Plum & Ivy Events

our planning process for partial planning services because I wanted help with picking a venue. Maria & Lauren were so patient with me with the venue search, especially when I changed my mind about a venue at the last second & we went back to the drawing board. Then Brittany took over the rest of the planning and she was an absolute dream to work with! So responsive, thorough and on top of everything. Her input when I struggled to make decisions or pick a vendor was invaluable. On the actual wedding day, she ran such a tight ship we were running ahead of schedule most of the day and everyone, including our bridal party & parents, were so complimentary of her all day. I will truly miss talking to her all the time. Overall, we would not have had such a perfect, magical day without Plum & Ivy and I would recommend them to absolutely everyone!

as perfection. Our planner quickly got to know us, our taste, our vision for the wedding, and the things that were important as well as the things that were not so important. She introduced us to exceptional vendors and was unbelievably easy to communicate with. To quote one of my bridesmaids "your wedding was seamless." It exceeded all of our expectations and I, an otherwise anxious person, can truly say that I was carefree and grinning the entire wedding.

ntion to detail, we knew we wanted them to plan our wedding. Brittany’s communication was excellent at key milestones. Their familiarity with various vendors was extremely helpful and quickly narrowing down our choices, which saved us a lot of time and energy. Brittany took care of the hotel blocks for our guests, transportation to and from the venue. She also booked our amazing dinner the night before and brunch for our guests the next day. Everything went precisely on time with no stress or need for the bride or groom to intervene . Brittany managed every detail on time and on budget. We could go on and on. Thank you Plum & Ivy for making our dream come true.

ion on day off. Specifics below Pre-Contract we felt incredibly comfortable when we had our initial call, and really thought they had a clear approach . I know I had great comfort in knowing the team's ability to project manage and event plan, while also getting the right details in execution made it a clear choice. From a cost standpoint, I thought they provided excellent value for the service, something that was customizable and didn't break our budget Planning While admittedly, I wasn't as deep in the specific details as my wife was, I know she felt a comfort level with your approach on the planning, and she isn't easy to please in that area! I think Plum & Ivy's approach to planning has a the right balance in the templates and communications without being over burdensome to the client. Communication Everyone we dealt with from Plum and Ivy was very prompt and thorough in their responses from you, when we started working with Lauren, and transitioned to work with Natalia. I will say one bit of feedback on communication, and I'm sure you're all trying to figure this out with your clients, but how to streamline/ reduce the amount of emailing? I realized by the wedding date, there were a lot of long and different email chains, and information buried in them. Thankfully things were translated to the planning form in summary of final decisions, and I liked how on top of things Natalia was in clarifying what decisions were made. Vendor suggestions We were mostly pleased with all the vendor suggestions you provided, and think that is a great service to offer. Not only did you help confirm that some of the vendors we had initially researched were great choices (Colin Lyons, Juliet Tan), you also gave us other vendors to explore as a comparison point. While Fig Media didn't ultimately execute as expected, I was ultimately happy and content with the resolution in the end. Natalia was able to also coordinate with all the additional vendors we dealt with from the cake vendor and the lion dance. Day of Execution Both Natalia and Maddie were really on point the day off the wedding. There was a lot going on, and I could tell they felt knowledgeable and confident in what needed to get done and when. They communicated succinctly and when necessary and at timely moments. They were able to adapt quickly and in the moment if needed. I didn't realize that Maddie would be closing us out the night off, but the transition from Natalia to Maddie was seamless, and Maddie did a wonderful job with us to help us to the end. General feedback on Wedding Planner Clear and Strong communication- Natalia demonstrated that she could understand what the client or vendor needed, and then could enable a course of action/action item for someone to take Good Rapport with Vendors- Natalia demonstrated good rapport with other vendors and the church planners; Of the conversations I observed, Natalia showed both cordialness and respect to all the vendors, even in more tense situations Action-oriented- as mentioned above, Natalia was very clear on accountability, who needed to take an action, and by when. Timeliness on Responses- Natalia responded to our queries and vendor queries very quickly and with great thoroughness and thoughtfulness.

and care to make sure that things ran smoothly. Leading up to our big day, Plum and Ivy had so many fabulous vendor recommendations and answered all of my countless questions. Do not hesitate- hire them for your day!

