you can’t ever get back. She’s got it all under control, and I’m always free to enjoy the day and have time for memory making as opposed to worrying about the details. Absolutely worth it!

Where do we even begin! Melissa was such an incredible coordinator, not just for the day or month of, but literally all of the months leading up to our big day. I started the process feeling behind the curve and overwhelmed at the thought of pulling off a wedding for 200 people. We had a vision, but didn't really know all the ins & outs and desperately needed an organized, take-charge kind of planner in our corner to guide us through the process and across the finish line. Not only was Melissa sweet, kind and compassionate all the way up to our wedding, she was incredibly thorough and made us feel confident that everything was taken care. On the day of, our entire wedding party was blown away by Melissa and her team and how on top of it they were. The day was absolute perfection, everyone knew exactly what they needed to do and truly nothing was out of place, all thanks to her! I don't even know what to say other than, if you don't work with Melissa you're seriously missing out on one of the most priceless gift you can give yourself before getting married... peace of mind!

Melissa and her team are AMAZING! I didn't start planning my wedding until a few months before it was happening and she saved us! We were completely overwhelmed and she came in with her confidence, creativeness (beautiful ideas that she knew how to keep in budget), friendliness, attention to ALL of the details (things you don't even think about - she knows all the tricks), and her care for us (checking up on us to make sure the stress wasn't getting to us). She made sure our vision was fulfilled and when others came in with ideas she made sure it was what we, as a couple, really wanted. On the day of, everything ran so smoothly. When we were so busy that we'd forget to grab food and drinks, she would come over and bring some to us to make sure we got to have a bit of everything! Melissa and her team took care of it all! Working with Novelty Events was the best decision!

Melissa saved our wedding three times. She did it all flawlessly and with a contagiously positive attitude through the whole production. FIRST, when she came to the rescue and joined us for the planning. My wife & I fancy ourselves party planners, but we were in a state of overwhelm after our original venue was destroyed by a flood. As soon as Melissa came on board we felt at ease and confident that all would work out in the end. Her confidence and her decisiveness about some key decisions were a huge driver for us, but also the tools she brought to the table were a fantastic aid toward getting our chaotic guest list & event plan organized. SECOND, when we found out days before our wedding that there was going to be road construction on the only road in & out of where our venues were, Melissa picked up the phone and called the friggin' state dept of transportation. When she got the facts, there was no away around it - we needed to book some shuttles to get our guests home. She took care of securing that reservation too. THIRD, was when a brushfire broke out a few hundred yards away from our venue triggering a considerable truck & helicopter response and also shutting down the road. Not only were Melissa & her team highly adaptable in developing a contingency plan (we delayed the ceremony an hour and pushed up cocktail hour pre-ceremony)....but when it came time to break the news to the bride - whom the whole Novelty staff had artfully buffered from any stress all day - Melissa was direct, compassionate, and confident in her delivery. As a result, the whole bridal party was in the perfect headspace to roll with the punches and we went on to have a great ceremony & reception. All in all, Melissa & Novelty Events helped us experience an unforgettably wedding full of magic and miracles. Every disaster became poetry in the end. If that's not exceptional event management, I don't know what is.

Mellisa was our wedding planner and she truly helped me with the littlest of details. We truly enjoyed her and her team throughout the whole process, but especially our wedding day. They made sure everything was in order and flowed very smoothly. Very thankful for her ! Highly recommend!!!

Melissa was so great and easy to work with! She had such a warm and calming energy, while also making sure everything was running smoothly! We cannot recommend her enough!

Working with Melissa & Novelty Events was amazing. So much more than just having someone to help with the logistics of planning a wedding, we felt like we had a real creative partner in designing the wedding of our dreams. Melissa has a real eye for design + coupled with her incredible attention to detail / planning and you have the perfect wedding planner! The Novelty Events team handled our actual wedding day to perfection, we felt like we could sit back and enjoy the day from beginning to end, knowing everything was being taken care of. Cannot recommend them highly enough!! Thank You for making our day so perfect!

