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    Updated 2 months ago

    Services - Ice Illusions

    Event planning

    Wedding planning

    Ice Illusions Photos

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    Recommended Reviews - Ice Illusions

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    Everything was perfect! The design was perfected to what my wife and I wanted! The sculpture lasted the entire night!

    60th birthday

    I had a great experience with David from Ice Illusions. He answered my emails and texts promptly. I told him I wanted something to celebrate my 60th birthday and I loved hiking. Loved his creativity! The guests at the party loved his sculpture

    This picture was taken at End of night, around 11pm Lasted longer than expected. At this point it was already 10-11hrs

    David did an amazing job creating what we asked for. The sculpture was the highlight of our even and was definitely worth every single dollar. It lasted longer than expected. first picture is upon arrival and last picture is 10 hours later and 10 tequila bottles later. Size was 3.5' x 2'

    Custom designed ice sculpture
    Tony N.

    We gave David creative freedom to design a classy "40th" (4D) birthday design for my wife Diana. He really delivered, it was a hit and showpiece of the night. Hands down the best piece of decor you can get for any event. People are drawn to this art piece for photos. There is an option to add a funnel for shots, regrettably I didn't add. It's a must for next time! Thank you David, Ice Illusions for your amazing talent & customer service. If you are planning an event, reach out to David, there's an ice sculpture for you that will elevate to your party!

    Terun 10 years anniversary sculpture
    Franco C.

    Love Ice Illusions work ! If you want to impress your guests it will be hard to find something else! Just amazing

    Restaurant's 50th Anniversary
    Stefanie C.

    I'm an event planner and had to throw a 500+ ppl public celebration for a restaurant's milestone anniversary. Some elements that weren't in my favor: 1) less than 2 months before event 2) Chinese New Year timeframe 3) find a better ice sculpture than the one the client had last time (esp since the news, the mayor and some celebrities are coming) David not only killed all my fears but he killed it with his design, price point and promptness. He saved the day by saying YES, had jaws dropping (even the VIPs/celebrities were oohing-ahhing) and was super prompt with delivery and setup. He's now one of my Preferred Vendors and I recommend him to anyone looking for a kickass attraction with A+ quality and service. Thanks David for bringing this event up a notch!! 5 STARS :)

    Our wedding luge
    Jamie G.

    In late 2019 I had booked Ice Illusions for my wedding in October of 2020. What a whirlwind we withstood! Despite all the craziness the pandemic threw at us both (is there even going to BE a wedding?) I was confident that this little glamor detail was going to be handled with care and detail. Once confirmed the wedding would go on, we figured out the design via email and some phone chats, and he delivered it perfectly, on time, and even sent me progress pictures from start to set up at the venue. It was a huge hit with our guests. Thank you David, I can wait to have more parties and include more of your amazing art.

    Alic H.

    Where do I start? This guy has done weddings, work events and celebrity events. I've never heard one complaint about what he does nor have I ever had one for him. He is always punctual and ready to "work" with the customer. David Fong is a good guy. You can talk to him and he will set real expectations and can help if it isn't real. Whether it's for a meeting, party, wedding or whatever - I would absolutely go to him. He is unbelievable. In addition his design are just amazing. The artistic care he takes on each one with the limited time he has his unbelievable.

    Cyndi T.

    My friends, family, and I have acquired Ice Illusions' services on numerous occasions. Each and every time, David, has impressed us beyond our expectations with his spectacular sculptures and impeccable service. Every piece of ice sculptures we have seen (there were many!), have been beautifully crafted artwork. David doesn't cut corners in details and he takes great pride in his work. You'll know what I mean when you physically see his work. I will continue to obtain Ice Illusions' services for any future events that I may have and will continue to recommend Ice Illusions to all my friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Keep up the exceptional work, David!

    Vanessa H.

    I wasn't sure what to expect when I hired Ice Illusions for our company holiday party, because our logo has so many colors. But I sent it to David and just let him run with it, and I didn't see it until I got to our event. It was so much more than I could've imagined! The full color logo was in the block of ice, along with our company name. He made the process so easy, and the price was very reasonable. I would definitely recommend Ice Illusions for any ice sculpture needs.

