Reviews of Sally Oakley Weddings & Events (Event Planner)

Linda Battaglia

Sally is wonderful! Made our wedding planning process organized and followed up with us when we fell behind things on our to do list. The best part about hiring Sally was not having to worry or communicate with any vendors on the day of the wedding. She did such a great job organizing everything and keeping people on the timeline that our ceremony was actually ready to go a few minutes early. We as a couple felt so supported and couldn’t have asked for a better wedding planner.

Amy Sawyers-Williams

We hired Sally as our day of event planner with some additional pre-day of assistance with vendor recommendations. She was wonderful: extremely organized, flexible, gave great advice, and was SO supportive throughout the process. She kept me sane and reassured the day of our rehearsal in the Raleigh Rose Garden during Hurricane Matthew, and I can't thank her enough for that. She is the best!

Sylvia Mann

Sally was great! She is experienced, professional, and comes with the list of the best vendors. She worked well with our guests on the day of, and put our minds at ease the months leading up to the service. We would hire her again.

Laura

Do not hesitate to ask Kathy Swope (of Sally Oakley Weddings and Events) to help with your wedding/wedding reception! She is absolutely the most creative, detail-oriented, attentive, accessible, and most CALMING person you could possibly find to assist with your wedding/reception planning and day of coordination. And Kathy is so flexible! As her clients, we were able to do some planning on our own and count on Kathy to polish up our efforts. At other times, we could count on Kathy to take care of planning specifics about which we were less informed (or frankly, those that were just less fun to plan!). Kathy left no stone unturned. My daughter and I found ourselves wondering what all the wedding planning hubbub is all about! Everything seemed absolutely effortless. Even the day of the wedding was relaxing, calm and enjoyable. Kathy truly took care of everything! Throwing a wedding was a piece of cake with Kathy. And...the wedding was absolutely perfect!

Keena Katzenbach

Thank you Sally so much for helping to make our day so amazing! Everyone planning a wedding should think of Sally as a "MUST HAVE." She was there for every last detail and we had no worries - just a great wedding day knowing that Sally had everything covered. She was worth every cent plus more that we paid for her services and I would highly recommend her for your event.

Haley Bodenheimer

Sally was nothing short of amazing! From the time I hired Sally, the accessible communication with her throughout the planning process and day of coordinating was great. If I needed an opinion or help making a decision, Sally always led me in the right direction. She kept my planning timeline on time and set up all appointments (ex: florist, cake, food tasting, venue) months in advance. I personally was blown away at how smooth Sally made my wedding planning and more importantly my wedding day. I would recommend Sally to anyone who is looking for a wedding planner with great customer service, attention to every detail, punctuality, and ability to suggest options to brides that fit their vision and budget. Sally is hands down the best wedding planner there is, fair and square!

Hilary Andron

We got married at the Carolina Inn in June and they introduced me to Sally and her team. I met Sally fairly early in the planning process and in one minute I immediately felt her warmth and kindness and knowledge and felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. As we led up to the day itself, Sally always reached out at the perfect time and I knew that all of the fine details were going to be taken care of. She's so organized and has a soothing way about her that makes you feel like everything is going to be okay. As simple as that sounds, it's so important when it comes to your (my!) own wedding! Our rehearsal was handled perfectly and I went to sleep at night with a sense of peace, just not worried about the big day. On the day of, everyone involved in the wedding knew where they had to be and when and Sally and her team somehow made it so easy and fun! I didn't receive one text or phone call from a vendor asking where they needed to be or when. I almost feel guilty because I feel like I didn't do anything. When it was my time to head towards my groom, Sally personally got me from my room while her team corralled everyone else, and as I mentioned, there was something so soothing about having her walk with me towards the aisle. I think a lot of brides don't even realize how nervous they are, but a lot of that went away just by having her there by my side. One more thing to add - I will always appreciate what might seem like the littler things but something took another level of stress away... wedding gifts, my veil, guest book, change of shoes, cake stand, etc. miraculously disappeared towards the end of the night and were placed as promised in my room. It was amazing, and such a personal touch. Thank you Sally and team for making our day so special and unbelievably seamless. We don't know how you did it, and Rob and I are forever grateful.

devan voight

My wife and I had our wedding on 01, Oct. 2017. We contracted Sally Oakley Weddings to be our wedding planner. Our specific planner was Kathy Swope and she did a wonderful job. She was well organized, timely, motivational, and very comforting when the big day got closer and closer. My wife and I were both very happy to have had the pleasure to work alongside Kathy as we planned out the wedding. For weddings in the Triangle, I highly endorse Sally Oakley Weddings. You won't be disappointed.

Amy Cardillo

My husband and I live in San Francisco, but it was so important to us to get married in Durham (the city where we met in graduate school). It would not have been possible without Sally! She was incredibly thoughtful and organized - and made flying into town for just the long weekend an absolute breeze. I'd highly recommend her services to anyone.

