Reviews of Samantha Joy Events (Event Planner)

Mallory Gemmer

In the beginning I had no desire to hire a wedding planner, but boy was I SO glad that I did! I honestly don’t know how brides get through all of the wedding planning and especially the month-of/day-of coordination without their own Samantha! Choosing the partial-planning package option allowed for me to take the reigns and still be present during the planning process, while Samantha helped to get all of the logistics squared away and stepped in when my indecisiveness got the best of me to ensure that my romantic, dusty blue dream wedding came to life! From providing decor suggestions to creating the timeline of the ceremony, reception events, and rehearsal, etc. Samantha’s attention to detail and her talent for design and styling is just impeccable! Samantha was with me every step of the way through the wedding planning process: From design elements including linen and stationary selections (she even made customized reception menus for each place setting!) and floor plans to the dreaded seating charts and table assignments, she also helped to handle issues that popped up with my venue just one month before my big day. Trust me ladies, you’ll want Samantha in your corner to get things done the right way, the first time! Having her at the venue the day of the wedding allowed me to just relax while getting ready and enjoy the day with my bridesmaids, while she took care of literally EVERYTHING: Decor setup, minor hiccups (which there weren’t any besides one that I was made aware of, all thanks to Samantha’s premeditations), vendor coordination, etc. This girl also literally sat on the floor at my feet to hide behind the head table just to sew my broken bustle (which I had no idea whatsoever) back in place following the first dance and while salads were served at the reception!

Corinne Johnson

I had the pleasure of working with Samantha at her previous employer and was, and am, very impressed with her ability for taking the complex and synthesizing it, presenting it, and executing it, in a simple straight forward fashion. Samantha is one of the most organized people I have known and her natural penchant for organization, planning, and precise execution will make her a great partner for any client that is fortunate enough to choose her for the planning and execution of their event.

Shelby Clouser

We had Samantha do a large chalkboard wall for us for our wedding. We had been looking for someone for awhile so even though it was late notice she was able to help us out. She did a great job and the wall was perfect! Thank you!!

Heather Burton

I hired Sam for Partial Planning to help with my Boho/Industrial wedding at The Steam Plant in Dayton, Ohio. From the start, her expertise showed itself through the many vendors and contacts she has. A month before my wedding, I had a change of heart on the decor and she handled everything! We met, talked about what I wanted and she made the changes stress-free. She created a new budget, called vendors and made my dream wedding happen all in such a short time period. She goes the extra mile every step of the way even down to making sure you have a glass of your favorite wine waiting for you after the ceremony. She carves out time so you have special moments alone with your new spouse that you wouldn’t think to do for yourself. From styling & decor to organization & details, Sam does it all beautifully. Without hesitation, I recommend Samantha Joy Events to anyone.

cweideman7293

We hired Samantha about two months before our wedding. At the beginning of my engagement, I thought I could plan the whole thing myself no problem. Fast forward to countless nights of stress and anxiety, I finally decided to reach out to Samantha after a friend had recommended her. Instantly it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. Samantha made sure everything was on the right track and last minute details didn't fall through the cracks. Our wedding day ran smoothly BECAUSE of Samantha. Everything went off without a hitch and the only reason I was able to relax and enjoy the perfect day was because of her.

Mariellen Benway

Working with Samantha was absolutely amazing! We used her month of/day of planning service and it was perfect! I almost wish I would have gone with a more inclusive package, she was just so helpful! Any question or concern I had I could just email her and she was there to help. Although we were not in the same state during the planning period that did not affect anything! She was there through pictures, FaceTime, and phone calls helping me through every step. Samantha made everything so simple and stress free! She had all my contracts and vendor info so when it came close to the big day and on our wedding day everyone was on the same page and Samantha made comprehensive schedules for everyone. I honestly don't think I could have survived my day without her! I highly recommend Samantha Joy Events to anyone planning a wedding no matter that state!

