Simply Elegant Events

ona. Kim was happy to provide me with vendor recommendations and let me know what I should expect. We had phone conversations in which she asked me very detailed questions to be sure our big day ended up the way we wanted. Our wedding was a not big and was a little non-traditional but she was able to make sure whatever we wanted could happen. Our wedding turned out very lovely and I have no doubt that much of that was due to Kim, and her assistant Kendall's hard work and attention to detail. Our family members commented on how they were "on the ball" to be sure that everything went smoothly. I would highly recommend Simply Elegant Events.

being written by a person who essentially is a professional event coordinator/producer himself. The logistics for our wedding fell in my lap being that this is my background, leaving my wife to "create" the event (ie decor, music, menu, floral, etc). When my wife decided what she wanted, it became my job to price/source and negotiate/hire and book/coordinate all vendors. The planning of a wedding has undoubtedly been one of the largest undertakings of my entire life. We had a guest list of over 200, people traveling in to Tucson from all over the world (including ourselves- we live in LA, making the planing even more crazy). We wanted a beautiful outdoor wedding and party, a rockin' party band, lots of homemade decorations, great food and cocktails, and drew on inspiration from both my wife and my own heritage to theme the entire event. there were so many moving pieces. The juggling of every vendor from wedding band, to ceremony musicians, to caterers, bartenders, waitstaff, party rentals, invitations, dresses and suits, photographers, lighting, AV Equipment, etc etc etc (the list could go on forever) is needless to say exhausting. And putting your trust in these vendors to make or break your dream wedding is nerve wracking. Bless the hearts of those who choose to plan their entire weddings themselves. the money saved by doing so can certainly be a large chunk of change, but rest assured that the time you spend doing it yourself will absolutely exceed the dollar amount saved. Which leads me to probably the best decision we made when planning our event... hiring Simply Elegant Events. We found Kim through an extensive of the most qualified people in the Tucson, AZ area. Being in the industry myself, I knew exactly the qualities in my coordination team that were essential to pulling off our dream wedding vision. This is not a personality test, and not a job for the weak at heart. My coordinator needed to have Professional manners, knowledge of all elements of putting together a structured and scheduled day, be reliable and incredibly thorough on communications, and absolutely passionate about the task at hand, which was to make our day as amazing as we hoped it could be. Needless to say, I found this and much much more when I finally found Kim. I have learned that weddings bring out some strange emotions beyond the sheer excitement that's expected of planning what stands to be the greatest weekend of your life. there's a lot at stake throwing this wholly personal event, whether it be a very expensive and lavish ceremony and reception, or a very understated and smaller scale family affair. Either way, we would have absolutely been lost without the guidance of the wonderfully talented Kim McFate. I can not recommend her more and honestly wish that I had more events to plan so that I could work with her on a regular basis. From day 1 she was a rock and supported us on any and all creative decisions, guiding us to the best, most economical solutions. She was beyond worth every penny. My sole regret is that we hired her for "Day-Of" services only. But the service that Kim offered, and advice that she gave us along the months leading to our wedding date, was invaluable. Best of luck on your wedding planning. -Matt Reichman, 11/16/11

because no friends or family had to worry about set-up. We had a rookie officiant and she made sure things ran smoothly for him, which was very nice. We had the majority of our vendors lined up prior to hiring her, but she did offer recommendations and set up appointments. I lived out of state and she was able to meet with some vendors in my place. We have some interesting family dynamics and Kim navigated those as best she could. Only thing I would say is that Kim was too nice. We needed a little more direction during the rehearsal and during group pictures and Kim is too nice to take control of our rowdy group. She is not afraid of hard work and will do everything she can to make sure you have the best day of your life for your wedding.