Lavish Celebrations

Unlike some other reviewers up here, we were not very organized and definitely not hands-on in the planning process, both my wife and I were very busy during the year as many things were happening in our lives and we really needed a personal trainer-like person to be our wedding planner. So, that's where Linda came in. To be honest, my wife and I completely under-estimated the level of complexity and challenge of a wedding, and we were very glad to have an experienced, professional, and even tempered wedding coordinator to handle most of everything for us. I am not good at writing reviews, so I will make this short and sweet by listing 3 major strengths of Linda that we have observed(of course there are many other qualities as well):

1. Linda is very organized. She has plans for everything and she has plans to make plans(like Cameron Diaz in What Happens in Vegas). If you are not organized or you are super disorganized, you will change after working with her. I think having a well laid out road map really helped us out.

2. Linda is very keen in cutting costs and offering advices to make the most bang outta your buck. She will work with you, your other vendors, her people to try to fit things inside your budget. of course, if you want something that will cost an arm and a leg, she will let you know.

3. Linda deals with many things behind the scenes. Let's face it, problems do happen and they can be pain in the rear to deal with, Linda is the one that will work to resolve issues like that. I think that is probably a quality many planners dont have and makes Linda stand out.

In short, our wedding was better than what I have expected, my guests liked it, we all had a great time, and could not have done it without Linda.

We considered ourselves pretty hands-on with our wedding planning, but it was the little things that really stressed us out. From coordinating with vendors to planning a detailed day-of itinerary, we found that there was a bunch more logistics involved in wedding planning than just booking a ceremony site and banquet room. Linda was very professional, patient, and responsive which helped ease the stress that goes into wedding planning. We received many compliments on the ceremony and reception from friends and family, and we couldn't have done it without Linda's help. Thank you so very much Linda!

Where do we begin to describe the job Linda, our coordinator, did for us?! First of all, Anne and I thought we could handle ALL the details of the wedding ourselves. Mistake! We can honestly say that without Linda, our ceremony wouldn't have run as "smoothly" as it did. Linda from the very first day we met was on top of everything. We were excited and relieved that we had an extra set of "eyes" and "ears" to ensure our wedding ran perfectly. She's experienced, helpful, understanding, patient, detail oriented, and passionate. Don't take our word for it. Find out for yourself! THANK YOU LINDA!

Lavish Celebration was referred to us by a close friend. I have to say this is the must-have and best service we have purchased for our wedding. The chief coordinator, Linda, has helped us from the beginning to the end. She worked extremely hard to make sure everything went smoothly on the wedding day. Without her, we probably would not survive all this wedding stress mess!! Thank you very much, Linda!

We found Linda through Project Wedding and are so glad we hired her! We were amazed with how organized she is. Linda did a great job keeping us on schedule both during the days leading up to the wedding and during the reception itself. We are especially thankful of how helpful she was during the reception, she was always nearby to answer questions and remind us of upcoming activities on our planned timeline. We had so many questions that we felt bad asking Linda, but she was always so polite and gave us lots of suggestions along the way that were so helpful. Everyone told us that they loved our wedding and it was due to Linda. She showed up five hours early at the site of our reception to coordinate everything with our vendors (in addition to calling them all before hand). The only regret we have is only hiring her for the month of planning, if we had hired her earlier we would have saved ourselves tons of stress.We were lucky to have Linda as our wedding coordinator and couldn't be more thankful.

With Linda's help, we were able to get our wedding started/finished in less then 6 months. My fiance and I were both swamped with work, and Linda made the entire process easy. Her pricing was very good, and recommendation were always spot on. During the entire planning process, she kept us posted on everything, and we did not feel a bit of stress the entire time.

On the day of the ceremony, everything went as planned and without a hitch.