Julie Patterson

Samantha went out of her way to make sure that our day was nothing short of perfect. I am glad we chose to work with Samantha, and I would do it all over again. She was quick to respond to ALL of our emails, texts, and calls leading up to the big day. She helped me organize all my thoughts leading up to our big day so I could see that it all made sense and was even possible. She offered ideas and insight on details we wouldn't have ever even thought of on our own. She even picked us up from the airport for our final walk-through of the venue:) She communicated with the rest of my vendors leading up to our big day to make sure everyone is on the same page. She ran the show at our rehearsal to make sure everyone involved knew what they needed to be doing and when. With all the rain we had leading up to our big day her/our list of things to accomplish was huge and she helped get everything in order with a smile and special attention to details. She dealt with a few difficult vendors, with professionalism and made sure we got what we asked for. She made contact with all our vendors the day of, allowing us to enjoy and get ready with our loved ones. She also ensured an easy clean up the morning after, as she picked up and organized our decor in our room following our reception.

RJ Reed

Mine was a second marriage and I thought —oh this won’t be too hard to plan, figuring we would have maybe 100 guests at the most. But I was wrong. I work a lot of hours with my job and I can see where planning any size of a wedding can be a full time job in itself. I was so glad I hired Samantha and her staff to help me. She was a monumental help! Samantha was already working at another wedding on my date so she assigned Heather and Ashley to handle our wedding. At first I was worried that Samantha would not be there. But it was like she was! She was involved in the entire lead-up to the wedding and kept her staff very well informed. So the day of the wedding, everything ran very smoothly and it was just perfect... and I had more time to enjoy the day and visit with my guests. I would highly recommend Samantha Joy Events. I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of vendors before I made my decision to go with SJE. All of the vendors told me that she was the best Planner in the area. I will agree!

Kate Collins

I loved working with Samantha - she was a huge part of making my big day the best day ever. I thought she was helpful BEFORE the event, but on the day of, she was my go-to person for making sure every detail was perfect. The little things: helping me with my shoes, making sure my dress was laying/fitting the best it possibly could (many layers of fabric), putting all of our stuff back into the hotel room across the street night of and helping me out of my dress at the end of the night all made me so happy with the choice I made to hire Sam. She is a rockstar and I am grateful I had her on my wedding day.

Katie Bak

It is hard to capture in words how grateful we are for Sam. She was extremely professional, responsive, and helpful in every sense of the word. We felt so confident that our day was going to be perfect with Samantha as the point person and she delivered. She was involved with all of the details and kept our requests and needs at the forefront of everything she did. Samantha helped us coordinate the rehearsal and then ensured that the day of went off without a single issue. We seated about 260 people and had a unique venue - multiple vendors working together: Florist, Caterer, Venue staff, Band, Photographers. Samantha handled challenges without issue and executed flawlessly. Our day would not have been nearly as successful as it was without Samantha and we would recommend her to everyone.

All The Right Tunes

We have had the pleasure of working with Samantha Joy Events many times and it's always remarkable. She does a fantastic job of keeping track of events. You can rest assured with Samantha in charge of your event.

Amanda Betts

Samantha and her team made my special day go so smoothly. I couldn't have imagined it going more perfectly. She and Heather (another employee at Samantha Joy Events) were so on top of things, and worked to make sure myself and my husband didn't lift a finger. We got married at the Estate at Sunset Farm in Bellbrook, Ohio, and Samantha coordinated with the owners as well as all of our other vendors effortlessly. If you are looking for a wedding "dream-team", look no further. Samantha Joy Events gave me the perfect day and a 10/10 experience.

Vanessa Kessel

We worked with Samantha Joy Events for our wedding this past July. Being that we're both University of Dayton alumni, our ceremony was at the UD Chapel and we had our reception at The Steam Plant. To add to all of this, we live in Des Moines, IA. In comes Samantha Joy Events to save the day! We hired SJE a year before our event for the partial planning and design package so that we could get the inside scoop on all the best vendors in the Greater Dayton Area. Before we started working with SJE, we spent so much time trying to figure out which vendors amongst hundreds would best fit our needs. Luckily, getting the design package allowed SJE to get a better idea of what style we wanted and then they would provide us with 2-3 vendors for that part of the event. We cannot tell you how many headaches this saved us. Not to mention that neither of us are really good at putting the whole picture together, and SJE's design board helped us get a visual for what we wanted our wedding day to look like. In addition, working with SJE took so much stress of our shoulders in the months and days leading up to our wedding. SJE's production and event timeline document was super extensive and allowed us to not worry about when this vendor or that vendor is arriving on our wedding day. This was something that we could share with our wedding party to quickly let everyone know where they should be and when. The day of the event was just another reminder of how wonderful SJE is with event planning. The way we felt and how little stress we felt more than met our expectations. We were totally engrossed in every moment of our day and didn't have a worry in the world besides enjoying each other's company on our special day. We loved working with the SJE team. Throughout the entire process, Samantha was the absolute perfect balance of friendly and professional. She guided us with every aspect of the wedding and we felt a great connection and friendship growing alongside. All of the services provided were priceless and we'd do the partial planning and design again (or more) in a heartbeat!

