My mother and I hired NoLo for my wedding recently. Nora was my planner and we hired her for the…read more"Month Of" service. The pricing was reasonable and my mother and I agree - WORTH EVERY PENNY. We both are high strung individuals so having Nora there in the last month leading up to the big day was super helpful. We tend to leave things to the last minute but Nora stayed on us and made sure she got everything she needed from us. Nora attended our rehearsal and helped choreograph the ceremony. The day of the ceremony she coordinated with the DJ for all announcements and music cues. As a control freak myself, I wanted everything to be perfect. Because I didn't have to yell, scream, or even think on my big day, Nora MADE my day perfect. One of the other reviewers said they had the ceremony and reception in the same place and were worried about space. SAME HERE. I was ready to help move our rental furniture around in my wedding dress after the ceremony. I was worried I'd have to tell people "Alright we do! Now everyone pick up a chair and take it over to a table..." but no such thing happened. Nora coordinated the catering staff and her assistant/husband to get the ceremony broken down and dinner set up during cocktail hour while the bridal party took pictures. The biggest rave I have about Nora is that about a week before my wedding I sent her a three page email (single spaced) with every anxiety, fear, and wedding nightmare I've had in the past year and a half. It was definitely an unhinged email. Nora gave me the most valuable wedding gift I could have gotten then: Peace of Mind. She sent me a reply that both validated my feelings and helped me calm down a bit. If I ever need to plan another wedding or help a friend/sibling plan a wedding, I'm strongly recommending Nora's services. Next time, though, I may just have to hire NoLo for the entire wedding planning package because I'm sure NoLo will plan a magical wedding!

I hired Nora and Lorinda (NoLo) a few months out from my wedding as I was realizing I needed some…read morehelp and the coordinator that came with my venue was not being as responsive as I would have liked. I just felt like I needed someone objective to keep me sane and help me with the little details. I met with the girls as they offered a "day of" package for a great price that was within my budget. It took about 5 minutes of hellos and small talk to know these ladies were THE BEST investment of my entire wedding! They reminded me of little details I forgot about and helped to handle those little details. I was immediately at ease and didn't worry about a thing from then on. They worked great with the on site coordinator and the day went as smoothly as it could have. If I started to think about something that may have been forgot, they just flashed me a smile to let me know they had already handled it. They were extremely professional but had fun as well because that is the only way I would have it! Even though it was a "day of" package, they took the time to meet with me a few times beforehand to go over things and offered to hold onto any decor I needed stored until the day. If i sent an email about something, they responded immediately. (And believe me, I sent quite a few emails haha). They truly were my little guardian angels that day and I can't thank them enough for all they did for me. I can say with 100% honesty that I had an absolute blast at my wedding and enjoyed every second of it and I truly believe that is because of Nora and Lorinda.

I stayed here for a friend's wedding recently and let me tell you this is hands down one of the…read morebest BnB's ever and I've been to a few. The building is in the Tudor style but has lots of medieval accents, which I found to be interesting. There are several vintage pieces and artwork for sale at affordable prices on display throughout the building. I was super excited about that and purchased a couple of pieces to take home with me. The rooms are very cozy and the mattress/pillows/towels are such good quality. And to top it off, breakfast is solid and hearty. They also know how to host an event. Decor and the setting in the garden was lovely. Already plotting my next visit here.

I had my wedding here and it turned out beautiful. They were gracious enough to give my decor…read moreperson a little more time to set up. The only reason I gave a 4 out of 5 was because I would have liked a little bit more communication as we got closer to the wedding date. Maybe some insight on what to expect the day of not just a call to confirm my guest count. That alone would have helped my anxiety levels the day of the wedding. But other than that the times I have called to ask questions, they were helpful.

Ally is terrific and was invaluable in planning my wedding. She is extremely knowledgeable and has…read moregreat relationships around town. She is such a pleasure to work with and I credit her for the total lack of anxiety I had around the planning process. 2hands will make sure you have a timeline, actionable to-do lists, and will generally just keep you on track with contracts, deposits, etc. Every time I got on the phone with Ally, it was so reassuring that we were operating on schedule. They are wonderful partners!

