We hired Reverend Rick Tan to officiate our wedding. He came with a strong recommendation from our…read morewedding coordinator (Carly Saber Events), and in the first call, I knew that his soft, charming demeanor was exactly what we needed for our wedding day. It's an intimate business to officiate a couple, especially one that isn't familiar with the couple, and we didn't take it lightly as we prioritized the ceremony most of all. Rick helped us through building a ceremony, and he gave us so much warmth throughout the process. On the wedding day, he visited each of us privately and checked in. During the ceremony, he led it with such grace and clarity. Two months later, as I watched the ceremony video, I realized with even more clarity all that he did so wonderfully. I highly recommend him to any couple looking for an officiant. We are so very thankful.

A wedding officiant is something you don't actively seek out until you need one. And when it came…read moretime to plan our wedding, I had no idea where to start. We found Rev. Tan at the recommendation of our wedding coordinator, With Grace and Love, and I'm so grateful for the connection! Rev.Tan service's were pretty straightforward and given our wedding plans changing significantly due to COVID we still needed someone to officiate for our party of 11. The idea of crafting a wedding ceremony seems a bit daunting but they share a great program that helps the couple craft the perfect ceremony unique to them. I found the program to be easy to use and so helpful in mapping out the narrative. I felt super confident going into our ceremony having reviewed the script beforehand. There were no surprises. Rev. Tan was readily available in the lead up to the day with some tips on the order of the readings and even gave us some pointers on crafting our personal vows. I especially appreciate him respecting our request to wear a face mask during our event. It's little details that really resonated with me given the times. He took care of our marriage license, sent us an image of the signed doc, and mailed it off to the county. Overall, I was so pleased with the ease of his service. I do hope to take him up on his offer for coffee one day when the world settles down a bit. Forever grateful he officiated our micro wedding!

When we got married, my husband and I chose a venue that had an officiant on staff. We had…read morepreviously attended a wedding Anthony officiated and therefore opted to bring our own officiant for our destination wedding. Choosing Anthony to officiate our wedding was the best choice we could have made. He was perfectly encouraging and supportive while we put together our non-traditional wedding ceremony; offering help or giving a suggestion when asked but not trying to shape our ceremony into anything other than a perfect reflection of our relationship and commitment to each other. He seems comfortable in every situation, so when attending our three-day wedding festivities he fit in well and was able to make genuine connections with our family and friends. That sincerity was something we were very impressed with and grateful for. He's a wonderful orator with a blend of warmth and humor that was right on pitch for our ceremony. He handled a minor issue during the ceremony (caused by vague directions from the photographer/venue) like a pro and carried on with the ceremony without skipping a beat. We opted for the wedding party selfie and it's one of my favorite pictures from the wedding! Anthony really helped make our wedding day the treasured memory it is. And it doesn't hurt that he's a handsome addition to the wedding pictures! ;)

Anthony was so incredible, and made our special day so much better. Leading up to the ceremony, he…read moremet with us, took all our little add ons, and made the ceremony special. He is an incredible speaker, leaving no one needing to strain to hear or wondering what he said. Calm, cool, collected, he was one part of our wedding that we didn't have a thing to worry about and went so smooth. Plus he's handsome so your wedding pictures will look great too!

We feel so incredibly lucky to have Sara as our day of coordinator. She has such a calming and…read morepositive presence that helped transcend throughout the wedding planning process and the big day. Sara is very organized and thought of everything. She gave me the most detailed timeline for the day of and all the vendors complimented how it was the best run wedding and timeline they've ever had. Sara and her team set up all the decorations, coordinated with the vendors for drop off and pick up, cleaned up all decorations at the end of the night, and kept us moving along our timeline. Leading up to the wedding she helped answer logistical questions, provide her expert knowledge and insight, and make recommendations on where to allocate budget and where to cut corners. She helped me pick out rentals that would best serve our space and esthetic. She helped run our rehearsal and answer any bridal party's questions. The day of Sara and her team were there to help guide us through the day with ease. We have received so many compliments since our wedding, many saying it's the best they've ever been to and we attribute a large part of that to With Grace & Love.

Mary and her exceptional team transformed our dream wedding into a breathtaking reality! From the…read morevery beginning, it was evident that no detail was too small, no moment left unplanned for, and every second of our special day was a testament to their unwavering dedication and expertise. Mary's keen eye for perfection and her team's meticulous planning ensured that every aspect of our wedding was flawlessly executed. From the grandest gestures to the tiniest nuances, they left no stone unturned, leaving us in awe at every turn. The level of professionalism, dedication, and creativity exhibited by Mary and her team was simply extraordinary. They managed to create an atmosphere that was not only visually stunning but also deeply meaningful. Our guests were equally impressed, and they couldn't stop raving about the elegance and magic of the event. Thank you so much for everything!! I will most definitely make sure all of our friends go to you to make their day as special as ours!!!

