Merrily is an absolute dream to work with. From the very start of our initial planning process, all the way to the wedding day, she was always an excellent communicator, reliable, and always looking out for our best interest. She has wonderful relationships with other local Tahoe wedding vendors, and we are so thrilled she connected us with the best photographer, florist, caterer and more. She gave us the peace of mind that we needed planning the most important day of our lives. Our wedding was stunning, and guests keep telling us it was the most beautiful wedding they have attended, and I cannot agree more! Merrily has such a tasteful, talented, creative eye for wedding details, and we are so happy we trusted her completely with her vision. If you are looking for a planner who will create the Tahoe wedding of your dreams, you need to choose Merrily- she's the best of the best! read more

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Merrily! I love this woman! I don't even know where to begin. We could begin at the beginning, when I told Merrily, "well, let's see, I'd like to get married near the lake... outside... that's about all I know." So how did she figure out exactly what I was looking for and deliver it? It's still kind of a mystery to me, but I think it has something to do with months of patience, lots of creativity, and tireless efforts to work closely with me, my husband, and my mom. Merrily found an estate that was perfect for our needs - actually a lovely vacation home, right on the lake, owned by a lovely couple that rents out for one wedding a summer. She visited the estate multiple times (while I was living in Chicago), measuring, imagining, drawing plants, re-drawing... and laid out a fantastic ceremony and reception. My whole family went up to Tahoe for a long weekend and Merrily arranged great meetings for us with the vendors I'd selected (based on her recommendations) - it was really fun working with these women, they love working together and clearly have the logistics of weddings down to a science. With that said, they all (Merrily, as well as the florist and the caterer) put so much creative energy into my wedding and came up with such great ideas, it made me feel like I was the only wedding they were doing all year. Speaking of vendors, I need to write a whole separate yelp review about Chapin the DJ, who was the most unexpectedly awesome part of the wedding weekend. He had these crazy lounge singer versions of early Michael Jackson among other gems. We loved it. Really. Merrily rocks for finding him. I hired Merrily about 14 months before my wedding. Anything can happen, right? Yes: one day she called to tell me that she was having a baby a mere 2.5 months after the wedding day! Even if she hadn't been 6 months pregnant, I would have been surprised how hard she worked on the day of our wedding. She was out directing the small army of people building and arranging stuff, she managed the rescue of the altar when it fell in the lake during setup, she arranged and perfected flowers, rocks, petals, table arrangements, guest cards, ...man, there was a lot of stuff... and of course kept us all on schedule and in the right place at the right time. The day went incredibly smoothly. I didn't worry about anything, except keeping myself from crying and smudging the eye makeup. If you think I'm over the top in gushing about Merrily, you should read one of the emails my mom writes to prospective brides looking for references. Every time she gets the chance to write one of these, I am convinced she spends hours crafting a new letter. (Let's just ignore the part where she takes digs at me for going to India for 3 months in the middle of wedding planning season.) My mom is a little more detail oriented than me, and definitely a much better party planner. Since she's the expert, I'll just quote her here: "Merrily is very creative, easy to work with, prompt. She pays attention to detail and keeps everything on track. In short, she is a very accomplished professional. I really think she was an angel." As my mom says, I think you'll be lucky if you get to work with Merrily. read more

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Where to even start! Saying Merrily is great doesn't do her justice, she is simply amazing. I can't imagine what our lives would have looked like without her. After a number of wedding planner intro calls that made us feel like what we wanted in our budget wasn't possible or that we weren't worth the time, we found Merrily and everything changed. From the very first intro call to the week before the wedding to during the wedding and after Merrily made us feel at home, and that we were number one and only priority. She worked with us through everything: finding a venue, booking vendors, creating a website, COVID, the lake Tahoe fires, bridal party shake-ups and all of the daily in-between. We feel forever indebted to her for making our dream wedding possible. We cannot recommend Merrily enough, she is a true angel and was an absolute joy to work with. a true 10/10! read more

My husband and I knew we wanted to get married in Lake Tahoe and originally planned on organizing it all without a wedding planner. We are very familiar with the area and did lots of research and site visits on our own but we had a hard time finding the perfect location for us. In our research we came across Merrily Wed and thought we'd take a look at her properties and what she offered. We were immediately drawn to the properties she has access to and the overall style and feel of her weddings. The property we were interested in was covered in snow when we first saw it - Merrily happily put on a pair of snow shoes to give us a tour of the site! We had a wonderful experience working with Merrily and Christen of Merrily Wed. In nine fast months they helped us plan and throw a gorgeous wedding at a lake side property on the West Shore. The wedding was everything we wanted. During the planning process we appreciated their responsiveness, ideas, enthusiasm and professionalism. They were very conscious of our budget in helping us bring our ideas to life. We found their recommendations and advice to be very valuable - but never felt pressured to use any particularly vendor or service. Oh, and they were so much fun to work with! Their spirit and positivity were contagious - you can tell they love what they do and are always looking for new ideas and resources for their brides. The wedding was simply stunning - our guests are still talking about it several months later. I am very happy we ended up using a wedding planner - it helped me keep a bit of sanity during the process! Overall we had a very positive experience working with Merrily and Christen and are absolutely thrilled with how our wedding turned out. If you are planning on getting married in Lake Tahoe we definitely recommend giving Merrily a call! read more

