In Any Event

I think we made the absolute best choice by hiring Rita at In Any Event.

From the beginning she was organized and professional, but at the same time had an easy going demeanor which made it so comfortable to work with her. She made it all seem so easy and alleviated us from the burdens that were involved. I can't even count the number of compliments we had about our wedding. We heard many times that it was the best wedding our guests have attended and the most fun! We even heard local residents commenting about "the big wedding on the lake." Rita did such an excellent job on the wedding and we would definitely use her again for future events. We give her the highest recommendation.

I cannot say enough positive things about our experience with Rita and In Any Event -- everyone, from my husband and I to our families to our friends, absolutely loved working with her.
To start, Rita was the only wedding planner with whom I spoke who actually took time to build a package based on our needs and our budget, the work that we'd done, the work that needed to be done, etc. We so appreciated the fact that she took all this into account before providing us with a package, rather than just presenting us with a ready-made pricing structure.
Then, throughout the planning process, Rita was just incredible. We were planning our Chicago wedding from Philadelphia, so all planning was done over the phone and during two weekend trips. The first weekend, she was with my mother and me for over twelve hours the first day and nearly the same the second day; she did the same with my husband and I during our second visit. She literally planned the entire weekend for us, picked us up from the airport, drove us to appointments, dropped us off at the hotel, etc. -- to say this was appreciated would be an understatement!
Rita was also wonderful when it came to recommending and dealing with vendors - in the end, our wedding was pulled together by tons of people whom Rita recommended (all of whom were wonderful); the information she provided was priceless, especially as we were coming from out-of-town. That said, she was also extremely flexible both when it came to working with pre-selected/preferred vendors with whom she did not have a prior relationship (in our case, the restaurant at which we had the reception and our florist -- who was definitely quirky and difficult to catch/communicate with) and when it came to finding new vendor options based on our preferences (in our case, photography options).
On the wedding day itself, Rita was there behind the scenes from the time I got my hair done to the time that my husband and I left our reception -- doing everything from managing the bridal party to keeping an eye on my five-year-old nephew to making sure our friends found their way to our reception to using her laptop to check us in for our honeymoon flight while we celebrated. And, importantly, by the end of the process, Rita felt more like a friend and wedding guest than a wedding planner.
In short, Rita helped to make our wedding -- and the wedding planning experience overall -- the wonderful, exciting time that it was. There was no problem too big (or too small:)) for her, and I cannot recommend her enough!

I had three standouts at my wedding.
1. venue / food - loved Harry Caray's
2. my dress
3. Rita Dawson, my 'day of' coordinator from In Any Event.

I was nervous when I met Rita, that she was just one person and didn't work with an assistant. I had such a distinct vision for my wedding day, I was hoping to hire someone who worked with an assistant.

As you see, I've given her 5 stars - she was so great. I noticed that some 'day of' folks only want to talk to you two weeks before your wedding, but Rita said to call her anytime.. so I did. And she always responded promptly and offered advice and even stepped in to solve a problem with my DJ that arose two months before our wedding.

The day of our wedding, she ran the show - perfectly. She made sure all details were delt with and helped my parents with a little 'surprise' they did for my husband and I.. she was amazing.

I don't think all 'day of' coordinators are like her - but they should be - and everyone should work with Rita!

If you are reading this Rita - thanks from me and my Mom!

Rita & her partner are the only true vendors I can recommend from my wedding. I used friends for everything! My Godfather was my officiant, my colleague was our DJ and my best friend did my flowers. In the begining, we hired Rita to make sure the actual wedding day went smoothly but Rita really stood up and managed all my "non-vendor" and gave them the direction they needed, and ended up paying her a minimal amount for all the work she did on pulling my thoughts together into a gorgeous affair!!

I gave her this for her website.. Rita was always professional and one of the hardest working, always available, expertly focused, "my pleasure" type of personality on the planet....not to mention that her method of execution left no doubt to all of my wedding participants (non vendors as well as guests!) that she was totally on top of the most minor details. Working with In Any Event (RITA!!) is really an incredible experience!

We think the world of Rita, the bridal consultant at In Any Event. She's often at our store with clients, learning a bustle or giving a candid opinion on our clients top three bridesmaids dress choices! She's refeshingly different than what we usually see with coordinators and so fun to work with. We refer anyone who asks for a planner / coordinator to her, and often get post event pictures & feedback that the wedding went very smoothly and Rita usually takes care of an incident that may have happened. Anyone thinking about hiring a 'day of' coordinator should meet with Rita - she's the best!