Sally Oakley Weddings and Events

was not good and not worth the money we paid. In the beginning, Mandi seemed to be on top of things by sending us a timeline for the day of, assuring that the day would run smoothly, and being responsive to emails. To our surprise, things took a turn as we got closer to our wedding date: -When we had our final venue meeting, I noticed Mandi wasn’t familiar with our timeline and she had not noted many of the things we discussed leading up to the final meeting. I told myself I’d give her grace because we were a whole month out and we weren’t the only couple she worked with. -In the early stages of talking to Mandi, she volunteered to pick up our wedding linens the day before the event and to be there the morning of our wedding. The week of the wedding all that changed and she didn’t communicate these changes until we followed up with her a few days before the wedding. -It was clear to us, our family, and wedding party that Mandi was nervous and still wasn’t familiar with the timeline of our wedding day, although we requested a meeting with her a few days before rehearsal to walk through the timeline. -I had to step in and take the lead during rehearsal way more than I expected because she missed several things that we discussed in our meetings with her. -After seeing how the rehearsal went, I was not confident in Mandi’s ability to coordinate our wedding seamlessly. I decided to have a conversation and express my concerns with Mandi after our rehearsal because we didn’t want our wedding day to be a reflection of our rehearsal. When I spoke to Mandi and expressed my concerns she said “I’m sorry you feel that way but I’m just not as detailed as you.” HUH? -When Mandi got to the venue the day of the wedding she came to bridal suite to say hi (barely) and I didn’t see her again until the wedding was about to start. That is definitely not what was in our contract about the day of the wedding. -Her demeanor was noticeably uninterested once the wedding started and it felt like she was just checking off a box by being there instead of really caring about us and our wedding day. I’m so grateful for our family because once I expressed my lack of trust in Mandi to my family, they were all hands on deck the day of the wedding and they were doing several things Mandi said she or her assistant(who never showed up) would be taking care of.

helpful from start to finish! Sally was very quick and responsive and helpful with any and all questions we had throughout the process. Having someone to help in those last weeks of wedding planning was so helpful. She coordinated and emailed our vendors to ensure everyone was on the same page in preparation for our wedding day. And on the day-of, Sally and her team made sure every detail was perfect, and the day went off without a hitch! (but if something did go wrong, we never knew!) Thanks to Sally we were able to enjoy our day together and with our guests and focus on having the best time. We can’t thank Sally and her team enough for helping make our day as perfect as it was. We wish we could relive the day over and over again!

Mandi was super easy to work with, easy to reach, and she was able to answer any question that we had. A couple months before our wedding, she helped us nail down details for how our wedding day would flow, and she created a detailed timeline for our day to keep everyone organized. In the weeks leading up to our wedding, Mandi really took everything off of our plate, and she organized all of our vendors. She also ran our rehearsal and made sure everyone knew what to do for our ceremony! On the day of our wedding, Mandi worked with our venue coordinator at the Inn to oversee set up and make sure everything ran smoothly so that my husband and I could focus on each other and our guests. She was also super calm and professional when we made a last minute switch in ceremony locations due to weather! We were genuinely impressed at how quickly and efficiently everyone was able to pivot! We loved working with Mandi, and she really made our wedding day so wonderful and memorable.

to find a more reliable, kind, helpful, and calm presence on the day of your wedding. No detail is ever missed!

in my list for her) that never went up. My timeline was not adhered to in a couple cases and I was just overall underwhelmed with her services. She helped me with a number of things throughout the process, but the things that happened the day of the event are what stick in my head.

ocess. Kathy is so kind and so knowledgeable. She has worked in multiple services throughout the wedding industry (rentals/ catering/ planning), which made it so helpful for vendor recommendations and relations. Kathy is extremely quick to respond to emails and really helpful with the knowledge she brings. I was planning the wedding from another state, so she was always willing to do things by zoom/ help me with things that were local. Kathy was so organized on the day of the wedding! I was really grateful because she only came to ask me two questions the entire day. It made things less stressful and she really just took care of everything. Kathy is an amazing person and planner, and our day went so smoothly thanks to her! I would highly recommend her!