Melissa and her team were great to work with! They were detail oriented, friendly, and professional. I see a lot of different approaches to event planning in my line of work as a professional musician, and I can say that Novelty Events is a step ahead of the competition!

OMG YOU GUYS. I love Melissa and her team. As a photographer (and past bride) it's super difficult to come across artistic wedding planners who will make sure your day flows smooth like honey and who is a TEAM PLAYER. YET HERE SHE IS. Beyond being a queen at pulling your wedding vision together, wrangling vendors, wiping moms tears away and handling any crazy behind-the-scenes shenanigans you'll never know about ;) she has the kindest heart and will undoubtedly go above and beyond to bring you the greatest, flawless celebration of your life. I can't say enough great things about her as a friendor and human. Do yourself a favor and HIRE HER NOW!

Melissa and her team were all INCREDIBLE to work alongside! My husband and I are wedding photographers and work with planners every weekend - Melissa is by far one of the best planners we've ever worked with. She is so on top of every detail and will become one of your good friends! Our bride often referred to her has "the fairy godmother" because she made everything magical! Her style is beautiful and she nails the vision of her couples. We love being a part of the timeline meetings and Melissa was so kind to let us play a role in making the day of time-guide so we felt confident in the time needed to capture the day! If you are looking for a planner - HIRE Her! She will make the day run smooth and make it beautiful all at the same time! She is a rare planner with so much raw talent to bring a team together + connect in such a lovely way with all the people around her!

Melissa is the one of the best planners/coordinators I have ever worked with! As a wedding vendor it is important to be able to work well as a team with the other vendors. Melissa went above and beyond to make sure not only the couple was on time and taken care of, but was also attentive to my videography team's needs throughout the day, she even brought us a basket of snacks and drinks! (who does that??) If your vendor team is happy and stress free then they will be free to be more creative and your video/photos will turn out so much better, and not to mention everyone will have a more pleasant experience. If you want your wedding day to be stress free and truly the best day of your life, do yourself a favor and hire Novelty Events!

Melissa took out detailed decor, tough venue constraints and "Giant Wedding Binder" full of info like a champ!

OMG! I love Melissa (Novelty Events) so much! As a photographer, she makes my job so easy being on top of everything, precise attention to detail, suuuuuper kind, a visionary to create unique and personal setting to match the occasion and couple's personalities and desires. Her ability to problem solve under pressure and with little time really show her experience and professionalism. We had an issue on our last shoot together. Days before the shoot, we found out the videographers were not allowed to fly their drone at the original location (and this was a must). Melissa was able to find a really rad venue where the videographers were able to fly the drone and get the *must have shots* and everything turned out EVEN BETTER than planned. **I seriously cannot wait to work with you again Melissa! I love your excited-yet-calm-get-stuff-done attitude! It makes the day so much more fun and enjoyable.

Novelty Events not only excels at planning and coordination, but they are very detail oriented and great at design as well! Melissa planned our Grand Opening for us and made the process easy and took so much stress off of our shoulders. She is professional, but also so much fun! I highly recommend Novelty Events for events both large and small.

"Melissa organized our wedding in 2015. She and her team did the greatest job!! Every guest commented on what a wonderful wedding it was. Thank you, Melissa. It would not have happened so well without you.

An absolutely wonderful time working with Melissa of Novelty Events. Beyond detail oriented, professional, and an amazing designer! Her vision is always so beautiful and she is so very kind, such a pleasure to work with. Novelty Events is always at the top of our list of favorites when recommending planners to our brides.

Melissa is the kindest, most patient vendor I've ever seen. Everything that day was smooth and professionally planned out. She took great care of not only the couple, but the vendors and attendees as well! She was supportive to us, and positive all night long. It's so rare to find a wedding planner as good and kind as her- it made all the difference! I would love to work with her for every wedding!