Laura Bastian-Webb

Sally Oakley was our day of wedding coordinator, and hiring her was the best decision we made in planning our wedding. For starters, she recommended a line up of top-notch vendors who allowed our wedding day to go seamlessly. She helped calm my nerves when I was fretting and prompted me to think about key details well in advance, which made everything to come together without last-minute stress or drama. Sally also put together a helpful detailed timeline for our day and did a phenomenal job running our rehearsal and wedding day. I would highly recommend Sally Oakley!

Kim Litman

Sally was awesome from day one to the conclusion of our daughters wedding. She was our “Day of” but was so much more. Had a few wardrobe malfunctions minuets before pictures and the ceremony, but she had the tools and cools to keep us on schedule! So recommend her and her team!

Cara Heaton

Sally was an absolute DREAM to work with throughout the planning process!! Hiring her was without a doubt one of the best decisions that we made for our wedding. She made a custom service package for us according to what we needed at our first meeting with her. Throughout the year and a half of our engagement Sally was very responsive to all of our communication via phone and email and was never too busy to answer a question for us. She had invaluable advice for every aspect of the wedding! On the day of the wedding she made our lives stress free and even made sure that we got as much food, drinks, and cake as we wanted. No task was too small for her and she was always asking if we or my family needed anything. Her team members were also great to work with during the ceremony and made sure that there was someone with both the bridal party and groomsmen (making sure everyone was on task!) at all times. We could not recommend hiring Sally enough!

Morgaine Bowers

Sally was such a wonderful blessing to have as our wedding coordinator. She was all in from the very beginning, helping us with all sorts of questions we had along the way. Even when we needed help locating other vendors, she was there to help. Her knowledge of the area and professional connections were a valuable resource. On the day of, everything about our wedding was perfect. Everything ran perfectly smoothly and was everything we could have hoped for.

Alex Miller

I don't think I could possibly say enough wonderful things about Sally Oakley. She is FABULOUS! My original wedding planner had to cancel on me about 4-5 months before my wedding due to having a baby. I had a really hard time to find the right fit on a wedding planner. I did a more DIY wedding and really wanted a planner that could help execute the setup and really take over all day of activities and coordination. After talking to numerous planners before getting in touch with Sally, I was getting stressed to not find the right person in my budget. I also hate getting nickeled and dimed. I wanted to pay just one price to really take over and run with the task on the day of the wedding with out extra fees. After talking to Sally for about 1 or 2 minutes, I instantly knew she was the perfect fit. I was so excited when I found her and from the day I signed with her to even after my wedding she was truly fantastic! She was so friendly , happy, and easy to work with. I had so much fun working with her before the wedding as all the details came together. She always took the initiative and was very organized. 4 weeks before wedding my venue 214 Martin Street advised me the space would not be ready for my wedding and I had to change location. Thanks to Sally, she helped me in every way to make it smooth on the transition to the new space just weeks before my wedding. Aside from just the planning , she kept me calm through all the changes so maybe she is also part time wedding therapist! :D She just jumped in and did everything that was needed during the whole process. The day of the wedding she took 100% of the weight off my shoulders and everything went flawless! First the setup of all my decorations for the venue was PERFECT, even better than I envisioned!!! I had a lot of moving parts with the setup and vendors and was so happy it all came together so nicely. She also offered in her services to have an assistant ( who was also really great!) that made having 2 locations for both ceremony & Reception possible. They were able to be in two places at once and ensure all setup was done on time! I had almost no worries all day because of Sally's hard work and organization. Lastly the coordination of the actual wedding and timing was all on time and again flawless. Please book Sally for you wedding, you will not regret it! She was truly my life saver for the wedding and I am so beyond happy with her services! THANK YOU SALLY!

Rachel Page

Sally Oakley made our wedding and our wedding planning process an experience to remember. Way before the event she helped us think through the details that we didn't know mattered. But these details made all the background bits and pieces run effectively so that the whole week of the wedding, things flowed beautifully despite the last-minute curve balls. She remained focused, calm, cool and charming, even when the rain decided to fall right before our outside ceremony. She kept us on track and found creative ways to successful conduct the ceremony outside after the summer shower. Her outgoing demeanor kept even the wildest guest in our wedding party wanting to do all they could to make our day special for everyone. And she's great with kids. We didn't realize exactly what a wedding planner did - now I wouldn't even consider having a wedding without one, and I wouldn't do a wedding without Sally Oakley. Simply – she was the best. Thank you Sally!

Frank Liao

Sally has been an incredible wedding planner throughout our planning process, and has done a lot to make all of our creative ideas a reality. Her ability to coordinate with the vendors during the wedding day were also nothing short of phenomenal - we definitely felt relaxed at our own wedding and was at ease knowing that she was behind the scenes managing the event. Would definitely recommend her to couples looking to get married in the RTP area.