ests was downsized to 10 people. The week of the wedding, my brother and his family got Covid and we had to cancel. As we contacted all of our vendors, we were so worried that our family would get very sick. Kathy took the time to call and check on how we were doing - emotionally - and assured us that she’d be there when the time was right. We rescheduled, and as luck would have it, a family member was gravely ill and we had to cancel again, this time two weeks before our second wedding date. We finally made it down the aisle in March of 2022 with 70 guests and Kathy was beyond amazing. She kept a sense of humor about all of our crazy changes and she never hesitated to help and always gave suggestions when I asked. Kathy was able to think of details we never would have thought of, and the day of our wedding went off without a hitch, or so we thought. Kathy and Amanda did such a phenomenal job the day of our wedding that we didn’t even know that one of our guests had a severe allergic reaction during the reception. I had texted Kathy the day after the wedding to thank her for everything and she asked if we could talk. I got so worried that someone was rude to her, but she assured me she was okay and told me about my friend getting sick. I had no idea because those that knew swore to keep it a secret so I wouldn’t get worried and potentially leave my reception to help her. Kathy took the time to drive my friend to her hotel and made the hotel check on her throughout the night. That kind of thing is not written in a contract; she is just a good soul who went out of her way to help someone. Although the wedding was better than we could have ever imagined, I’m sad it’s over because I don’t have my chats with Kathy anymore. She is pure professionalism and grace and she has the absolute perfect personality to handle anyone’s nerves or anxiety. Do yourself a favor and contact Sally Oakley Wedding and Events. It is worth every single penny. You’ll sleep better, knowing they have your back.

things ran smoothly on the big day. She is a great value for her services.

as always early and organized with all of our wedding documentation on hand. Kathy helped prepare a timeline, led our rehearsal, and kept our wedding day running smoothly. Overall, I am glad we worked with Kathy for our wedding!

ch an amazing job of providing ideas and suggestions without being overbearing. She went above and beyond creating our floor plans, coming with me to help pick out linens and table settings, and making the actual wedding day stress free. She took care of a lot of the details that my mom and I had been worrying about. She was extremely responsive to emails, and was always available when we needed her. She helped us put together our day of timeline and communicated all of the details to our vendors. She asked our vendors questions we hadn't even thought of and definitely knows what she is doing! She is such a sweet person and truly cares about the couples she works with. Having Kathy as our month of coordinator was worth every penny to make the day unforgettable and stress-free for both my mom and I! I would definitely recommend her for your wedding!

to all of my questions and concerns. She is extremely knowledgeable in what she does. We can’t thank her enough for making our wedding day a wonderful and stress free celebration for us!

uly a professional in the field and her know-how and expertise is invaluable. With Sally at the helm, your wedding will go down without a hitch!!

culated it. Kathy designed the layout for our entire reception and helped us select vendors and items to bring it together. She offered honest opinions that helped us prioritize what we needed for the wedding, and was spot on with every suggestion. I had absolutely zero stress the weekend of the wedding because I knew everything was under control and that if something unexpected did happen, Kathy would handle it. I truly enjoyed working with Kathy and can't recommend her enough!

tions to make our wedding day unique.

ions and give recommendations as soon as I booked her. She made everyone feel at ease and made sure everyone involved in the wedding knew what to do and when to do it. She is extremely professional, and my husband and I are still so impressed and grateful for how easy she made our big day!

dding. As soon as she was hired (over a year before the wedding), Kathy was always available by email for recommendations or to look at vendor contracts. She knows every facet of the wedding business so well that she helped to point out things to plan that I hadn't even considered! She was so kind, helpful, communicative and organized throughout the process--I truly couldn't have done it without her! Kathy communicated with all the vendors and made sure everything ran smoothly on the day of the wedding, which took so much stress away from me, my husband and my family so we could enjoy the day. I absolutely loved working with Kathy and recommend her so highly!

sed her services for the month prior and she ensured all our vendors were on point! Sally is a consummate professional with a great personality!

ptions really well. I also appreciated how she respected that I had a pretty specific vision of what I wanted from the beginning but was there along the way to recommend vendors that I was still deciding on, to "gut check" various proposals, and to keep me on-schedule with my planning. She was consistently pleasant to be around, helpful, and responsive to my numerous questions via email. I would absolutely recommend her!

rk, and her assistance with finding fantastic vendors and putting everything together was priceless. On the wedding day she made sure everything went smoothly and made sure we had everything we needed throughout. Sally is the best!

s I was planning a wedding out of state. She was a great resource for all of the questions I had in planning. She is so sweet and remained calm, helping me manage any minor bumps in the road that came up through the whole process. On the day of everything ran so smoothly. She consistently checked on myself and my mother throughout the night, which we both really appreciated. Thank you Sally! We could not have done it without you!

ce, and was SO supportive throughout the process. She kept me sane and reassured the day of our rehearsal in the Raleigh Rose Garden during Hurricane Matthew, and I can't thank her enough for that. She is the best!

y-of coordinator and to help with design, and she went far above and beyond my expectations. Throughout the planning process, she was extremely responsive to emails and phone calls, helped schedule and attend meetings with vendors, and kept everyone updated and organized. On the day of, she was a rockstar! Sally and her assistant, Victoria, were incredibly attentive to myself, my husband, and the entire bridal party. The night went off without a hitch - all thanks to Sally! I would recommend her and her staff in a heartbeat.