    Robby W.

    I've been using David and Ice Illusions for the past 5+ years when I want to kick my tailgate up a notch. He always delivers quality work and is incredibly flexible and easy to work with. I look forward to seeing him next fall once I'm ready to man the SAE Ice Luge again!

    4-Eva-21. Ice sculpture for my 21st anniversary party

    Dave did it again.. Thank you he delivered it on time. We talked for days up to the event and then this was created. 21 years ( black Jack ) winner!!

    Our wonderful hippo ice sculpture luge!
    CQ N.

    A family friend persuaded us to get an ice sculpture for our wedding, and we are so glad we opted in because I cannot imagine our wedding day without it! From the start, David was enthusiastic about designing an ice sculpture that would be both a conversation starter and meaningful to us. We asked David to make a functional ice sculpture luge, and specifically requested that it resemble a hippo stuffed animal that my husband gave me when we first started dating. Fast forward to our outdoor wedding ceremony and reception in September 2017 at Hakone Gardens -- our hippo luge was AMAZING. The bartenders poured shots and drinks through the luge the entire night, and everyone thought it was so epic. We truly loved David's work and were so happy that he brought our hippo stuffed animal to life on our wedding day. We were also impressed that the ice sculpture fared extremely well outdoors, especially considering the 90+ degree heat. By the end of the night, our hippo barely melted and still looked pristine. We had so much fun working with David and highly recommend Ice Illusions for any event!

    Butterfly Sculpture for my Outdoor Wedding!

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    4 years ago

    Very nice art work at reasonable prices.I will definitely be call in ice illusions for my next occasion.

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    Ask the Community - Ice Illusions

    Review Highlights - Ice Illusions

    We ordered an ice luge for my parents' anniversary party and David was extremely easy and pleasant to work with

    Mentioned in 119 reviews

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    Menage A Trois SJ - Bride and Groom with Bride's siblings

    Menage A Trois SJ

    (198 reviews)

    We had a wonderful experience working with Menage a Trois SJ for our wedding. Sushie was our…read morefull-service wedding planner, and her expertise, along with her strong network of local vendor connections, made the entire process feel easy and seamless. She was incredibly helpful throughout and always candid with her advice, which we really appreciated. Her honesty and genuine concern made us feel confident that we were making the right decisions to bring our vision to life. What stood out most was her dedication -- even when she wasn't feeling well, she made sure we were fully taken care of and that everything stayed on track. On the day of the wedding, Jessica and Vanessa from her team were also so sweet and wonderful to work with. They made everything run smoothly and helped us truly enjoy the day without stress. The entire team was attentive, supportive, and a pleasure to work with from start to finish. We're so grateful for their help in making our wedding exactly what we imagined. Highly recommend!

    We're so happy we chose Sushie (Ménage à Trois SJ) as our wedding coordinator! She was incredibly…read moreresponsive to emails and texts, always providing expert guidance and recommendations whenever we had questions. Our Zoom check-ins were consistently productive, leaving us feeling prepared and clear on what we needed to prioritize and what could wait until later in our timeline. She was also very helpful in giving advice on how to execute our personalized ideas to ensure they turned out well. She is extremely organized and gave us such peace of mind leading up to the big day, especially by coordinating exactly what we needed to bring versus what her team would handle. It was also a huge help that she had a variety of decor items we could borrow, like card boxes, frames, and easels, which saved us from having to buy them ourselves. She had worked with most of our vendors before and ensured that everyone was on the same page via email leading up to the day. On the wedding day, Sushie and her team checked in with us regularly to make sure we had everything we needed. We are so glad we chose her for her expertise and her can-do attitude!