I wish I could give Novelty Events more than 5 stars! Melissa was truly amazing to work with while planning our wedding. I knew we would want a day-of-coordinator, but I really underestimated how much Melissa would do for us throughout the planning process. She was so organized, helped us stay ahead of everything, and had a solution to any small hiccup we encountered along the way. She was easy to get ahold of and quick to respond to any question that we had-big or small. I have a hard time asking for help...even when I need it...and Melissa was INCREDIBLE in not letting me take on too much. The minute she would hear me say "I need to call the [florist, dj, photographer, videographer, rental company, photo booth company, caterer, hair stylist, makeup artist, ...you get the idea] she would take everything off my plate without me asking or even expecting it! Our other vendors made a point to tell us how awesome she was, and how much they enjoyed working with her. That really says a lot, considering they've seen the good, the bad, and everything in between. It really made everything that much easier knowing we were in the right hands, and everything was getting done without us having to stress. When it came to our wedding day, she gave her number to everyone in our wedding party/family at the rehearsal the day before, so we wouldn't have to bothered with any question or concern on our big day. Everything ran so seamlessly...we didn't have to ask our family or friends to help with anything because it was already taken care of. We were able to be present in every moment. Our guests even came up to us at the end of the night and commented how "great our coordinator was." How often does that happen?? It was a great experience working with Novelty Events, and I would not hesitate working with them again!! HIGHLY recommend!!!!

Melissa at Novelty Events is amazing!! First, she is super organized! Leading up to wedding day, she creates a well thought out timeline and communicates all the necessary details to every vendor. On rehearsal day, she does a fantastic job practicing with bridal party & family, as well as reviews pertinent info with the entire group. Most importantly, on wedding day, Melissa is kind, professional and calm from beginning to end. She insures that her brides and grooms, as well as family, bridal party & guests enjoy the entire day without having to worry about timeline and logistical details. Hiring a wedding coordinator is a must & you can’t go wrong with Novelty Events!!!

Novelty Events went above and beyond in helping prepare my surprise engagement to my beautiful wife. They made sure the venue was taken care of, closely followed my vision for the day, and made sure no detail was missed. I proudly recommend them to anyone who needs any type of event planned!

Novelty Events saved me and my wedding. I thought I knew what I was doing when planning my own wedding and I had no idea how hard it was going to be, the stress involved and everything that had to get done. Melissa sat me down and put my mind at ease. She's kind, knowledgable, and has so many creative ideas that I never even thought of! I had a beautiful outdoor garden wedding of 450 guests. My husband is Hispanic so there were a few Cultural differences and traditions that she knew exactly how to work with and make everyone, especially me, satisfied. I would highly recommend using Novelty Events as a wedding planner. They made my wedding planning experience smooth and my wedding day magical. Thank you!!!!

I feel like I'm about to write a birthday card for a best friend, and that'll clue you in to how my words can't do justice to how awesome Novelty Events is. To begin, my first impression meeting with them was that they would be there for me always and take care of me if I was stressed. Best. Decision. Melissa is EXTREMELY organized, composed, and is not afraid to get firm when it's needed, which I loved because she is so spunky and I appreciated her honest opinion. She KNOWS the wedding business, and is capable of weaving in and managing new wedding cultures and ideas. She is highly responsive and all vendors praised how on top of it she was. The team executed and managed things very well, and me being a Type A personality and not wanting to let things go, I was able to trust them. On a personal level, Melissa is the brightest and sweetest human being. I felt like I had another family member there looking out for me. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND booking Novelty Events for your wedding.

Tasha and Melissa were a dream team in creating and coordinating our wedding day! They truly made our wedding planning a fun and stress-free process and allowed us to lean back, relax and truly enjoy our most special day with zero worries. They managed all the vendor-communications so well and coordinated and helped design a truly magical day for us. We had a desert-destination wedding and Tasha and Melissa specially made it super easy to manage things from far by always being available to communicate and execute the planning process. Our day turned out to be as gorgeous as we had envisioned it to be and even more stress-free than I ever imagined because of the hard work of these two lovely ladies!