Cady Vance Floral V Designs

I absolutely loved working with Samantha. Her attention to detail and timeline were beyond 5 stars. I look forward to working and referring Samantha in the future.

Ashley Dickerson

I worked with Samantha from Samantha Joy Events at an event in April and she was so awesome to work with! She was well organized and always looking for a way to be helpful. I so much appreciated her help throughout the entire day. She thinks of everything and is on top of every last detail. Also, the timeline she created for the day was perfect! I'll be recommending her to everyone I can!

Kaitlin Dierking

Samantha was great to work with and we would not have survived without her. She helped guide us through all of the planning steps and the end result was better than I could have ever imagined! All of the small details that she helped us with made everything so beautiful, special, and unique to us! She was flexible even when I wanted to change things last minute, and worked to make sure everything went smoothly on the day of the wedding! I loved everything about my wedding day and I am so thankful we had her as our planner!

Matt Carroll

Samantha was amazing to work with! My wife and I felt comfortable lining up all of the vendors initially, but thought we could use some help in the lead-up to the wedding. Little did we know how much help we needed. In our planning meeting, Samantha asked us questions we didn't even know needed to be answered. Example: "Where do you want to put menus?" Our response: blank stare. Another: "What order do you want the reception to follow?" Us: "What are the choices?" She helped us work through all of this in order to set up the exact event we wanted. The day before, we dropped off all of the things (paper products, guest book, etc.), and she and her team took care of the setup. We didn't have to think about anything at that point. She provided a detailed schedule of the day to the entire wedding party the night before the wedding, so everyone knew where to be and when. On the day, it seemed like she was everywhere at once, taking care of every little item and making sure all we had to worry about was enjoying the day. Would highly recommend her services!

jessica kim

We are SO HAPPY that we had Samantha as our wedding planner!! We had put off planning our wedding as we were in a long distance relationship. When we finally moved in together and started the planning process, we realized early on that given our schedules it would be beneficial to have a wedding planner. We spoke with a few and quickly realized Samantha was the one for us and purchased the full package. At that point we had already decided on a few vendors (photographer, DJ, venue, videographer), however still had many other vendors to find. During one of our earlier meetings she asked us very specific questions to help narrow down our vision, style, theme and from there we communicated almost weekly throughout the next 6 months getting all the vendors and details in place. Our venue was the Monastery which she had never worked at, but was super excited about. She suggested a circular seating arrangement in the center of the venue which was never done before, and it turned out amazing! Shortly after meeting us, she took our ideas and developed a design board. She was there for many of the vendor meetings (and called in, if she wasn't able to make it in person), had all the contracts organized, reminded us of payment deadlines, there really wasn't anything she wasn't involved in. Her organizational skills were phenomenal! Prior to the wedding she had an extremely detailed timeline for the wedding day that she then printed out and handed out to the entire wedding party on the rehearsal day. She also gave us a list of things we should have ready prior to the day of (tips, designated person/vehicle to load items at the end of the night), things that we may not have thought to do ourselves. She was very honest throughout the planning process, she has impeccable taste and definitely trusted her judgement. It was always a collaborative process, we never felt uncomfortable or that she was trying to push us in any direction. During the planning process it may not seem like you're using your planner a great deal but trust me when I say that there is so much being done in the background that you're not aware of, and you will absolutely know what you are paying for the day of. During the wedding day, if there was an issue, I was not aware of it. I saw Samantha a few key moments on the wedding day, in the morning as I was getting ready (she was picking some items up for the detail pictures, and to make sure I was doing okay), then saw her immediately prior to the ceremony when she made sure my veil and dress were perfect before walking down the aisle, and then a few more times to make sure everything was going as planned (first dance, cake cutting etc.). Samantha and her assistants were running around the entire day, making sure everything went smoothly, I did not hear a peep or was bothered about any problems during the day. I truly had a stress free day and was able to enjoy my wedding day from start to finish. She made sure that everything was packed at the end of the night and put into a designated vehicle so we didn't have to worry about leaving anything behind. We are so grateful that the hard work that she and her team put in allowed us to have our wedding of our dreams. For anyone even considering hiring her (for ANY event), should do so ASAP!!! She's an amazing person who helped us create an unforgettable day!