    Amazáe Events - a gorgeous table

    Amazáe Events

    (67 reviews)

    We worked with Amazae from the moment we knew we wanted to get married (before we got engaged,…read moretechnically. Ha). Both of us are extremely busy re: our jobs and knew that we wouldn't be able to dedicate enough time to truly planning an event of this scale. If you're on the fence, go with Amazae. My husband, before we hired Amazae, was on the fence of whether or not we needed planning services. I told him that if we did not hire someone that there would be no wedding. By the time we had finished our venue search, he knew that I was totally right re: the amount of help you get by leveraging someone else's expertise. You do this once (hopefully) in your life. Amazae does this all the time. Amazae knew all the ins and outs of every venue that we could possibly think of in the Bay Area, Carmel, and Napa. They were able to tell us who was beer and wine only, who had a 10pm end time because of noise ordinances, and who required you to use certain caterers that were $x per head. This will save you SO much time and save you visits to random places that don't meet your requirements. Vendor sourcing - they are super good at this re: figuring out (or making you figure out what you like) who matches your style for every vendor, then finding one that fits in your budget. Most importantly, they will make sure everyone shows up (join any wedding FB group and read some horror stories). They will help you with all of the contracting and the collection of COIs, etc. Again, this would have been IMPOSSIBLE for myself and my now husband. We literally do not have the hours in the day to do this. This team is on top of everything - they will chase you down if they need to for answers for pieces of your event. They can make anything happen - from the weirdest requests to the most mundane. They are so professional, and they really make your wedding super personal. Amazae designed and executed a beautiful event from beginning to end that felt so authentic to us. Day of, they were there to take care of everything, and it was truly a flawless day. We could not asked for a better planner re: Crystal, Kaila, and the rest of the team. We put full trust in them re: the design of this event and the day of. Example: I honestly did not know what florals were going to be there, but they were so stunning. The strength of the Amazae team is in their ability to bring you and your personality into an event that is mostly structured a certain way. They also make your day as stress-free as possible. I cannot say enough positive things about this team and their ability to make your wedding great. If you're down to hand things off to someone else, I would say hand it off to them. It will be better than what you could have come up with yourself.

    Planning a wedding during a pandemic is hard, even a micro-wedding. You don't want to be cake…read moretasting or menu tasting, so you rely on experts. That's why we decided to hire an event planner for our daughter's wedding in January 2021. Even though it was a small backyard wedding, we wanted it to be memorable and elegant. We interviewed 3 different event planners, and got 3 rough quotes, all around the same ballpark. Amazae's quote, however, was the most detailed, breaking down a high & low range for each item (food, florals, rentals, photography, etc.) It was an easy choice to contract with them. Crystal came onsite for our first meeting, and I really didn't have a lot for her to go on. My daughter isn't the Pinterest type, so I just told Crystal the wedding colors and showed her pictures of the wedding gown and bridesmaid gowns. The rest of the planning was all done via zoom, emails, and a few phone calls. We worked mostly with Caitlin, who is an amazing planner. Each step along the way, she gave us several options to choose from. For example, she provided a list of 4 photographers, their quote for the day, their profile, their gallery, etc. Once all of our choices were made, she put together a design deck that gave us a preview of the entire wedding. It was more gorgeous than I envisioned. On the day of the wedding, Lisa came out to set everything up. She even picked up the florals and wedding cake to save us the delivery fees. It was a little hectic when I met her, and I probably spent 5 minutes with her showing her where everything was before we left for the church ceremony. And when we came back, she was driving off, leaving behind a magical transformation of yard. Everyone was stunned. The catering crew then took over and prepared a "Top Chef" level meal. And when they left, my kitchen was as clean as when they arrived. My husband commented, "Whatever we paid for this wedding, it was worth every penny." Haha. True. NOTE: the photos on this review are from my phone. The professional photos are not available yet.

    Signature Events by Christina Romero

    Signature Events by Christina Romero

    (62 reviews)

    North San Jose

    I cannot say thank you enough to Christina and her incredible team for making our wedding day…read morehappen. From start to finish, she was a total professional. I especially appreciated how she consistently checked in with me whenever I was feeling overwhelmed, always making it known that she was right there if I needed anything! I trusted her with every single detail, and thanks to her, the entire wedding day was flawlessly smooth. My mother, who is a florist, worked alongside her to bring the vision to life, and their collaboration was seamless. Christina made sure my mom felt supported and respected as both a vendor and the Mother of the Bride, which meant the world to me and us a family and truly allowed me to relax and truly enjoy the moment. Having grown up in the wedding industry, I have seen many professionals at work, and I can say with certainty that she is the BEST of the best. I am endlessly grateful for her and her team's support and expertise I couldn't have asked for a better person to lead the way!

