About this vendor
Planning Collective (previously Purple Clover Events)
Detroit, Michigan & Beyond
With over 20 years of wedding planning experience, I’ve seen firsthand how overwhelming planning a wedding can feel — but it doesn’t have to be that way. At Planning Collective and Purple Clover Events, my goal is simple: to help you plan a stress-free, joy-filled wedding day that feels authentically you.
Whether you’re looking for full-service guidance from start to finish, hands-on help in those final months, or just a professional to bring your vision to life on the wedding day itself, you’ll find an option designed to fit your needs, style, and budget.
Full Service Planning
Perfect for busy couples who want expert guidance every step of the way. From budget creation and vendor research to design development and day-of execution, I’ll manage every detail so you can actually enjoy your engagement.
Partial Planning
You’ve handled some of the big pieces, now let’s refine the rest. This package starts with a personalized planning audit and includes 10 flexible hours of planning help, with the option to add more as needed. You’ll also get access to my online planning lounge with tools for your budget, guest list, timeline, and more, plus full wedding day coordination.
Wedding Day Management
Also known as “month-of coordination,” this service ensures that all your hard work comes together seamlessly. I’ll step in 6–8 weeks before your wedding to confirm vendors, finalize timelines, and manage every moving part on the big day so you can relax and celebrate.
Planning Collective Membership
In addition to one-on-one planning services, I also offer a virtual membership that helps couples plan their weddings confidently — even if they don’t have a planner. Inside the Planning Collective Membership, you’ll find a step-by-step course that walks you through the full planning process, editable checklists and templates, a customizable budget tracker, and monthly live sessions to review timelines and answer questions. Members also get access to a supportive community of other couples who are planning alongside you. It’s everything you need to stay organized, make decisions faster, and actually enjoy the process.
Every couple I work with receives access to the Planning Collective Membership, my online hub with videos, checklists, templates, and a supportive community of engaged couples. Whether we’re meeting in person in Metro Detroit or working together virtually, you’ll always have a planner in your corner to guide you through each decision and keep the process feeling simple, organized, and (dare I say) fun.
Your wedding day should feel like you — effortless, meaningful, and full of moments you’ll actually get to experience. Let’s plan something amazing together.
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
- Destination Wedding Planning
Planning
- A la Carte Wedding Planning
- Budgeting
- Day-Of Coordination
- Destination Wedding Planning
- Full Service Wedding Planning
- Honeymoon Planning
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Engagement Party
- Honeymoon
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Bachelor Party
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
4.9
out of 5.030 reviews
A Truly Exceptional Planner — Above and Beyond
I cannot say enough wonderful things about Kate McClellan at The Planning Collective. I hired Kate for the “day-of” planning packag...
e for my wedding, but what she delivered was truly the equivalent of a few months of dedicated, detailed, and attentive support.
From the beginning, Kate stepped in with a calm, confident presence that immediately put me at ease. She was incredibly organized and proactive, asking smart questions, identifying gaps I hadn’t even realized existed, and seamlessly coordinating with vendors long before the “week-of” window officially began. Her communication was always timely, warm, and reassuring — exactly what every overwhelmed bride or groom hopes for.
During the final stretch leading up to the wedding, Kate became the steady anchor of the entire operation. She created clear timelines, managed logistics flawlessly, and ensured every vendor was aligned without my having to lift a finger. On the wedding day itself, she executed everything with absolute professionalism and grace. I didn’t have to think about a single detail — I was simply able to be present and enjoy every moment.
Kate has an exceptional blend of expertise, kindness, and genuine care for her clients. She listens, she anticipates needs, and she consistently goes above and beyond what’s expected. Hiring her was one of the best decisions I made during the entire wedding-planning process. I wholeheartedly and without hesitation recommend her to anyone looking for a planner who will exceed expectations in every possible way.
Kate, thank you for making our wedding weekend seamless, joyful, and unforgettable.
