I am an officiant who has worked with Hilda several times over the years. Her work is phenomenal!…read moreShe has the ability to make couples feel comfortable - and have fun! The wedding party and guests also enjoy her humor and professionalism. But the best part comes later - with the results of her hard work. Hilda is truly a gifted artist with such incredible talent. So many of my couples rave about her when they see the magic she creates. Hilda also did my headshots for my website. I get so many compliments on these photos! She's the BEST!

Ok - all I can say is if you do not use Hilda, you must be crazy. :)…read moreHer talent is phenomenal! She photographed our wedding last year and is truly an artist! I cannot say enough how fun it was to work with her. Our wedding photos far exceeded our expectations and we are thrilled to have such beautiful memories.

I highly recommend hiring Cindy Fandl as your photographer…read more Cindy is a kind & wonderful human being who is a joy to spend time with & on top of that she is an incredible artist & photographer. We hired Cindy for our engagement photos + our June 2020 wedding & then postponed to July of 2021. Navigating rescheduling our wedding during the pandemic was not ideal, to say the least. However, Cindy made changing our date easy and she was compassionate, understanding & empathetic throughout the process. We were beyond grateful for her support during that difficult time. On our wedding day, Cindy and her second-shooter Danyel were simply amazing. They made us feel comfortable, beautiful, deserving and supported every step of the way. Neither my husband or I love to be the center of attention, but being in-front of Cindy's camera was never awkward - she truly made us feel stunning & so at ease. We honestly had so much fun!! We are absolutely in love with our wedding photos. Cindy captured every special moment + all of our loved ones beautifully. We truly just got to enjoy the day and had total faith that Cindy was there to document it all. Everything from portraits of my husband and I, bridal party shots, detail items, to candid moments with our family and friends is documented beautifully. She didn't miss a single thing! We will truly cherish these photos forever. We feel beyond blessed that we were able to have Cindy as our photographer. The end result is nothing short of magical. Cindy has my highest recommendation.

I don't even know where to start with the gratitude, appreciation and admiration for the work of…read moreCindy Fandl Photography. I reached out to Cindy in early 2020. We all know how that year turned out. It was an especially challenging time to get married. Cindy was there for us from the beginning. We had several changes with the ceremony site, reception, etc... Cindy was so calm and her reassurance meant the world to us. Our wedding day was perfect! Cindy was there early to capture getting ready and she was with us when we left the reception. Her assistant Monique was delightful. They worked together like a well oiled machine. You can see the team work in her photos. Cindy will hold a special place in our hearts forever. Your wedding day has the most loving and intimate moments. She respected our privacy yet still present. Our pictures, the slideshow and album are beautiful beyond words. Thank you Cindy

Great photography, amazing customer service, it was a pleasure to work with MJ Production. Thank…read moreyou very much!

I had an opportunity to shoot with this talented photographer. Strongly recommend her. She is very…read moreeasy and fun to work with. Also has a lot of creative idea. My images came out so beautiful, I was extremely happy with them. I'm planning to have another photo shoot outside with her, since it started to get warm already :).

Nicole, Colleen, and the rest of the Urban Allure team did all of the florals for our wedding and…read moreit completely exceeded all of my expectations. Nicole worked with me over several meetings to help me bring my vision to life. She had amazing creative ideas that I would have never thought of on my own and really understood what we were going for. They hung florals, disco balls, and even chandeliers over our dance floor, creating the most stunning environment. Colleen, who handled a lot of the floral sourcing, even included some beautiful blooms from her personal garden in our arrangements. It was such a special touch. Choosing Urban Allure was one of the BEST vendor decisions I could have made and I'd recommend them to anyone.

I agreed to work with Nicole on 2/23/24 and paid her $2,000 based on her assurance that there would…read morebe no issue securing sponsors and selling tickets. However, after more than four months had passed, there were no sponsorships or tickets sold and for that reason, I had to cancel the event, which was only two and a half months away. Here were two assurances in her contract: Create impactful promotional content Assist in sponsorship level creations & materials While I can't prove if the promotional content was impactful, it certainly didn't appear so given there were no sponsorships or tickets sold. And while she did create sponsorship materials, they clearly weren't helpful either in terms of selling tickets or securing sponsors. She also said that she had previously hosted a fundraiser for the charity I was looking to raise money for, so I believed her claim that she could secure sponsors and sell tickets without a problem. When I asked why there were no sponsorships or tickets sold upon cancelling the event, she said the market was unusually bad. If that was the case, I don't see how she couldn't have known this information merely four months earlier when we agreed to work together. Is it reasonable to think that the market changed so drastically so quickly? And why didn't she tell me the market was bad sooner before she started spending more time? She could have offered me the option of requesting a refund and suggested I cancel the event some time sooner. I should also note she did not create promotional materials until 4/5/24 and did not share a task list until 4/6/24. I then waited until 5/11/24 and saw that she hadn't contacted anyone on the list yet, so I sent over 100 e-mails over the next week, but hardly received any interest. The event was scheduled for 9/16/24, and since we didn't have any sponsorships or tickets sold, I decided to cancel the event on 6/27/24. I know people don't always buy tickets early, but the fact that not a single ticket was sold made no sense. At the very least, given that she materially misrepresented what she could offer, I would think Nicole would have offered a full or partial refund or at least a credit if I agreed to work with her again, but she made no such offer. I initially communicated all of this information through the Better Business Bureau, who reached out to Nicole multiples times, but Nicole did not respond to any of their requests. If she did, then I wouldn't have written this review.

