Reviews of Block Weddings & Events (Event Planner)

Kirsten Dahlquist

We hired Candi at Thrifty Events to be our Day of Wedding Coordinator for our wedding in the summer of 2017. When we first started planning our wedding budget, we weren’t sure if we could afford a wedding coordinator but we also weren’t sure exactly what they did. We had a few tricky logistics with timing, location, and vendors planned for our wedding and were hoping not to orchestrate it ourselves or ask for the assistance of a friend. We had a fantastic first meeting with Candi and knew right away that she was very professional, punctual, and communicative. She’s also has a great personality and was genuinely interested in hearing our story and our wedding plans. She reviewed her packages and pricing and we explored together where our intentions might fit in. For the Day of Coordinator package, she was a little more than we had budgeted, but the amount of her time, efforts and coordination that comes with that package, it was a fantastic value not only financially, but also for peace of mind. Thinking back on our wedding day now, I can’t imagine it without Candi. She was there at the rehearsal to figure out what the heck we were doing. She wrangled up the whole family for pictures. She showed the food truck where to park and how to get set up. She corralled all the parents for the toast. She helped tear down the décor at the venue. She did so much more behind the scenes that we didn’t know about and that’s why she’s a stellar coordinator. She gave us the freedom to enjoy our wedding day. That’s priceless.

David Hoel

We worked with Candi to plan our April 2017 wedding in Issaquah, and it was by far the best decision we made in our planning process! We live in San Francisco, so planning the wedding remotely felt scary and difficult. Candi to the rescue! Candi was there with us from the very beginning: from helping us visit and choose our venue all the way to day-of coordination. Neither my fiancée nor I had dreamt much about our wedding day, so we started out completely lost. With Candi’s help, we pulled off a nontraditional wedding that blew away our Chinese (bride) and Mid-western (groom) parents, and exceeded our wildest dreams. We consider working with Candi and Thrifty Events a secret to our day’s success. Here are highlights of Candi’s awesomeness: • Easy to work with and came across to us like a trusted friend. We could be ourselves and have extremely honest conversations about vendors, budget, and the reality of wedding planning. • Candi was flexible and enthusiastically made time for us both in person and virtually. She planned all of our venue and catering visits when we flew into town. Candi even came to a last-minute venue visit with our DJ (who couldn’t make the standard rehearsal day) just to make sure everyone was on the same page. • Candi sourced and made all of our centerpieces. She worked through multiple prototypes with us to choose a design we were excited about. They looked amazing, and our guests eagerly took them home. • Day-of coordination: on our wedding day, there turned out to be a million problems we didn’t want to be dealing with. Candi coordinated all of the logistics across guests and vendor team, and we were able to focus completely on family, friends, and each other. She and her husband Eli worked hard to make our wedding day seamless. Our favorite behind-the-scenes moment: we caught a glimpse of Candi and Eli mounting our ceremony curtain in acrobatic fashion! • We wanted lawn games at our wedding, but there was a 50% chance of rain. Candi heard us agonizing, and offered to rent lawn games to us with a weather guarantee. This completely eased our concerns. If you work with Candi, this is the kind of care and relief that you will experience over and over again. Six months after the event, we are still amazed at how our wedding day went. We wholeheartedly recommend working with Candi and Thrifty Events!

Chrissy Boaglio

Candi was an incredible day of coordinator who my husband and I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat. We have said it many times but she was truly the best vendor we hired for our wedding and well worth the cost! Our venue took care of most of the in-house details and vendors which was great but we still wanted someone to help with the timing of everything. Candi went above and beyond to make everything work. She reached out to all of our vendors to keep them in the loop of our timeline and even met with us before hand at an open house to walk us through where things were going and make sure she understood the vision we were having for the big day. She took complete control of our walk-through the day before and somehow effortlessly wrangled all 26 of our family and friends and made it through the choreography in an hour. The day of was seamless because of Candi and she was exactly what we needed. Without us even knowing she trouble-shot some ceremony details for the better and forgotten decor items. Without her there my husband and I would have been so lost in the hustle and bustle of everyone. It was so nice to have her their pointing us in the right direction, reminding us of sunset photos if we want them, rallying up family for photos, keeping our band in check with our schedule for dances and everything in between. My mom is a stress ball when it comes to big events, Candi can tell you that but for the first time in my life my mother actually relaxed, had a glass of wine and was out enjoying herself on the dance floor. This was the biggest testament to Candi’s accomplishments! More importantly, Candi was not just a day of coordinator she helped me and my husband every step of the way and was very accessible in the entire planning process. From figuring out a timeline, reaching out to vendors, making suggestions, to helping set up and clean up the venue and returning our marriage license when we left it at the venue. She really went out of her way to making our day perfect and we can’t thank her enough for everything she did. Chrissy and Sean B.