Pros
+ Very friendly
+ Easy to communicate with/Get in contact
+ Very understanding of our needs
+ Good recommendations
+ Willing to work around our schedules
+ Very organized

Cons
- Hard to meet on weekends
- A bit stressed during the ceremony (note: we did not have a rehearsal)

It is wonderful to have Linda as my wedding coordinator. She is amazing and always gives you wonderful ideas. Every time, when I ask her for suggestion, she always prepare a list of vendors that I can choose. She tells me every little thing I need to prepare.
On the rehearsal day, she is very patient to guide everyone step by step. Before the wedding day, she helps me to check everything. She gives a very detail timeline for the wedding day, so everyone knows what to do and have no stress.
While preparing for the wedding, people always ask me, “Are you nervous?” or “Do you feel stressful?” My answer always be “No” because Linda helps me a lot and makes me calm.
All my guests love the music and caricature on the wedding day. Those are nice and creative. Those ideas are all from Linda. Thanks again. And highly recommend all the brides.

We hired Linda Chow about 11 months before our wedding date. She was forward about her lack of experience yet we felt that her efforts would be sincere and satisfactory. Unfortunately, we soon found that her lack of experience contributed to most of our troubles.Our first line of business was to find a location for the ceremony and reception. We specifically asked for a location that offered an outdoor ceremony and an outdoor reception. She sent a few Excel spreadsheets with about 10 - 15 venues each. We would take a look at the venue's website and decide whether or not to visit. From the San Gabriel Valley, we would travel nearly 50 miles to Malibu, nearly 70 miles to Laguna Beach, and to other places in between. Initially, she told us not to contact the Catering Manager at the venues and just take a walk around the location. This became very frustrating after driving across Southern California to hear that you cannot view the location because there is already an event taking place.About 6 months before our wedding, Linda and I went shopping for a wedding gown. We ended up buying a gown on the first day of shopping. In retrospect, I feel that we should have taken a look at a few other stores. I remember that the reason for the quick purchase was because she said that the promotional sale was ending very soon. I later found out that the promotional sale was for a much longer time than told.As we were buying the bridal gown and the bridesmaids' dresses, I asked if she knew of any tailors to alter the bridesmaids? dresses. I could have gone down the street from my house, but I thought that she might have a place that she usually uses. She recommended a place nearly 60 miles away.Linda Chow was adamant about respecting her client's time when she is working directly with them. For example, when she is with one of her clients (i.e. visiting vendors, coordinating a wedding event, etc.), she will not conduct any business or take any calls. Even so, during the final fitting for my wedding gown, she took a personal call.Most of the vendors that we selected were vendors that she had not worked with before. More times than none, it felt that a portion of our meetings were devoted to helping her network with these vendors. We ended up booking one of her vendors, the florist, which she had previously worked with. It became one of the worst decisions that we made throughout the entire ordeal. (Note: I will not elaborate any further; however, you can read my review on Michael Baldenebro in another post. http://www.projectwedding.com/vendor/show/michael-baldenebroPersonally, I am an impatient person, but which bride isn't? When I would email or call her with a question or concern, I would expect a response within a reasonable amount of time. I believe 24 hours is reasonable for at least an "I'll reply later."With Linda Chow and 3 months before our wedding, we had not settled the wedding invitations, flowers, or designs. It finally came to a point where we really needed guidance and Linda Chow was unable to calm our nerves. We hired someone else with more experience and were able to tie up all the loose strings.No matter the budget or at any hour of the day, the bride should feel as if she is the only client. Based on my experiences of clashes in personality traits, inflexible scheduling, and a lack of urgency, I cannot recommend Linda Chow.

Wonderful experience working with Linda. We hired Linda a year before our wedding date. Planning my wedding wasn't easy because I live in China. Linda was there every step of the way and made our dream wedding happen. Six months into the planning, we decided to switch venues and Linda was very nice and patient about it. She was also very helpful and responsive when I needed vendor referrals, planning advice, etc. She always made time for us and went out of her way at times to help us out.