Kate was the wedding planner for the marriage of our first daughter 8/25. She was so awesome that we booked her over a year in advance for our 2nd daughter's wedding 9/26. Kate wa...
s incredibly organized, professional and extremely knowledgable about all aspects of a wedding. She patiently walked us through all timelines, interfaced with vendors, guided us with sticky family concerns, and was the most calming influence on the big day. She took all the worry and anxiety out of the many details so we all could enjoy the entire day and evening. You cannot find a more exceptional wedding planner than Kate!
Kate was incredibly kind, patient, and helpful throughout the journey of trying to plan (and replan!) a wedding in the middle of a pandemic. She's ideal for couples who need major ...
planning help and/or have weddings with 50+ guests. That said, we had a microwedding and it was still invaluable to have Kate there the day of to handle the smaller details. We're hoping to be able to work with her once a larger celebration is feasible. Kate's connections and prior experience with our venue and other vendors put us at ease and gave us insight into how things are typically done at our venue. We recommend her for anyone looking for a day-of coordinator (or for more extensive planning) in metro Detroit.
Kate was great to work with! She was open and flexible from the start. She had a heart for my Covid canceled wedding and wanted to make my day come true. She didn't have experience...
planning at my venue yet, but was willing to learn everything she could to be prepared. Kate was paid to be our "day of" planner, but definitely helped before and after the actual day. She was attentive to emails, calls and helped recommend vendors. I was most impressed with her on the weekend of. She showed up ready to make my vision happen and I felt that she fully understood the plan and was ready to execute it. She communicated with the other vendors and even stepped in to do other jobs that weren't expected of her. She kept her cool in the tougher moments and followed through until the end. I would definitely recommend her for a "day of/weekend of!"
Kate was awesome as our day of coordinator! I was not bothered once throughout the day/night as far as I know everything went swimmingly. I could not appreciate her more! She was v...
ery honest, direct, and professional through the process. Her team was very helpful and adaptable to our many needs! I would highly recommend her for your special day and trust she knows what she’s doing!
So happy we hired Kate for our day of wedding planner...she is a pro. She was very thorough in all our meetings and made sure we didn't miss a detail. She listened to our wishes an...
d provided excellent recommendations. Kate was very accommodating with our schedule since the bride and groom live out of state so our preliminary meetings needed to be held on holiday weekends. Kate would be an excellent choice as a coordinator for any event.
Five stars isn't a high enough rating for what Kate actually deserves - we can't say enough about how amazing she was for us! As our day-of coordinator, she made sure our wedding r...
an smoothly and seamlessly, even though we were in a venue that had never hosted a wedding before. She worked with our vendors to make sure everyone understood where to go for load-in/load-out and at what times. However, that sort of execution is "normal" for a great experience with a planner - an effortless day for the couple. And yes, Kate certainly did that. But more importantly, she's an angel with a huge heart - and I needed it on our wedding day. I was having an anxiety attack (about the large crowd/being the center of attention), which caused me some major nausea. Feeling sick and anxiety-ridden for your wedding reception isn't ideal, but Kate was there to make it better. She sat with me in a private room and calmed me down. When she asked how my stomach was and could tell I was just being polite in saying, "I'm fine," she magically produced Pedialyte for me, in a glass from our bar over ice (as if it was my cocktail), so I'd have it to walk around with. I'm not sure where she even got it - but she did it without question, judgment, or hesitation, just to make sure I was well taken care of. Hire her for her ability to execute - be glad you did for her overwhelming kindness.
Kate and her team are amazing to work with! She is organized, creative, and so sweet. She will exceed your expectations and help you to enjoy your day, knowing she has it all cov...
ered.