Kaitlyn Kuss

Long story short-Amy is an AMAZING wedding planner. Having an intimate wedding (30 guests), we were initially on the fence about whether we needed to hire a day-of-coordinator. Word of advice: YOU DO. After our initial consultation, I knew Amy would make a huge difference in the feel and flow of our wedding day and she did not disappoint! From start to finish Amy was professional, knowledgeable, and incredibly thorough. Amy thinks of all the things most people wouldn't unless they had industry experience and she comes up with a plan (and a back-up plan) for almost every possible scenario. Most importantly, Amy was super fun to work with and meeting with her to go over updated plans was like meeting up with a friend for coffee! We wanted to have a more laid-back wedding while still incorporating a few traditional elements, and Amy came up with so many creative suggestions to help make our wedding feel more like "us." She also has an incredible eye for detail and style--I fully trusted her to execute my vision for both the rented items and the DIY items we brought from home. It was clear that Amy worked diligently to create a seamless timeline so that we could enjoy our day and focus on spending time with our family and friends. Everything about our wedding was absolutely perfect and it was mostly thanks to Amy and her assistant Bailey! We honestly couldn't imagine what the day would have been like without them. If you are looking to invest in either a full-service wedding planner or a day-of-coordinator, definitely hire Block Weddings and Events!

April Nash

Very affordable planning and day-of coordination packages. We loved working with Candi as she helped us through the very stressful planning process, and she brought everything together seamlessly on our wedding day. Organized, attentive, budget-conscious, a great listener and never pushy. Exactly what we wanted and needed in a planner.

Allie Tripp

Amy was the glue that held our amazing day together! Her help troubleshooting and brainstorming the whole year(!) leading up to our wedding this September was fantastically helpful, and I really can't begin to marvel at how much she made happen the day of. James and I are beyond grateful for her kindness, professionalism and depth of knowledge that helped us throughout this process. As someone who has planned events professionally for years, Amy blew me away! Seriously, hire this woman. Her assistant the day of our wedding, Bailey, was also stupendously kind, attentive and on her game. An extra bonus was also all the great extra advice from the Block Weddings & Events blog and podcasts!

Brianna Montgomery

We found Candi on a google search when we desperately needed a wedding planner to plan our destination wedding in Jamaica. Our original planner had quit unexpectedly due to health issues and we we needed someone to swoop in and save the day as we were still pretty early in our planning process. That someone for us was Candi! As soon as we met she was so kind and calming, she made us feel confident in her ability to jump in and get everything organized. She handled all of our correspondence with all of our vendors in Jamaica and would send us summary emails of everything that was discussed. Any questions/concerns we had she would compile them and loop back with all the answers. She was easily available by email, for quick phone calls when needed (with a wide range of hours) , and in person meetings for bigger planning items like flowers/decor. She made this process as stress free as it could be! She did come to Jamaica with Eli as her assistant. Worth every penny!! She was able to confirm everything from budget, to flowers, to cake, to guest count etc. We had lost track of all these details so we would have been lost without her. Everything from our welcome party to rehearsal dinner to our wedding - it was all perfect. It was so organized we knew where to be and when without having to stress about the details. Candi made sure we stayed on track and would gently cue us when it was time to cut the cake, first dance, etc. If anything went wrong on our wedding day we were blissfully unaware thanks to Candi and Eli. We cannot say enough good things about working with Candi and strongly recommend her if you’re looking for an event planner!!

Vincent Fabrigas

I can go into detail about Amy but I’ll keep it short and say she was absolutely incredible and an amazing person. Hire her now cause she we’ll be probably be booked! Our wedding party had so much high praise that they will seek for her services when the time comes! Thanks Amy and also a special shout out to her assistant Bailey for an unforgettable evening. Thank you - Mr. and Mrs. Fabrigas

Neil Ratliff

We had the pleasure of working with Candi and Bailey at a wedding at Rein Fire Ranch this past weekend, and everything ran seamlessly. Organized and pleasant! Thanks ladies for making our job easier, looking forward to the next one!

Erica Ruth

Candi and her team at Block Weddings & Events (formerly Thrifty Events) far exceeded my expectations. Candi was so personal and genuine, but at the same time extremely professional and confident. She listened to me and my fiance, and offered suggestions based on her previous experience with clients. All pre-wedding communication was easy and prompt. She even recommended a few of our last vendors when I was stuck on who to choose, and each of her recommendations were amazing! One of my favorite things was during our venue walk through a week prior to the wedding, the first thing she asked me was "what are you concerned about?" I loved that. I was able to talk about the things keeping me up at night, and we immediately came up with a plan for what to do. After those 5 minutes, I was able to enjoy the walk through and be in the moment instead of waiting to bring up one of my little worries. On the day of our wedding, she and her assistant worked so fast and efficiently! To my knowledge, everything went completely perfectly without any troubles! Who knows if that's actually true, but it's a testament to Block Wedding's professionalism and poise with our other vendors, guests, and our families! I couldn't have been happier to work with Candi, and would 100% recommend her business to any couple getting married.