Brittany, I don't know what I would have done without her. She is so organized and knowledgeable. She was always available for any questions and issues that came up and knew exactly what to do. Also, it wasn't just my husband and I who saw how hard she worked to make the day absolutely perfect for us. My parents, extended family, bridal party, everyone was reaching out asking how we found her and just had the nicest things to say about her. Brittany kept everything on track, was always there if something needed to be done. I can't put into words how much we appreciated Brittany. I will recommend Plum & Ivy to all of my friends and relatives for any event they are hosting. I truly do not know what we would have done with Brittany. Our wedding was the best day of our lives and I give Brittany all the credit! I highly recommend Plum & Ivy.

us with a detailed Master Itinerary and Planning Tools Kit, to just jumping on a call to stay up to date with where we were at, she was there every step of the way. Right away, she was able to pick up on my taste and the things that mattered most to me, and made sure we got what we needed because of how well she worked with all our vendors! Most importantly though, Brittany made our wedding day absolutely stress free for not only my husband and I, but our parents! She made sure all of us were able to relax and know things were getting done the way they needed! Can’t express enough love for the Plum & Ivy team, especially Brittany:)

roughout the planning process and replanning process since my wedding was originally planned for July of 2020. I always knew it would be helpful to have someone for day of, but Erika also helped with keeping everything organized, reaching out to vendors on my behalf, and just generally always had great advice for me on how to proceed with anything. The team was incredible day of and I truly cannot reccommend them enough.

and knows ALL of the ins-and-outs of planning the perfect wedding plus she has all of the industry connections to make your vendor dreams come true. Natalia was our fabulous coordinator and she was a total fairy godmother, lifesaver, boss babe. Natalia was so helpful, responsive and she truly cared about all of the details of our special day. I really felt like I could count on her to make things happen and her support truly took so much pressure off of us. It was honestly the best feeling to get to wedding day and just enjoy every moment knowing that Natalia & Brichel had all of the behind the scenes stuff totally under control. My hubs and I just got to have FUN and that’s the best, most important reason to hire a planner. Our dream day happened just as we had hoped and we owe that to Plum & Ivy. Thank you for keeping this COVID-bride’s spirits up and making my wedding day dreams come true. Plum & Ivy has my highest recommendation!

ery detail of our perfect day. We were provided a personalized app that had a to-do list with due dates that assured we were always on task and allowed for the perfect means of communication with our planners. They took care of every aspect from providing lists of recommended vendors, looking into vendors that we suggested, getting proposals, and contacting all the vendors about every detail of our day. They were along for the ride of planning through COVID and were amazing being open with communication through all of it with and the changes it caused. The day of, I could not have been less stressed or more relaxed knowing that Natalia could handle anything thrown her way (from coordinating vendors to leaking windows during a tornado warning to setting up all of our details and decor). We wish we could hire Natalia to be our life planner and we know who to contact when we need any other party planned.

above and beyond contacting vendors, updating contracts, and giving calm and helpful advice. She was also able to negotiate with vendors to ensure we're getting the best prices and organized every small detail. She helped us feel so relaxed and answered each email, call, and text right away! She had terrific insight and made sure to create the wedding of our dreams. Having her for the day of the wedding allowed everything to run smoothly and on time. On top of it all, she is hilarious, positive, and was like having a close friend throughout the planning process and wedding. Thankfully my sister and friend are using Plum & Ivy when getting married at The Walden next year and I'll get to see their brilliance in action again soon! Thank you thank you!

rked with us to make sure every vendor was on top of everything. I couldn't recommend them higher at this point. Our big day would not have been the same without Brittany running around cracking skulls and making sure everyone was where they needed to be at the proper time! She made the day stress free for me - which is saying something because I am naturally stressed about everything. If you on the fence about whether or not a planner is worth it, I would absolutely recommended it and I would follow it up with hire Plum and Ivy so you can focus on the important stuff on your big day.

omenal to work with. They were on top of every detail throughout the process. We have a big silly group and Lindsay did an amazing job of keeping everything organized and moving but also keeping everything fun. Our day was truly perfect and would never have been so amazing without Plum & Ivy working behind the scenes so we could enjoy. I am so grateful we found them and would HIGHLY recommend them. They are the best there is!

