Christina Baxter Wedding + Events, the best wedding planner in Charleston. Over the course of a…read moreyear, Christina and Dana became like family to us. From the very first interview, we fell in love with Christina's infectious personality and limitless enthusiasm for making our vision Gullah+Jamaica+Cinderella wedding a reality. We'd interviewed other planners, but Christina's warm spirit and instanteous ideas sealed the deal. Indeed, it felt like we were excitedly planning with an old friend and not our planner. Christina soon introduced us to her Senior Event Coordinator, Dana, who worked with us every step of the way to make sure the details of our wedding were set and mapped out. They were a full service team, helping us with every detail from the invitations to the centerpieces. And when our 325-person wedding ballooned into a 400-person affair 3 weeks before the big day, these two did not miss a beat. They re-designed the entire reception layout and coordinated with every vendor. This was a particularly massive undertaking because we got married at Middleton Place, with an original plan to use some of the site's tables and other settings. When the numbers increased, we had to move everything outside and everything, and I mean everything, had to be adjusted to accommodate the new plan. Despite the abrupt change, the wedding was magical. Every bride I know talks about the meltdown she had on her day or the mishaps that occurred. I had none. Christina and Dana masterfully corralled our nearly 50-person wedding party through wedding prep, pre-wedding pictures, and the wedding precessional. This included hiring a personal assistant to travel with me for most of the day until the reception. Not only was that person amazing and friendly, but as a former pageant consultant, she was able to keep all my girls on schedule, help me get ready, and served as the liaison between myself and Christina and Dana. It worked out perfectly. Their wedding staff was great, with individuals stationed at various points on the grounds to direct my party and the guests. In the end, everything was on time and consistent with our detailed schedule. 400 people moved seamlessly from one part of the grounds to the next. Musicians (including a trio, steel drum band, and singers) were on time and prepared with their necessary cues. Post-wedding pictures were handled quickly, leaving us time to hangout with our guests at cocktail hour. Our reception was exactly what we asked for - a massive party. And it was made possible by Dana's recommended DJ (there's a reason why DJ Natty Heavy is consistently voted the best DJ in the area - he was fantastic). They kept the party going and made sure we were in position to leave on schedule in our fabulous getaway car. In short, from the amazing design to masterful execution, they did a phenomenal job. My family, wedding party, and guests couldn't stop talking about our planners and how they helped us bring "Hollywood" to Charleston. In one instance, a dear friend of mine who is an event planner and once coordinated events for President Barack Obama, took me aside and told me that my planners were top-notch and doing an impeccable job. You cannot go wrong with these two. This team created a wedding day better than we imagined, they listened to us, and invested 200% in executing this event. Our only regret was not having a bigger budget so they could have handled the entire wedding weekend. Thanks Christina and Dana!

As a negotiation expert, consultant, and trainer who trains Fortune 100 executives on the art of…read morenegotiation and has hosted events worldwide, I was skeptical about the need for an event planner and only considered several at my daughter's insistence. Having now worked with Cibi events I know that I was completely wrong - Cibi's choice of vendors, ability to obtain discounts from them herself, and efficiency with our time meant that we were ahead financially and personally, making her fee mute. We could never repay Cibi and Dana at Cibi Events for all that they did to make my daughter's and new son-in-law's wedding everything they dreamed of and more. It was the any of us have ever attended (an opinion shared by our guests despite the fact that many of them had weddings that were 5 times the budget ). Clearly Cibi provided additions and improvements that we did not pay for (surely coming out of her own pocket) to make the event even lovelier. Cibi and Dana are truly the ultimate professionals, with a remarkable eye to detail, exceptional ability to grasp the vision of their clients, impeccable taste, continual focus on service and truly unmatched ability to create an event that far exceeds one's expectation or imagination. And with all of that said, they are pure joy to work with, leading one to hope they might remain as friends.

I wanted a photographer to capture my proposal, and Lindsey absolutely crushed it. We're nearly 7…read moremonths pregnant, so Lindsey not only captured the proposal without my fiancee suspecting - getting tons of amazing candid shots - she basically set us up with engagement photos and maternity photos all in one. We were visiting Charleston for the weekend, so Lindsey helped me plan every detail down to a location in the heart of the city at the perfect time of day. She is personable and so easy to work with. We emailed, texted and jumped on the phone to discuss logistics over the two months leading up to the proposal. During the session, she suggested different poses and locations and never once made us feel rushed. She even made a couple restaurant suggestions for us as we parted ways. Lindsey has a great eye, and we are blown away with everything. My fiancee is so excited - not only that I had the wherewithal to plan this without her knowing a single detail, but also that I selected an awesome photographer. Lindsey has given us a very special way to remember this moment, and we can't thank her enough!

