Out of Box Weddings

If you are going to hire a wedding planner, look no further than Out of Box Weddings by Anthony. He planned my wedding for about 305 guests and made me feel like my husband and I were celebrity clients. The attention we received was more than I thought possible. He has a knack for finding the perfect venue and making sure that the wedding is absolutely representative of the couple and their greatest desires. I didn't know I needed special cocktail napkins or table cloths to make the room fun but I know now! Also, I had the best flowers. I will never forget Anthony showing me the room where the guests were going to eat and seeing the magic. Last minute he was able to transform the chuppah into a canopy over the table where we sat with our closest family members. It was truly special. Anthony and his team are a stellar group of people. I am telling you that he took care of everything and made it feel like we planned the greatest celebration for the people we care most about.

The kindest staff! Everyone took such good care of us especially the owner who made sure our every need was met and beyond. I couldn’t recommend this vendor enough, not only for their experience but for the outstanding customer service and attention to details. Kudos!

Anthony and his team know how to plan weddings. He listens and also lets you know his thoughts from his many years of wedding planning experience. We really appreciated that! He helped us get our other vendors for the wedding. Saley was wonderful to work with on flowers and The Girls Catering was great to work with too!

Anthony and his team are A-MAZ-ING. After meeting Anthony, his expertise with everything weddings was evident, and I felt such relief that he would help us plan a beautiful wedding. Every single question and email was answered promptly. He thinks of every detail, and his timeline is a must for any wedding; it was flawless. Saley did our flowers and decor and they were gorgeous! Anthony was such a pleasure to work with, knows his stuff, and made the big day such a success. The best decision made was hiring Anthony.

Anthony and his team are outstanding! I hired Out of Box Weddings for event management, planning, and day of coordination but I ended up getting so much more. From instant email communications to answering questions beyond normal planning - Anthony came through and beyond. Can't thank him or his team enough!

Anthony and his team were so knowledgeable and supportive during the planning process and events leading up to the wedding day. Anthony has extensive knowledge of the entire wedding related hospitality industry, and it shows in his professionalism and connections in the Des Moines area. Everything was perfect and everyone had a great time!

I cannot say enough good things about Anthony and Out of Box Productions. Our officiant canceled the day before our wedding, and Anthony got us a replacement within hours. Not only that, but he had negotiated with the officiant to ensure we would not have to pay any extra for his services. On our wedding day, we had forgotten a picture frame for a photo of my late grandfather for a memorial. Anthony had brought extra frames that matched the ones we selected, allowing us to include my grandfather at the wedding. He is an absolute professional - extremely knowledgeable and organized. Anthony made wedding planning smooth and simple. He is an expert at making your “must haves” work seamlessly with the rest of the wedding plan, regardless of how challenging it might be, and all of his recommendations were top of the line and budget friendly. Although very busy, Anthony is always very responsive to text messages, phone calls, and emails. Anthony is worth every penny and more!

If you are on the fence about hiring Anthony, the best, single piece of advice I can give you is to DO IT. Anthony is the very best at his craft. He went above and beyond to make our day exceptional. My now-husband and I hired him for “day-of coordination”, but Anthony helped us every single step of the way. One of the many things I loved about working with Anthony was the fact that he encouraged me to CC him on every wedding-related email. I never felt like I was bothering him, and it gave me such peace of mind to know that he was always in the loop. He helped us find incredible vendors in the Des Moines area (most notably Saley from Artisan Floral & Events, who executed my vision better than I ever could have dreamed). On the wedding day, Anthony and his team took care of every detail, big and small, and the day went off without a single hitch. Our family and friends were able to enjoy the entire day and night without any worries about helping us set up or tear down. Not only that, but he helped me and my husband to slow down and soak in every moment. I cannot possibly recommend Anthony enough!

AMAZING!! Anthony & his team are phenomenal! So organized and helped move the day along smoothly! I loved getting updates ahead of time to know what the plan was for the day! I know who I definitely recommend Out of the Box for all your wedding planning needs!

I consider Anthony to be the MVP of our wedding experience. Anthony's experience and organization helped keep us on track every step of the way and Anthony had an answer for every question. I really cannot overstate how important Anthony was for making this wedding work. Anthony demonstrated so much knowledge with all the vendors we worked with and helped support us when working with a fairly new venue in the area. Anthony had tools for how to plan months in advance and even details we wouldn't have thought of, like preparing the tips for vendors in advance and coordinating the transport of personal items. Anthony's timeline development was crucial. For the day of the event, seeing Anthony and his team was such a reassurance and we barely had to think about anything throughout the day. We are so grateful for Our of Box Productions!