Kate at Purple Clover Events is THE BEST decision we made while planning our wedding. We hired her for the day of coordination with some extra sessions before hand to plan accordin...
gly for our unique venue site. We had our wedding at the Royal Oak Farmers Market, which required us to bring in 100% of our vendors. Without Kate helping through organization, contracts, checklists, set up, tear down, and all around support...our wedding would of been a mess. She was this person we could email or call up and ask for help when we would get stuck. Whenever we met with Kate we always walked away calm and excited, feeling like no matter what happened, the day would run smooth with her running the show. It went so smooth, I can't think of one negative that went wrong. Even if there was an issue, it was taken care of by Kate and her team without it even hitting our radar. We got to sit back and enjoy our wedding without any worry. Which is all anyone could want on their wedding day. She totally understood my vision for the day and nailed it when she set up our wedding decor we had made, it was BEAUTIFUL! I will never forget the calm she brought us during the craziness of planning a wedding. The moment my husband and I left our first meeting with Kate we knew we HAD to hire her. Endless thank you's to Kate and her team at Purple Clover, if I had to do all of it over again I wouldn't change a thing.
DO NOT plan your wedding without letting Purple Clover help you! The absolute best part of our wedding day was not having to worry about a single thing except enjoying the time to ...
celebrate with our friends and family - our day of coordinator, Samantha, took care of everything. It feels completely inadequate to call the level of service Purple Clover provided simply "day of coordination." Kate and Samantha helped us find the perfect vendors, keep track of all of our contracts and payments, plan our wedding day timeline, and acted as a direct line of communication between all of our vendors. We honestly never felt stressed during the entire wedding planning process because of how competent Samantha and Kate are. When I returned to work after our wedding, a coworker asked me, "So what went wrong? Something ALWAYS goes wrong." I couldn't think of a single thing. If anything went wrong that day, Samantha did a phenomenal job handling it, and we never found out about it.
Even if you don't need full scale wedding planning, investing in a day of coordinator is something I would strongly recommend - and the team at Purple Clover is the best!
Kate and team at Purple Clover events is fantastic!!! We hired her to be our day of coordinator but she started working with us months before the wedding. She was very responsive t...
o emails and thorough about every detail of the wedding, many details I know would've been overlooked without her help. She coordinated all logistics with the vendors and ensured that we could truly enjoy our day. Most people say that something is bound to go wrong on your wedding day, but I can honestly say that our day was absolutely flawless, stress free and executed perfectly all thanks to Kate!! I am so grateful for all of the planning and organization that Kate did to help make our day so special, I know we could never have done it without her! If there is one thing you should spend your money for the wedding, its purple clover! You will truly be a guest at your own wedding and be able to enjoy every moment of your day!
Kate was organized prior to the big day. Communication so so through emails and text messages. Sadly the big day was not the organized nonstress day we had hoped. The church was c...
ompletely unorganized which was disappointing. The reception was set up beautifully with a couple things forgotten. Did not meet up to my expectations overall and follow up from this vendor was also disappointing.
Kate is a SUPER STAR!!!! From beginning to end she will give you 110%. Professional, enthusiastic, dependable and caring. She will be your best friend before its over! Kate as my D...
ay of coordinator.... Best decision ever!
We could not have had the wedding we had without the help of Kate and Purple Clover Events staff. With a difficult venue like Belle Isle, we needed someone who could coordinate al...
l the vendors and install decor on our big day. Kate did a fantastic job of formulating a day-of timeline, ensuring that all our vendors knew where to go and when, and that the reception site looked amazing. I'd highly recommend Purple Clover Events!
We could not have pulled off our wedding day without our day-of coordinator, Rachel and her team from Purple Clover Events. The best money we spent was hiring her! Rachel was ext...
remely thorough during our meeting to go over logistics and planning, and thought of questions that we would have never considered. The wedding day went flawlessly, and I really think much of that was because Rachel and her team were incredibly organized in making sure all the vendors were on time and in place, and that the flow of events went smoothly. I had to do nothing and I had nothing to worry about because I knew the day was in very good hands. I could enjoy my day and my guests, while Rachel and her team worked silently and efficiently in the background. My family also raved about how incredibly nice Rachel and her team were, and how pleasant they were to work with. I highly recommend the Purple Clover Team!
What a lifesaver! She took the stress away and made our special day seamless and beautiful.
