A much needed service to help save time and effort when planning parties! Endless options, super…read morefriendly, and very reliable. Highly recommend them!

Alison and team were absolutely amazing! They helped us run a 100-person Halloween party and I…read morecouldn't have done it without them! They were friendly and helped with shopping beforehand, food selection and made sure the party ran smoothly. Will use this company again and highly recommend!

We had an amazing experience with Laura. Guidance was the most important thing since we were the…read morecouple that didn't really know what we wanted but we needed it on a budget and she delivered! Helped to right the wrongs I had done hah! and steer me in the right direction with the small stuff. Helped us quickly and efficiently answer the debatable items which kept me and my fiancé calmer than we would have been. She has a great (and reliable) network in the wedding industry. Saved me hours upon hours searching for the right vendors. She always had a calming demeanor which kept me calm, because weddings shouldn't be these huge stressors and having Laura definitely kept it that way.

I am so excited to be the first to review Laura and her wonderful business, The Ideal Day! It was…read moresuch a joy to have her help while planning my wedding - I never thought anyone could be as excited as the bride about every little detail! I hired Laura as a DOC (day of coordinator), but she really did SO MUCH more than that. She helped with vendor recommendations, she made timelines, and especially in the weeks leading up to the wedding, she really made sure everything was in order. When I was in the early planning stages, I wasn't 100% positive I really needed a day of coordinator, but I decided to at least see what they had to offer. What sealed the deal for me is when Laura showed up to our first meeting with a sample binder she'd put together for another bride's wedding. A binder! With organized tabs and labels and everything! A woman after my own heart! Sold! Laura helped me get the ball moving with lots of vendor recommendations. She even offered to come to our meetings with vendors or to provide us with some questions in advance to ask when interviewing vendors. Then once we had most everything in place (venue, dj, florist, photographer, caterer, etc. etc.), there were only a few emails exchanged between me and Laura until about 4-6 weeks before the wedding. During that time, I mostly emailed her with "wedding etiquette" questions, which she is very knowledgeable about! Then, about 4-6 weeks before the wedding, Laura asked me to send her ALL of our vendor contracts. It was actually pretty hard to gather them all up since some were saved on the computer as PDFs and others we had as hard copies. But I eventually scanned all the hard copies and emailed Laura PDFs of ALL of my contracts. Because I was so busy with work, I didn't really have time to explain to her what everything was when I sent the email, but lucky for me, Laura set up a time for us to meet and go over everything. And then... she brings it... the glorious binder! Filled with all of our vendor contracts and a detailed day of timeline she's put together simply by reviewing the contracts! I didn't have to explain a thing - she read through all the contracts herself and put the binder and timeline together on her own! It was beautiful. A work of art, really. From then on, Laura and I spoke much more frequently. She made sure we were on top of final payments. She offered to come with us to all the final meetings with our vendors. She circulated the day of timeline with all our vendors in advance and served as the main point of contact so I didn't have to be bothered with all the little questions. It was so incredibly comforting to know I could rely on her to handle everything. I trusted her completely. She had it under control. Then about 5 days before the wedding, I gave Laura all of the "day of" items she would be in charge of (programs, bubbles, card box, cake serving set, toasting flutes, cake topper, escort cards, table numbers, guestbook, etc.). I never for a second worried about any of it - it was all in good hands! The wedding went off without a hitch! Maybe that's bad luck, but I'm really not going to complain. Everything was flawless, and I have Laura to thank for that. I never had to question or double check anything on my wedding day - I got to enjoy every moment of it with my new husband, knowing Laura had everything under control. It was amazing. Thank you so much, Laura!! Oh, and when we got back from the honeymoon, everything we'd given Laura before the wedding was sitting in our living room waiting for us, along with all of our gifts. We'd given Laura a key to our place in advance so she could bring everything back there for us after the wedding. It was perfect. Laura was simply phenomenal from that first meeting through to the very end. I don't hesitate in recommending her to anyone!

Our daughter's wedding was on June 9, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. The day unfolded just perfectly…read morethanks to Katie Goggin of Designer Event Chicago. Katie's attention to detail, professionalism, and expertise resulted in an absolutely flawless event. We prepared for this day for over a year and Katie was with us every single step of the way. She met our requests promptly and cheerfully. It was just wonderful being able to enjoy the wedding day knowing that Katie was "behind the scenes" making sure that the entire day would be a lovely memory, which it is.

Katie Goggin was absolutely wonderful to work with! She was our wedding planner and truly made the…read moreexperience fun (and less stressful!). I looked forward to each meeting with Katie, she is so kind and professional. Also, the vendors she suggested were amazing. I owe it to her for our gorgeous location, spectacular florist, and great band .... and pretty much every other detail :) The day of went so smoothly thanks to Katie and her hard work and patience! We couldn't have been happier!