    Christina with Signature Events were amazing!! I cannot begin to explain how many times I may have…read morehad a "MEGA-BRIDEZILLA" moment and she was able to make it so much better, meaning it was a mini-bridezilla moment. I knew she had it all taken care of, but in "Michelle's" world it was TRAGIC. NO JOKE. My venue cancelled a month before the wedding, I was seeing DISASTER. Christina was able to get us to get out that weekend and look at new venues, dealt with the fall out of the cancelled venue, made all new adjustments for the new place, for all they did, and basically calmed me down. She was able to make time for my busy schedule with meeting with my family, husband, in-laws and more. She let me make my choices and explained why they would, or would not work well and we tried lot of places and she never got tired of me asking for more options. Believe me I wanted a lot of options. Christina and Signature events were prepared for any and everything for this wedding, I'm not too picky..... OKAY I am... and I was and THIS GIRL DID IT. I wanted Light up strung balloons and she did it, I got a horse and carriage, I had my Ice Cream Bar (Love black cherry ice cream), I had my BBQ too, I had my Drone's, I had my Special cake! When people were in the way of the pictures Christina was right there to ask them to go back to their area's, When there was a mis hap, Christina and her people made sure I knew nothing about it. They were Wedding Coordinators and Security all in one! I loved them and still do. I can never thank you enough for all you have done and have brought to my family and life. You family now chica!

    A Touch of Elegance - Fuschia

    A Touch of Elegance

    (75 reviews)

    Wow! She was by far one of the best vendors we hired for our wedding day at the Rengstorff House…read more Her package included unlimited guidance via email, a few consultations, an on site meeting, as well as timeline creation and vendor communication etc. This was the perfect package for us because we wanted to plan some of our wedding day but did not want to hire a full planner. Prices are very reasonable and in my opinion worth every penny!! On our wedding day she set up all our decor and flowers! She even brought us our dinner and made sure we were taken care of the whole night. At the end of the night she gave me our car keys and it was loaded with all of our stuff. It was so nice to not have to worry about anything the day of and enjoy our special day. Please hire her if you are able to you will not regret it!

    I cannot say enough kind things about Blanca! She was simply amazing and deciding on having a…read morecoordinator for our wedding was the best decision in the whole planning process. From our very first phone call through the whole wedding she was professional, efficient, and receptive to everything we imagined for our big day. She helped me create several timelines and ran communication with all of my vendors. Additionally, she helped me ask questions I didn't know that I needed to ask. She ran our rehearsal and ensured we stayed on task. She took all of my decorations for set up and was able to set everything up in the hour and a half our venue gave us. If you hire anyone for your wedding, hire Blanca as your wedding coordinator!

    Lovely Time Weddings & Events - Booth Bus

    Lovely Time Weddings & Events

    (20 reviews)

    From the moment we began working with Li, we knew we were in capable hands. Her meticulous…read moreattention to detail and organized approach, primarily through comprehensive spreadsheets, ensured that every aspect of our wedding planning was seamless. In the months leading up to our special day, Li kept everything in perfect order, allowing us to enjoy the journey without any stress. On the wedding day itself, both my wife and I were able to fully immerse ourselves in the joy and celebration, knowing that Li had everything under control. Our wedding ran like clockwork, right on schedule, and the entire event felt effortless thanks to Li's exceptional coordination. We received countless compliments from our friends and family, many of whom remarked that it was one of the best weddings they had ever attended. Li's ability to incorporate our personal style and preferences into the wedding made it truly unique and reflective of us as a couple. Her creativity, combined with her organizational skills, resulted in a day that was not only beautiful but also deeply meaningful. We cannot thank Li enough for making our wedding day perfect in every way. If you're looking for a wedding planner who will ensure your day is stress-free, beautifully organized, and unforgettable, look no further than Li. She is simply amazing!