Merrily is absolutely the best. From the moment that my now husband and I got engaged, we dreamt of gathering all of our friends and family on the shore of Lake Tahoe for our wedding in the Summer of 2009. Merrily helped us create a day that far surpassed anything we ever could have imagined. The first awesome thing she did was find us the perfect private home on the west shore for our wedding and reception. I am extremely detail oriented, but live in the Bay Area, so having someone like Merrily, based in Lake Tahoe, was extremely helpful. She worked with all of our ideas (of which I sent her countless) and helped me incorporate every detail into the wedding. For example, when I asked if she could find a solo guitarist who could play sing-a-long songs by a campfire at the end of the night, she found us the best guitarist in the basin. In addition, Merrily never stopped surprising me with incredible ideas of her own. Keeping in mind our budget, she was always thinking of interesting and affordable ways to make our wedding very "us" and incredible vendors (except for the photographer, Albert at Mulberry Photography, but thats another day, another yelp). In addition to being creative, Merrily is fantastically detail oriented. She always knew exactly when things needed to be completed, and was diligent about helping keep me and my family on track and on schedule. By the time the wedding came along, I had absolutely no concern that anything would not be done perfectly. Thanks to Merrily, my husband and I look back on our wedding day with the fondest of memories. Thank you Merrily! PS- If you are getting married in Lake Tahoe, can I also recommend Sara Spurlock at Belissima Floral, Jennifer Ergut at Kiss and Make Up, and Laura Seegmiller at Bellavita Salon in Tahoe City..... read more

First of all, I want to say I am SHOCKED by the rating of Merrily Wed when I came here to write a review. I'm not sure why Yelp has only 2 reviews showing. They are from many, many years ago with terrible ratings and do not reflect at all what I experienced. I read those reviews and have to completely disagree with everything that was written. Please go look at the other reviews written that are "not currently recommended" at the bottom of this page. I just went and saw 22 reviews that gave 4 and 5 stars with a lot of context behind them - plus they are newer reviews and definitely what you should base your opinion on. It actually makes me angry at Yelp for hiding all those reviews when my experience with Merrily and her team was nothing but phenomenal. My husband and I hired Merrily Wed for our June 2015 wedding before we had a venue or even a date. We both live in Texas but knew we wanted to get married in the beautiful setting that is Lake Tahoe, CA. That being said - that is ALL we knew. We have no connections or ties to the place and didn't know anything about wedding venues. We found Merrily after some initial online searching for "Lake Tahoe Wedding Planners" and after talking with a handful of different planners, decided to make the choice to go with Merrily Wed. We felt comfortable with Merrily and her team, had an amazing experience with Beth Hill, one of her team members, who showed us all around Tahoe one afternoon looking at multiple different venues and Merrily fell within our budget (which was a big thing for us). Beth became our go to girl for over 14 months as we planned our wedding. Again, we live in Texas and Beth is local to Tahoe so my Husband and I basically planned our wedding via emails, phone calls and recommendations from Beth/Merrily. Beth is one of THE most organized people I have met - and I consider myself to be organized - but she put me to shame in that category. She could answer any question regarding ANYTHING to do with the wedding within hours of my email. It was so comforting to know I didn't have to keep track of who needed to be paid when, when I needed to make certain decisions, etc. Beth provided us with a detailed wedding timeline broken out by month starting 12 months before our wedding. It had everything you could think of on there and it was an amazing tool we used throughout the planning process. She also provided us with a budget template, worked with our budget and helped us negotiate with certain vendors when we potentially were going to go over budget. We had three in-person meetings with Beth throughout the process but other than that, our wedding was planned from afar and with the amazing coordination Beth provided. Of course there were a few stressful times - as there always will be with planning such a large event - but there is no way I would have enjoyed this time planning if it wasn't for how calm, organized and excited Beth was each and every time I talked to her. She was literally on top of everything from day one and I can't sing her praises enough. Truly an amazing woman who is remarkable at her job! If it wasn't for Beth, Merrily and the entire team - there is no way we could have picked such amazing vendors. They helped us decide on everything from who to work with on linens, music, venue, hair, décor, etc. It was so nice to have someone who knew the area, knew our budget (and stuck to it) and knew our taste/style we were going for. The day of the wedding finally arrived and everything was perfect. Beth, Merrily and Pam worked flawlessly with each of the vendors and allowed me the time to get ready with my bridesmaids to be as fun and carefree as possible. We had a meeting with them before our rehearsal the day before and we passed off everything that needed to be done. I have had so many of our guests come up to me and say it was the best run wedding they have ever been part of and how beautifully everything came together. That is a true testament to Beth and Merrily for an amazing job well done - I promise you, you will not be disappointed by hiring them to help plan your big day. They have forever touched our hearts and I am so grateful our paths crossed during this time in my life. As Merrily told me the day after the wedding, "This isn't good-bye, just a see you later" and that's how I truly feel because I know we can get together for coffee and a catch up session the next time my husband and I are in Tahoe. These ladies are remarkable at their job and you will be in great hands with them by your side. read more