If I could give Anthony and his team all of the stars in the sky, I would. He really made sure our wedding went off without a hitch, and this was during COVID, so not only did he help me plan 1 wedding, he helped me plan 2. He was there during the bookings, the rebooking, the tears, the breakdowns, late night quick emails that crossed my mind, everything. I also valued that he put clear boundaries on his time. Most times he emailed back earlier, but I never felt like I was waiting for him to email me back or that he was not respecting his own time. On the day, he had staff at the wedding hotel and on site helping with every single detail. His staff did everything from set up my cell phone for live streaming the ceremony, to taking my dog out to potty before loading onto the bus, to handling her for me before she ran down the aisle, to running to get ice water for me during portraits, to reseating guests due to an unexpected guest arriving, and tearing everything down and loading it into the vehicles before closing time. I truly hope that I get to see Anthony again either for another event or just in person. He is a wonderful person and is incredibly organized. He would be the best planner for any event, and you won’t regret hiring him.

Anthony & crew did such an amazing job coordinating and helping to plan our wedding day. Given we had an August wedding mid-pandemic, there were lots of last minute changes and Anthony helped to navigate all of them. On our wedding day, we knew everything would be taken care of as he had reached out to every vendor and was the point-of-contact for everything. They even made sure my favorite cold drink was in my hand at all times :) Our reception was such a success because of them - THANK YOU!

Our son & daughter-in-law’s wedding reception was absolutely stunning and flawlessly executed and it we owe it all to Saley & Anthony (Artisan Floral and Events by Saley & Out-Of-Box Weddings). Living in New York City and the bride & groom in Shanghai, Saley & Anthony were there every single step of the way from the concept and design of the wedding, from vendor selection to organizing and facilitating all vendors, and providing us with professional guidance in a non-obtrusive and tasteful way. Planning a long distance wedding reception is not easy. You will spend a lot of time communicating with whichever planner you choose, so it's hard to overstate how important it is to actually like them. Saley & Anthony and their team are top shelf in terms of both professionalism and personality. It's worth noting that one of the best parts of working with them is that, besides being great at their jobs, they're also wonderful people. At every step of the process, they were kind, understanding, helpful, and, most importantly, consummate professionals who navigated obstacles with ease and made the planning process exciting, not overwhelming. With all of our faith in Saley & Anthony we couldn't have imagined how beautiful the evening would turn out. Saley took our Chinese-inspired concept and transformed The Conservatory into Old Shanghai with hanging lanterns, parasols and vintage lighting, along with stunning flower arrangements. The room glowed. We received overwhelming compliments on not only the design details, but how smooth, elegant and effortless the wedding reception was. It was the best decision we could have ever made to hire Out-Of-Box Weddings and Artisan Floral and Events by Saley to plan our wedding and feel so lucky to have worked with them.

When my fiancé and I set out to start planning our small wedding, we were dreading the stress and the amount of time it would take from our daily lives. We weren’t sure if a wedding planner was right for us since we had a smaller guest list and budget, but when we met with Anthony we knew it was the right move. He was smart, professional and incredibly responsive. When we met him we were in the middle of looking at venues. It was stressful and we were really unsure of what we needed or how to proceed. As soon as Anthony came on board, there was NO STRESS (well almost none, it’s a wedding). We were able to email him about any and all questions, he recommended top choices for vendors, and discussed the benefits/downside of different choices that we needed to make. He saved us so much time that would have been spent researching and stressing about making the wrong choices. There were so many times throughout the planning process that my fiancé and I looked at each other and said “this was the best decision we’ve made since we started planning”. Even the week before my wedding, I was super relaxed because I knew everything was handled. And let me just tell you about the day of! Anthony was there to make sure everything flowed smoothly, started on time, that we had enough to eat and that our drinks were always full. One of my favorite moments of the evening was when we hit the dessert station and turn around to find a table, and there is Anthony sliding a cocktail table up to us from across the room just so we wouldn’t have to walk to one. He took wonderful care of us and our guests and really allowed us to enjoy our evening.