    I found Li from Lovely Time after a year of stressing out from planning our wedding (i.e. a…read morespreadsheet of over 200 tasks) and booked the custom partial planning service in 2020. Immediately, I felt a sense of relief because Li quickly created a thorough design proposal for us to follow, communicated with the florist, and gave much guidance, which was something I desperately needed. Li has such great taste and vision. All the weddings she plans turn out beautifully. Li took what I had in mind and made it a reality. The only thing that could have been better was communication during the month of the wedding. Understandably, Li was juggling a lot of things because of all the postponed weddings in 2022. In the end, Li and Michelle (her coworker) pulled through and did an absolutely amazing job on the wedding day. On the day of, Michelle was our main day-of coordinator and she knew exactly what to do. All that needed to happen went seamlessly. If something went wrong, she took care of it and we didn't know about it. Li was also there for part of the day to help! They're both easy to work with and superb at what they do. I have no idea how they manage to plan and execute every wedding with such attention-to-detail and quality work! I just know I will never be a wedding planner. I highly recommend Li and Michelle from Lovely Time.

    SB Arts - Reception at Palm Event

    SB Arts

    (66 reviews)

    Downtown

    Satvir did the mandap and florals for my wedding in San Francisco, CA…read more Satvir is an incredible decorator and has a great vision and eye for quality. As a designer myself, I had a good idea of what I wanted my wedding mandap to look like. I also knew I wanted a larger mandap, which is sometimes hard to come by. Satvir was open to feedback and had a large rustic 10x12 mandap her team had built. It had nice large wooden beams and worked perfectly with our venue. I wanted bright florals that felt full and satvir delivered. I was very happy with how the final product turned out. She also dealt with all the crazy SF rules including zip tying all the chairs together and getting the fire permit which was required by the city. This was such a stress relief for us since we didn't know how to handle all the rules and regulations. In addition, something I really value about Satvir's approach is how she reuses florals. It pains me to see how much flowers are wasted at weddings, and I wanted a more sustainable approach. The florals from our mandap were reused for our reception and satvir touched them up and made them look beautiful. None of our guests even noticed they were the same florals. I loved the fact that we didn't waste flowers and everything was gorgeous. She also managed to do this in a very tight timeline and killed it!! Highly recommend satvir, you will not regret it.

    My spouse and I worked with Satvir and SB Arts for our wedding day ceremony and reception decor in…read moreDecember 2023 in Berkeley. From the start, Satvir was great about offering creative options for maximizing what we could do with our budget, by reusing much of the ceremony florals in the reception. We found that having the ability to go in person to her studio and see samples of what would be used for our wedding very helpful and appreciated that Satvir even went so far as to buy new side tables for our reception stage to match our vision. We were incredibly impressed by the final products. Many of our guests and family members had highly complementary things to say about the decor for our event.

    Queen  Bridals - Centerpiece

    Queen Bridals

    (90 reviews)

    $$

    North Valley

    Vicky did my florals for my wedding and she completely exceeded my expectations! Im typically type…read moreb, and have a hard time making concrete decisions. When it came to my overall floral aesthetic, i didnt know where to begin. Everything on Pinterest looked so beautiful. I sent Vicky my mood board and let her take the wheel - let me tell you, she 100% delivered. We discussed my budget and decided that silk flowers would be the best choice. I was a little hesitant and afraid it would look cheap, but it was the absolute opposite! Dont get me wrong, of course up close you can tell they aren't real. But you can tell her product is of great quality. When i looked at my venue in whole, i couldnt even tell. The florals photographed so beautifully! Im glad i trusted her with the decision to go this route to save me a pretty penny. Vicky was able to work within my budget to bring my vision into reality. I cant be more grateful of the turn out. Just got my sneak peeks in and im swooning over how everything looks.

