dagnes's reviews

Nearly a year from our wedding, the excerpt from my blog still rings true. I would whole heartedly recommend utilizing Karen's services. My husband and I still say that from our wedding budget, the planner fee was the best money we spent - hands down. As an investment in our day, that money came back to us in folds.

For those of you searching for a planner, you already understand the value of hiring a professional to assist (or take the reins) in your planning. A planner can ensure that things go smoothly on your big day, help you gather the right vendors, and help you prioritize your spending.

From our experience, I feel that there are several reasons to hire Karen:
* She is great about returning calls and e-mails. At one point during our planning process, John and I were astounded to hear that she had other clients. The level of service we recieved just made us think that we were the only bride and groom in her world.

* Karen is very good with budgets. Her goal is to help you realize your dreams for your day, but understands that not everyone has the funding for their champagne dreams. With respect to budgets, Karen helps you prioritize your spending. We didn't have much for our florals, so she recommended specific areas where we should focus on our spending.

* She keeps you on task and organized. As a Type-A person, I was surprised to see how disorganized I became during our wedding planning. Karen was always there with contract copies, calendars showing critical dates, and following up with e-mails.

* Karen cares. It's easy for a professional to get jaded by the work in their field or to treat something flippantly. This is not something that I experienced with Karen. She's excited for you, with you, and is very open minded about any planning concepts you might bring to the table. She's also there for you when your wedding dress shop abruptly closes its doors and apparently leaves you without a dress 10 weeks before your wedding (a wild moment in our planning). Incidentally, that was the ONE choice I made outside of Karen's list of handy vendors and that was a giant backfire.

* Karen is also respectful of your place of worship and any traditions that you may carry with your faith or culture. Our church's pastor and wedding consultant had some bad planner experience which Karen erased. After working with Karen on our wedding, they mentioned how much they appreciated her approach.

Apparently, I can go on and on about the benefits of working with Karen. Good luck with your planning, but if you Karen, just sit back and enjoy it!