Couture Events & Designs

Location: Coventry, RI
Website: http://www.couture-designs.com/
Reviews:

- A+: I can't even begin to describe how wonderful Melissa and Annmarie are. I have very strong feelings about this- I do events for a living and I realize the importance in having a DOC. Usually, the contact person that a venue gives you (even if they call themselves a wedding coordinator) has a main focus of sales, and bringing new business to the hotel/restaurant/venue. Their biggest strength is not event planning or logistics, and to them, you are one of MANY brides that they deal with every day. The royal sonesta did a great job of making sure all of the catering was set up and everything was handled before hand, but our venue's "wedding coordinator" was inviable when it came to the day of our wedding. I can't tell you how valuable Annmarie and Melissa were, and it is very hard to describe everything that they did for me. For $500 I got 2 people on the day of my wedding (annmarie and melissa). They arrived at 7am and began working. Then, while I got ready, they greeted each vendor and made sure they had everything that they had promised us...and sent them to the proper location. Whenever there was a snafu, annmarie or melissa handled it. when my makeup person needed parking validated, annmarie handled it. once the ceremony and reception were underway- melissa made sure that me and my family were attended to- my mom left her purse behind on a chair and annmarie picked it up and gave it to my mom. By no means are we people who need an attendant, but it was SO nice to have them. Finally, and what i considered to be one of the best reasons to have a doc, annmarie and melissa packed up all of the leftover stuff at the end of the reception and had it sent to my parent's room. You really don't realize how much stuff there is to be packed up! your cake topper, toasting flutes, cake cutting set, leftover candles, centerpieces, etc. On Sunday morning everything was packed, labeled, and ready to be brought home. I can't imagine having to do that, or assigning one of my family or friends to do that. Our DOC's were the best $500 we could have spent!!! I'm sure that weddings can and probably are beautiful without DOCs, but for me, it was SO worth it.

- A+: I didnt have anyone local to help me out, so I felt this was a great investment. Annmarie and Melissa were indispensable. Our pastor couldn't make the rehearsal, so they ran that, made sure that food showed up at the salon and hotel room so the girls would eat. Stayed at my side the entire day, and made sure I didnt have to think about anything. One stayed with my fiance and his guys, made sure they ate as some were getting tipsy in the hotel bar. My fiance thought it was silly to hire them, but was singing their praises 10 minutes into the day "I almost forgot the rings, but they called and reminded me. One of my groomsmen got lost and she found him" are just a couple of quotes from my guy. if you are relying on the perpetually late or perpetually disorganized people in your life to stand up with you it's great to have a buffer of 2 people to be the bad guys tracking them down =)

Delightful Designs

Location: Seekonk, MA
Website: http://www.delightful-designs.net/
Reviews:

- A+: I feel like these people fell out of heaven for me to use. I kid you not. I was actually debating on going to set up myself until I met them. They put me so much at ease I gladly handed over everything, and it couldn't have been better if I tried! Everything looked perfect. Guests were gasping as they walked into the room, and when I first saw it, tears filled my eyes. They also decorated for my ceremony, and when I tell you I was so overjoyed, I'm talking jumping up and down IN MY DRESS. It was picture perfect.

Hopple Popple

Location: Newton, MA
Website: http://www.hopplepopple.com/
Reviews:

- A+: They are so fantastic there, it's no wonder they won a Best of Boston award. We were very pleased with their ideas and how everything turned out.

Friend of the Bride

Location: Gloucester, MA
Website: http://www.friendofthebride.org/
Reviews:

- (Robin Perry) A: I got in touch with Robin through our JP (her husband). She is so sweet! She helped us get a great deal at the Art Association, and was a huge help - as we were coming from CT, having the wedding in MA, and couldn't always make the trip to make a decision. She's wonderfully kind, but can also be a little pitbull if need be (she had to put our caterer in his place on more than one occasion).

Normandin Event Professionals

Location: New England
Website: http://www.normandinplace.com/NEP/
Reviews:

- (Susan Normandin) A+: I couldn't have had the perfect wedding without Susan. As Mom told Dad, Susan works for Kayla, not us! That's right, because I hired her, and she was my partner in organizing and executing my wedding vision. Susan was very accessible via email - quick to answer any of my questions, suggest vendors if I needed, etc. She was very flexible in setting up appointments. I gave her copies of all my vendor contracts and outlined all the details I wanted. She made sure the vendors would be in the right place at the right time with the right stuff. All of my must take pictures were taken, thanks to her handy guide. My shuttle drivers had directions, and I had a PHENOMENAL 12 page timeline for Friday and Saturday. I loved it. She set up everything at my reception exactly to my vision and better - adding some touches I would not have thought of (I gave her artistic license). Susan took it upon herself to have 2 yellow roses with ribbons and water tubes to have near my DH's mother's portrait (she passed away). HUGE touch as DH's father and aunt now have those roses. When she noticed people weren't signing my guest book/signature platter, she brought it around for guests to sign. Susan also went to McDonald's during the reception and got me 40 cheeseburgers, came back, and assembled them on my silver cake plateau as the surprise groom's cake for a late night snack! A HUGE hit with the guests. Lastly no one in the bridal party had major responsibilities, besides getting their hair done for the girls, and having FUN. They all knew what to do b/c of Susan. The emergency kit was great too!

