I was initially hesitant to hire someone for wedding coordination services because I am an architect (ie. incredibly detail-oriented, for better or for worse), so I was nervous to bring another person into the mix with the planning/organizing because I was afraid it would create more stress for me. I met Hillary unexpectedly at a bridal expo and was immediately impressed by her knowledge and confidence, so we decided to hire her to help us with the ‘Day-Of Coordination’ package. Now that the wedding has passed, and we can reflect on our journey with planning, both my husband and I have agreed that Hillary was one of the best investments that we made for our wedding.
Prior to the wedding….
We had several phone conversations and two meetings in the weeks/month leading up to the wedding to discuss the plan and ‘vision’. I was actually the first wedding to be hosted at our venue, so we had a lot of logistical things to figure out as a team (between caterer, rentals, museum coordination, and entertainment). Hillary was wonderful to communicate with throughout all of this, and provided great insight with suggestions or solutions for many of the items we encountered with coordination. She also helped us to develop a very detailed ‘itinerary’ for the entire day, that proved to be so valuable for all that were involved. Even though we only purchased the ‘Day-Of Coordination’ package, one thing that I really appreciated was that Hillary always felt very “available.” With any random questions that I emailed her with, she was always quick to respond with helpful advice.
Rehearsal Day….
Hillary attended our rehearsal and kept us all on track with the plan for the day. She also provided a lot of guidance with things that I had never considered (for example, the hand-off from father to husband, the line-up and entrance of groomsmen, etc.) We had several ‘placement’ items to coordinate on rehearsal day between violinist, speakers, and seating locations and Hillary dove right into helping us resolve those logistics with ease.
Wedding Day….
I cannot speak highly enough about the way that Hillary handled our wedding day. From the beginning of the day, Hillary was present and calm (which made me feel great), while working very hard to get the venue set up in preparation for the event. We had 20 long rectangular tables as a part of our dinner reception layout and over 120 flower vases, miscellaneous signs, and place card holders to be organized in a very specific way among the tables and Hillary and her assistant executed our vision for these perfectly. Truly! I expected to make slight adjustments once I arrived to the venue, but as I looked over everything, there was not a single thing that I wanted to change. It was beautiful - all thanks to her hard work! During the event, she was very kind and professional, but was also very attentive to our timeline and kept us on track with the schedule. I cannot imagine what would have happened if she had not been there to guide us!
I realize that this is a lengthy review, but my hope is that this insight is helpful for anyone (like me) who is hesitant about whether they will ‘need’ the services, or for anyone who fears that it will be something that creates more stress. Hillary actually turned out to be a stress-relief!
Hillary always made me feel like she was really listening and giving her full attention whenever we talked about plans and logistics. This gave me a lot of confidence and trust in her, which was all validated through her hard work and execution of our plan. I am so thankful that we selected to work with her for our coordination services because having her there as an ally for us during the wedding day (and the events leading up to it) was truly invaluable. THANK YOU, THANK YOU Hillary!
Lindsey Barker, AIA