My son has been on the boys hip hop dance team going on his 7th year this year. This has been the…read moremost amazing experience. We have an incredible leadership team in our choreography and studio director. The communication for the team is amazing and we the team of boys has grown together over the past few years so much that it has led us to compete and win First Place of World of Dance and we have traveled to CA for the past 2 years. It has been an incredible experience and moving into our last year is very emotional to think we have to leave the studio when he graduates.

My granddaughter has danced at Soul2Sole since she was 11/2. She finally moved into the preschool…read moreprogram and has had a wonderful experience with the preschool team! They are warm and friendly, they have an amazing energy and work very hard for each child to have a positive experience. I couldn't be more pleased with them and Soul2Sole.

I have been to both the Highland Park and Evanston locations for private events. At both events we…read morepainted wine glasses. This is a really fun concept and you don't have to have a lot of talent to come out with a good looking product. I did think that the Evanston store gave better instructions. There was very little instruction here at the HP location.

We celebrated my daughter's 12th birthday here and it is the perfect place to host a kids party!…read more First, the studio space is beautiful! Our party was from 2-4:30 on a Saturday. The natural light that filled the space was gorgeous. The co-owner, Rob, allowed me to get there early to decorate a table for snacks and the birthday cake. He was so helpful with anything I needed, allowing us to use their refrigerator and basically making me feel at home. Our instructor, Florina, was also great! She was calm and worked with the kids well, giving everyone individual attention as she walked around after each step. Best of all, the girls all got to go home with a beautiful painting that they were proud to have made! I'd highly recommend having a "tween" or teen birthday party here. It's a little more sophisticated, and a great way for your daughter to enjoy being with her friends on her special day!

Great experience! They planned a wonderful intimate dinner party for 12 at home. A half hour before…read morethe guests were to arrive, a severe thunderstorm rolled in and the power went out. Despite the lack of electricity and a mad scramble to light candles, the party went off without a hitch. No one panicked, the caterer used the grill to finish cooking, the wine kept flowing and it was a magical evening. We were almost disappointed when the power came back on at 10:30 pm. They were great and gracious under pressure and the party was wonderful!

From the owner: Events catered to you to save you time. Who doesn't love a party? It has to be memorable, easy, and…read moremost of all fun! You take the element of stress away when you hire a party planner. Enjoy your day, and let us help it move seamlessly. We offer detailed innovative ideas, creativity, and attention to detail. Every party with us​ is unique. We are always budget friendly because a beautiful party should be fun and not worrisome.

Stacey knows how to put together an amazing event . I hired her for my son's recent bar mitzvah and…read moream so glad I did. She has impeccable taste and her attention to detail is remarkable. She is creative, organized, fun and easy to work with. She helped orchestrate the whole night and helped with service set up ( even designed and created our floral arrangements!) and helped with every detail of our celebration. While I knew we would have a fun party, Stacey's ideas and execution from start to finish made our event spectacular. Highly recommend!!!!

I call Stacey Moe the Energizer Bunny - she is unstoppable on the longest of days, never flagging…read morein energy, effort or creativity. We most recently hired Stacey for our daughter's bat mitzvah. From the very first meeting, she was creative, resourceful, and on top of all aspects of the party. Nothing was halfway. Even when I, long since tired of the planning process, declared something "good enough," Stacey came up with something better, a wow-factor that didn't stretch the budget. On the evening of the event, I didn't do a thing. Stacey never stopped moving, never missed a thing, and when it did occur to me to check on things, Stacey beat me to it by showing up with an update. What sets Stacey apart from the myriad event planners on the north shore is her range, adaptability and accessibility. She can do a lovely, refined bridal shower at the country club just as meticulously as a loud, techno party in a loft space. She never makes you feel like you need to spend more or do more than you'd planned. She doesn't push ideas. Stacey's so very fun and easy to work with, such an authentic person, it feels like planning a party with your best girlfriend, the one who knows all the best places and picks out the best centerpieces and has an amazing little source for favors that no one else has used - and is just as excited as you are about making it a great event.