If you're looking for someone who can handle wedding planning like a Zen master juggling flaming…read moretorches, hire Mae. From the very first moment we met with her, we were both enchanted by the charm of her beautifully peaceful calm demeanor. She immediately made us feel at ease and confident that we were in the best possible hands. From the very beginning, she took our slightly unusual requests (minimal decor, natural beauty, somehow on the beach and in the forest at the same time) and found us a venue so perfect it still feels like a dream. We didn't just get nice views, we got a place where the ocean and the trees literally met. Mae handled everything: vendor coordination, scheduling, payments, deposits, communication, all without us having to lift more than an occasional pen. She kept our budget on point and never tried to push extras we didn't want, but she also spoke up when a choice might backfire. That honesty saved us from more than a few bad calls. The standout moment for us was right before the wedding when our dog boarding caretaker threatened to have our puppy picked up for "aggression" (spoiler: the dog was just being a puppy). Without missing a beat, Mae stepped in, de-escalated the whole thing, and made sure our furry family member was safe and cared for, all while keeping wedding prep running smoothly. That kind of problem-solving under pressure is priceless. Beyond her skillset, Mae is just a genuinely beautiful person, calm, sweet, warm, loving, and somehow able to keep us calm during what could have been a very stressful process. Thanks to her, our wedding wasn't just organized, it was the absolute best day of our lives. We feel forever attached to her and can't imagine our wedding without her. If she's available for your date, book her. You'll be grateful you did.

Mae was fantastic to work with and we've since recommended Beyond Smitten to our friends! She's…read moreincredibly organized, detail-oriented, and is a great communicator. We booked the wedding day management package and were very happy with the amount of check-ins and guidance that Mae offered in the lead-up to our wedding. Mae and her team took charge of all the coordination, vendor management, etc. on the wedding day, which made it possible for me and my husband to relax and enjoy every minute! Thank you, Mae!

Kate and her team did a wonderful job with our wedding at The Meritage in Napa! We selected the…read morepartial planning package with a design folio add-on and loved being able to customize our options so we only paid for what we actually needed. Leading up to the big day, Kate kept all of our vendors and the wedding party perfectly aligned. On the day of, the KWE team executed our vision flawlessly--from setting up every detail to seamlessly moving our decor from the ceremony deck down to the estate cave. They even packed up and stored all of our decor and florals afterward so we could fully enjoy the after-party without a worry. Thank you, KWE, for making our wedding the best day of our lives!

There was a time when having a wedding planner was considered a luxury afforded only to couples…read morewith deep pockets. (Or couples who had parents with deep pockets.) I beg to differ. In my opinion, having a wedding planner was a necessity and one I would advise other brides to have, even if it means scaling back on other costs for your wedding reception. For me personally, having a wedding planner was the difference between me just being able to "pull off" my reception and me being able to enjoy it. To save some money, I hired KWE for month of/day of coordination rather than full event planning (though they were available from the get-go for contract help, referrals and all-around advice). The month before my event, Kate swooped in and took care of all the details: designing the layout of the venue, coordinating with the vendors, etc. The week before, day before and the day of she took care of everything! She picked up supplies, was on hand to greet and coordinate with other vendors, did setup and cleanup, delivered items to my house after the reception, helped keep the party on track and so much more! I am not sure if there were any snafus (though I am sure there were, how couldn't there have been?) because if there were, she took care of them on the spot. She even jumped into action when I spilled red wine on my gown early in the evening. I really, really, really cannot emphasize enough how wonderful it was to have Kate and her team on board. I strongly advise you to consider hiring her for your event.

1 star My husband…read moreand I had a small, casual wedding back in 2022-- a handful of family, one photographer, and us, in the woods. We deliberately chose not to be bridezilla/groomzilla about any of it. That wasn't because the details don't matter -- they clearly matter enormously to a lot of couples, and for good reason -- it was just how we chose to approach our particular day. And thank goodness for that, because it turns out even a low-key wedding wasn't low-stakes enough to get through him unscathed. He arrived 40 minutes late, despite being emailed explicit directions -- location, cross streets, confirmed by him in writing hours earlier. We paid our photographer extra out of pocket to cover the lost time. Mid-conversation about how pretty the trees were, he segued into officiating without telling us he'd started -- we found out afterward that our wedding video is incomplete because he never signaled we were live. My father, my only living parent, and who would have been my only guest at our wedding, was too sick to attend and was counting on that video to see the ceremony. He didn't get to see all of it. We wrote our own vows in advance, and he showed us that he'd pasted them into his nice-looking book..... and then he read none of them, later explaining he'd left the notebook on a rock behind him -- then pronounced us married anyway. He also offers handfasting on his site, with several named knot options; we corresponded with him in detail about which one we wanted. When it came to it he seemed to not really understand what to do with our handfasting cords- and kind of laid it over our hands, and wrapped it once or twice, and declared it good. There was no knot tied in the "tying the knot" bit. For some couples, and for some belief systems, that knot is the actual marriage act, not a nice extra -- so this isn't a small thing to skip. Then there was the paperwork, which was explicitly part of his service. Our marriage certificate went to the wrong county, delaying our certified copy by two weeks and jeopardizing my window to get on my husband's health insurance -- a real cost, not a hypothetical one. When we raised it, he told us we must have submitted it ourselves, despite us handing him a pre-addressed envelope for the correct county. For his version to be true, he'd have had to actively create a different envelope himself. He never once considered the possibility that any part of this was on him. We've decided as a couple to laugh at the absurdity of the incompetence of our "official" who brags so much about himself on his website, and we celebrate having a photographer who took our handfasting cords after the ceremony, looked us in the eyes and said "We're gonna fix this", and took us to a beautiful meadow, where she stood at the edge of the meadow to give us privacy while still getting pictures of us reading our vows to each other. The knot was truly tied, physically and emotionally, and we felt respected by the person celebrating with us. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful parts of our wedding, but it wasn't part of the official recorded ceremony. We're genuinely fine, and rolling our eyes about it now... But if you're a couple who's spent months or years planning a ceremony that means everything to you, I don't think "roll with it" would be an option, and I'd hate for anyone to find that out the hard way. Proceed with real caution.