    I debated writing this review, but I felt compelled to share our experience. This review is not to…read moreslander Queen Bridals in any way, but to offer honest feedback that may encourage some reflection. Like many couples, we approached our wedding with excitement. A friend referred us to Vicky, and we didn't think twice. In hindsight, perhaps we should have done more research, but we are easygoing people. We communicated our vision, gave Vicky creative freedom, and trusted her as a professional. We weren't difficult. We asked for something simple, elegant, and meaningful. Instead, we experienced stress, embarrassment, and disappointment. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, Vicky voiced concerns that our venue, Koi Palace, was too small. We reassured her we had attended several beautiful weddings there ourselves, space doesn't seem to be an issue. While she eventually said she'd make it work, her lingering doubt was noticeable. On the day of the wedding, I arrived at the venue at 5:20 PM and found our guests waiting outside due to the venue not being ready. Inside, I observed Vicky and her team still working and did not wrap up until 6:00 PM, the scheduled start time of our reception. Later, Vicky insisted she had finished by 5:30 PM and had time to mingle with our vendors, but that version didn't align with what I witnessed or what our vendors shared. The most heartbreaking part came when my wife and I stood before the photo backdrop to take pictures with our guests. Instead of our correct monogram, the backdrop displayed the letters "V & A," despite my wife's name starting with a "J". Our guests noticed and pointed it out. We were stunned. To us, this wasn't a minor mistake, it was a glaring and deeply embarrassing moment. We ended up removing the initials ourselves. Even then, we didn't lash out. We waited, hoping Vicky might follow up to ask how the day went. She didn't. Two days later, I reached out and met with Vicky in person. I calmly asked how she thought the event went. She indicated everything went great and didn't recall any issues. When I showed her a photo of the incorrect initials, she looked at it without immediately recognizing the mistake. Only after I pointed it out did she acknowledged it and offered to Photoshop the images as a solution. That moment was disheartening. It showed a lack of understanding of what her role meant to us. This wasn't about a photo, it was about how we felt in a moment that can't be edited. It was about getting the basics right on a day that only happens once. After expressing our disappointment, we asked Vicky for a 30 percent refund. Not out of spite or anger, but because we truly felt the value of the service fell short of what was promised. The emotional weight of her error left an unsavory impact throughout our evening. We didn't demand the refund on the spot. I encouraged her to sleep on it and consider our perspective, to put herself in our shoes. She appreciated how non-confrontational we were and ultimately verbally agreed to the refund via Zelle. Three days went by. Nothing. I followed up with a message. No response. Eventually, Vicky replied and asked to speak. During our conversation, she reversed course and said she no longer felt the refund was warranted. She maintained the decor had been finished well before 6:00 PM and sent us a video of guests taking their seats at 6:01 PM, which only confirmed she or her team were still at the venue at that time. Technically, she completed the decor by the start time, which falls within the contract, and while we shared our plans for pre-reception desserts and snacks, we cannot fault her for that aspect. As for the wrong initials, to her credit, Vicky was apologetic to some degree and acknowledged the error, but indicated a 30 percent refund was unrealistic. I explained again this wasn't about a backdrop, it was about my wife being displayed by the wrong name, in front of everyone, on her wedding day. It was about the emotional toll and the lapse in attention to detail, especially when Vicky had worked almost exclusively with my wife during planning. How that mistake happened is still beyond me. Candidly, Vicky admitted to mixing up my wife's name with another bride. In the end, Vicky refunded 7.5 percent, stating since we removed the initials, it didn't technically ruin the wedding. No, it didn't ruin the wedding. But it undoubtedly affected how we felt. It cast a shadow over the night. It made us feel discounted, dismissed, and ultimately shorted of a service we were counting on. I believe Vicky put effort into her work. I believe she cares to a point. But her unwillingness to follow through on her word or genuinely consider the emotional impact of her mistake left us deeply disappointed. Mistakes happen, but how you respond to them matters just as much as the service you provide.