We hired Lo to take photobooth shots at our wedding and couldn't be happier! She was great to work…read morewith, very responsive, and even revised contract language to fit our needs. She also took the initiative to visit the venue on her own time to know what she would be working with. She arrived with plenty of fun props and our guests had a ton of fun. We would highly recommend her to anyone!

We thought that hiring a wedding planner would alleviate some of the stresses of planning a…read moredestination wedding. Unfortunately, that was not the case in this situation. We're getting married in December on Kiawah Island. I grew up going there, sometimes spending entire summers there, so I know the area like the back of my hand. However, considering that neither one of us had any wedding planning experience, I thought that we would greatly benefit from the help of a professional. We hired Katherine Miller events because I liked her portfolio, the proposal sounded great, and she seemed very detail-oriented. Boy, was I wrong. She presented us with a wedding checklist, which was something similar to what you would find on The Knot, but it was never really discussed. I let her know that I'm used to deadlines, yet I rarely knew what she was working on, if anything at all. As the client, I didn't feel that I should micromanage the process, but I can't just blindly trust that things are getting done. This led to me doing most everything on my own and occasionally providing her with updates. When you're spending 20% of your budget on a full service wedding planner, it makes sense to be disappointed about this. Communication was sparse and haphazard-- an example of this was when she let me know that she would check on a tasting date with the caterer the next day (6/29), and I didn't hear back from her until 7/13. When we addressed these issues, she acted defensive and inflexible. She never even picked up the phone to call us. I really do believe that she thought she was working hard, and maybe our definitions of working hard are just different. At the end of the day, I never felt that she took the time to get to know us. I'm not sure if it was the fact that we were "out of sight, out of mind," or if our budget was too small for her to concern herself with. (She said that she discounted the cost of her services to fit in our budget. That's not something that I would tell a client.) To recap: When the wedding planner is the most stressful part of wedding planning, it's time to cut ties. Even if that means only getting a refund of $500 and being out the remaining retainer of $1,500.

If there was the option to give more than five stars to Katherine Miller events, I absolutely…read morewould. My husband and I were planning a destination wedding and were having trouble keeping our hands around everything. We had a hard time conceptualizing everything we wanted to do and really needed help -- LOTS of help. When we found Katherine, everything changed. Our loose ideas about what we wanted on our wedding day were transformed into cohesive, beautiful concepts. She helped us with everything, from proofreading our invitations to keeping us on track with to-do lists. Whether it was flowers, linens or which table to remove from our floor plan, Katherine had a recommendation. She was flexible to be a part of our planning meetings anytime we came to Charleston and was more than happy to talk by phone at any hour of the day when we needed her. One of the most valuable things to me was that our wedding coordinator get to know both me and my husband so that our day was a reflection of us, specifically, and our relationship. Katherine made sure that everything (right down to our wine-cork-handle cheese knife favor!) perfectly reflected us as a couple. I found Katherine to be really helpful with making sure things kept moving. She kept us on task about when we needed to make final decisions on things, when our next payments were due to vendors, when we needed to confirm headcounts -- anything. If ever I felt stressed out, I called her and we'd talk about whatever was concerning me. When my husband wasn't sure what he needed to do and when, she made sure he picked out his tuxes, vests and ties before they needed to be rushed. She was there no matter the emergency (like when our rehearsal dinner venue told us they'd double booked our date) or the need (like navigating through the floral requests of my mom and aunt). She's quick to respond on email or by phone. I never had any issues communicating with her about anything, even minor stuff like "Where can I get maps of the area for my guests?" (In fact, when I asked that, she shipped us 100 guide books on Charleston to include in our welcome bags!) During our wedding weekend, Katherine was at her best. No matter the challenge (like when rain caused a reception tent gutter to collapse during our cocktail hour or set-up being delayed a day because of high winds), she handled it flawlessly. When a bridesmaid called the morning of the wedding because her dress was the wrong shade of green, Katherine calmed her down and helped her find one in her size in the right shad. I was clueless about any hiccups during our wedding day -- I didn't even know rain was predicted! -- because Katherine made sure that I enjoyed and soaked up every second of the day. Looking back on our wedding, there is absolutely nothing we would change. We had a flawless wedding day that reflected us perfectly (and an enjoyable, fun time planning!) because of Katherine. I would recommend her without hesitation to anyone planning a wedding in the Charleston area.

DJ Natty Heavy did our Corks for Kids charity event. He was amazing and so easy work with. I highly…read morerecommend him for all of your DJ needs!