On our wedding day, she and her team were so helpful and everything went smoothly. The venue was a ranch/winery and the space for the ceremony, cocktails, and reception was quite big. They were running around and got everything set up and placed. She was so sweet and stayed until the wee hours of the morning to help clean up. I really couldn't of asked for anyone better. She's sweet, responsible, diligent, patient, honest, and helpful. I would highly recommend her to any bride!

I had a great experience with Linda. I pretty much just needed her for day of coordination but she ended up helping me with lots of things months before the wedding. Shes so sweet and SOOOOOO responsive. You will notice once you start communicating with wedding coordinators and how busy they are but Linda was really good in getting back to me with things and never made me frustrated and stress. She even recommended me my wonderful make up/hair stylist and also beautiful chair covers/sash. By Friday the day before the wedding at rehearsal I knew I was in good hands. Linda took over all the stuff I prepared for her and executed very well. I woke up on the day of and didnt feel any stress at all. I was so relaxed and chilled throughout the day and just worried about being pretty and celebrating. Linda and her two assistants were awesome. Everything just ran smoothly and even ahead of time!! After the perfect wedding was over - Linda and her assistants even helped me clear stuff and picked up all the stuff that was left behind and sent it to the honeymoon suite. she made sure we were happy and didnt have to lift a finger. Very pleasant and punctual and I loved working with her!!Great work!!

Linda and her assistants were a tremendous help. We don’t know what we would’ve done without her. She is very professional and meticulous in her work and we really had no issues during the wedding. She handled all the vendors without a hitch. Her “day-of” timeline was invaluable. Our guest complemented on how smoothly everything was run. Her assistants also took a lot of photos which was nice. We highly highly recommend her work!!

My husband and I both would highly recommend Lavish Celebrations.

We truly appreciated that all our wants and needs were attended to with the highest regard and promptness.
Our many many calls and emails were returned promptly and we felt that our wedding planner Linda Chow really cared about our concerns.
During the course of our planning there were many times when we changed plans or ideas, this was never a problem, and we were always treated with the utmost respect and care.
I would highly recommend Lavish Celebrations to anyone who is planning an event. Linda Chow truly took all the stress out of our event so that we could just show up and enjoy ourselves.
A toast to you Linda...thank you again for all your help and for giving us a beautiful stress free wedding and reception! We will be talking to you for our next big event.
The Olson's

Inspite of the fact that we only got the services of Lavish Celebrations two weeks before our wedding, Ms. Linda Chow was able to do a great job. In the short time frame given to her, she orchestrated everything very well. She made sure that everything was in accordance to the specifications of our wedding venue (The Ritz in Pasadena), coordinated with everybody involved in our wedding and gave a lot of wonderful suggestions. As a result, she was able to contribute a lot in making our wedding not only stressed free but also a very memorable one. I can't say enough of how thankful and happy my husband and I with the service she rendered. With the very reasonable fee that they charge, I highly recommend Lavish Celebrations to anybody who is looking for an event planner. Thanks again for a job well done Linda!

My husband and I were very pleased with the work/results that Lavish Celebrations had delivered on our wedding day. Linda Chow was very professional and prompt. Her assistance and contributions--had made my wedding planning process easier and manageable. She was always very proactive, supportive, and respectful of my decisions. She's knowledgeable and able to bring tons of ideas to the table. I would not hesitate to recommend her to my family and friends for upcoming event coordinations. With the in-depth knowledge and experience that Linda has, I can assure that you'll not regret it. After all, no bride should ever have to stress out on her wedding day. The stress should be left to the planner, and it was a testament that Linda was able to handle everything well while being underpressured. Therefore, I highly recommend her to anyone that's in need of an event planner.

Easy to work with, very detailed oriented, you can't go wrong! Thanks for making my life easy!

Linda Chow is awesome to work with and extremely professional. Her care and attention to detail shows in her work. She's a pleasure to work with as a peer and I would definitely recommend her services!