d the wedding planning in January of 2019 and soon had our first phone call with Maria (owner) of Plum & Ivy, when she began gathering information regarding my daughter's overall vision including the number of people attending, reception site, etc. Then when we had our first meeting with Maria in March 2019, the overall logistics of a Chicago wedding, including estimated costs based on 175 attendees, was discussed. Since my husband and I are not from the Chicago area, this was extremely helpful in planning our budgt. Soon after this initial meeting, we began working directly with Erika.....at that time, little did I know that she would be the most important and helpful person in the entire wedding planning process. As 2019, rolled on, vendor selections were made and the wheels were turning very smoothly for the wedding my daughter had always dreamed of. Then 2020 showed up, and so did the Corona virus which brought on lots and lots of changes including state and city imposed restrictions In fact, out daughter's wedding for May 2, had to be cancelled. So in true Erika form, she immediately contacted each Vendor to see what dates they would be available for later in 2020. This date was quickly narrowed down to a couple of options and November 13 was selected. Then just 2 1/2 months before the big day, Chicago restricted all social gatherings to 50 people. Then just 14 days before the wedding, Chicago further restricted the number of attendees at a social gathering to 25 people. Yes, our daughter's wedding went from 175 attendees to 25......... I truly do not know what we would have done without Erika through all of this. Seriously, her calmness and positivity helped keep everything in prespective.....she continually affirmed both my daughter and I that the end result was going to be beautiful and as our Leader, she had it all under control. During each one of the changes, Erika was right there....her response time was immediate and she was extremely detailed and well organized. In addition, Erika was "our voice" to all Vendors as she worked through changes in both the number of attendees, event times and numerous other items that had to be addressed. Something else I noticed about Erika is how respected she was by all the Vendors we worked with. When asked, Erika always offered us names of several very reputable Vendors. Some of the Vendors we selected had not worked with Erika before, but her ease in dealing with others - new and old - especially under these extremely diffcilut circumstances was truly amazing. The TEAM approach - Erika, Vendors and Bride - was perfect and made every step so flawless. As I close this review, I thank Erika for making our daughter's wedding so magical. In my daughter's words, "Tonight was so much more than I ever thought was possible". We are planning something much, much smaller (Birthday celebration) in Chicago for June of 2021 and my very first call will be made to Erika of Plum & Ivy.

will make sure all of my friends and family know about Plum & Ivy after this. Our wedding had to be planned 3 times due to Covid. At the end, we had to completely scrap our original venue and plan and Erika handled it all with ease. We ended up moving our wedding to Plum & Ivy’s new venue, Walden, and the evening was absolutely perfect. I couldn’t have survived one wedding without them, let alone 3 attempts! Thank you Maria, Erika and the whole team for making our day so beautiful and so easy for me!!

e her. She was an indispensable part of wedding planning for us. I interviewed with a few wedding planners, but Maria was the most personable and helpful among those that I met. She was enthusiastic and even offered free advice at the consultation before I even hired her! For the most part, I planned my wedding remotely. We got married in Chicago but by the time most of the planning was happening we had moved out of state. Maria found the best vendors for us and was able to maximize our visits to Chicago. She wrote thorough and timely emails in response to my (admittedly neurotic) queries. She also knows a TON of people in the business. She found out that our caterer WENT OUT OF BUSINESS almost a full month before the caterer sent a notification to clients. She called us, explained the situation and already had plans of how to fix everything to make our day perfect. We turned a disaster into a minor inconvenience. A few days before the wedding, we moved the location of the ceremony due to rain. Maria handled ALL of the communication with vendors, reconfigured the schedule of events and handled the new last minute decorations. It was seamless and NOT stressful at all. That's not something many brides can say during the wedding week. On the day of my event, I felt like Maria was everywhere at once. It was amazing! She had previously mentioned (in passing) that she had another wedding that day - and you would have never known. Everything went smoothly (and if it didn't, I never heard about it!) If I ever plan another event in the Chicago area, I will reach out to Maria. She was a pleasure to work with and I am glad that her business seems to be doing so well.