Stephanie is an AMAZING photographer. She brings positive energy to every photo shoot she does. She…read morehas taken family photos as well as smash cake pictures for my little one. Her ideas are always very creative, unique and changing. We were lucky to find her and look forward to a lifetime of portraits with her.

I did a maternity photo shoot with Stephanie and the pictures came out beautiful! I really enjoyed…read morethe entire session and the variety of pictures with different angles/props. She has a lot of creative ideas and things of hers you can use but also lets you bring and use whatever you'd like. She's very professional and easy to work with. I've also seen albums of other pictures she's taken and they are great. I can't wait for her to do my newborn pictures :-)

Kathy is a ray of sunshine! She listens and helps in any way she can. She is understanding,…read morecompassionate, and FUN! I know she will make your wedding something special.

Michelle and her team are hands down the best decision you can make throughout the entire wedding…read moreplanning process. Michelle is not only incredibly knowledgeable, well-connected, and professional, but she truly goes above and beyond to make sure your wedding day is spectacular. From helping us create our vibe and vision to answering my panicked phone calls with last-minute questions the week before, Michelle was there every step of the way, making an overwhelming process feel exciting, manageable, and fun. Our wedding took place on August 23, 2025, and even now, almost a year later, my family members and in-laws still talk about Michelle and the phenomenal job she did. Not to mention, we've had countless wedding guests ask us for her information because they were so impressed by how beautiful, seamless, and well-executed everything was. To me, that says everything. But what meant the most to us went far beyond how beautifully our wedding day came together. During the planning process, my family went through a very difficult hardship, and Michelle did not skip a beat. She immediately stepped in and made everything as easy as possible for us during a time when our attention needed to be elsewhere. We never had to worry about whether something was being handled or followed through on because we were able to trust her completely. That kind of support and peace of mind meant more to us than I could ever fully put into words. Michelle genuinely cares about her couples, and by the end of the process, she felt more like a friend than our wedding planner. I truly cannot recommend Michelle and her team enough. If you are considering working with them, DO IT. You will not regret it. We are so incredibly grateful to Michelle and her entire team for giving us a truly perfect day.