Caralee Pridemore

Samantha is so great to work with! She's super detailed oriented and has great taste! Can't wait to work with her again in the future.

Google User

Planning your wedding is never easy. My wedding on Labor Day weekend 2018 was a three-day multicultural event and we were fortunate to have Samantha every step of the way. I had initially hired Samantha to perform a design session for 1 of the days of the wedding. Soon, I realized I needed her full planning package. Samantha easily and quickly switched the packages and services. She sends a wedding task list which is catered to white Christian weddings (it has items like tanning services) but I just ignored those, and focused on the relevant items. We had a clause to add on any additional hours needed. Which I took full advantage of! I added services for Samantha to track and handle the wedding budget, which fell to the wayside. Nor did she really take on managing. When it became clear we would need additional hours for the weekend due to the magnitude of the events, Samantha was mindful of our costs without sacrificing value. She is well versed on the wedding etiquette and despite never having planned an Indian wedding before, she pulled it off with minimal hitches. I am sure has she gains more experience in various weddings and cultures, she will grow and be even better than she is. When my cousin offered to help coordinate the events, she gladly accepted the needed help. Samantha went out of her way to help me at the end of her reception night, when I fell sick. She is vast in her connections with local vendors and on how to get a bang for your budget. Her creativity on how to reuse decorations and flowers saved so much stress and costs. My biggest concern on the wedding weekend was the DJ. I wish I had explicitly expressed to Samantha to feel empowered to take control on handling him, and had been on a conference call with her and him to ensure things ran smoothly. But throughout the wedding, Samantha was cool and calm and took charge on the situation. Her business is growing and is well deserved. There are times when she was not able to answer emails right away because she was out of town for another wedding, workshop or vacation. As the wedding approached, vendors would ask for a timeline and conference call to go over the details. We were able to coordinate those requests with Samantha - she does get back to her clients and vendors, even if it means a conference call at 8:30 PM or on her way to the airport. I wish I booked her full services at the get-go. However her full package does not always equate to hours needed. Hence our purchasing additional hours, after purchasing the full service package. At the end of the day, Samantha wants her couples to be happy and she tries her best. And is focused on that, despite the noise from family input. I regret on not utilizing her skill and creatively fully. In my need to not want to bother her, or stress her out on chaos of an Indian wedding, I didn't involve her in designing the cake or cake-topper, and wish I had. And not worried about putting her off. She is capable if not short staffed. Definitely book her for your wedding.

Nadine Rolando

I was in desperate need of technical help getting a SURPRISE PARTY going. After meeting and talking with Samantha I immediately felt comfortable and assured our plans would be executed without a flaw. Samantha was pleasant and professional, offering amazing, affordable ideas to help make sure our SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY WAS FABULOUS!! Her compassionate ear listening to my needs and directing all parties involved allowed me to enjoy the celebration. We had an OUSTANDING TIME! . We look forward to having her direct our next event!! Nadine and Javier

Logan Subler

Samantha was a great asset in the wedding planning process. I hired Samantha as a day of coordinator due to my concerns with the owner of the wedding venue. Samantha was a great liaison between us (when I was frustrated with the owner!) and always very professional. You can tell her experience is extensive and she often had creative ideas on things that I was concerned about. Also on the day of the wedding she was PERFECT. She has enough back bone to tell you exactly what you need to be doing and her attitude and positivity is very helpful. No activity was beneath her on the day of the wedding. She did items that the other vendors forgot (filling wedding table glasses, helping serve) and even helped to pin up my bridesmaids dresses that had torn! She even got appetizers brought in to the bridal suite so the groom and I could enjoy a quiet moment alone without starving! Everyone that worked with her thought she was extremely helpful and worth the money! I had multiple comments from aunts and uncles about how accommodating and helpful she was. With the stress a wedding day can bring - it is always worth having at least a day of coordinator so on that day you can RELAX and have fun (you deserve it!).