I can’t say enough about having Anthony as our day of coordinator! He was absolutely outstanding and went above and beyond to make our day perfect. We met with him months in advance and he did so much more than just the day of coordination. He helped me find the best vendors, created our entire timeline, coordinated our deliveries all day and made sure our first look went perfect without any hiccups! He even met us for our first look to help put boutonnieres on the wedding party. He made sure I had a full drink all night and catered to all of our guests. He set everything up so perfectly so that none of our guests were waiting in long lines for food or drinks. Most importantly he made planning and coordinating a wedding fun. He has a great personality and focuses on what’s important. Weddings are stressful and he made it as carefree as possible. He is so talented and experienced in the wedding industry and always gave me great advice and ideas. I couldn’t have asked for anything more and can’t thank him enough!

Thank you, Anthony for a flawless wedding event!!! As mother of an out of state bride, I could not have planned & organized this fabulous wedding without your expertise. Your attention to detail was appreciated! You helped select vendors, kept me on a timeline and took care of all details on the wedding day—even putting the gifts in our car!!!! I will forever sing your praises!! You are the best wedding coordinator in the business!!

Our experience in working with Out of Box Productions was nothing less than fantastic! Anthony and Saley were wonderful to partner with from start to finish. They value and appreciate our vision, knew exactly what we wanted, and ran with it. Anthony was very prompt in responding to all of our questions and needs (and I had a lot of them) and Saley went above and beyond to ensure our day was perfect. They truly exceeded our expectations and we highly recommend them for any event planning! We wouldn’t have been able to do it without them and we owe it all to Out of Box Productions.

Anthony was incredible! We selected the Day Of wedding package and thought the service would be just that, but Anthony went above and beyond and constantly kept in touch for months prior, helping organize and keeping me on schedule. He was super knowledgeable about wedding etiquette and what to expect. The flowers through Saley were absolutely GORGEOUS and overall the way the venue was decorated by his team was fantastic. He has a lot of great vendor connections and took care of so much for me! Everything turned out beautiful. I couldn’t have asked for more!

Anthony is amazing. We hired him as a day of coordinator but he seriously went above and beyond! We worked with him for about 7 months before the wedding. I ask a million questions and Anthony was always happy to help and promptly answered every email and phone call I threw his way. He was full of great ideas and brings a whole new definition to the words detail oriented and organized (in the best way). The timeline that he created for our wedding day helped not only keep me sane, but kept the wedding party, our families and the other vendors all on the same page (which cut out a lot of stress on the wedding day!) Anthony also introduced us to Saley who did our floral which was also 10/10 - she’s the best! If you are considering a wedding planner I would 100% recommend Anthony and his team! Thank you for helping our dream wedding become a reality!!!

I cannot say enough great things about Anthony! We hired Anthony initially so that we could enjoy the wedding day and not have to worry about anything. He was extremely responsive, organized and attentive. Anthony went above & beyond and truly exceeded all our expectations! I highly recommend him!! Absolutely the best!!

Our wedding day was so fabulous! And we owe it all to Out of Box Productions (and our parents). We honestly couldn’t have done it without them! Anthony was more than just a day-of-coordinator. He exceeded all expectations we had. He has tons of industry experience and provided us with several recommendations/suggestions (when prompted). Additionally, his wonderful assistant, Sarah, went above and beyond her call of duty the day of the wedding. From fixing bridesmaid’s shoes that broke… to making sure the bride and groom ate dinner, she stepped in to assist even though it wasn’t part of her job description. Their goal was making sure our day was perfect and it truly was! We’ve received countless compliments on how amazing our wedding was! From the bottom of our hearts, we can’t thank Anthony and Out of Box Productions enough for making our special day THE best day of out lives!

Calling this a vendor review simply isn’t accurate. Anthony Marinaro is so much more than a vendor, he is a partner. He was as vested in making my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding their dream wedding as we were. Anthony provided us with sage advice that only comes with experience. He was a great listener and just “got us”. I am sure he had other weddings he was working on, but we felt like we were his only client. Responsiveness is really important to me and Anthony was the best. He would answer emails on weekends and when he was on vacation! He told us there would be things that go wrong on the wedding day, but it was his job to make sure we didn’t know about it. He certainly followed through on that. Whether it was deciding on rentals or meeting with vendors, Anthony was right by our side. He advised, but didn’t push. He just wanted us to see all sides of our decisions. I simply can’t say enough good things about our experience. We could not have done this without him!

