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!

Worst experience we have ever had. No attention to anything. Sloppy and takes no responsibility for…read moreeverything that goes wrong. Do not use.

My husband and I highly recommend LK Events. Carolyn F. was our wedding planner and she is…read morephenomenal. She was perfect for our wedding at Chicago Illuminating Company. Carolyn is detail-oriented, patient and smart. Our wedding had a lot of customization and details that required a planner that was highly organized. Wedding planning for an engaged couple is practically a second job in itself, but Carolyn made sure that planning was seamless and stress-free. Every single phone call, email, and meeting was managed efficiently and with ease. She is also very mindful of your stylistic needs while remaining within your budget. There will be no surprises when it comes down to your final numbers, as Carolyn clearly lists out your costs, using excel sheets comparing different vendor quotes, for you to consider. Furthermore, she even highlights these differences in a quick summary email to make the price analysis more efficient for you. One very important factor of our wedding was the food and stylistic presentation. I wanted mini beverage pairings with mini lobster rolls, mini gyros, etc. Carolyn handled our requests seamlessly with our caterer and every single idea was executed flawlessly, and deliciously. To show you even further, how Carolyn doesn't miss ANY detail, the day before the wedding, I asked Carolyn to place custom blankets on my seat and my husband's seat as a surprise to my husband. The blankets had quotes we say to each other. Low and behold, they were sitting nicely on both of our chairs. There are many planners, but not every planner can catch every single detail. Carolyn truly does not miss a thing and you will have nothing to worry about! I cannot recommend her enough!

If you're a working woman and don't have time to plan your wedding, this is the wedding planner you…read moreHAVE to hire. There is no detail that she doesn't take care of. It's amazingly hassle free and they makes the whole process 10000% fun. All her vendors that she recommends are fantastic. They take what you envision and really just step it up a notch. Yes, it is an expense added to your wedding but if you really want a hands off experience and just to enjoy your engagement, this is the planner to get, you truly won't regret it.

After getting engaged the panic started to set it. I was flipping through a bridal magazine and…read morefound one of Heather's recent weddings and gave her a call. After meeting with a few planners, I picked Heather because she was calm, personable and I knew we would work well together. I also knew I did not want a long engagement. People kept telling me that I was crazy for wanting to get married in less than 6 months. When would I have the time, and all of the good locations and vendors were sure to be booked with such short notice. With the help of Heather and Katherine we pulled the whole thing off in just over 5 months. From the beginning Heather was professional, organized and my go to for just about every wedding/vendor related question I had. She allowed me to customize my services and she helped me find the location and was my day of coordinator. Although I relied on her heavily throughout the planning process. She had lots of great vendor recommendations and was super pleasant to work with. She helped me find the most unique location and really understood what me and my fiance were looking for. I had at least a dozen people come up to me at the end of the night and tell me that our wedding was the most beautiful and fun wedding they had ever attended. It was so nice to have the both of them to rely on. I felt like I could actually unwind and enjoy the night without having to worry about anything going wrong. I would recommend Greatest Expectations to anyone looking for a truly unique and customized wedding experience. We really could not have done it without them.

If you're looking for a planner this is the place to hire. We did the month of which included the…read moreday of; completely fair prices and worth it. Sandy has such a kind soul and she is so organized! We got so many compliments from our wedding day and it honestly wouldn't have been so smooth without her. She created a timeline of events, helped organize our rehearsal, made sure I had a completely GF accommodated meal, and so much more. I couldn't imagine having any other future event without her. Thank you so much Sandy!