I used merrily weds full service bridal package for my wedding in September of 2011. I cannot say enough good things about working with Merrily and her team, how the wedding turned out, or the level of communication between us during my engagement. From the first time I met Merrily, I just knew that she would be the person to make my wedding dreams come true. I knew that I wanted a elegant yet whimsical wedding, and I knew that I liked the color purple, and that's it, as I've always been the kind of person who is not detail oriented but likes nice things. Merrily asked me all sorts of questions to understand my vision for the wedding and then went from there and came up with an amazing design. Everything from the flowers to the linens were special, interesting and more "me" than I could have even picked out. She had amazing ideas from everything from which caterers to use to the best way to honor a deceased parent during the ceremony. She took every initiative to do big things like find a me a Rabbi in lake tahoe and help me stay on budget to small things like figuring out how much liquor to buy for the wedding. On my wedding day, Merrily took care all of the details and let me be completely stress free so that I could enjoy the time with my bridesmaids and family. She took care of everything perfectly - AND she was 8 months pregnant at the time. I cannot say enough good things about Merrily. Anyone who gets to use her for their wedding is guaranteed to have an incredibly special event and is extremely lucky. read more

We did Merrily Wed's month of planning package and couldn't recommend it enough! Most month of packages at with other wedding planners included very limited planning help before the month of, but Merrily was on hand to answer any questions we had before she officially stepped in and provided us with her full planning checklist and portal that we could use throughout our planning process. Once we were about a month out, we set up a planning meeting to go over all the details. She was super responsive to all our emails and really great to work with. On the wedding day, there were a few hitches, but she did a wonderful job at handling everything and making sure the day ran smoothly. She carried out our vision to make sure it was all we envisioned and more. We had an amazing time and our guests said that this was the best wedding they had been to. Our day was so special, and we highly recommend Merrily Wed! read more

Merrily truly is the best there is! From start to finish, she was consistent, professional, timely, and not afraid to give her opinion without pressing. All of the meetings and correspondence we had throughout the planning process was informative and helpful and truly guided us along the way. My husband and I both work full time and it was amazing to have Merrily in our corner making sure everything was done. She worked so well with all our vendors, and we always knew when everything was due to them. She was extremely organized, which helped keep us on our budget. The day of the event was the topper; she was on her game! Our wedding day was perfection! We truly did not have to worry about anything, and it ran so smoothly. She made sure everything went according to plan, improvised when needed, and flat out knocked it out of the park. There is no hesitation that we would recommend her services! read more

While Merrily Rocco gets high marks from references she supplies, I have to tell you - STAY AWAY. My fiance and I hired her to plan our Lake Tahoe wedding from start to finish - her most expensive and exhaustive service. Things seemed to be going well, but in a series of emails I traded with Merrily, she was answering my questions with one word answers. I don't know about you, but if I'm told "no" on something, I expect an explanation. I asked Merrily to clarify and pointed out that I needed more information. I also sent her contract revisions for the wedding site we were renting (nowhere in the contract did it say we were allowed to have a wedding, event, or any gathering greater than 22 people - funny, huh?) I got a response from her that her one word answers was because she was busy and she was also dumping us as clients. Apparently, my questions and contract issues indicated to her that we didn't "trust" her. Being dumped was one thing, but when I talked to the site manager about finalizing the contract without Merrily, I was then told that Tahoe was a small place and she wasn't going to jeopardize her relationship with Merrily. We still don't have a location for our wedding. We were completely in shock. Merrily refused to return my phone call to discuss this. I guess in the end, what Merrily really wanted to do was plan a wedding from start to finish with no questions from anybody, not even the bride and groom. Merrily is not certified by any wedding planning agency - I went in knowing this and was initially comforted by her response that she does enough business with excellent service that she doesn't need to be certified. I'd strongly caution against going with an uncertified wedding planner based on this experience. read more