Kate was a lifesaver - you definitely want her support! We used Kate as our day of coordinator and she was perfect!
After we booked with her - she was available to help give us su...
ggestions on different vendors she worked with and had good experience with (which was so helpful)! A couple weeks before the wedding she followed up with all our vendors to ensure everything was as it needed to be (this totally helped relieve some stress on my end).
When we had our final detail meeting she went through the whole day and provided us a detailed timeline so the day of, we knew exactly where we needed to be / what we needed to be doing (she asked questions that we hadn’t thought of before, like did we want forks by the cake for after we cut it, etc.).
Her and her team set up everything at our reception site and it was exactly as we wanted it – if there were any problems that arose, I have no clue because she handled it J Kate even stayed to the very end of the night to help pack up all our items.
I honestly cannot say enough good things about her!
We are SO SO thrilled with the level of service that we got from Purple Clover and our lead planner Rachel! BEST decision we made in planning our wedding was to hire them! We had...
our wedding reception at Belle Isle Casino in Detroit, which is basically an empty space with no onsite personnel. It was so crucial that we hire a talented, professional, organized planner to execute our vision since we wouldn’t be there on the day of the wedding to handle any of it. Rachel was exactly that and more. We chose to have day-of coordination, which included SO much more than just set-up on the day of our wedding. We met with Rachel multiple times before the event, and through countless emails and phone calls, she was always available to give advice and guide us through the process. The final weeks before the wedding she saved us so much stress by contacting all the vendors, verifying and arranging timelines and details which seemed to change a million times and she stayed on top of all of it. Throughout the process she was pleasant, enthusiastic, sweet and fun. She put us at ease that our entire vision and coordination of multiple different aspects of this event would be exactly what we wanted. She came to our rehearsal the night before, loaded up her car with tons of décor and even stood up for me when the mean, horrible church lady coordinator tried to ruin everything. On the day of the wedding we arrived at our reception site to see our dreams had become reality, the site was beautiful, guests were happy and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. We had an incredible time as “guests at our own wedding” and everything ran smoothly. I’m sure there were issues behind the scenes that she handled and I will never know about them. She was there all night until the bitter end, packing her car up at midnight again with all my DIY décor and took it home until we could get it from her later. Rachel, from the bottom of my heart, a million thank yous! You rock!!
Kate was our Day-Of Coordinator, and I wish that I’d had her for all of the wedding planning! She says that she’ll make you feel like a guest at your wedding and she did exactly t...
hat.
I had the challenge of planning my wedding from out of state with several trips to Michigan during the 16 months of planning, and from the beginning Kate was very accommodating with her schedule. Throughout the process she addressed all of my concerns, answered my many questions, and put me at ease from the moment we met until I had to say goodbye to her at the end of our reception. She was organized, prompt, extremely attentive to detail, and went well above and beyond the service level I’d expected from a Day-Of Coordinator. She was also very familiar with our venue, which was an added bonus (although I know that she’d have been just as wonderful if she hadn’t ever been there before). Thanks to her, we didn’t have any problems or issues with our wedding – she and her assistant were right there with safety pins when the fasteners on my bustle failed during the reception.
On top of that, her personality is fantastic! I was comfortable with her immediately upon our first contact. She’s so friendly and fun, she makes you feel like more than a client – she makes you feel like a friend. She will make you feel like your wedding is the single most important event to her.
I truly cannot say enough about her, she made our wedding day everything that we wanted it to be and more. I don’t know what I would have done without her. If I ever need to plan another event (or know someone who needs to plan one) you can be sure that the first call I make will be to Kate.
If you’re looking for a coordinator, grab her for your wedding before someone else does!!
We asked Purple Clover Event (managed by Kate) for helping us to plan our wedding and to manage "everything" during the big day.
Kate was more than helpful, Kate helped us to find...
a venue, and to find the vendors (catering, tent company...).
Purple Clover Events was the best investment od the wedding, I truly believe that we could not have been in our budget for the wedding without it. We got amazing vendor (very good price for the service) and Kate helped us managing all the pre-wedding task and gave us very useful insight on what to expect through the adventure.