Laura Katie Photography

Samantha is AMAZING. She is organized and able to pull off small celebrations, as well as large events. She is creative and will help you along in the planning process, ensuring your day feels like the best version of you. (And that it's beautiful, too!) Each time I work with her, I am thrilled because I know 1) the event will be gorgeous and 2) that the day will run smoothly. I'd have her at every wedding if I could!

Amanda Russ

Dedicated, Detail-Oriented, and Determined are words I would describe Samantha. Whenever there was something more we wanted to do she listened and worked through the details to make my idea a reality. There is a lot of organizing I didn't even realize needed to get done and there was Samantha already knowing the next step to get it accomplished. I really didn't know all the parts and pieces that need to simultaneously have to happen in order for our guest to see smooth transitions from one part of the wedding to the next but Samantha does and has it completely worked through. We had particular items to be incorporated in a display and she took it upon herself to create the visual diagram so it could be displayed pleasingly when brought to the reception. She had an entire binder of all my details that needed to happen for my day. She asked the right questions, to understand my vision for the wedding and then executed it in a way that was so much better than I imagined. She stepped in when we needed her guidance, but stepped back to allow us to have our day our own. From the food and signature drink she had come to our room while we were getting ready, to the bathroom baskets for our guests to use if they needed anything, to helping me find what room I had put my change of shoes in, she was there for me. I could not have asked for a better person to help me plan and execute my wedding day.

Ashley Roberts

We are very happy with our choice to work with Samantha as our wedding coordinator. Our wedding was held at Canyon Run Ranch in Pleasant Hill, Ohio, however we were living in Chicago. Luckily, Samantha travels to Chicago often so we were able to have in person meetings which are so much better than just phone calls! Samantha is extremely organized (hooray for one email thread) and made sure to ask questions and bring things to our attention that we had never considered. Planning a wedding can be tiring and you can get "decision fatigue." Samantha made sure to keep our timeline on track when we would have preferred to procrastinate. On the actual day we received multiple comments from the wedding party and guests at how helpful she is and how hard she was working to make sure our day went smoothly. There was one miscommunication with the caterers. We were under the impression that they would be staying to clean up, but they ended up leaving earlier than expected. Samantha jumped in and made sure those unexpected loose ends were tied up before we left. Aside from being organized and timely, she also helped pull together our vague design idea for the wedding. From a calligraphy welcome sign to a beautiful escort card display to our modified guest book, she really pulled the whole thing together wonderfully. We would definitely recommend anyone to work with Samantha and we will miss working with her ourselves!

Tawni Betts

Samantha and Heather from Samantha Joy Events were fantastic!!! My daughter's wedding was at The Estate at Sunset Farms in Bellbrook, OH, on May 25, 2019. The venue is located six hours away from where I live, and I was extremely stressed about planning a wedding so far away. From my first phone conversation with Samantha, I was convinced the wedding would be wonderful. Samantha brought up excellent ideas I hadn't thought of (such as a lunch tray delivery for the bridal party), but never pushed anything on us. Sam and Heather executed everything flawlessly, but were never overbearing or "bossy." We used the "partial planning" package, which was perfect for us. Samantha handled many details with the vendors (Hoggy's Catering, Floral V, Frosted, Liftoff Entertainment, Chelsea Hall Photography) to make the day go smoothly. My mom owned a floral shop for 30 years and commented, "I can't imagine there is a better wedding planner out there. They were awesome!" My new son-in-law said, "I don't know if I'll ever go to another wedding better than ours." We all were able to relax and have a perfect day together, thanks to the team from Samantha Joy Events! We couldn't have done it without them.

Bruce Wolfe

My wife and I recently threw an 80th birthday party for my parents. Since we do not live in the area we enlisted the help of a Party planner, Samantha Leenheer of Samantha Joy Events. To say it mildly, the experience with Samantha was extraordinary! She handled everything including the event venue, the caterers, flowers, bar etc. She would find us the appropriate people and arrange for us to meet when we were in town. As with all parties, challenges crept up and she handled them with poise and efficiency. For example, it turned out that our venue would not be ready in time so she found us another very quickly and during the party, the servers were not being attentive as to refilling drinks and she jumped right in to help out. We were extremely thrilled with how the party turned out and my parents loved it. For weeks after the party, everyone was still talking about it and several people commented that it was the best party they had ever been to. Samantha is truly fantastic and we would definitely hire her again.