me working, so I chose Plum & Ivy and Brittany for day of wedding coordination. Honestly, It was the best decision I made in the whole process besides deciding to get married. Working with Brittany before the big day was easy, she was so organized and had so many resources to help me plan. And the day of my wedding, I truly didn't worry about a thing at all. I'm not kidding when I say I recommend them to everyone. I would absolutely choose to work with Plum & Ivy again in a heartbeat. I found the value of their services extremely affordable based on all of the support and resources I received and they contributed to my wedding being the best day ever!

due to financial concerns (we had to keep it smaller and did it in Wisconsin instead), I loved working with Maria. She was so kind and helpful, she never pressured us to "just make a decision before someone else gets the date" like a lot of other vendors. She even suggested a bunch of vendors in Wisconsin to look into after we decided to change locations. I would recommend Plum Ivy and the Walden wholeheartedly to anyone looking to have their wedding in Chicago. They really seem to care that you have the wedding that is right for you.

e decided to use Plum and Ivy and it was the best decision I have ever made. Brittany was INCREDIBLE. My wedding was the best day of my life and the entire thing went off perfectly. I cannot stress enough to brides the importance of having a coordinator and Plum and Ivy will forever be my only recommendation. Thank you for making our day the best day of our lives.

en knew it myself! We did partial planning with them, but I felt like I had full on team dedicated to us anytime I needed them. During the entire process from consultation to the day-of, Maria & Erika were with me every step of the way and went above and beyond to make sure that my entire vision of my wedding experience was met. Let me tell you, they succeeded. I cannot recommend them enough!!

s and ideas and how she immediately "got it". Every detail was carefully written down in her notes, then showed up in her meticulous timeline, and was executed the day of our wedding. Her professional demeanor, and knowledge put us all at ease immediately, and allowed us to place our trust in her very capable hands to make the most important day in our lives, the happiest. Thank you Erika and Plum & Ivy!

had everything organized and flowing flawlessly. Aside from her friendly and easy to work with personality, from beginning to end, Erica was responsive, prepared and took charge of everything that she needed to making it feel like we had much more than just a Day-Of Coordinator. I can't say enough great things about Plum & Ivy!!

d groom were relaxed and everyone enjoyed themselves. Something that really stood out to us was that Erika even had little details covered (like texting us the morning of, setting out bridal details before we arrived and making sure we had the time we needed) that made our life as vendors much easier so we could do an even better job for the couple. We couldn't recommend her or Plum & Ivy more highly!!!

or my husband. Their expertise, terrific organization skills and calm, confident demeanor were on full display throughout. They were available and responsive at every turn, especially day-off. We truly enjoyed working with them and, most importantly, our wedding was the stress-free day of our dreams.

rned that they went above and beyond just the day of my wedding. Erika was with me every step of the way. I am not from Chicago and had never even been to a wedding here so I had no clue where to even start with vendors. She did e-mail introductions to all her favorite vendors including, floral, lighting, hair/make up, and videography. I always felt I could reach out to her with random questions leading up to the wedding. She also set up our final vendor meeting and wedding day itinerary. She took over all communication with vendors and ensured everyone was on the same page. On the day of, she did it all! She picked up breakfast for the bridesmaids, steamed our dresses, coordinated with all the vendors and went to the venue to oversee the set-up. She was so amazing to work and so helpful along the way with all of my questions!

o work with. She kept my husband and I organized, on track, and did an amazing job coordinating all of the wedding day details with our vendors. We never would have been able to pull off such an amazing wedding without her help! They are truly the best!

more than a day of coordinator. She was in constant communication with us from providing vendor recommendations, reviewing contracts, laying out our final payment plan, and so much more. There were so many unforeseen details we did not see coming and Brittany did an amazing job handling. Your wedding is such an important day and can be stressful if you’re on your own. I would highly recommend working with Plum & Ivy.

ille wedding come true. Their flexibility, patience, recommendations and calm girl boss professionalism created the wedding of our dreams. I think I was most impressed day of the wedding though. I truly enjoyed every minute of the day and it all happened because of Erika. I would just look around and things were done, and beautiful, and she had a smile on her face guiding me and all 175 other people there as to what to do next. The only thing I’m sad about is not getting to work with her now that the wedding is over. I can’t say enough about how fabulous this team is and how happy we were through the entire process and day of. They truly made a day we will never forget, and I like to think a friendship I’ll always cherish. Thank you so much ladies!