When it came time to pick out an invitation for my daughter's bat mitzvah our party planner said…read morethe best option was Stefanie Penner. My daughter and I met with her on a Friday afternoon and she had done her research ahead of time learning about our event theme, etc...and had lots of different options to choose from. After an hour with Stefanie we chose a gorgeous sparkly invitation. We make decisions pretty fast, but I was told that first invitation meeting can be several hours long. On our way out the door our party planner mentioned that Stefanie was extremely fast. Fast is an understatement because by the end of that evening (and this was a weekend) I had proofs and pricing waiting in my inbox. Impressive! We decided to do invitations for adults and virtual invites for kids. Stefanie worked with us to design the same invitation on green envelope. We also used a QR code in the invitation that went out to adults, which linked to an extremely tricky website rsvpify. You need a PHd to figure out how to operate rsvpify and I would have given up if it weren't for Stefanie who spent many hours of our time figuring this out. Once it was time to send virtual invites out to the kids all I had to do was push a button. Stefanie event offered to do that part for me, but figured I could handle that one. We did have a printing issue with our actual invitations. They came in months early and Stefanie wasn't happy with the quality when she noticed the acrylic front was coming off the glitter back. She worked with the company to redo the invitations and round 2 was perfect and also came in months ahead of schedule. Beyond invitations Stefanie also did our table seating printing and napkins. When i picked up the table seating cards I realize they had been printed in the wrong size due to the promotional store sending her a wrong sample. I had a slight panic attack, but Stefanie to the rescue once again where she had everything printed in the correct size just 24 hours later. I love a beautiful paper invite, although I"m on the fence if I would do one again for my next child just because of how often mail gets lost/delayed these days. However, I will definitely use Stefanie again for any physical and/or virtual invitations...and all other printing needs. She was truly such a pleasure to work with and saved the day again and again!

I am struggling to put into words how to thank Lindsay Gaeta and her team and acknowledge every…read moresingle detail she knocked out of the park and executed on our wedding day! Throughout the planning process there were so many little behind the scenes details she saved me time on which I am so appreciative! I will miss seeing her monthly on our planning calls! I don't plan to get married again anytime soon but I do hope our paths cross again! I am speechless about her help from the rehearsal to the very last minute of shutting down the after party!! The top 3 highlights that people mentioned to me on the wedding day were 1. Dad's speech, 2. Florals, 3. How hard she HUSTLED!!! My bridesmaids and close family constantly approached me on the wedding day with sentiments of "wow, she's good!!" She exceeded our expectations and anticipated our every move! I have close family in the hospitality business (who are the harshest critics about everything in the event planning world) and were over the top satisfied with her commitment and follow through to make the day as seamless as possible! I am sure there were many hiccups that day that were not brought to my attention and for that, I give Lindsay full credit! I was able to relax, be present and have a B+ personality that evening instead of my typical A- for all things attention to detail! I felt completely comfortable 'handing Lindsay the reigns' and entrusting she would handle everything as necessary, which she did!!!

We are beyond grateful for Kim Weinberg of LivenUp Events! From the very beginning, Kim was the…read moreultimate professional, so patient, kind, and supportive, even when I, as the bride, was feeling overwhelmed. She has this incredible ability to stay calm, cool, and collected no matter what comes her way, always finding solutions effortlessly and proactively preventing issues before they even arise. Her industry knowledge is unparalleled, and her planning experience truly shines through in every detail. From her amazing vendor connections to her creative, thoughtful ideas, Kim went above and beyond to make our wedding not just beautiful, but absolutely seamless. She kept us organized, on track, and stress-free throughout the entire process. But what really sets Kim apart is her heart. She genuinely cares about her couples, listens with empathy, and makes you feel supported every step of the way. We couldn't have asked for a better wedding planner. She is a true gem, and we feel so lucky to have had her by our side. Kim Weinberg didn't just plan our wedding; she made our dream day a reality, and we will be forever grateful.

Still love this place. Came here again for the Christmas vibes 2 days before Christmas to get some…read morework done. I needed to bribe myself with coffee I didn't make myself and to get out of my house to plow through a bunch of work admin. I took a chance coming here because I know they have some laptop policies, particularly around Christmas. This time it was no laptops after 9am and then none on Friday and weekends during the holiday season. (During the rest of the year it's certain tables that aren't allowed to use laptops and/or certain tables at certain hours). I came in at 7am and it was good motivation for me to knock out a bunch of things efficiently since I have a 9am cutoff lol. They also now put that notice on their front door, which is helpful and was my complaint last year when I came here to do work on a Saturday and found out I couldn't. As always, the coffee was great, and the Home Alone installation is always fun. Their tartines are also always amazing. Definitely keeping this in my regular rotation.

Stopped into Towne & Oak with my son after his doctor's appointment for a quick bite and it was so…read moregood. First time there and definitely won't be our last. My son got the croissant egg and bacon breakfast sandwich and loved it. I got the yogurt and granola. Both were super fresh and delicious, just wish there was a little less honey on mine because it was a bit heavy for me. I also ordered an almond milk cappuccino and it was SO good. We were there around munch time, and it was moderately busy for that time of day. They brought out the food quickly. Was super cute inside and gave off costal vibes. Already looking forward to coming back and trying more things on the menu.