Meghan Gorman

When working with Samantha, expect nothing less than everything to be taken care of in a beautiful manner. We've worked a couple events together and it's opened my eyes to be able to see how incredibly valuable her services are and how she's THE ONE who will take care of you best! I cannot be more grateful for Sam's efficiency and professionalism, as well as how easy she is to talk to and be around.

keri ulrich

When my daughter first told me she was planning on hiring a wedding coordinator, my first thought was “not needed”. Wrong! Samantha pulled everything together and helped keep everyone on task. She was our go-to for all questions/concerns. Her skills helped make our daughter’s wedding at the Cincinnati Art Museum truly perfect! We were able to fully enjoy the event without worrying about the myriad of details that a wedding involves. Thank you Samantha.

Chelsea Hall

Samantha's work always blows me away! She is detail oriented and extremely professional. I recommend her to everyone!

Maria Sennett

Planning an out of town wedding is DIFFICULT -- it's essentially a full-time job! We wanted to believe that we could handle it -- on top of our move out of state, a new job, travel schedules (you name it, we had it) -- especially as our engagement was 16 months prior to our wedding date. When it became clear to us 3 months before the anticipated wedding date that we couldn’t handle everything, we started looking into wedding planners. This is when Samantha Joy Events became an obvious choice. We came across her webpage and fell in love with the beautiful aesthetic across all of her weddings. We decided to hire Samantha to work with us during the tail-end of our wedding planning, in the months leading up to the big day. From our first interactions with her, Samantha was a joy (no pun intended) to work with. She instilled confidence through her command and experience in the wedding planning process, which immediately became evident. She was flexible with our schedules, provided consistent vendor guidance, and offered pointers all while addressing our overarching theme and design goals. Although I can be a bit (okay, maybe very) OCD about these things, I quickly began to trust Samantha to handle all aspects of the coordination and design. Our wedding was particularly challenging, as we chose a venue that does not typically host weddings. And our vendor list was, wait for it, about 25 deep. Oh and did I mention that this was an out-of-town event in a new city for Samantha?! Throughout those last few weeks, Samantha was dedicated to having us enjoy all aspects of our wedding. Even more impressive, our big day followed major holidays and a hectic travel schedule. This time was also filled with a few last minute vendor adds (what's a wedding budget again?), handling a few unexpected changes, and meeting many of our day-of vendors prior to the event. Samantha remained a breath of air through it all. She handled all of our changes with grace and poise -- and prepared us well with our day-of timeline, packing lists, and those many small details (that make such a difference) that only a planner would know to tackle. It was at our rehearsal that we fully relaxed. Pure adrenaline got us through the following days. Samantha took lead in such a way that allowed us to step back and enjoy our pre-wedding celebratory days. She was available for every final last minute freak-out, and was already on all of those minor details that I had forgotten. She's prepared for everything and anything! Our wedding day was perfect - pure magical bliss. Samantha tied together all of the moving pieces in such an effortless way that was unimaginable. We are incredibly grateful and indebted to Samantha Joy Events for everything they did for making this a party of a lifetime. It was a beautiful and unforgettable wedding -- obviously for us -- but one that most of our guests will remember as a highlight. And we have no one but Samantha to thank. Work with Samantha Joy Events and you will thank yourself later!!

Deborah Lovett

Samantha Joy Events is the best wedding planner in the business at the best price! Samantha works SO hard! She executes flawlessly. My daughters wedding day was a JOY because of Samantha JOY Events!

Mary Martin

Our Son was married last month. We had a couple of challenges. The first was that we are located in Southern California and the wedding was held in Chicago, Illinois. The second concern was that we had never done this before and had no idea what our responsibilities were as parents of the groom. That was when we met Samantha at Samantha Joy Events. She was the perfect gift at the right time. She helped us at every turn, either by phone, email or in person. She addressed all of our concerns and calmed us down by providing the perfect suggestions at every turn. She has a great eye for beauty and detail. Without her help, there would have been no way we would have enjoyed the Rehearsal Dinner Evening. Thank you Sam, you are a blessing.