    Blooming Wed - San Francisco City Hall Wedding, Fairmont Wedding; 
Wedding planning & Design: Blooming Wed; 

PC: Sarah Rubin Photography

    Blooming Wed

    (53 reviews)

    Pacific Heights

    **UPDATE**: Lisa is now threatening me with LEGAL ACTION, accusing me of "defamation" when I've…read moreonly shared my honest experience on Yelp. I've had no updates from Lisa since our last email on Feb 21 (over a month ago). At that time, she replied she was consulting with "industry experts" and will get back to me. Rather than reaching out to me personally she hired a lawyer to threaten me in the hope I will take my honest review of my experience with Blooming Wed down (photo of legal letter attached). I signed a wedding planning contract with Lisa and found myself needing to terminate it merely two months later. The process has been incredibly stressful and disheartening. Throughout it, I had the opportunity to meet with ~15 wedding planners both domestically and internationally, and gained a lot of insight into the wedding planning industry and contract nuances. I'll start my review with objective observations and end with my personal experience. **Strict Signed Contract** Lisa's contract is one of the strictest planner contracts I've ever seen. It does not have an Act of God clause that protects clients, meaning if anything happens (the venue is destroyed, a hurricane comes, the couple is sick, pandemic round 2...etc) she will not refund for any reason. She did not even give out refunds during COVID. This leaves her clients extremely vulnerable to unforeseen circumstances. **Problematic Payment Structure** This is how Lisa's payment is structured: flat $15k fee or 15% of the total wedding cost, whichever is higher. It's not unheard of for a planner to request payment this way, but it's incredibly uncommon. This arrangement creates a conflict of interest, as it may incentivize steering clients toward pricier options. Also, she requires 50% upfront, while many planners I talked to only required 30%. **Budget Transparency** Lisa's services are not for budget-conscious clients, or even clients who have a budget at all. In the two months she was my planner, she failed to provide any estimated vendor costs and we never talked about my budget. I specifically asked her for a sample cost breakdown of a venue and waited a month for her response. I never received it. All of the other wedding planners I met with sent me a cost breakdown for FREE immediately after the intro call. They did this without being asked to. **Communication Challenges** I've experienced a lack of responsiveness from Lisa during our entire two months together, from our initial interest form (1 week delay) to our most recent email on which she said she would consult about our partial refund request (it has been a month without an update from her). Between her vacations and other wedding clients, I never felt my project was a priority for her. **Personal Experience** I'm deeply disappointed with the services provided by Lisa. Our decision to terminate our contract was difficult. Due to immigration issues, my father can no longer enter the USA in the foreseeable future so my partner and I have to relocate our wedding to a country unfamiliar to Lisa, rendering her services impractical. We signed our contract November 2023, encountered this problem in January 2024, and immediately let Lisa know of our situation. Despite our efforts with Lisa to find a amicable solution and many touch-points with her, my partner and I eventually landed on requesting a partial refund. Lisa refused to refund any portion of the $7.5k , even though it is written into our contract that she has the power to do so AND despite her agreeing verbatim that she did not provide $7.5k worth of service. At this point we have no date (we were considering years 2025/6/7), no venue, no vendors booked. We don't even have a budget breakdown. We have only had one venue tour with Lisa. It's evident that she has only completed a fraction of the work (2% to be exact), yet insists on keeping the full payment. I dislike posting a one-star rating to a small business, but I feel the need to be transparent and caution future clients about Lisa. It is crucial to choose a wedding planner who demonstrates flexibility, understanding, and a willingness to accommodate unforeseen circumstances. Unfortunately, Lisa's refusal to adapt to our situation and the issues outlined above do not align with her premium pricing. For me, Lisa has broken my trust and it feels like theft that she is keeping $7.5k for one hour of work. I urge potential clients to consider these factors carefully before engaging Lisa's services.