My husband and I hired Merrily to plan our wedding in Lake Tahoe, thinking that her "Pure Felicity" package of "full service wedding coordination" would allow us freedom to participate in the wedding planning but ensure the execution of details would be handled so that we were able to enjoy the weekend with our friends and family. Sadly, hiring Merrily proved to be a mistake. My interactions with Merrily were often strained and proved increasingly more difficult. Questions and suggestions were frequently met with an excuse for why something couldn't happen only to find out later that the idea could easily be executed if only the question had been posed to the photographer, venue coordinator, etc.. My experience with her "full service wedding coordination" was executing a carbon copy wedding of previous events she'd planned with little input from the bride and groom. Merrily sticks strictly to her list of services which, in my experience resulted in little "service". After repeatedly being told what she she did not do, I inquired as to what our money had actually paid for. Along with recommending and coordinating vendors, I was told her main priority would be ensuring my personal needs were met the day of the wedding. Although this provided little reassurance (isn't that what bridesmaids, sisters and moms are there for?) at least I knew my cup would "runneth over"...or a least I thought... Instead, the week of the wedding came and it was my friends and family who delivered welcome bags to hotels, set up chairs, escort cards, even laid rose petals down the aisle. In the end, even the task of making sure all of my "personal needs were met" was left to my wedding party. The majority of the details which she'd agreed to execute had either been reassigned to friends and family or completely neglected. The icing on the obligatory wedding cake came just after the first glass of red wine had been poured and a gust of wind resulted in my dress being splashed with crimson. My sister whisked me to the kitchen and was furiously rubbing the stains with a tide stick when Merrily tried her luck with a bleach dipped rag. Sadly, the yellow stain is now the only reminder of the spill. The dry cleaner was able to completely remove the wine. Merrily did ensure that her own relationships with our chosen vendors were solidified by asking my father for final payments before he'd even began his welcome toast. My wedding was the best night of my life. Sadly, this was because my family and friends worked tirelessly to ensure every detail I had planned was executed and had very little to do with the "professional" that I had hired. read more

Merrily Wed is the absolute best money you will EVER spend on your wedding day. She and her team are worth every cent and more. To any bride, to any groom who is even considering getting married in Lake Tahoe, PLEASE just do yourself the favor and allow yourself to enjoy every minute of it... from the planning of your vision, to the execution on the actual big day. Merrily will make your entire experience fun and inspiring, and ON the actual DAY of your wedding..you will not have a worry in the world. Every concern, every moment of stress, every detail will be taken care of. You will have NOT a thing to do except enjoy your day and spend all your time dancing with family and friends. It is the simply the most amazing experience to plan the biggest day of your life with someone who loves their job, with someone who makes your vision come to life, and with someone who takes away all the stress so you can simply be happy. My husband and I were married this past summer in Lake Tahoe. I am a control freak :) I am an absolute details person, a party planner myself, and frankly I wasn't quite sure how I was going to trust anyone to execute my vision. I knew what I wanted, but I didn't know how to make it happen. In my first five minutes of meeting Merrily, I knew she was the right planner for me. She loves her job. She is in awe of the flowers, the place setting, the tents, the details, the invitations, the cake... her eyes light up just talking about it. With her passion and sense of professionalism, I knew I had found my planner. For the next 8 months, Merrily was on top of everything. She responded to every email within a few hours. She has an answer for every question and she kept me on track with the details I neglected to even consider. She was so sweet to my mom (my mom loves her!), and she met my whole family just two months before the big day. She put us at ease, and so hat I never once had to feel stressed. Friends of mine thought I was the most easy going bride they had ever seen...and I just told them: when you have a planner who just keeps you on track and who knows what you want, then you just don't have anything to worry about! She puts a TEAM behind her -- the caterers, the florists, photographers and bands. She works with vendors she recommends, or with vendors you have picked, and she turns them into a TEAM which works around the clock the day of your wedding so everything goes together flawless. My guests have told me that my wedding was the best wedding they have ever been to. Of course I'm bias :) but I'm not all too surprised. The event was flawless, beautiful, amazing, gorgeous and fun..and I got to enjoy every minute of it because Merrily had it covered. I would pay anything for that moment, for that experience..because our wedding was truly something that I will never forget. Thank you Merrily! read more

I'm extremely particular and did a lot of research as to who is the best wedding planner in Lake Tahoe. I used to run the wedding department at a luxury property in Hawaii and have been in luxury hotel management for 15 years. I knew the only way I would be able to let go of the details and enjoy my own wedding day was to work with the very best. If you are reading this, make sure you click on the "filtered" reviews as I'm upset to see that two bad reviews along with many great ones that have been filtered can lead to low ratings. Merrily was so kind, gracious and creative with planning my wedding. She worked with my ideas, presented a few gorgeous lakefront homes that she has exclusive access to and even helped to negotiate on my behalf. She put together a full budget that was so helpful for planning. She was wonderful about getting back to me right away and she truly cares, this is more than a job for her - she is passionate about what she does. I'm in the industry and I can tell you first hand that she went above and beyond what most planners will do. I ended up having to cancel my wedding due to some family issues. Most planners would have been upset as so much time was put in. Merrily could not have been more kind about the whole thing. I definately picked the right person - and wish I could have gotten married in Lake Tahoe. read more