The only small minus was that we (the fault is partially share between Kate and us) weren't clear enough on what to expect exactly for the day of the weeding, by that I believe that we should have been more detailed on what is her role and our task during the day of the wedding. I would recommend Purple Clover Events without any hesitation, as said before, it was the best investment for the wedding.
We enlisted Purple Clover late in the game because we had fallen behind and needed help catching up. Kate managed to help us catch up and also provided top notch services the day ...
of the wedding and reception. She kept everyone and everything on schedule. Because of Kate we had nothing to worry about! The wedding and reception were perfect!
I was not sure about hiring a day-of coordinator since I didn't know the value of it. We ended up having our wedding at my parents home after our original venue fell through and m...
y mother suggested we get a planner for the wedding day to relieve some stress. She called a few planners, and as soon as she talked to Kate she got wonderful vibes. Kate considers what YOU want for your wedding, not what the industry insists you have. She came to our first meeting equipped with a binder with worksheets she uses to step through every detail - a lot of details that I never would have thought of. Her organization and attention to detail in the months/weeks before the wedding pay off. She worked with our vendors to make sure the timeline makes sense and that everything is covered. My parents and I were able to truly enjoy ourselves the day of the wedding instead of worry about who was taking care of everything. Also, she clearly has a passion for what she does. It was a pleasure to work with her, and her joyful attitude made me and my husband even more excited about our wedding day.
I grumbled. I was the groom after all. I said my sister could help us out. I was crazy. Kate was a huge help and it would have been a ridiculous stressful mess to not have her help...
ing to make sure the set up happened and that everything moved along. Kate asks a lot of questions that helps to clarify what you have and haven't gotten a handle on, and then helps you get a handle on them!
I will forever be grateful to Kate and her amazing planning team for helping to make our wedding so special. Hands down, Kate is the VERY best! Our day could not have been more per...
fect - and much of it was thanks to Kate's careful planning, thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and awesome talent at running weddings so smoothly. Our day went off without a hitch, all thanks to her help.
It's truly not a surprise at all that Kate has 5 stars across the board. From the very beginning, Kate made everything so easy and seamless! When I first contacted her, she was so friendly, warm and down-to-earth, which is exactly what we were looking for. We brought Kate in to help with day-of coordination, but she really did so much more than that! Leading up to our big day, she met with us to do a walkthrough of our venue, and to learn all about our vision and details for the wedding. She was so genuine in getting to know us as a couple, which was very comforting. In addition to that meeting, she answered countless emails that I sent with my many questions, always having a great solution, recommendation, advice, etc.
On the day of, Kate continued to impress. She ran our rehearsal the night before, and then flawlessly coordinated our ceremony, reception, and our very large bridal party for the wedding. Everything turned out so beautifully, the whole day ran smoothly, and we had the best celebration of our lives. Thank you so much for your constant assistance, hard work and support, Kate :)
I would recommend Purple Clover Events to any bride in a heartbeat! It'll be the best decision you make while planning your wedding!
We were so fortunate to find Kate and hire her to provide day-of coordination for our daughter's wedding which was at our home. She attended to a myriad of details in a calm, prof...
essional and caring way. I was able to completely relax and soak up every moment of such an important day. Without Kate, I would have been a frazzled nerve, but every time I thought of something that needed to be done, Kate was already on it! She did everything from set up the table decorations to handle the flow of guests after the ceremony to start the fire in the fire pit to put away the leftovers and so many other things! I have told several people since the wedding that it was the best money we ever spent. If you can hire Kate to plan and coordinate your wedding, you will be amazed at what a difference it makes in your enjoyment of one of the most important events in your life. Kate, we can't thank you enough!
