Then Comes Marriage

I had decided very early that I wanted a DOC since I was planning my wedding from afar. I had chosen Michelle as my wedding coordinator because she got so many rave reviews on this website. I have to say that our communication pre-wedding was good. She was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions. She even hooked me up with Elle Lighting who did a great job and gave a discounted price since I was a client of hers. Knowing that I had a DOC and a really capable catering crew really took the stress off my shoulders.

I hired Michelle also for the wedding rehearsal. My officiant was also present for the rehearsal. I have to say that I was disappointed in the rehearsal portion because Michelle basically just lined us up and had us practice walking down the aisle. She did not give detailed directions that a professional should give, such as...hold your bouquet at your waist, remind the MOH to perform certain duties during the ceremony, etc. I was a bit disappointed at other little things that she did not do.

The assistant that she brought to the wedding with her was less of a wedding coordinator and more of a side-kick to carry things. I do acknowledge that she is pregnant and needs assistance, but I do wish that she made this clear from the beginning, that it is not a two-person coordinating team, truthfully.

I did e-mail Michelle about these issues, and she did promptly and kindly respond. Her services are very basic and I believe that if you want attention to the finer details (without prompting to do so), go with another coordinator.

I hired Michelle 9 months before our wedding base on recommendations I read about her on another message board. When I interviewed her she seems to be on top of things. She also told me that she's also coordinating the wedding on my location the day before ours and she said she can coordinate with the other bride so that we can share the cost of some rentals - including chivari chairs.

After I hired Michelle I didn't hear from her for months. She never answers her phone and usually replies to my e-mails a couple of days later. I also got the impression that she was minimizing all my concerns. The deciding factor why I had to let her go 5 weeks before my wedding was when she provided me with the wrong caterer to coordinate the chivari chairs with.

In the end, I didn't feel that I can fully relax and enjoy my wedding day if Michelle was my coordinator.

Michelle Thornton was my wedding coordinator. She was really great, I was thankful each moment she was there with her assistant Nikole. They were very calm! And when they were calm I was calm. They got everyone in order and made sure everything went perfect and right on time. There were times when, my face was blank because, I was nervous, scared or frustrated she would calm me down! What would I do without these women! Michelle and Nikole were excellent and very fun to work with.

I love Michelle. I decided very early on that I wanted a day of coordinator so I wouldn�t have to stress myself or my family too much. But then when I thought of the price difference between day of coordination and full coordination, I decided to go with full coordination because I quickly realized that a coordinator can help me save a lot of money. She would quickly pay for herself by my cost savings. She always recommended good, fair, quality vendors that she has worked with previously. That professional opinion goes a long way. I would highly recommend going with Michelle. She�s an excellent communicator, very professional, and very kind. Hiring her is the smartest things I did!

I hired Michelle back in Jan. 07 for my Dec. 07 wedding. I was a bridesmaid in another wedding and saw Michelle there at work, I knew I would use her when I got engaged. Her prices were fair, I paid $900. for day of services and an additional $100.00 for rehearsal services. Michelle was a true gem to my planning process. She helped me find vendors in my budget range, responded to emails quickly (usually at a few hours at the most), and met with me on several occasions to do site viewings, and time-line meetings in person. The vendor recommendations were great and saved me money, also knowing that these vendors had worked with her and done a great job helped give me peace of mind when booking them.
At the rehearsal I was able to give Michelle all my personal items for her to bring to the wedding and set up. It was nice to not have to worry about friends and family bringing things and setting them up. Her and her assistant were great working with my brother who married us.
The day of the wedding Michelle set all our personal items up, ran the time-line, and her and her assistant made things flawless. It priceless to be able to actually enjoy my wedding day, as I had visioned it. I think her price is very cheap compared to others I have seen, and I found her to be worth every penny if not more. She was by far my favorite vendor.

Michelle did everything that i hired her to do. Which was basically dump all my diy stuff on her w/ a "how to" list and told her to improvise if something didn't work out right. If she did improvise, I didn't noticed cuz it was probably what i would have done anyways to make something work. When I got to the hotel, she was finishing up on the tables and had it set just the way it should be. She had even asked the wait staff to bring j and i something to munch on before we were introduced. My aunt (who's daughter got married the week before) was so impressed with Michelle that she said she's sorry she didn't know about her when planning her daughter's wedding cuz my aunt was so jealous that my mom and i could just sit back, relax and enjoy our guests without having to worry about timelines, what to do, how to do it. Michelle worked with Russ/DJ to make sure things were going smoothly. Before she left, she checked in to make sure we were ok. she even took it upon herself to put the birdcage that had all the cards in a safe location so that it wasn't just sitting around to be messed with. I had a crazy day before and completely forgot to bring 2 boxes of stuff to the hotel. I called Michelle the night before asking her to swing by the house and if she can take the stuff to the hotel and she did it with no problems, even telling me the time that she'll be by to pick up the stuff. The few days before, she had emailed all my vendors the timeline so they know what's going to happen.

I hired Michelle for my wedding and it was by far the best choice I could have made for myself. I orginally contacted her to just do some Day of Planning, but once I met with her and saw how reasonable her prices were compared to others I interviewed I decided to go with Partial planning package. I am very busy at work, and so is my husband and we just did not have the time to research. Michelle was wonderful she would suggest people in my budget, I would go to appts. and just pick the vendor that best worked for me. I added rehearsal service to my package since I had family flying in from China and thought a run through would be best. Michelle ran the entire rehearsal and that really helped. On the day of the wedding she set up my favors, place cards, and many personal items. Everything looked just like I had wanted, and her time-line made things run so smoothly. It was worth the money I spent, and I have had 4 friends use Michelle since... she has done a great job for them as well.