Ally and the 2Hands team are the best!! My wedding in June 2024 went so smoothly and I never had to…read morethink about anything on the day of. My husband was very nervous about the logistics of shuttle transportation and Ally made sure everything ran perfectly. I could not recommend her and her team more - I'm so glad I chose them be part of our wedding day!

We worked with Natasha yesterday & LOVE HER!! If you are…read moreplanning an event, make sure you call here first!! My husband told all of his friends it was as if we were being married again!! Not all catering companies are equal! We were treated like family (literally)! Everything was delicious! The event was smooth, timely & we were really taken care of! One of the things I love most about working with Natasha is her love of food!! A fellow Foodie!! She travels and enjoys cuisine continuously perfecting her practice When she talks about her different food experiences you can see the love & sparkle in her eyes. You automatically know you are EXACTLY where you need to be with her taking care of your catering needs. Everyone you may need for your special day/event is at her fingertips! Get in touch you WILL NOT be disappointed

After searching for so long to find a caterer that would even come remotely to our budget, finding…read moreNatasha was a miracle. Natasha was very professional and organized, and her food was delicious. We didn't even bother trying to find other caterers after going to her tasting because we knew this was it. Her staff was professional, and everyone raved about how good the food was at our wedding. My only critiques are: 1) We also booked with Natasha given the fact that she mentioned to us that she usually had a lot of leftovers. This was important to me because I know my family can eat, & so I even bought to-go boxes to account for this, to which Natasha said was fine. On top of that, since we were doing a buffet style, the price is dependent on the number of guests. The lowest tier was supposed to feed up to 100 people; w/ our estimated guests being over the 100 person range, we had to pay a bit more to go up to the next tier (which was supposed to feed 120 people). During the last week of the wedding, we had a lot of people drop out, but I chose to keep it at that tier since I figured it would be too late to make any changes. On the day of the wedding, we only ended up with 96 guests. But we barely had any leftovers left! Mind you, this tier was supposed to feed up to 120 guests, so had I chosen the tier for 100 people, I'm afraid we would've ran out of food. Also, mind you, the servers gave out the portions, not our guests. 2) On the day of the wedding, instead of the cake table being the navy satin we had discussed, she had made some changes and made it ivory instead. I was fine with this decision because our cake table was standing right next to our navy sweetheart table, so it might have been too much navy, but if you are someone who wants everything done your way, you have to make it clear, or it might get changed. Overall, I could not have asked for a better catering team. Everything was delicious, and I want some of that food again!

My mom and I found Kawania Wooten (Kay) of Howerton-Wooten Events on the Knot. From the beginning,…read moreKay was extremely professional and stood head and shoulders above the other planners we interviewed. We hired her after booking the venue and I wish we'd waited to get her input because she probably would've saved us money in the long run by going with a smaller hotel. Kay came to the table with a long list of recommended professionals, and all of the vendors she recommended were excellent. Kay was great to work with; she's friendly and easy going, which made it easy to discuss choices with her. She is professional and able to quickly assess what we wanted based on her many years of experience. She was ready and able to solve most all our problems, but also ready to bring different views and approaches to the discussion in order to find a good solution. Her recommendations for lighting and décor were very high style; I'd trust her and her team with any of my events.

If you are looking for a wedding planner do yourself a favor and schedule a consult with Kay at…read moreHowerton +Wooten Events! I had the unique challenge of planning a Maryland wedding while living in Texas. Even though I signed up for partial planning services, Howerton + Wooten completely exceeded my expectations the entire time. She even sent us care packages with wedding magazines and other treats along the way. She assisted us with setting up meeting with vendors and picking out the vendors and items that would best suit our individual style for our multicultural wedding. Leading up to the big day, Kay and her team really saved us by helping with some extra last minute tasks such as gift bags and table settings which was sooo greatly appreciated. Kay was exceptionally kind and patient from start to finish. She even dealt with my 'momzilla' in perfect stride on the wedding day. From the initial contact to several months after the wedding, Kay and the staff at Howerton +Wooten have been wonderful. During the process we not only got the best wedding planner ever but also gained a new friend! We look forward to booking Howerton + Wooten for future events!