Even weeks after our multi-day Indian wedding finished, we are still receiving heaps of praise…read more Multiple guests told us that not only was it the best wedding that they have ever been to, but it is also going to be the best wedding that they will EVER experience. People constantly mentioned the attention to detail, and one guest even highlighted that the most impressive thing about the wedding was not the extravagance but rather all the logistics, how everything operated so precisely. All that praise is due to Michelle, Kristy, and the entire LOLA team. Our wedding was from Tuesday through Sunday morning, with four large events in four separate venues and numerous smaller rituals and mini-events, involving over twenty separate vendors. Calling it complex would be a massive understatement. Yet, nothing fell through the cracks. We are in the process of building a house, and we half-joke that we should hire Michelle and Kristy to run that project even though it is so out of their ballpark simply because we don't know what to do without their organization. On our wedding ceremony day, we were faced with torrential downpour and unpredictable weather. From the beginning, our biggest desire was to have our ceremony outdoors. Michelle and Kristy worked tirelessly, fighting for our dream to somehow make that outdoors wedding a reality, coming up with some brilliant ideas with the help of Lori. See, they didn't take the easy route of just sticking with the rain plan. They cared. They cared a lot. We can't stress this enough because you can't figure that out by looking through portfolios or interviewing planners. It is found in all those moments where Michelle and Kristy picked up on one of our discomforts and gave us some quiet space, where they understood what we wanted (sometimes even better than we ourselves realized), where one of them would dive to the ground to look through their bag for a pair of scissors or to help place dance shoes on the bride right before she had to go onto the stage, where they literally helped rig an important décor installation when a venue installer did not show up. When the wedding was over, the saddest realization that dawned on us was that we were not going to be able to spend as much time with them. Michelle and Kristy helped us build a team of all-star vendors and venues for our wedding. They have the best connections in the Chicagoland area, but it never felt like they were pushing anyone on us. Instead, it really felt like they were understanding our needs and guiding us to the vendors that best fit those needs. They would always give us a list to choose from and never influence our decisions unless we explicitly asked for guidance. They helped handle all the communication with these vendors so that we did not get stuck with small details and logistics that were unimportant for us. There were so many conversations that happened in the background between vendors, venues, and LOLA that we thankfully did not have to join. As decisions started to mount, Michelle and Kristy were extremely organized and helped keep us on track with a planning timeline and a plethora of spreadsheets. We cannot stress how high our bar for organizational excellence is, and somehow, they managed to exceed it. We had over seven permutations for guest invites, tons of boxes that had to be delivered to different venues, multiple outfit changes, and so many different rituals that kept getting added on throughout the process. One of the best testaments to their level of organization was their four separate minute by minute timelines. Our families never run on time, but that weekend, everything ran like clockwork. On the day-of, they were everywhere all at once, in the hotel, at the venue, working with our family, working with vendors. They knew exactly what to escalate to us and which things to handle themselves. That week, we got to know more LOLA members. Shout out to Nicole who had the arduous task of dealing with both sets of parents, and she handled all their requests and worked extremely hard. Sanja was responsible for transportation, and despite all the intricate logistics, everyone was at the right place on time without any issues. Lori worked with us, helped attend to some of our last-minute emergencies, and shepherded us to where we needed to be, really freeing us to be in the moment and relax. Damina and Morgan helped answer questions for our guests. It was a whole team effort that put LOLA's best values on full display. Our wedding week, despite its intricacies, felt flawless to us. We literally could not have asked for anything better on any of the days. That is thanks to Michelle and Kristy's impressive work ethic, battle-tested experience, relentless pursuit of perfection, and simply their desire to make our dreams come true.

Choosing Shannon Gale and their wedding planning team was one of the best decisions we made for our…read moreLabor Day weekend Indian-Western wedding. A friend had recommended them with the promise that I would feel completely at ease--and that proved true from the very beginning. Shannon paired us with Cecelia McIntosh, who turned out to be the most exceptional project manager I've ever worked with, not just in the wedding world but across all of my professional experiences. Cecelia's attention to detail was extraordinary. She cataloged every element of our multi-day Indian-Western celebration, managed vendor relationships with grace, secured us excellent deals where she had negotiating power, and offered thoughtful recommendations--like the perfect florals for our mehendi ceremony. She understood the cultural nuances of our events, from the importance of removing shoes at the mandap to the way certain rituals needed to be set up. She took ownership of everything: carrying and setting up décor, assembling seating charts, ensuring plate service was flawless, and keeping the entire wedding running with a level of timing and precision that every single guest commented on. There were moments where Cecelia truly went above and beyond--most memorably when she calmly and safely helped transport a ceremonial fire to an unexpected location, taking control of a situation that could have easily become chaotic. She handled every last-minute request without hesitation, kept our planning calls on schedule, and brought a sense of structure, warmth, and professionalism that made her an absolute dream to work with. As someone who is naturally a very thorough planner, I stepped into my wedding days feeling completely calm, knowing Cecelia had everything handled. Because of her, I was able to be fully present and simply enjoy our celebration. I cannot recommend Shannon Gale and Cecelia more highly--they are truly among the best planners you could ever hire.

Hiring Marie from Shannon Gail Events was hands-down the best decision we made for our wedding…read more From start to finish, Marie was an absolute dream to work with--calm, organized, joyful, and endlessly professional. Her attention to detail, reassuring presence, and ability to handle every situation with grace made the entire planning process not only stress-free, but genuinely enjoyable. Marie took care of everything--from recommending absolutely incredible vendors, to assisting with design choices that brought our vision to life, to managing the many complicated logistics that come with having a wedding in a tent (think: flooring, electricity, bathroom access--you name it, she handled it). She consistently went above and beyond to make sure every element of our wedding weekend was perfect, and she did it all with a warm smile and steady confidence that kept us grounded and excited throughout. Marie brought our vision to life with such care and expertise--it honestly felt like we had a close friend guiding us every step of the way. She even took the time to thoughtfully put together all the welcome bags for our guests and, throughout the entire wedding weekend, handled every single detail so that we didn't have to worry about a thing. We were able to be fully present and enjoy every moment, knowing Marie had it all under control. If you're planning a wedding and want someone who is not only deeply experienced and connected in the wedding world, but also kind, attentive, and truly invested in your day, Marie is it. We love Marie so much that we wish we had another event to plan just so that we could continue to work with her! We are beyond grateful for her and cannot recommend her highly enough!