Working with Merrily was one of the best decisions I made throughout my wedding planning process. She was not pushy or difficult at all to work with, and she provided all of the knowledge and guidance for me and my fiance (now husband) to make the right choices for us and our wedding. One of the most important and most flattering things to note about Merrily is that during the entire year that we worked together to plan our wedding, I always felt like I was her only client and never even once felt she was working with other brides to plan their own weddings, although she had an entirely booked Spring, Summer and Fall of weekends full of weddings. She was always accommodating and aware of my personal style and details while adding her knowledge and expertise to help make the ultimate best decisions. She worked with me to accomplish exactly what I wanted- a day that was a reflection me and my husband. She is also great about giving her opinion when I asked for it, and stepping back when I knew what I wanted. We were married at a historical lakefront location that required complicated coordination on just about everything- transportation, catering, etc... It all had to be brought on site. The ceremony was on the lawn where the dinner was being served and the whole area had to be turned over during the cocktail hour! The big day went off flawlessly and without anyone knowing how much time and effort had put into the whole thing (the way it should be). On my wedding day, Merrily kept everything on schedule and organized and most importantly kept me relaxed and able to really enjoy my day. I was not worried or stressed for one minute as I knew I was in good, very professional hands. Many brides are excited about their wedding day but are so relieved when it's over and done. Not me. I would do it all over again because I had such an amazing, wonderful day; all thanks to Merrily. In the end, Merrily also turned out to be a friend (especially with the amount of time we spent working together!). She's someone I still stay in contact with and would recommend to anyone getting married in Tahoe. She was a great help and a big part of the reason that all of our wedding guests said our wedding was the most beautiful (and fun) they had ever seen or been to. Kate read more

The best wedding gift I gave to myself was hiring Merrily! Born in Lake Tahoe, I always new I wanted to get married with Lake Tahoe as the backdrop, but living in Los Angeles was going to really make the coordination of all the vendors, contracts, etc. very difficult. I quickly started calling a number of different coordinating agencies and sent emails out to each trying to set-up meetings and get a feel for their services. The first and only person who promptly called me back and answered all my questions was Merrily Rocco of Merrily Wed. Being in the consulting business myself, I recognized and appreciated the immediate attention and turn around. From that day forward, Merrily and I began the year-long planning process of our August wedding. Merrily scheduled on-site visits to multiple estates within the area where my family and I went with her and envisioned 200+ people sharing this special day with my husband and me. After deciding on the perfect private estate overlooking the lake, Merrily handled all the contract agreements, provided me with a detailed pricing schedule to help us budget accordingly, gave multiple catering company websites and menus for my family and I to review, listened to our specific requests for music and provided a fabulous DJ recommendation, and helped provide lodging choices for the guests as they came in for the big event. What I like most about Merrily is that she always listened to my suggestions and requests and managed to incorporate them into the wedding planning. If I wanted to have more lights around the dance floor - it was done. When I wanted my aunt, who is a professional florist, to do all the table decorations, alter, and wedding party flowers, Merrily worked to get her proper access to the site multiple times so that she could accessorize and complete the transformation of the wedding site. Merrily's organization and coordination of multiple vendors throughout the day, made the day perfect. I can honestly say that we didn't have a single hang-up the entire day and I attribute this to the hard work of Merrily. She kept us on queue and took all the stress off of me, my husband and our families. All we had to do was show-up and enjoy! The last thing I would like to mention is that Merrily didn't treat my family and me as current clients, but rather as close family friends. When the Tahoe fires hit last June, and my parents lost their home of 24 years just two months before my wedding, it was Merrily who sent my parents and sister new jackets for the coming winter. It was Merrily who successfully worked with David's Bridal Corporate to get my shoes and veil, which were lost in the fire, replaced at no charge. These details are what my family and I remember most and appreciate so much about Merrily. Merrily, her staff and the services she provided helped to make our wedding day and all the planning prior to the day absolutely flawless! read more

We were thrilled with Merrily's wedding planning services. She is an exceptional wedding coordinator and we highly recommend her. We booked Merrily's Simply Bliss package, which is basically a month-of coordination package. We also used Merrily's services to help us coordinate a wonderful post-wedding brunch on Lake Tahoe. Our only regret is not booking one of Merrily's more extensive wedding planning packages. We are so glad to have hired Merrily as our wedding coordinator because she ensured that we had a memorable and beautiful wedding at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, which occurred in June 2011. Merrily is professional, creative, responsive, attentive to detail, organized, positive, kind, and flexible. I found Merrily by viewing several of her weddings on Style Me Pretty, which are a very accurate reflection of Merrily's planning skills and creativity. I very much appreciated Merrily's ability to work both with me and my mom, who was handling a great deal of the planning. Merrily seamlessly coordinated with all of our vendors. She provided helpful reminders and planning sheets, spotting many details that I would have overlooked. She also provided many wonderful ideas relating to the decor, room organization, and the wedding timeline. For example, she helped design a gorgeous and unique candy buffet table. Merrily made me feel very much at ease and confidant that our wedding would be wonderful. And Merrily ensured that we had our perfect wedding. The day ran smoothly and seamlessly thanks to all of Merrily's thoughtful planning and organization. She had not yet coordinated a wedding at our venue, which was new, but you would have thought she had coordinated dozens of weddings there. Merrily ensured that we stayed close to our timeline, that our wedding party was organized and ready, that our vendors were prepared, that our guests knew where to go, and that our wedding decor and details were in place. We cannot thank Merrily enough for all of her help. read more