    We had the absolute best time working with Lisa! Hands down the best decision we made for our…read morewedding - Lisa helped my now-wife and I plan our wedding which took place in the fall of 2023 at Nestldown. Firstly, she knows Nestldown through and through as a venue - it has a bunch of uncommon and often difficult to navigate rules and restrictions. This meant that we didn't have to worry about surprise venue fees or fines, and instead could focus our attention on how we wanted to use the space instead. Lisa set month-by-month goals for us, which meant we were always confident that we were on track and didn't forget about certain things. This made the process so much less stressful for the both of us. She handled communicating with and following up with all of our vendors too - a blessing that can't be understated. Wedding planning is a constant stream of decision-making, which Lisa made so much easier by listening to our wants and needs and suggesting vendors, designs, timelines, hotels, and so much more. She made it so that our responsibility was to choose between a few, generally all great options rather than having to sort through the unlimited amount of choices. As an aside, Lisa has impeccable taste and knew how to execute our vision better than we could have dreamt of. We're still in love with our table settings! We were most impressed by the wedding day itself - Lisa managed all the stress of logistic so we could enjoy the day without a care in the world. Sometimes we could hear time-pressed questions being asked by vendors over the walkie-talkie, and Lisa responding to each of them expertly. None of those logistical challenges ever made it to us - and while with us, she and her team were focused on ensuring we had everything we needed and were having a good time. Our wedding went off without a hitch, and everyone had an amazing time!

    TDE Wedding - Reception decor and MC Otis

    TDE Wedding

    (248 reviews)

    Overall, amazing experience with TDE and highly recommend!…read more We needed a Cantonese-English bilingual day-of-coordinator and MC for our wedding in Sacramento, and we decided to go with Carina (coordinator) and Jackson (MC). Although we did not purchase a full package from TDE, Carina and Jackson worked seamlessly with the rest of our chosen vendors. They (and the TDE team) were extremely organized, communicative, and supportive. One thing I really appreciated was that my husband was cc'd on every single email so that I wouldn't have to play middle man to relay every message to him as well. On the day of, Carina and Jackson went above and beyond to make sure our needs were met. They were so thoughtful and considerate throughout the entire process. We got so many compliments from our family members about Jackson's MCing. Our wedding party also really loved how Carina kept everyone organized and on schedule. She was also able to seamlessly communicate with our Chinese restaurant venue to make sure our requests were met. Thank you so much Carina, Jackson, and Jessica!

    I had a very positive experience working with TDE. It was easy to schedule a free consultation,…read morewhere we first spoke with Otis, and could ask many questions up front before deciding to move forward. Otis was kind with great attention to detail from the start. Ultimately, we decided with the glam package and our contract was very clear to understand with cost breakdown for removal of specific services / add-ons. I updated it many times with Jessica, our planner, as we made changes throughout the months, and she was always so patient and clear. Our MC Otis did a wonderful job with maintaining flow of the program. Otis was also working as DJ for a good portion of the evening, so props to him! We had closer to an hour compared to 1.5 hours of open dancing because we were behind schedule, but everybody was on the dance floor and he kept the party going seamlessly. Weddings are hectic and there are so many moving parts; we did get behind schedule but we were still able to do everything we wanted to do. Our photo & video services were set to end, but Otis was very professional in discussing with us if we wanted to extend our video services, communicative on additional cost, at the moment. Our photographer, Ben, along with the team Stanford and videographer, Christina, were so fun to work with. Ben was great at providing direction, which is especially helpful since we were not used to posing. I have not received photo & video yet as it has only been a week, but from an experience standpoint, they were attentive to detail, communicative, and glided effortlessly through the event. My makeup artist, Vivi, is the sweetest person. She was super attentive to detail and my particular skin type. I was worried about makeup because I don't wear heavy makeup often. I ended up paying for a make-up trial, and I was so happy working with Vivi that I had no worries for the wedding day. We also added-on make up for our mothers, which Vivi did the morning of. The reception decor turned out so pretty! Everything was set-up as scheduled. I was really happy with the welcome backdrop and name sign. It was also great to take pictures with guests with the backdrop since we had time during cocktail hour. We asked TDE to incorporate a large screen as the backdrop of our sweetheart table, so we found an example from a previous wedding they did, and it turned out exactly as expected. We added the photo-booth, which was so popular with the guests! There were so many cool props and our guests were having tons of fun with it. I also sent TDE a custom drawing that I wanted for the photo strips- and it turned out just like I imagined. We chose Grand Dynasty as our reception venue, and TDE communicated set-up details with our restaurant event manager, Esmond, in the days leading up to the event. I highly recommend TDE and the team that we worked with! Thank you for making it an unforgettable experience.

    Ice Illusions - eventplanning - Updated May 2026

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