Anthony and the Out of the Box team were truly amazing! If you are looking for low stress wedding planning, look no further. Moreover, Anthony and his team truly allow you to be as involved as you want, are incredibly organized, and honestly have wedding planning and event execution down to a science. Lastly, Anthony knows EVERYONE in the business (vendor wise) which allows him to not only meet any budget but also achieve any idea, want or desire you have.

Thank YOU! It was wonderful. Everyone raved and raved about how perfect it was, such a testament to my mom, etc. It was everything I had hoped for. Christy

Cemone and the Out of Box team were absolutely amazing. From the moment I started working with Cemone, I felt comfortable, at ease, and confident that everything would be taken care of. She was responsive to any questions and concerns that I had and quick to respond to emails. If she could not get back to me right away for some reason, she would let me know in advance. I did not have a single worry the day of my wedding and was able to enjoy each moment fully. I had an idea of what our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception would look like and she pulled together everything perfectly, exactly how I pictured and more. My expectations were exceeded beyond belief. I would highly recommend Out of Box Weddings without any hesitation.

Anthony was amazing and we couldn't have done it without him! All of the planning involved went so smoothly with no hiccups along the way. Come Wedding Day, I literally didn't worry about a thing! 10/10 would recommend Out of Box Event Productions!

We booked Out of Box for "day of" services, but really, Anthony helped us with a lot of details the month or so before the wedding, managing timing and details with several other vendors and keeping us in the loop every step of the way. His timeline was so detailed and allowed the whole day to flow seamlessly; I didn't have to worry about anything besides getting married and enjoying the day with my family and friends. If I had tried to handle this aspect of the day on my own, there is just no way I would have known to consider or plan for so many of the little details that Anthony made sure were sorted out long before our wedding day. Saley was such a calming, organized presence the day of, directing everyone and keeping us perfectly on schedule. She also made sure my husband and I had everything we needed all night long (from food to drinks to champagne right after the ceremony to a moment alone), even while we were busy chatting with guests. I honestly can't imagine our wedding day without Anthony and Saley coordinating it.

Wow, we could not have more positive things to say about Anthony and his company. He has been working with us over the past year and a half to plan our winter wedding, and it was more beautiful than we could have ever imagined. He had great resources, was 100% responsive to all of our emails, texts, and phone calls, and made sure everything was always in order. He accommodated all of our last minutes changes and decisions and even made sure my husband and I had a drink and food in our hand while we were mingling with our guests the night of our wedding. He always had great suggestions and definitely has an eye for perfection. His business partner/florist, Saley, was also outstanding and made a gorgeous arrangement for our ceremony and reception. If you do not want to worry about anything and are looking for someone who will make your wedding gorgeous, go with Anthony 100%.

i attended a wedding in Des Moines last week and it was beautiful, well orchestrated and everyone had a wonderful time. This party was as fun and well done as any in New York City! Great job Anthony!

My daughter's wedding was last week and involved planning for a large wedding (300). We started meeting with Anthony and his floral designer Saley 10 months in advance. He is always acessible, follows up on all requests, and is professional every step of the way! The bride changed plans with some of the arrangements and Anthony did not blink an eye and supported her decisions with outside vendors. In addition it RAINED during the entire day and we all were "mentally prepared" but Anthony saved the day in many ways. He shopped and purchased a clear umbrella for the bride and groom's first look which was essential throughout the rest of the day. Everything at Sticks was ready and twinkling when we arrived after the ceremony. I could go on and on but would not hesitate to hire Anthony and Saley for your wedding.

Anthony really is the best around. He put up with my bridezilla demands flawlessly. Although you can utilize his services on only the day of, I went with the middle package--and I'm certainly glad I did. He understood my vision, and executed perfectly. I truly do not know what I would have done without him. I can't say enough great things. He's worth every single cent and then some.

Anthony and his entire staff are absolutely amazing!! They helped me pull out my dream wedding without me or my family not having to do much at all! He also has amazing connections with the best vendors for your big day!! My initial flower person fell through and Anthony was there to save the day giving me the best flowers a girl could ask for!!! Book your wedding or any event for that matter with them! It was worth every penny!