I am the mother of the bride (see Colby M.) and I'll start off by saying Merrily Rocco was absolutely outstanding to work with. My daughter and her fiance met Merrily about a year before the wedding. We went to Lake Tahoe for a meeting in August 2006 and another one in March 2007 and were in touch by email throughout the year. (We live in New York City, my daughter and her husband live in San Francisco.) The wedding and reception took place in July 2007 at a private estate on the shore of the lake. There were about 85 guests. Merrily was involved every step of the way and was instrumental in making the wedding couples' vision a reality. Merrily is very creative, easy to work with, prompt. She pays attention to detail and keeps everything on track. In short, a very accomplished professional. In addition, the caterer, florist, hair-and-make-up, musicians, photographer and limo service that she recommended were wonderful to work with as well. I have no cautionary advice. Further, to be honest, I don't think my daughter was the easiest bride to work with. Last year, she lived in Chicago where she was finishing graduate school. She spent three months last winter in India. So she didn't always respond to questions in a timely manner. -- Yet Merrily always, gently but persistently, keep her moving towards decisions. I really think she was an angel. The wedding was gorgeous and everyone had a wonderful time. Really wonderful. In fact, three girl friends who worked with me in advertising were guests. They thought it was one of the very best parties they had ever attended. They heard me rave about Merrily for a year. Bottom line... I think you'll be lucky if you get to work with Merrily. read more

I would not have had such an amazing wedding without the help of Merrily!! My now husand and I hired Merrily the week before going on a 3 month trip through South America, but with a date set for the following summer and places and vendors booking up quickly, we had to book some things while we were traveling. Merrily was so great, sending me all her recomendations on photographers, caterers, etc. Most importantly, she gave me the time lines I needed to get things done....when you are traveling like we were, it is hard to keep track of what day it is. We booked our caterer from Peru and our photographer from Bolivia. How great is that. I couldn't have done anything like that without Merrily. After getting back and finishing all of the details, we were up in Tahoe for the wedding. The California forest fires were bruning all around and smoke was blocking the beautiful view from our wedding location. There was also a chance of thrunderstorms Friday through Sunday. To top it all of my seamstress in SF did a horrible job on my dress! At this point, my stomach was in knots. I could not have delt with all of this without Merrily's help. She was checking website after website to track the weather, she was telling me everything was going to be ok, and she sent me to the most amazing seamstress, Jo McDougal, who fixed my dress. With that kind of stress you need someone there for you, and Merrily was there for me. The smoke cleared (somewhat), the sky was sunny and blue, and my dress looked great. Merrily took care of everything that day, making sure all the details were taken care of while I enjoyed getting ready with my bridesmaids. I didn't have anything to worry about, and that is how it should be on your wedding day! I can't say enough. You will be very happy if you have Merrily as your wedding planner!!! read more

I felt compelled to write a review after reading the previous two one star ratings. Merrily was my wedding planner for my June 2007 wedding. I live in Dallas, TX so I was a little worried that planning an out of state wedding would be a nightmare. Because of Merrily, it was a breeze. She did NOT do a carbon copy wedding but helped us to personalize it (umm...deeelish personalized martinis for a start!). She and her husband even came over to my in law's home at Northstar for dinner. We felt like she went out of her way to be a great wedding planner and a friend during this time. I would proudly pass her name on to any friend or stranger for that manner. To be quite honest, the reviewers (Richard K and HZ) sound a little like bridezillas. Good for Merrily for dropping HZ! P.S. I noticed that she has tons of postive reviews that are hidden. Be sure to read those because I feel like they are more accurate. Look for the word, "filtered" on the bottom left above the bold red, "About this Business." Not sure why they aren't on the front page. -Morgan and Rich (Fitzhaven Wedding, Lake Tahoe 2007) read more

Merrily is simply awesome. She helped us plan our wedding down to the last detail from start to finish. We were extremely happy with everything, and our weekend was an absolute dream. The venue was gorgeous, the weather perfect, the vendors outstanding. If we could go back and do it all over again, we wouldn't change a thing. If you are getting married in Tahoe, don't do it without Merrily Wed! read more