I would give Sandy 10 starts out of 5. That's how amazing she was. Let me dive into everything…read moreshe did for us! First of all, we live in Oakland, California and our wedding was in Chicago (home for us). We knew we wanted to have our wedding where we met and where our families are for convenience for them, but it was a real inconvenience for us. Our wedding, for us, basically became a destination wedding, and we couldn't have done any of it without Sandy. It was a logistical nightmare, but having someone in Chicago to handle aspects of the planning for us was amazing. From our first consultation with Sandy, we knew she was definitely the right fit. Sandy listened to us, our vision, and our budget. We did not want a cookie cutter wedding by any means. From the ceremony, venue, coloring and timeline, we wanted things different. We wanted things "us". Our wedding was 100% ours and us. She was detail oriented. When we would go through invites, ceremony handouts, menus, signage, our wedding website, etc. Sandy would notice every little detail. I only noticed a few typos here and there that MAYBE occurred, but she was in the details about changing things to be aesthetically pleasing, to fit better, be more centered, etc. She was way more in the details of my wedding than I was! She's incredibly detail oriented and wants everything to have an organic and nice flow to it. Something I love about Sandy is her honesty. She would not just blindly agree with me to make me happy. She definitely put in her opinion and always had a reason why that she was suggesting something different (and it wasn't suggestions to make it hers, just things that made sense from a wedding professional!). She would alert me if something would look off, or if what I had in mind didn't work or would work, but needed tweaking to make it happen. She also had amazing suggestions for our vendors. With those vendors, because of the relationship she has built with them over time, we would actually get discounts from them (she basically paid for herself with this feature!). On the same token as vendors- she organized EVERYTHING WITH THEM. From walkthroughs of the venue the week of, to communicating with them, sending them the timeline, letting them know what we wanted and our vision, EVERYTHING. After our vendors were hired (we hired many before we realized we needed her) she would have us intro her via email, and then communicate with them separately if she did not need anything else from us, which was so nice. Some nitty gritty details you just do not need to be a part of, and she recognized when it was appropriate to cut us out. The day itself went off without a hitch. If there was an issue day of, we did not know about it at all. She handled everything and was on point the entire time. Timeline, vendors, our families, everyone knew who Sandy was and where to ask questions, which is great because the bride and groom are a bit overwhelmed that day! I highly highly recommend Sandy. She is worth the stress she cuts out during the planning process and day of wedding. A lot goes into a wedding and she is an absolute professional about everything. She is an amazing communicator (via whatever method you prefer, we would chat on instagram, text, email, phone, FaceTime... the works!). She made everything so easy and our wedding was a dream. Thank you does not come close to enough for what she did for us. Do not look anywhere else for your Chicago Wedding Planner than here with Splendid Weddings. XOXO, we love you, Sandy!

Thanks to Carolyn, we had the most amazing wedding at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago this…read moreAugust. She planned the day for us in advance and helped us create the perfect timeline. She made creative suggestions and recommendations I would never have thought of in a million years and made the day absolutely perfect. She flawlessly executed our rehearsal dinner and our wedding day from start to finish. The best part was that I was able to relax and enjoy myself the whole time because I knew Carolyn had everything under control. I just had to look to her for my cue, which meant I didn't have to worry about the timeline or order of events and I could focus on having fun and dancing! Both the DJ and the caterer later told me that they absolutely loved working with Carolyn and were thankful I had an awesome event planner. I highly recommend Carolyn!

I recently worked with CL Events for a wedding in Chicago as an out of town vendor and it was a…read morecomplete pleasure. Carolyn is attentive and helpful and has a wonderful eye; the entire wedding was beautiful. Definitely a solid choice to help you through the big day!

This is a post thanking Cristina for being the best part about my wedding planning…read more I booked Baroque as my florist for my wedding. I was very picky and had a budget to work with. Cristina took care of everything. She made the process goes so smooth. I only had to show her pictures of what im looking for. She made everything looks even better than the pictures. She was there any time I texted or called. Even the other details like my cake, stage and other things, she made sure the colors would go together and the theme would be one. She added her touch to everything and made it more elegant and classy. Here is a picture of my bouquet.

I highly recommend Baroque Contempo for their wedding planning and Day Of coordinating services…read more Cristina and her team were very professional yet warm and friendly. Cristina's attention to detail is amazing. She coordinated with all vendors before and during the wedding culminating in a 15 hour day for her and her team. Everything turned out beautifully and my daughter and I did not have to worry about one thing so that we could truly enjoy her big day. They are the best and hope to use them for my other daughter's wedding!!!

