I had the pleasure of working with Cindy Shanholtz of Effortless Events for our company's 100th…read moreanniversary dinner and celebration, and I cannot recommend her highly enough! From the moment we began planning, Cindy's attention to detail, professionalism, and creativity shone through at every step. Cindy took the time to truly understand our vision for the event and worked tirelessly to bring it to life in a way that exceeded all expectations. She seamlessly coordinated every aspect, from the venue selection and decor to the catering and entertainment. Her recommendations were spot-on, and her organizational skills ensured everything ran smoothly on the day of the event. The 100th anniversary dinner itself was nothing short of spectacular! The atmosphere Cindy created was elegant and celebratory, perfectly reflecting our company's history while looking forward to its future. Our guests were wowed by the thoughtful touches, from the custom table settings to the beautifully designed timeline of our company's milestones. What really set Cindy apart was her ability to handle every challenge with grace and poise. Despite the complexities of planning such a significant event, she kept everything stress-free for our team, managing all logistics and vendors without missing a beat. It was clear that Cindy and her team truly cared about making this milestone event unforgettable. If you're looking for an event planner who can turn your vision into a flawless reality, Cindy Shanholtz and Effortless Events are the way to go. She made our 100th anniversary celebration an extraordinary experience, and I can't wait to work with her again in the future! Holly Both VP Sales & Marketing, Plymouth Tube Co.

This is my 2nd posting for Cindy and her team at Effortless events. I recently hired them for…read moreanother wedding celebration in Chicago for my daughter who got married in DC. Again, they did not disappoint. Cindy's attention to detail is remarkable. She recommended the venue and took the reigns. From the flowers, decor and layout it was perfect. She suggested so many fun things...like a s'mores bar for dessert where guests assembled and "cooked" their own! We had mini individual cast iron skillets with fresh chocolate chip cookies and guests could top them with ice cream. Everyone raved about it and EE did it all...I just showed up and enjoyed it. Thanks Cindy + team!

Brigette did an absolutely fantastic job photographing my wedding this summer!…read more My husband picked her, and I was slightly skeptical since her prices were a bit higher than others I'd seen. That is until I saw her gallery...at which point I was FLOORED! Each photo is truly a gorgeous work of art. Brigette works hard long after your event to make all the colors and composition perfect. She will make you, all your guests, and your setting look totally amazing. Her specialty is really capturing the spirit of an offbeat wedding, from group shots to small inanimate details. And she's especially good at food porn! I added a couple of my favorite shots she did for us here. (Pics 17, 18) Furthermore, she is an all-around awesome wedding guest herself, and all of our friends loved her. She and my Mom almost adopted each other. Pick Brigette for your wedding too! Outer Focus is worth every penny!

My fiancee and I hired Outer Focus (Brigette Sullivan) to shoot our engagement session in October…read more2010. The session was fun - although I remember thinking at the time that it was I who was coming up with the creative shots (heart-shadow, our dogs in the background/us in the foreground), I mean isn't the photographer the creative one? Anyway... It was an hour later that we realized we were being duped. Let me explain. We completed the session, I handed over my (comparatively speaking) high payment in cash, and as I asked when I could expect a disc with the digital images, Brigette declared that we don't get any photos. We were floored. I'll say it again: We didn't get ANY photos. You would think for the amount we paid, we would get the digital images, but no. What we "got" was an option to BUY prints, complete with the Outer Focus watermark! So for $300, we came away with nothing. No photos, no digital images, nothing. Sure, Brigette's time and equipment has value and it's not a question of paying for it, it's the fact that we received nothing in return. We immediately regretted our experience with Outer Focus. We also immediately thought it was shrewd of Brigette to inform us of her "policy" only AFTER we paid. Had we known that we would not get any digital images we never would have worked with Brigette. To make things worse, attempts to work things out with Brigette and discuss our concerns have been ignored. In the months that followed, we spoke with nearly a dozen professional photographers and not a single one withholds the digital images from their customer. If you are looking for a photographer with sub-par creativity, high rates, inept customer service, and deceptive policies, than Brigette is your girl. I wouldn't recommend Outer Focus and Brigette Sullivan to anyone.

New beginnings photography has captured every great memory I have with my family. I am always…read moreimpressed on how good the photos turn out. She is patient and has amazing ideas to fulfill our needs. Definitely a photographer that knows what she's doing. Thanks again on the amazing photos! I love them!!!

Jill made the whole picture process on our wedding day so easy. She had met with us and showed us…read moredifferent kinds of pictures, listened to what we wanted, and brought great ideas to the tale. She was at the church and in action when we arrived, making sure she caught every part of our day. She was patient and understanding when our nerves were at their worst and kept reassuring us about how well the pictures were turning out. She had everything planned out and was great about making sure every possible shot we wanted was taken. Her enthusiasm and positive attitude set us at ease and we didn't have to remind her of anything or worry about missing out on anything. Jill helped make it a great experience for us!

Wow. I knew lighting would make a HUGE difference at our wedding and it sure did…read more I also knew we couldn't afford to pay $10k for lighting. Len was fantastic at getting us what we needed for a reasonable price. The best was that we did not have to give him any direction the day of the wedding and he perfectly pulled off our vision for the day. I wish I had another event coming up that needed lighting! I would definitely call Len again.