I can't even begin to start with describing our experience with Anthony. The best way I can describe working with him is I have had a dream of how my wedding would be, I handed him the paintbrush and he painted my dream. He was honest in every area, and every word of advice he gave, he said it in a way where he was excited for my idea, but this way it would be better...he was right it was. The little touches he did to make my wedding about just me and my fiancé made all the difference in our night. I had no idea about vendors and where to start...but do not fret...Anthony not only knows people, with his experience, but he knows the best of the best. Curve balls were thrown every which way on our wedding day, and I did not know of any of it....Anthony was behind the scenes dealing with it all, for all I knew...my day was going just as planned. The flowers from Saley, the candles, linens, the food, everything, his staff and my personal attendant for the day while he was running around was phenomenal, everything was beautiful. If you want the absolute best wedding planner, you cannot top Anthony, you simply cannot. he went above and beyond in areas he did not have to. If you are contemplating hiring a wedding planner, and I could only give you one word of advice...I would say it is the best money I could've spent.

Anthony was absolutely essential for us during our wedding process and day of coordination. We only did "day of services" but his professionalism showed through his ability to coach us and answer our questions all the way through the planning stages. He was the perfect balance of timeliness, patience, and "get stuff done!". We obviously will never know all of the great things he did behind the scenes because we had the time of our lives the whole evening! (He even got us dinner through our catering company after we discovered we hadn't taken time to get in on the served food!). I wish he could coordinate my life as effectively. Needless to say, we loved having him on our team.

As a bride who did not want a typical banquet hall wedding, it was overwhelming initially to discover all the steps that needed to be taken in order to pull off this event - vendor contacts, timelines, catering, alcohol, etc. etc; however, Out of Box Event Productions, specifically owner Anthony Marinaro, took that stress off my shoulders and was worth every penny. His organization, lists of recommended vendors, day-of coordination, and constant open line of communication allowed for our dream to be realized without a hitch. We cannot thank you enough!!

Anthony provides top notch service and details in helping to plan your wedding. Anthony was amazing through the whole process to help us answer any questions and to work with our vendors to coordinate for our big day. Anthony has a great vision and will do his best to make your day amazing. He truly went above and beyond for our day and it went perfect without a glitch. Anthony made it so that I didn't have to worry about a thing when it came to our wedding day. It was stress free and I got to spend my time to just be with my bridesmaids and then groom of course!

It was great working with Anthony, our wedding was as perfect as it could be. He made sure that everything came out as we were expecting. Very helpful finding suppliers and they all delivered and excellent service.

We used Out of Box for our daughter's wedding and could not be happier. Anthony is a true professional and provided excellent service . I wish I could give an overall rating of 10 stars!

Anthony did a wonderful job throughout the entire course of wedding planning. He was readily available to help and offer insight into the Sticks space. He helped to coordinate with our rental vendors and served as a wealth of knowledge about wedding day details. He was so responsive and always willing to help. It was a pleasure working with him and he truly helped to make our day wonderful!

We used Out of Box Weddings as a "day of" organizer for our wedding, but they did so much more. We were unsure whether or not we needed a planner at all, but I can tell you that after the fact we couldn't have imagined our wedding day without them. Overall they make everything go smoothly and allow you to not worry about a thing. From dealing with the vendors, caterers, church staff, transportation, etc. they have relationships with most people in town and are able to hold them accountable and ensure everything works as it should. We didn't not worry about a thing all day, and everywhere we looked the Out of Box staff was greasing the wheels. Not only were they helpful the day of, but we had several hours of meetings in the months beforehand, and hundreds of emails to answer questions on what is "standard" and how we should handle things....Way more service than we expected. Anthony and his team are very straightforward...but that comes with years of experience and trust us that you are best served to follow his advice. We found our experience so valuable that a few months before the wedding we hired Out of Box to plan our 80+ people rehearsal event the Friday before at Sticks in Des Moines...and again, looking back, having them handle the whole weekend was key to its success. I could recommend them more highly!!!!

I couldn't have better things to say about Anthony and his team. Throughout the planning process, Anthony was attentive, organized and resourceful. He provided many helpful tips and did a great job coordinating a timeline with the photographer, DJ, etc. I am grateful, he made our wedding day much less stressful. With a later wedding time, couldn't set up the venue myself. Place looked wonderful and received numerous compliments. I would recommend him to anyone.