We could not recommend Nancy and her team at Aisle Ai enough! We knew we wanted to work with Aisle…read moreAi from our first meeting with Nancy - she was incredibly kind, professional, and transparent. During every meeting leading up to the wedding, Nancy was so organized and reassuring. She would assign us "homework," which helped keep us on task and also offer us different suggestions to make the day run seamlessly. Nancy and her team worked so much behind the scenes that, we really felt like we just showed up to our dream wedding. She really listened to our vision and helped bring it to life! On the day of the wedding, Nancy and her team were so efficient at putting everything together - they were literally everywhere at once all the time and made sure everything ran so smoothly! They took such good care of our family members, and made sure we didn't get overwhelmed either (which can sometimes be difficult with Asian families). Nancy and her team were so calm that they just kept us calm. Post-wedding, they also made sure all of our items got organized and packed away after the reception was over. Literally every little thing was accounted for, and we just got to enjoy the night and not stress about the clean-up after. We cannot thank them enough for being part of our wedding day. They are 100% worth the investment, and if we could go back to hire them again, we would! If you want to feel like a guest at your own wedding, we strongly recommend hiring Aisle Ai!

We had an incredible experience with Anna and Nancy and the Aisle Ai team. We had the wedding of…read moreour dreams because of them. Starting from the beginning, they gave us a timeline with everything we needed to do, and an awesome Google Drive Excel Document to help us stay organized. They recommended a lot of vendors, based on our preferences, many of whom they've worked with before, which made me feel confident in our choices. They do a ton of behind the scenes work communicating with vendors to make sure everything is perfect on wedding day. They also respond SO promptly (and accurately!) whenever we ask any type of questions. We were absolutely blown away by their services on wedding weekend -- they executed everything perfectly and our wedding was exactly how we'd wanted it. Everything went extremely smoothly and it is because of the Aisle Ai team. They were kind and patient with my family and bridal party, and immediately helped us with anything we needed. I had some items (card box, tea ceremony kneelers) that never came (ugh, online orders) but they brought back-ups. I'm sure they had 1000 things running through their heads but we could never tell - they were always grounded and attentive. It is also great that they know so many vendors in Chicago, so they had good communication with all of them. No matter what you want on your wedding day, they will make it happen and will help you do it in a way that flows well and makes sense for the day. I had a surprise gift for my parents and Anna suggested the perfect time to give it to them during the wedding day. We are forever grateful to Aisle Ai for helping us plan such a memorable and wonderful wedding. Also, there were NO hidden costs or fees -- they are true to their word.

If I had to recommend one thing during the wedding planning process, it would be to hire a…read morecoordinator! Caelee from Ohana Events made our entire wedding day seamless and completely stress-free. I didn't have to worry about communicating with vendors, keeping everything on schedule, or making sure our decor was perfectly placed because she had already taken care of it all. There were so many things happening behind the scenes that I never even had to think about, which allowed my husband and I to be present and enjoy our wedding day. Highly recommend!!

As the owner of Luniks Entertainment, working with Danielle and the entire Ohana Events team has…read moretruly been such a privilege. We've had the opportunity to watch Ohana Events grow from the very beginning, and it has been incredible to see how Danielle has built such a strong, thoughtful, and well-respected planning company. Danielle is amazing at what she does -- organized, calm, intentional, and always advocating for her couples. We've worked closely with her entire team over the years, including Jenna, Sonya, Rachel, Mara, and Emily, and they are all seasoned pros in every sense of the word. Each planner brings the same level of care, professionalism, and attention to detail, which makes working together seamless. One of the biggest reasons we love collaborating with Ohana Events is the level of preparation they bring to every wedding. Their timelines are incredibly detailed and well thought out, which allows us to focus on what we do best and really elevate the overall experience for the couple. There's a strong sense of trust and teamwork between our teams, and that's when events truly shine. We're so grateful for our relationship with Danielle and the Ohana Events team and always look forward to working together. If you're a couple looking for planners who are experienced, intentional, and genuinely invested in your day, Ohana Events is an absolute dream to work with.