I am so glad we went with Len! I think I was a bit of an anxious bride for him, and wanted…read moreeverything to be perfect, but he absolutely capitalized on the beautiful, natural tones of our reception venue. He also worked with our florist (Zuzu's Petals) to ensure the space was flawlessly lit and the amazing floral work was enhanced. I vaguely remember that we got a proposal from some shi shi place that everyone said was a must have for a Chicago wedding. Len was easier to work with, and literally thousands of dollars less expensive. He runs a pretty no frills operation, you can choose what you want from his wide selection, and he makes it happen. I didn't have what I would call a "design experience" with Len. But I told him my colors, that I wanted a gobo with tree branches, and that I wanted the lights to change throughout the night while capitalizing on the skylight of the venue. Done and Done...he made it happen! He met me at the venue once (again, I was a nervous wreck) and that was all he needed to execute the vision. Thank you, Len. Between you and Zuzu's, Loft on Lake was even more breathtaking on March 8th, 2014!

As we were doing our research on who we wanted to document our big day, the wife found I Luv Photo…read moreand fell in love with their style. I admittedly had no strong feelings at first, but after our first in-person meeting with Luis and Clarissa I felt a lot better about bringing them on board. They were very easy going, but definitely paid attention to all of our requests and details we gave them. We first did an engagement shoot on a cold wintery day. We had several locations in the South Loop we wanted to go to, and they drove us around as we shot in front of various murals. Even with the difficult parking and chilly weather they got us to most of our spots, and even the two of them worked well together to make sure we got the shots we wanted, and any improvised shots they saw that looked good. I was very impressed with how Luis handled our group of groomsmen on the day of. I guess it helped that we were a little older but we still goofed around a good amount, but Luis was prepared to still corral us in and get the shots he needed. Luis and Clarissa made sure we kept on schedule, and even though we had to abandon one of the places we wanted to shoot the pictures at our alternate spot still looked great. We got the photos about a month and a half after our wedding, posted on their site for ordering prints and we got a Dropbox link with all the full quality images. Throughout the whole process they were responsive and were easy to work with. They may not be a big studio but definitely worth a look!

Working with i luv photo was truly the best of the best. From the first time we met all the way…read morethrough to receiving our photos Luis and Clarissa were professional, kind, and understanding. As member of the LGBTQ community, it was very important to my wife and I to find photographer(s) who were comfortable working with an out of the "norm" couple. Luis and Clarissa were very understanding of our concerns and made the whole process smooth. They worked well with people of all ages from our grandparents to our nieces/nephews. After receiving our BEAUTIFUL photos we realized that one was missing from the bunch that was important to us - after working with Luis and Clarissa, we were able to resolve the issue together and there was no trouble getting access to photos that weren't necessarily a part of their initial pick. I would highly recommend this duo to anyone looking for a wedding photographer. They managed to capture the authenticity of our day in a way that feels warm and inviting. Their professionalism and eagerness made for some truly stunning photographs that we will cherish for years to come.

We used these guys for our wedding and it's safe to say that everybody at our reception had a great…read moretime using the photo booth and taking all kinds of crazy pictures. These guys were so accommodating and friendly and gave our wedding that little bit of extra to make it a very memorable time.

Nick and Chris, owners of Hot Shots Photobooth were a DREAM to work with! They were flexible,…read moreaccommodating, and helpful. Everyone at our wedding LOVED the photobooth as well as the photostrip to take away with them. We received an awesome photobook at the end of our wedding reception that included a copy of all the photostrips along with commentary from our family and friends. It was very apparent to us that the Photobooth was a HUGE HIT amongst everyone and now we have an awesome keepsake to laugh over forever! Thanks, Hot Shots!!!!!

If you're looking for an amazingly talented, creative, kind decorator and party planner, look no…read morefurther than Kio Kreations! We recently hired Kristen to plan and decorate two events (one in Feb. 2024 and the other in April 2024) and she blew our minds with what she came up with. Our guests also loved every little detail that she came up with. All we had to do was give her a theme we wanted, a ballpark budget, and she ran with it to make it as amazing as possible! She is punctual, communicative, professional, and very hard-working. We will absolutely continue to hire her for future birthdays and events!

I am speechless - Kristen hit it out of the park again! I am a former Bride of hers and reached out…read moreto see if she could help us with a Winnie-The-Pooh themed baby shower. Her ideas and execution are beyond what I had even imagined. From the floral table settings, balloon installations and signage everything was beautiful. Her attention to detail is out of this world. I will forever recommend Kristen to all our friends and family but will also go to her for any future planning needs. I consider myself lucky to have had her through all of our important life chapters with more to come!

We had a great experience with A List - John Bundy did our wedding on 9/10/22 in St. Chrles. We…read morenever had an issue and he was very considerate. We had a great time at our wedding and accommodated all our questions. His platform to provide him our songs was great. I definitely heard my favorites I asked for played. It was a great time!

Update on John's unprofessional services: didn't hear from him or any DJ from his company until the…read moreday of our event. Since he told me to find another DJ I did just that so we were set with Jaz Entertainment (Carlos is awesome). A-List sent a DJ at 6:30pm along with John's sidekick to ask if we still wanted their services. They tried to get me to say I didn't need a DJ but that isn't accurate since I did need a DJ and that's what I contracted them for. John is still refusing to refund and I've filed a complaint with BBB. Fortunately someone else stepped up to save the event.