Kate is simply the best - a planner who went above and beyond the call of duty for our wedding on every front. Our lead time of about four months was very short, comparatively, to...
plan for our wedding and reception at the Ford Piquette Plant in Detroit. Despite that, Kate was reassuring, unfailingly organized, and on-task (more importantly, she kept us on-task!) for the entire planning process. We benefited greatly from her connections with other top-quality area vendors (we are still getting compliments on the food!) and she dealt with our last-minute requests right up to the vows with grace and efficiency. Thanks to her attention to every detail, there were really no problems at all other than those minor, unpredictable hitches that come up: When we were running late with other preparations the night before the wedding, she was able to very quickly find a salon that was open so that my wife could have her nails done. Overall, she was an absolute pleasure to work with - we could not have had the wedding we wanted without Kate!
.....literally only second to the decision to marry the love of your life!
I planned our entire wedding and as the details started to mount, I began to stress about the executio...
n. I certainly wanted to enjoy the day and did not want worry about all the details! So in comes Kate:) From the first day I talked to her on the phone I could tell that she was as detail oriented and organized as I was, so I knew she would be the perfect fit. She met with me on a couple occasions prior to the wedding to make sure all the details were clear and also helped significantly with suggestions for the ceremony (my aunt was ordained to marry us so her help with the ceremony was invaluable), general timeline and flow of the day (she formulated a full timeline for our day), and helped with so many other suggestions based on her experience with weddings. As the day approached she fully organized and coordinated our rehearsal and finally on our wedding day- I literally did not have to worry about a single thing! She made sure all the vendors and decorations were exactly how we had talked, kept track of our extremely large wedding party, and overall made everyone feel comfortable and calm so everyone could enjoy the wedding.
If you want someone to make sure the most important day of your life goes exactly how you imagined then please look no further than Kate. You will not be disappointed!!!
I’m not sure how my wedding day would have happened without Kate. She was fantastic at pulling together all of the details and keeping things running smoothly on the day of the wed...
ding. We were planning from out-of-state and Kate was really flexible to have both weekend morning meetings and phone meetings with us. It was also great to have Kate at the rehearsal the night before. I’m sure that all of the little mishaps that are bound to happen on a wedding day happened during our wedding, but I don’t even know what they were because she took care of and found a solution for everything. I had a blast dancing and chatting with people during my wedding and could only do that because I knew that Kate was taking care of everything. I didn’t think about the clean-up, and all of our special items were gathered up and delivered at the end of the night. Kate is truly worth every penny (and more)!
Kate is the best! I hired her for my day of coordination, and she went above and beyond her call of duty. My wedding had A LOT of specific details and Kate was on top of every sing...
le one. Being a control freak it was hard to let go, but I knew that with Kate in charge everything would go perfectly - and it did!
Half way through dinner, our liquor ran out, and anticipating that this could have been a problem, Kate place a delivery order and had the bar restocked within minutes - no one ever knew, including myself! This is just one example of many!
Do yourself a favor and hire Kate!
Kate was fantastic. I, like many brides, was on multiple wedding boards/forums, etc., while I was planning, and there were understandably many questions about whether day-of coordi...
nators were worth it. I don’t know about others, but since I had Kate, my response every time was that they are worth every penny. And she was. From the first meeting that turned into a multi-hour conversation about just about everything, through her escorting me to our sedan for our ride to the hotel at the end of the big night, she handled everything neatly, kindly, and in a manner that made me feel at ease and totally assured that she had everything thought of, dealt with, and under control.
I planned our wedding from about an hour and a half away and across a state line, which could have easily added to my stress, especially when issues arose, including our first florist flaking and canceling and a subsequent near-disaster with our church, and she was always there with advice, reassurance, and a kind word to keep me from freaking out completely. She was also very familiar with a number of our vendors, and their previous relationship also helped immensely, especially when trying to work on the timeline for the day and particularly vendor set-up times.
I’m not sure I can adequately express my and my family’s gratitude or the peace of mind that having Kate’s help and guidance along the way and in charge from the rehearsal onwards gave all of us, but hopefully the above gives you an idea of what a wonderful person and invaluable planner she is.
Contact
kate@planningcollective.com
Planning Collective