- Susan Normandin of Normandin Events was awful. Unprofessional, unresponsive, disorganized, inexperienced, what more can I say? In addition to being completely incompetent at her job, she was unpleasant and disheveled on the day of the wedding.
       -After my first meeting with her, she "changed" her 2006 rates and gave me her 2007 rates which were about 25% higher. I pointed out that we had verbally discussed several times her 2006 rates and she mentioned nothing about a 2007 rate change that would apply, even though she knew my wedding was in 2007.
       -She told me that she would coordinate the hair/makeup appointments, never happened.
       -She said she would be my "assistant" during the wedding to touch up makeup, ensure all key photographs were taken, provide anything (bobby pins/hairspray/gum etc) that was needed, help with spills if necessary. I didn't see her after the cocktail hour! At the beginning of the wedding I asked her for bobby pins to fix my hair which was falling - she didn't have any! Her "bridal emergency kit" did not exist.
      -She was supposed to call cabs an hour before the wedding was over to ensure drunk guests didn't drive drunk...never happened
       -In our initial meeting she said she would contact vendors a month before the wedding to confirm details - they were calling me constantly the month before, and she didn't call them until the week before, except for the church (more info on that below).
       -Her contract was completely bait-and-switch and said "four consultation hours" and then bulleted out separately accompaniment to final fitting session and walk-through of selected reception site. Later when i contacted her to schedule these, she claimed that the four consultation hours were INCLUSIVE of those services and I had used my consultation hours already. She considered our initial meeting (basically where I interviewed her) "consultation hours."
       -She was completely unresponsive, taking several days to respond to voicemail/email messages, and NEVER answered her cell phone when i called her
       - When I DID speak with her, she would laugh and patronize me - telling me not to "worry" instead of simply addressing questions

The Simple Details

Location: Massachusetts
Website: http://www.thesimpledetails.com/
Reviews:

- A: About 4 months before our wedding, my mom and I decided we needed to find someone who could handle all the little details that we wouldn't have time to focus on the day before and day of the wedding, like setting up everything correctly, sticking to a timeline, and properly getting down the aisle. Enter Tasha, who I addition to planning full-blown weddings, will act as a day of coordinator. She is based in Newton and Brewster on the Cape, which was super convenient for me (I live in Brookline), and she was really great with all those details you never thing about until it's too late.

Something Blue Weddings & Special Events

Location: Connecticut
Website: http://www.somethingbluespecialevents.com/
Reviews:

- I have mixed feelings about Something Blue. We hired them for our DOC's. I think they did their job but did not go above & beyond. Also, one of them looked somewhat miserable both at the rehearsal and throughout the reception. They did a fantastic job setting up the reception site with the custom linens I had ordered and working with the caterer but i just felt like there was more they could have taken the lead on in terms of directing guests to get/on off trolley, to sign the guest book, etc. Also, we did give them a lot to do because our site lacked its own event coordinator but i don't feel they gave 100%.

Trends and Traditions

Location: Massachusetts
Website: http://www.trendsandtraditionsevents.com/
Reviews:

- A: One of my favorite vendors, so glad I went them. Jenny and Lisa were so helpful and helped take care of a lot of details which made things much easier to deal with. They came to a details meeting with the hotel and mandap decorator, came to the rehearsal, and even alphabetized my placecards since I did them so late. Jenny came to my house the day of - helped us get dressed, even ironed my dress and helped fix one of my BM's dresses when the zipper broke. Lisa was at the hotel and helped with a lot of the set-up including rinsing off our water glasses from India which the hotel didn't want to do. They made the day go much smoother given the snafus with the hotel and caterer and I think things would have been horrible without them.

Two Friends Coordinators

Location: Massachusetts
Website: http://www.twofriendscoordinators.com/
Reviews:

- A: I hired an outside DOC because I'm a perfectionist and wanted someone to effectively be me during the rehearsal and wedding. In retrospect, it was likely overkill for the reception since Amy and the Butternut team were so organized, but my mom said that Jen and Anna were great at making sure that the card box was watched after and that everything that we wanted to go from the church to the reception, and finally back to my parents' house in the end, was collected. Jen was my primary contact but I never met Anna that night. Jen was very nice and responsive, and was also very helpful during the rehearsal and ceremony.

The Wedding Belle

Location: Nottingham, NH
Website: http://www.theweddingbelle.net/
Reviews:

- (Leslie Barbini) After choosing a date & site, Leslie was the first vendor I interviewed. Finding a great coordinator was my highest priority. I wanted someone on board the last few weeks of the wedding to help coordinate the vendors & to make sure nothing was overlooked. And most importantly, I wanted someone onsite to insure that I & my family could enjoy the wedding & let someone else take care of the details. I am a very detail-oriented person, & I felt confident that Leslie would not overlook anything. She had extensive experience with our reception site, and I felt she understood the complexities of orchestrating a wedding. She also works with 2 assistants on the day of. Working with Leslie was amazing. She spent a ton of time making sure that she really understood the type of wedding that we had envisioned. She considered dozens of things that never even crossed my mind. Every time I asked her about something, she would smile & say "Already taken care of." Leslie understands the industry, the vendors, & the brides. She knows what looks great & what works. She also knows what doesn?t. And she diplomatically made sure our wedding was everything we wanted!