o be successful at planning a wedding (or any type of important event), one must give 100% focus to make it successful, be proactive in communicating with the client, and pay atten...tion to every single detail. A wedding is made up of a few big things (food, venue, attendees, etc), and 1000 little things. Sapphire gave our wedding approximately 82% focus, which showed in all the little details.
We entrusted Sapphire Events, and the primary planner Angie, with one of the most important days of our lives. She was warm and confidence-inspiring during our virtual and live meetings, then brusque in emails. Planning a Kosher wedding, in Denver, during the tail end of a pandemic presents challenges of its own, and we were impressed with how she got quickly and fully up to speed and coordinated with the local Vaad, the caterer, and the synagogue. She helped organize and finalize details for our Friday night and rehearsal dinners, and there were many times we said (or thought) “so glad we have Angie taking care of this.” She really shines in providing guidance with turning a vision into reality with decor and linen rentals.
Communication with Angie was great at times and infrequent/terse at other times. We were able to get comfortable after we set up weekly Zoom calls.
When it came down to the last few weeks - the lack of attention to details began to show. For example, we had planned to have 10-person tables, which dictated our seating chart, floral arrangements, linen rentals, and layout. A week before the event, we found out the tables only sat 6-8, so everything had to be changed. Another example is that we had cards on the tables for people to share suggestions for a happy marriage. The pens that we bought weren’t placed on the tables. Desserts were supposed to be served to the elderly guests from the dessert bar, but never were. A plate of food was supposed to be brought out to the bride and groom and a few members of the wedding party at a small Tish/Bedekken/ “first look” a few hours prior to the ceremony. This was never brought out, and the caterer later indicated that Angie told them not to worry about it. Part of our floral decor was supposed to be left at the venue, and the bouquets loaded into SUVs; Angie had no recollection of these instructions and we had to follow up directly with the florist to get our purchased items back.
These are just a few examples of how the details of our special day weren’t handled with the care or attention needed and expected from a professional wedding planner. It’s been over a week since our wedding. There’s been no email or phone call checking in, or asking for feedback on the experience. We considered the 5 months of wedding planning a very personal experience where we shared our lives with an unrelated person. To have zero follow-up on the experience is probably the saddest and most disappointing part.