If I could do NO STARS I would…read more DO NOT HIRE. Unprofessional, unprepared, and an absolute waste of money. Mitch Darnell officiated my daughter's wedding and failed on every single level. First, he was a complete no-show at the rehearsal the day before. When the actual ceremony began, his first move was to walk away from the microphone and stand awkwardly in front of the bride and groom--something I have never seen an officiant do. Worse, he was entirely unprepared and had absolutely nothing to say. He completely ignored the written script and the specific vows the couple had provided to him well in advance. Instead of guiding them, he skipped the traditional exchanges entirely--he never even prompted them with the standard, "I, [Name], take thee, [Name], to be my wedded..." or any variation of the "I dos." Instead, he put them on the spot, forcing them to come up with impromptu vows in front of everyone. While they stumbled initially, their heartfelt, off-the-cuff words ended up being the only redeeming and wonderful part of the ceremony. To make matters worse, I paid him $400, which is an obscenely high rate for someone who didn't even attend the rehearsal and spent less than an hour total on the job. In fact, he was at the wedding for only about 30 minutes total. That brief half-hour even included the signing of the marriage license, which he absurdly incorporated as part of the ceremony itself. I have never seen that done before, and I strongly suspect that because he is a fraud who does not actually know how to officiate weddings, he wanted to use the signing as "ceremony filler." We did not let him and made the signing directly after the ceremony but he was extremely impatient and wanted to leave the venue as soon as possible. Do not hire this man. Avoid him and his company, "Forever Inspired" with web at that name dot net. at ALL costs. He is absolutely worthless as an officiant and ruined what should have been a beautiful, prepared ceremony. The rest of the wedding was great and we are glad he had no hand in any of the festivities afterward. Mitch Darnell is a con-man and a fraud! Do not give this man any of your money.

We truly cannot say enough amazing things about Ramona. We…read morehad absolutely no clue what we were doing when we started planning our wedding; we didn't even have a clear vision for the day. But from the moment we began working with her, everything fell into place. She took the time to get to know us, helped craft a beautiful vision for our wedding, and guided us through the entire process with so much patience and expertise. Even though Ramona was technically our "day of" coordinator, she was with us every step of the way. Her responsiveness was incredible - every time we had a question (and there were plenty!), she was quick to reply with the perfect solution. She was calm, confident, and took care of everything, making even the most complicated parts of planning seem easy. On the wedding day, nothing went wrong - seriously, not one thing. Ramona had everything under control, handling every detail flawlessly. We didn't have to stress about a single thing, which allowed us to have the most perfect day. We are forever grateful for how she made our wedding so seamless and enjoyable. Honestly, Ramona is a total bada**! If you want a coordinator who is not only incredibly organized and responsive but also brings a level of calm, confidence, and total control to your day, look no further. We can't recommend Ramona enough; she helped make our wedding day everything we dreamed of and more! Thank you a million and one times, Ramona!

We hired Ramona as our wedding coordinator, and while things seemed fine leading up to the big day,…read morewe started to notice some passive-aggressive behavior as the wedding got closer. Unfortunately, on the actual wedding day, my family had to step in and handle several things that were supposed to be managed by the coordinator and her team. There were quite a few promises made during the planning process that simply weren't kept, and it added unnecessary stress to what should have been a smooth and enjoyable day. While some parts of her work were okay, the lack of follow-through and professionalism on the day itself was really disappointing. I wouldn't recommend based on our experience

We hired JD and Kristen for our wedding in September and were so happy with our decision! We…read morereceived a sneak peak a couple days after the wedding and couldn't believe how beautiful it was! JD and Kristen were wonderful to work with and had great communication throughout the wedding planning process. Thank you Barrel 9!

Working with Barrel9 was one of the best decisions I made during wedding planning. Kristen and JD…read moreare so easy to work with and create such an amazing quality video. They are so laid back and know what they are doing -- they made us feel so comfortable. We had talked to them about getting specific parts of our day on video and they delivered! I am so excited to have the toasts and the highlight reel. The sneak peek delivered quickly after the wedding so we got to relive the moments on our honeymoon! So special. My husband and I are soooo pleased with the quality of the video (especially in the church, which isn't easy!). Definitely worth it for the mems!