Katie Bagwell

I've worked as a "day of" assistant for Sally for several weddings and knew that when it was my turn to begin planning my wedding, I wouldn't trust our wedding day in the hands of anyone else! Sally is personable, professional, and went out of her way to make sure that neither me nor my husband, or anyone in our bridal party or families had anything to worry about the day of the wedding. There was no greater relief than to have the details handled by someone else so that we were all able to enjoy the wedding as much as possible without any worries. We had a unique situation in that Downtown Raleigh hosted a Food Truck Rodeo on our wedding day, blocking off the entire street in front of the Stockroom (our venue) and limiting the parking for our vendors & guests. Sally made sure the vendors not only had the timeline for our wedding day, but that they also had parking information to avoid confusion on the day of, and worked with the coordinators of the Food Truck event to reserve nearby parking spots for vendors, the wedding party, and handicapped guests to make it quick & easy for us all to get to the ceremony on time. We love Sally & Suzanne and couldn't have asked for a better experience working with them both!

Valerie Bullaughey

Sally was such a pleasure to work with and made our wedding experience so incredibly stress-free and wonderful! She was always available for advice and with her timeline, made sure we were always doing things along the way so that it wasn't too overwhelming. All of her suggested vendors were incredible to work with and we knew we were in good hands. The big day went off without a hitch with nothing for us to worry about since we were in Sally's very capable hands. She was truly great, very professional and so much fun to work with!!! I highly recommend her to anyone planning a wedding!

Cindy Short

Sally worked with us through The Umstead Hotel. She did an amazing job. She was poised, professional, always ready to help, and made us feel so special throughout the entire process. I recommend her without reservation!

Mary Bynum

Hiring Sally was the best decision we could have made for our wedding planning process. We had Sally as our month-of wedding planner and was such a relief to have her when the wedding rolled around. It was such a joy that neither of our mothers were running around the day of the wedding, they got to sit back relax and enjoy the day. Which by the way, the day went absolutely flawlessly!!! Another thing that really stood out to us about Sally was that every single vendor we hired, when they found out Sally was our wedding planner, became very excited and had amazing things to say about her. Sally has so much experience, amazing ideas and connections throughout the industry. She is also one of the sweetest people I have ever met. Sally is amazing if you are getting married and planning a wedding you need her!

Stephanie Litman

Sally is wonderful! She was a preferred vendor at our venue, and we never even looked at anyone else on the list! We contracted her for the 'Day Of Coordinator' package, however she helped us and answered all our questions for months leading up to the wedding. On the wedding day, I never once had to worry about any vendors or timelines, as she had everything under control!

Sarah Barker

My husband (and parents) and I will be forever indebted to Sally for ensuring our wedding went off without a hitch! From nearly a year before the big day, she was there to answer my constant questions and provide invaluable advice on the whole process. She conducted a flawless rehearsal, which I anticipated would be like herding cats. But where she really shone was on the wedding day. She was first on the scene, directing everyone and everything to where they were supposed to be and when, most importantly being me. She checked on me often as we were getting ready, and truly made me feel like a queen for a day. And when the inevitable bridal nerves kicked in just before the ceremony, she became my fairy godmother, emerging with sprite, snacks, and calming reassurances that I would *not* in fact faint at the altar. While soggy weather threatened to ruin our outdoor ceremony dream, she seemed to effortlessly move everything to a back up location that was equally as beautiful, and helped us keep our guests and ourselves dry. Plan and execute with Sally and you will not be disappointed!

Kylie Stephens

Sally and her team were AMAZING! I was extremely busy due to work and other obligations in the months leading up to my wedding and if it were not for Sally I would not have been able to manage. My wedding day was absolutely perfect and it was all because of her diligent planning and expert management of my various vendors. In addition to being great wedding planners, Sally and her team are super sweet and a lot of fun to work with!

Chad Oliver

We chose Sally as our wedding coordinator after several people said she was the best wedding coordinator in North Carolina. They were not wrong! Sally is an extremely professional wedding planner that helped us for MONTHS even though we had signed up for her 'Day Of' package. She answered all of our questions, reached out to all of our vendors, and worked with them on our timeline. Many of our vendors told us they had preferred Sally as coordinator as well. She made sure that our wedding day was spectacular! We love you, Sally!

Anna Stein

We have worked with Sally to plan and oversee both of our sons' bar mitzvah parties. Sally has helpful ideas and she is familiar with quality venues and vendors in Raleigh. She is always professional to work with and I would definitely hire her again!

Lauren Pipal Doran

Book Sally! She is outstanding at her job, and she made my wedding day absolute perfection! I used her 'Month-of' coordinating services, but she was accessible to answer any questions and give recommendations as soon as I booked her (over a year out). She made everyone feel at ease and made sure everyone involved in the wedding knew what to do and when to do it. She is extremely professional, and my husband and I are still so impressed and grateful for how easy she made our big day!