I am well over due on my review for April for our May wedding! We live in NC and were having our…read morewedding in Charleston, but April and her husband met my husband and me on a cold rainy day in Columbia. As soon as we left our meeting, we knew we wanted to use them. Just talking to April and Jared was so easy, loved their work and their personality. As soon as we got home, we booked them and cancelled our other upcoming meetings with other photographers. They were a blast to work with. They were professional, on time, and easy going. They had no problem doing anything we requested, but of course had plenty of great suggestions for us. They also had no problem getting pictures when our family or guests requested one. The only tough thing was to wait 3 months to get our pictures! It was well worth being patient though, such great photographs to give us a memory of such a wonderful day. Book them both, the best in Charleston!

April and Jared are once again AMAZING! They specialize in wedding photography and took our…read moreengagement and wedding photos; however, since we are now married with a family, they now take our family photos! They may not advertise it on their site, but they are wonderful with kids and family photos as well, so please do not pass on them if you are looking for a family photographer. They are ALWAYS so kind and patient, we have a (3 and 5 year old) so you can imagine how that might go, and still incredible sweet pics of us and our kids. Absolutely love them and cannot express how grateful we are for everything they have done for us.

We loved having Palmetto Wedding Films be a part of our micro wedding at The River House at Lowndes…read moreGrove in May 2019. Jessie was a true pleasure to work before, during, and after our big day. We selected Palmetto Wedding Films because of the drone footage & two cameras throughout; videos that include vows, speeches, toasts, and music; that you receive both a short-film (~3 minutes) and a full-length film (~1 hour) - both in high and standard resolution formats; and last but not least, the reasonable price point. Jessie also went above and beyond by returning all of our videos within our short eight-week window. We loved Palmetto Wedding Films and would highly recommend!

Beth at WildFlowers did the flowers for our December wedding on Kiawah. She was really nice,…read moreresponsive, and professional, so I'm not going to blast her, but I have to say that we weren't 100% satisfied with how things turned out. Flowers were not a top priority for us (food and photography were), but obviously I wanted them to look nice. My requests were as follows: simple, seasonal, and romantic. Admittedly, I didn't know much about flowers, so I made a Pinterest board for Beth to follow. The prices seemed reasonable for wedding flowers (unfortunately, $100 & up is normal for bouquets unless you DIY) and her delivery fee was $75. The invoice sounded great and I felt like we were on the same page. The bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres were beautiful and received a bunch of compliments. My issue was with some of the flowers at our reception. The invoice described them as "vignettes of assorted vintage bottles with blooms and mini vases with blooms." They turned out looking like weeds in bottles, as you can see in the picture I've included. I felt embarrassed and disappointed, and I still can't figure out where the miscommunication occurred. My advice is to proceed with caution and make sure you know exactly what you're getting.

Beth at Wildflowers, Inc. did the flowers for my wedding at Old Wide Awake Plantation YESTERDAY,…read moreand I cannot stop loving them. Some of the flowers that we kept still look absolutely amazing and I can't say enough about what an amazing job she did even though I had to hire her (issues with other florist) only two and a half months before my wedding. I will be sure to post as many photos as possible once I get some professional ones from our photographer so Yelpers can see what an outstanding job she did. I live in Las Vegas and had a destination wedding in the Charleston area, so I was only able to correspond with her via email and telephone, and she went above and beyond what I expected. From what I have seen of her portfolio and what she did for my intimate, but VERY heavily floral wedding, she has got to be about the best florist in Charleston. As long as you have a clear vision for her, and have realistic expectations, and MOST IMPORTANTLY give her the creative license to make something she is inspired by, you will be stunned by her work.

Had two bites of their pulled pork sandwich at the Mt. Pleasant Farmers Market and I gotta say it…read morewas pretty delicious. Almost pulled the trigger on getting a plate, but I'm saving my Charleston BBQ cherry for Home Team.

Chas Bay Gourmet catered our daughter's wedding reception last week. I have to say, it has been the…read morebest food we've eaten on our trip to Charleston! Yes, the cost of the whole affair was a bit steep, but amazing food! The service was also outstanding. The only dark cloud was the caterer telling our daughter to settle up at the end of the evening, when the bill had been paid already. When she challenged him on it, he argued before he backed off, then he insisted she tip each of the servers $40..yes, each! She would have gladly done so, other than she felt accosted by him regarding it all. It left a bad taste in her mouth, no pun intended, which is too bad since it was truly excellent food and service. We would recommend them with the advice that you make sure you have your receipt handy at the end of the evening.