Merrily helped plan our recent wedding in Lake Tahoe and we were over the moon with the result! Our Vision: For our wedding we were looking for something relaxed but elegant. Neither my fiance or I had a particular vision for exactly what the wedding should look like (something which merrily proved very helpful in helping us create), but we came into the process with a general sense of what things would feel genuine to us. Our Opinion on Merrily: Organization: Merrily is incredibly organized. She was meticulous about ensuring that we understood the deadlines and were staying on top of everything we needed to get done at each point along the way. Merrily was also very patient with us when we were not always able to make decisions by those deadlines, and followed up to make sure we had all the info we needed to make decisions. One point of warning is that Merrily sends a lot of emails. This can get difficult to make sure you are staying on top of all of the deadlines, but she was responsive when we provided this feedback and adjusted her system so that we could make sure we were getting all the relevant info we needed from each email and were staying on top of our to-dos. Vendors: Merrily has a great group of vendors that the was able to recommend to us. Given that this was a destination wedding, it was helpful to have her recommendations in the Tahoe area, as we wouldn't have been able to vet the vendors ourselves. Her recommendations turned out to be wonderful, the rentals were exactly what we were looking for, and the florist and caterer she provided were a big hit. (Sidenote: I strongly recommend doing a preview with your Florist if possible, we met with ours about a month before the wedding and despite lots of previous conversation there were still some areas of mis-communication. Those were completely resolved by the end of the session and the flowers turned out beautifully. We couldn't have been happier - but it was invaluable to have done an in-person ahead of time.) The Day Of: Merrily has a great team and was very helpful in ensuring that everything ran smoothly on the day of the wedding. One thing I particularly appreciated was her ability to make decisions for herself on the day - this meant that we actually got to enjoy our wedding, rather than worry about managing all the details. She was also a wonderful "director" for the wedding, and worked with all of the vendors so that everyone knew where they were supposed to be when, and how things were going to run. We were in great hands throughout the day. Attitude: Merrily was positive and cheerful throughout the entire process. She was flexible and even in places where we made several changes, she was always accommodating and willing to simply make things work. She also, and this was a big benefit for us, had her own opinions and voiced them when she felt strongly about something. We really valued this aspect of Merrily, and felt she wasn't going to let us make decisions that she felt were inappropriate, or might not turn out well just because we were her clients. Many of our guests have told us how beautiful the wedding was and how much fun they had - and we couldn't ask for anything more than that. Thank you to Merrily for helping us create the day of our dreams! read more

I was surprised to read the two negative reviews regarding Merrily's services. My wife and I felt that not only was Merrily extremely professional but also very enjoyable to work with. Our idea of an ideal wedding planner is one that makes your wedding "what you want" as well to infuse it with her own experience and creativity. Merrily suceeded at both. read more

Working with Merrily was so wonderful! She helped us to plan our dream wedding in Lake Tahoe this summer. Over the course of about 10 months, Merrily helped us to envision and execute a perfect day. My husband and I both have pretty time-consuming jobs in NYC and working with Merrily made the cross-country wedding planning process relatively stress-free. We regularly communicated via email and met twice in person- an initial meeting about 10 months out and then a big planning meeting 2 months before the big day (it would have been earlier in the process, but we were snowed out of Tahoe!). We immediately clicked with Merrily and are so glad that she guided us through the entire planning experience and not to mention, our wedding day! When Merrily asked us about our vision, I shared a picture of a specific wildflower bouquet that I'd been dreaming about. She immediately understood what I was looking to create and this picture became the guiding light for our wedding. After understanding our desire, she recommended local vendors that would best bring that vision to life. She kept us on top of everything, always reminding us when and what we needed to do to coordinate with vendors, select décor and create a plan to keep our wedding day running smoothly. During the wedding, Merrily took care of everything and made the day absolutely stress-free for me and my husband. I'm sure things went wrong, but Merrily didn't let on to any of it and I am so thankful because we were able to be super present and focus on the magic of what was happening. Our wedding was absolutely breathtaking and perfect - all thanks to Merrily and the teams that brought our dream to life! read more