ughout the planning process, put us at ease, and went above and beyond.

ee. If anything went wrong the day of I didn’t know because Brittany took care of it. If you’re on the fence about Plum and Ivy, I hope this review seals the deal and you just do it. I promise it’s 100% worth it. Best wedding coordinator in all of Chicago!

perfectly. I would recommend Plum & Ivy to anyone getting married!

ing. But we also knew that we wanted to hand off the reins on the day of, so that we'd could be totally in the moment. Brittany gave us the perfect amount of support and assistance. Completely organized, calm and smiling, Brittany remained. Several of our guests noticed their excellent service also. We give them our highest recommendation.

e the wedding day, given that we only did the day of package, and the way she eased our stress the day of was worth every penny. Erika understood our vision, handled every crisis, and made us feel so comfortable on our big day. We can not thank her enough!

ice person, which really helps when sending so many emails back and forth. Best money we spent all weekend.

ions, coordinating with all of our vendors, family members etc... the whole experience was very seamless. Additionally to her professionalism, she was very easy to get along with and felt like I was planning my wedding with a friend. I would recommend her to everyone. They also helped create weekend of itineraries to use and share with our bridal party. Please use them!

vision! She made everything run smoothly and I couldn’t have done it without her! She had amazing suggestions and thought of every last detail. I will recommend this team until the day I die

she guided us through countless decisions with clarity and joy. Then, after Erika's expert preparation, the entire wedding day was filled with bliss and connection. We would recommend her and Plum & Ivy to anyone!

she shy away from questions or requests, and met often with our vendors even though she was only the "day of" coordinator. Maria thought of everything. Nothing was missed and she was a master of the details. She and her assistant were with us every minute of our wedding day. If you need a wedding advisor, Plum & Ivy are simply the best.

what I expected that job to entail -- working with my whole family and answering our tiniest questions, walking us through an incredibly detailed list of itinerary and details we only would have thought of too late in the process, and making the day itself much less stressful. No matter how organized you think you are, you need someone like Maria during the wedding to let you enjoy it without stressing that vendors will miss sometime etc. She inspires total and complete trust which is essential! Her team members were also great -- nice, professional, and on top of it during the event. Can't say enough good things about Plum & Ivy!

nd really go above and beyond throughout the process. I was particularly greatful for their recommendations of other great vendors and for the comprehensive lists of items to know and do in the months leading up to the wedding (we hired them for Month-of-Coordination). The wedding day could not have gone smoother either. Erika showed up and was wonderful in making me feel like everything was covered. During the wedding she also orchestrated things seamlessly and she even handled a medical scare that was happening with my husband's grandma such that everyone remained calm and I didn't even know about it till weeks after the event. I would recommend Plum and Ivy to anyone 100%.

ties. She was ALWAYS available to me from the day I booked their services. She created very organized itineraries and online documents that helped me understand what needed to be done and when. She was always a text or a call away if I had questions or just needed an expert opinion. She kept all vendors notified of all my information and if any changes came up. She kept our rehearsal organized but still kept it fun for our bridal party. On the day of she was running around like crazy making sure each little detail was perfect. I am entirely sure our day was as wonderful and magical as it was because of her and Plum and Ivy. Myself and my new husband will be recommending her and Plum and Ivy to any and all our friends who decide to tie the knot.

as not only beautiful but immensely fun for all our guests. We started this journey with them 1 1/2 years ago and it was quite seamless. They created a timeline for us with gentle reminders. Their preferred list of vendors was spot on and every tiny detail was addressed. They were very responsive to e-mails and were patient with our endless questions. They were there every step of the way. I cannot think of any negatives other than I will miss all the communications with them now that the wedding is over!

n my research of Chicago based planners led me to Maria and her staff at Plum & Ivy. As planning for my daughter’s big day was underway Erika was consistently available via emails and phone. Asking important questions and offering valuable advice Erika was committed to making sure everything would run smoothly and that everyone would be able to celebrate the day with the least possible anxiety. Her professionalism, patience and a to detail was amazing. Much gratitude to Erika and Lauren for being on site to ensure my daughter’s wedding day an incredibly memorable day.

everyone needed to be, and thought of things we never would have. Our day would not have been nearly as successful without her.