At the start she said all the right things. But as planning picked up, our experience soured…read more We were clear with our budget. We worked together to set item level budgets and design choices (e.g. flowers, printing, etc.). However, each proposal we received was over budget. Communication also became a problem. When she overlooked scheduling problem between the venders and our requirements, she became defensive about her faults. Also, she promised she would only manage one marriage a weekend, but on our weekend she had two weddings. I wish the relationship would have worked better and I hope she learns from our concerns.

Our single best investment of the entire wedding was to hire Diana of Eventi Planning. We hired…read moreDiana to help with wedding day coordination, but in fact she ended up helping with planning, crisis management, and general advice in the months leading up to the wedding. Given that vendors often try to double as event planners (especially caterers, venues, and DJs), Diana had the difficult job of coordinating the coordinators. She did so with aplomb: building positive relationships with the other vendors, soliciting input on the master schedule, maintaining flexibility, and helping cultivate a sense of joy on the big day. She could easily charge double or triple for her services. Diana helped with the following decisions and more: creating a floor plan, hiring transportation for the wedding day (we used three vendors: a hotel shuttle, an all-purpose van, and a limo), hiring and negotiating a better rate for drapes, brainstorming ideas, communicating with other vendors, buying small items that we forgot (tea candles, a car decorating kit, and a guest book), lending us some common wedding items (a ring pillow, candle holders, and a "bird cage" for gifts), delivering ribbons for the wedding cake, and creating a master schedule. We also appreciated that Diana was fine with the unusual gender roles in our planning process, as the groom handled most of the planning. We found that some vendors were quite sexist in this respect, but Diana was fine with communicating with both of us. In short, we can't emphasize enough how thankful we are for Diana's help.

Seems like they're on Groupon all the time. Our horseback ride started about 1.5hours late. I…read morewasn't happy about this at all. Not simply because he was running late, but because the house (castle/waiting room/party room) was absolutely filthy. I was really taken aback by a business looking like this, even if it's a business that works w/ animals. When we got there, the owner and assistant were on a ride w/ another group. Then the group we were supposed to be riding with were an hour late, so we had to wait for them. It was just annoying, although Steven (owner) was friendly. When we walked into the empty house it looked like a construction space, a hen was walking around the inside and I even saw it poop IN THE KITCHEN! Things finally turned around when I hopped on Sherman (my white horse w/ black spots). He was a greedy little thing and ate up all the grass but he was a great horse. Steven immediately put ppl on the horses and taught us while we were riding. He was a straight to it teacher and I liked that. He definitely knows what he's doing when it comes to animals. He took a bunch of pictures and videos and sent them to everyone in the group. I'm thankful to have such awesome pictures that didn't cost us extra. I'm giving 4 stars despite the filth because Steven was friendly, welcoming, and I enjoyed the experience. Tip: -don't eat there if germs bug u -don't arrive early, there's no point -yes, you're in the right spot, even though it looks a little funky on the outside

It's funny this guy is trying to say we never went when we did - I'd love to see what evidence he…read morehas considering during our entire time there he never once asked for our names or checked that we even had a reservation. He also never redeemed our Groupon. He has repeatedly messaged me and begged me to remove this review and has even reported it to Yelp to try to get it removed. Not only do I stand by my review but this Steven Strasburg owner has proved himself to not only be completely unprofessional but also desperate and dishonest. My advice: TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY for your business instead of accusing people of posting fake reviews or saying "it must've been another place". This is the ONLY time where an owner has not only not apologized but tried to say I'm posting for the wrong Castle Strasburg. How many Castle Strasburg horseriding places are there in Midland, VA? SHAME ON YOU!