Shannon Gail (def.): A miracle worker. A saint. Without equal.
When we decided to get married in Chicago, we thought it would be smart to get some professional advice. After all, there are countless locations/vendors, and we really don’t hav...e the time to vet them all: "We’re only doing this once, right? Why not ask someone that has experience with this sort of thing? We don’t need a full-on wedding planner, just a little help to get us started.”
From the start, Shannon was completely flexible with us about her level of involvement, offering us a short list of locations and vendors in exchange for a small fee. No pressure about additional services, just some recommendations based on our style and a great spreadsheet breaking down spending allowances for venue, photography, etc. based on the overall budget we gave her. (Shannon started her career in finance, and that experience shows). We packed our bags and flew to Chicago to check things out.
Shannon’s venue recommendations were SO much better than the ones we originally had in mind: all beautiful locations with great staff that were extremely accommodating to our needs and well within our budget. By the end of our trip, we had enlisted Shannon to be MUCH more involved in the planning, and to be our coordinator on the day of our event. And at every step, she completely exceeded our expectations:
1) Her vendor recommendations are amazing:
From the florist, to the graphic designer who created our stationary, Shannon assembled a really outstanding team. Even the vendors we had already selected, like our photographer and our live music, kept raving about Shannon and what a joy it is to work with her.
2) She's great at keeping us organized and on schedule:
Even though we’re out-of-state, and we’re both complete work-a-holics, she was able to keep us on task in the most friendly, low-stress way possible, and always with such enthusiasm for our big day. She was so easy to work with!
3) She's always going the extra mile:
We ordered this great wooden wagon, so one of the flower girls could pull the other, baby flower girl, down the aisle. Shannon had us ship it to her house and assembled it herself, so we didn’t have to lug it from California.
4) She's always looking out for your budget:
We had a late change to our guest count, and it put us below the minimum for our venue, so we were going to be paying for guests who would not be there. Incredibly, Shannon was able to get a last minute price change from the venue that saved us a SIGNIFICANT amount of money.
5) She makes sure you have what you need, even before you know that you need it:
Right after our ceremony, Shannon whisked us away to a small, private barrel room at our venue, where we could spend a few moments alone with each other. We had a bottle of champagne and a collection of the hors d’oeuvres that were being served during our cocktail hour. It was one of the few moments we spent alone together all day, and it was the perfect opportunity to take in what we had just done. We hadn’t asked for that moment. We hadn’t even thought of it. But Shannon made it happen, and it was one of the best moments at our wedding.
She provided all of this guidance while still allowing us the control to create the wedding of our dreams. She was an absolute joy to work with, and we’re looking forward to the next time we make it back to Chicago, so we can see our dear friend, Shannon :)