I tell everyone, that the second-best decision I made planning my wedding was hiring Merrily. The first was saying yes to my husband. Merrily makes the impossible possible. And not just once - but repeatedly throughout the wedding planning process. For example, my husband and I had been researching venues and talking to other wedding planners for about a month before we found Merrily. And while most wedding coordinators we met were nice and some seemed as though they would both do a good job and be a good fit for us, none could deliver exactly what we were looking for: a lake-front wedding for a large group at a private home. Everyone told us it couldn't be done because there wasn't a venue that could accommodate a group our size. We stumbled upon Merrily in a stroke of supreme luck. I described to her the research we had done, what other planners had told us and what we were looking for. I told her that I was afraid what we wanted wasn't possible. In the minutes that followed, Merrily described a venue to me that was exactly what we were looking for. When we visited the site, covered in snow, a few weeks later I was afraid I would be disappointed but she was right - it was perfect. She had listened to what we had explained and found what about a dozen other wedding coordinators had insisted wasn't available. We were thrilled and impressed. Merrily continued to impress us in the months that followed as we planned our special weekend. Merrily is professional, exceedingly competent and an absolute pleasure to work with. She has a seemingly endless cache of ideas and suggestions but never forces them upon you or takes it personally if you decide to choose something else. Merrily is organized and helped me as the bride be organized too! She sent me payment reminders, handed out hourly schedules for the day-of to the wedding party, helped me research countless ideas, and introduced me to vendors who met my budget and offered what I was looking for. (and I should say our vendors were all AMAZING. The food, music, flowers, photographs, etc- were OUTSTANDING.) With Merrily, there is no need to reinvent the wheel and do your own research - she does it for you. Merrily goes above and beyond what I ever expected a wedding coordinator would do. For example, one afternoon I got a call from Merrily who had gone to look at the actual china that we had decided to rent. I never asked her to go see if it was ok, because, quite frankly, it wasn't a detail I worried about. But Merrily is a perfectionist. She called me to tell me that the china and flatware looked worn and over-used and that this troubled her. But she had already found a solution. She had visited other vendors, taken photos of their inventory and priced out a monetarily equivalent package to the one we had previously chosen. And she was right! The new vendor had brand new china and flatware that was higher quality, more beautiful and the same price as the simple set-up we had originally chosen. I'm not relaying this story because the china made the wedding that much better - I merely mention it as an example of the lengths Merrily goes to to ensure that everything is perfect. I was surprised to read the negative postings on this site because neither my husband, our parents, nor I have a single complaint about working with Merrily - and as I am sure you can tell from reading this review, we couldn't recommend her more highly. That said, prospective brides and grooms out there, should take the time to research their wedding coordinator because this is a very personal decision. You will spend a lot of time with this person and she (or he) needs to be someone you get along with - not necessarily someone who will be your best friend, but it is important that your wedding coordinator is someone whose work style, temperament, and personality is one that you enjoy, respect and work well with. Weddings are inescapably complicated and emotional events - your wedding coordinator is someone who should make everything better not worse. Merrily was undoubtedly that person for us. She helped us craft our vision, was a calming influence on two large (and opinionated) Italian families and always followed through on what my husband and I wanted - even if that meant moving the location of the bar the day before the event! Our experience with Merrily from the first conversation months ago to our friendly emails after the wedding has been nothing but positive and we felt very lucky to have found her. Quite simply, the wedding we dreamed of never would have happened without her. She worked tirelessly so that we could enjoy every second of our day. And we did. Merrily is the best of the best. It was truly a privilege and a pleasure to work with her. read more

We are working with Merrily now on our daughter's September wedding and I have been very impressed to date. She has good vendors but when we didn't click with the first one she suggested, she was happy to figure out the reason and then us to someone else that would meet our needs. It has worked perfectly so far. She is accessible and very organized which I know will help make the big day smoother. I thought I'd share this now and will top it up post-wedding. So far it is all been very good. read more

A wedding planner might be one of the most difficult and important decisions to make, so when you have an experience like ours we felt like we needed to spread the word. We were married July 2013 lakeside at the Playtime Estate in Homewood. To say that Merrily and her team made our dreams come true is an understatement. We interviewed the top wedding planners in the Tahoe area and immediately connected with Merrily and Beth. Beyond being the utmost professionals throughout the process, they took the time to listen and really get what we were looking for, then they turned it all into reality within 6 months. We live in Los Angeles and are both very busy with work so we needed someone that could take charge and not only get things done but keep us calm, focused and on track at the same time. Their knowledge, expertise and talent are undeniable and made us so comfortable in making all of our decisions along the way. Our wedding day was absolutely seamless and just about every guest commented on how smoothly and perfectly it was run, not to mention that it was one of the most beautiful weddings they had ever been to :-). We recommend Merrily and her team with all our heart to anyone looking to plan the wedding of their dreams in Tahoe. read more

Our experience was totally different from the previous ones reported here. Merrily was incredible in planning my daughter's beautiful wedding in Sept 2011. She is a great listener and communicator, incredibly creative and incredibly organized. She helped my daughter translate her vague vision into a most beautiful event. So many of our guests, from both generations, thought it was the most beautiful wedding they'd been to. So many interesting and creative details, wonderful vendors (caterer, photographer, florist,etc) and everything went so smoothly because Merrily and her staff were totally on top of things. I highly recommend this service. read more

I had the pleasure of working with Merrily over the last few months, and it was an absolutely fabulous experience. She was very prompt throughout the process, very organized, helpful and would recommend her to any of my friends / future brides. read more

My husband and I feel so lucky to have found Merrily! Planning a wedding can be so stressful...especially if you have to talk with vendor after vendor. Not to mention being 4 hours away from the location. Merrily took care of all the details. We had a few phone conversations but mostly emailed. Merrily listened to our thoughts and did not try to create something we did not want. She has excellent experience and shared what works best in Lake Tahoe. Our wedding day was amazing! Even though Merrily was several months pregnant she was still on top of things. Everything ran so smoothly and we did not have any worries. As another Yelper said, friends and family are still raving about 'the most beautiful wedding ever!" Well worth the cost especially if you live in the bay area and want to have the perfect wedding in Lake Tahoe! Merrily stays in contact with us and even remembered our first anniversary this past week. Thanks again Merrily! read more