ting with the vendors, arranging details, helping to set up and decorate the venue as needed, and generally making sure my husband and I didn't have to worry about anything at all during our wedding day. Great experience!

surprised at the level of engagement we were provided before the big day! Suzanne was our coordinator, and she absolutely rocked it from start to finish. I personally met with Suzanne a total of 3-4 times in person before our big day to talk about vision for the big day, discussing the layout of the ceremony and reception spaces and making a timeline, and meeting with the reception venue and caterer to hammer out day-of details. On top of our in-person meetings, Suzanne was 100% available via email and was very responsive and proactive in her responses. She kept us on track throughout the planning process and provided me with the confidence to get things done! Everything on our day-of went along without any big issues -- she had coordinated all of the vendors, assured decor was set up in a timely manner, and kept tabs on myself and my husband during the night to see if we needed anything (drinks, food, etc.). Suzanne, you are awesome, and I can't thank you enough for all of your help during this exciting (yet stressful) time!

re than an email away. Couldn't recommend them more highly!!!

ess go smoothly! She communicated with all the vendors and created a perfect timeline for our special day. I would recommend Sally to anyone!

service package for us according to what we needed at our first meeting with her. Throughout the year and a half of our engagement Sally was very responsive to all of our communication via phone and email and was never too busy to answer a question for us. She had invaluable advice for every aspect of the wedding! On the day of the wedding she made our lives stress free and even made sure that we got as much food, drinks, and cake as we wanted. No task was too small for her and she was always asking if we or my family needed anything. Her team members were also great to work with during the ceremony and made sure that there was someone with both the bridal party and groomsmen (making sure everyone was on task!) at all times. We could not recommend hiring Sally enough!

he is also so personable and accessible - she was always a phone call or email away and responded very quickly. I feel that she is a huge reason the wedding went so smoothly. Everyone always knew exactly where they needed to be and what they needed to do, and she made sure to take care of me and my husband throughout the reception, such as making sure we had drinks and getting us out of long conversations we were stuck in. I would recommend Sally to absolutely anyone!

on top of each and every detail, and willing to help in every way she could. She went above and beyond her day of duties, answering my countless questions and offering invaluable advice throughout the entire planning process. And despite soggy weather throwing a glitch in our outdoor ceremony plans, she made sure every thing still went beautifully while all of our guests stayed dry. She kept me calm, fed, and hydrated when the inevitable bridal nerves set in, and was such a rock in all of the craziness of the day. We love Sally so much, and fully intend to send all of our engaged friends her way!

dding due to having a baby. I had a really hard time to find the right fit on a wedding planner. I did a more DIY wedding and really wanted a planner that could help execute the setup and really take over all day of activities and coordination. After talking to numerous planners before getting in touch with Sally, I was getting stressed to not find the right person in my budget. I also hate getting nickeled and dimed. I wanted to pay just one price to really take over and run with the task on the day of the wedding with out extra fees. After talking to Sally for about 1 or 2 minutes, I instantly knew she was the perfect fit. I was so excited when I found her and from the day I signed with her to even after my wedding she was truly fantastic! She was so friendly , happy, and easy to work with. I had so much fun working with her before the wedding as all the details came together. She always took the initiative and was very organized. 4 weeks before wedding my venue 214 Martin Street advised me the space would not be ready for my wedding and I had to change location. Thanks to Sally, she helped me in every way to make it smooth on the transition to the new space just weeks before my wedding. Aside from just the planning , she kept me calm through all the changes so maybe she is also part time wedding therapist! :D She just jumped in and did everything that was needed during the whole process. The day of the wedding she took 100% of the weight off my shoulders and everything went flawless! First the setup of all my decorations for the venue was PERFECT, even better than I envisioned!!! I had a lot of moving parts with the setup and vendors and was so happy it all came together so nicely. She also offered in her services to have an assistant ( who was also really great!) that made having 2 locations for both ceremony & Reception possible. They were able to be in two places at once and ensure all setup was done on time! I had almost no worries all day because of Sally's hard work and organization. Lastly the coordination of the actual wedding and timing was all on time and again flawless. Please book Sally for you wedding, you will not regret it! She was truly my life saver for the wedding and I am so beyond happy with her services! THANK YOU SALLY! ~ Alex

isions I made because I felt so calm on the day of our wedding. Not only was I relaxed, my wedding party was also relaxed knowing that Sally was running the show. She kept the program on time according to the schedule we had planned and all transitions were smooth. I was able to thoroughly enjoy the day and that is a direct reflection of knowing that Sally was there and that she is really, really good at what she does. I couldn't recommend her more!

INISH. She was so attentive to our wants and needs, not only on the day of but throughout this whole planning process. I remember thanking her right at the beginning of the reception because, WOW, to see everything come together, is incredible. It was breathtaking. Her opinions of what would look nice and best with the venue were spot on. She embodied exactly what a wedding planner is and what a wedding planner does. We could not have been happier with the services that she provided to us. She really took the stressors out of wedding planning and especially the day of stressors, to make every bit of this wonderful celebration, enjoyable and it was so enjoyable! Her kindness and professionalism will not be forgotten. She helped give my husband and I something that we will cherish forever - an absolutely beautiful and special wedding celebration. She was so great about answering my emails and texts, especially towards the end of planning!!! We will surely recommend her services to any bride and groom getting married. She was so wonderful to work with. :)

s even amazing enough to cater to our forgetfulness and would even send us nice reminders the day before. On the day of the wedding, Sally took charge of everything. Not a single thing went wrong, no small part due to her. Loads of experience and a great attitude throughout. Thanks Sally!

chose Sally to help us because we were planning a wedding from out of town. We ended up having a more complex wedding concept than we had originally planned and, boy, did sally pull through! Having Sally decreased our stress infinitely and the whole day was so incredibly smooth. She was definitely the best money we spent and we were so happy to have her celebrating with us!

s" at our own wedding. Sally was simply incredible from start to finish. Now, I seriously wonder how anyone can enjoy their day without her! She is incredibly organized, and has expert knowledge about how to keep everything in order, address last minute queries, and keep a good flow for a fun reception. I can't even imagine how awesome our wedding would have been if instead of just day-of coordination she helped with everything! Plus, we ended up having a big issue with one of our other main vendors. Sally expertly guided us through that issue, attended the final vendor meeting with us, and ensured that the problems we were experiencing would not be repeated on our big day. We are so incredibly grateful for her!

ng. On the day of the event she took care of EVERYTHING. As the bride, her services were invaluable. I didn't have to worry about the small stuff, and everything came out exactly as I had imagined. We loved meeting and working with Sally! We'd recommend her to anyone in NC looking for a wedding planner.

e it so easy - they created the timeline, knew all the right questions to ask, followed up with all of the vendors, and made sure the wedding day itself went flawlessly (which it did!!) Sally is incredibly friendly, knowledgeable and responsive, and I would definitely recommend her to any NC brides!

s the country, and Sally made the process so much less stressful. She and her staff executed my day perfectly, and if there were ANY hitches, I had no idea. I would HIGHLY recommend Sally Oakley for any event you are planning.

our wedding party, and I were all able to actually ENJOY our day. Any time there were any mishaps or misunderstandings with the venue or any of the vendors, Sally took care of it seamlessly. Sally and her assistant, Suzanne, made everything run smoothly and I never had to worry when to be where or whether this or that was taken care of. Sally's help leading up to the ceremony was also super helpful and saved me a ton of time and worry, especially being long distance. My mom and I (and husband!) are exceedingly grateful that we had such wonderful, competent, organized, and kind help for the wedding!

anyone else! Sally is personable, professional, and went out of her way to make sure that neither me nor my husband, or anyone in our bridal party or families had anything to worry about the day of the wedding. There was no greater relief than to have the details handled by someone else so that we were all able to enjoy the wedding as much as possible without any worries. We had a unique situation in that Downtown Raleigh hosted a Food Truck Rodeo on our wedding day, blocking off the entire street in front of the Stockroom (our venue) and limiting the parking for our vendors & guests. Sally made sure the vendors not only had the timeline for our wedding day, but that they also had parking information to avoid confusion on the day of, and worked with the coordinators of the Food Truck event to reserve nearby parking spots for vendors, the wedding party, and handicapped guests to make it quick & easy for us all to get to the ceremony on time. We love Sally & Suzanne and couldn't have asked for a better experience working with them both!

ugh. In my mind, it was the best money we spent for our wedding. There were so many small details and touches that Sally made to make the day run flawlessly. I cannot thank her enough for allowing me to completely soak up and enjoy the day without worrying about any of the behind the scenes details. I wanted many non-traditional things and Sally was on board 100%. Every single request I made was met and exceeded my expectations. Sally kept our event running smoothly and I truly cannot imagine the day without her. My husband and bridal party agreed that her help and guidance was invaluable. Thank you Sally!

y (and the planning) ran so smoothly thanks to her! She provided recommendations for most of our vendors, and they all proved to be wonderful. She kept in contact with everyone and took off SO much of the pressure of planning. On the day of, my mind was everywhere but on logistics, and I have no idea how I would have made it through the day without her! Highly, highly recommended for any bride wanting to keep her sanity and relationships intact.

us in person at our small venue, where she had planned several weddings, and helped us to coordinate what we wanted in the small space. She was so nice and helpful for our wedding day, that many of my friends commented on how good a job she had done. I would highly recommend her to anyone!

she just simply made eveything happen as it was expected. Get her as your wedding planner and you will find it is definitely a correct decision.