Ana Stoudt

If you’re looking for a coordinator that: • Makes the wedding planning process fun and memorable • Works within your budget • Makes it so the only thing you have to worry about on your wedding day is getting married Then hire Candi and her team at Thrifty Events to get you through the planning process. Candi has a calming presence, can-do attitude, and amazing communication skills that will help you throw the best event yet. At the time, my fiancé and I were having our wedding in WA, but living in AZ. The long distance seemed to make wedding planning even tougher. Luckily, we had Candi. She was always easy to get ahold of and would answer any questions when I had my moments of wedding planning panic. One of the highlights leading up to the wedding was DIYing our flowers. I have never done anything like that before but Candi guided us through it like a true professional. I was able to pick out the most beautiful flowers at the wholesale market for a fraction of the cost, and she even opened up her home to me and my 7 bridesmaids (and mum) to put together our bouquets. This was honestly one of the most enjoyable and memorable bonding experiences for me and my bridesmaids, and the wedding florals looked stunning, all thanks to Candi! It’s easy to get overwhelmed and lost in the black hole of wedding planning, but Candi helped us navigate through it while making it fun and memorable. She helped us streamline our vision, work within our budget, and have me (the bride) be stress-free on the big day. If you’re on the fence about getting a day of coordinator/planner, hire Thrifty Events. Photos by @saskiapotterphotography

Joy Chang

I hired Candi as a day of coordinator for my NYE wedding based on a recommendation from a friend who used Candi for her own wedding. Candi was an absolute pleasure to work with end to end. We met multiple times - first to discuss my vision for the wedding, then when we got closer to the event, we met multiple times to iron out the details. Candi was very responsive and helped me come up with some decor and design ideas. She also joined all the calls with the vendors and asked questions that I did not even think of. On my actual wedding day, Candi managed the overall timeline and worked with the vendors to make the entire event very seamless. She even dropped by to pick up some of the decorations to bring to the venue. During the event, she mostly worked her magic behind the scenes and did not have to interrupt me to ask me many questions. I totally expected something to go wrong during the wedding and I can actually say that almost nothing did; I think this was in large part due to Candi. I also just appreciated Candi's calm and positive demeanor. I never felt stressed when she was around. I would absolutely recommend Candi to other future brides!!!

amy cassell

Candi was the first vendor we booked after securing our wedding date and venue. From our first coffee meeting, she was genuinely excited for my fiancé and I, and her expertise and confidence instantly made me feel at ease. Though we only booked her for day-of coordination services, Candi was there throughout the entire planning process, happy to provide vendor recommendations and answer questions about logistics. As our wedding day approached, she swooped in and created our timeline and toured the venue with us. When I was stressing out about welcome tables and chair arrangements, she was the calm, confident presence I needed. On the day of our ceremony, everything went smoothly, and Candi executed our vision perfectly.

Shannon Kawamura

We hired Candi to be our wedding day-of-coordinator and it was definitely one of the best investments that we made for our wedding. Throughout the planning process, Candi was prompt in her communications, followed through on everything, and had a cool, relaxed demeanor that prevented us from getting too stressed. For the actual wedding day, Candi and her husband were prompt to our venue, did a great job decorating, kept us on track with our timeline, and let us enjoy our wedding day to the fullest without having to worry too much. Don't hesitate to give Thrifty Events a try - you will not regret the investment!

Brendan Gawlowski

Candi was the perfect coordinator for our wedding. As a newly engaged couple with no idea of what we were doing, she was a calming presence as we outlined the parameters of our wedding reception. She offered strong suggestions on how to decorate, plan, and manage the sequence of events on the big day; her experience made our planning process smoother than it would have been otherwise. While we only hired her for day of coordination, Candi went out of her way to help us before the wedding as well, even driving an hour to meet our on-site coordinator on short notice. By that point, my (now-)wife was referring to her as her "stress reliever." On the day of, Candi lived up to the moniker. She arrived at our house early in the morning to pick up a few last second items and then grabbed our wedding cakes at a local bakery. At the ceremony, Candi worked effectively and efficiently in the background, ensuring that our events went off in sequence and without delay. At all times, she worked with a smile and genuinely cared that our wedding went off smoothly. Simply put, Candi was everything we could have asked for in a coordinator, and we would recommend her wholeheartedly to one and all.

Eric Freeman

Candi and her team at Block Events was an absolute pleasure to work with for our recent outdoor wedding. They over-delivered on our expectations, and made our wedding day more enjoyable and stress-free than we ever though possible! We knew we wanted a day-of coordinator to take over all logistics on our wedding day, but we got so much more in the process. Candi was available from our initial meeting right through our wedding – something we didn’t expect in a day-of coordinator. She answered any ongoing questions or concerns we had in the months leading up to our wedding day, made excellent vendor recommendations, and was incredibly patient with our last minute logistical changes as we worked with the fall weather in the Pacific Northwest. With multiple meetings and conversations before our wedding, she put us at ease with her professional yet personal approach. On our wedding day, Candi and Amy were a super force! They transformed our outdoor venue into a beautifully composed destination that exceeded our expectations in every way. They have an eye for detail, and ensured that our every need was met – including those things we never thought about! We are sure that there were many things that Candi and Amy did behind the scenes that we never even realized. From pre-ceremony assistance, to personal attention, vendor and guest assistance throughout the evening, the whole team at Block Events worked incredibly hard to make our wedding unbelievably memorable.

Eunice Hong

We hired Candi as a day-of coordinator, but she went above and beyond and helped with everything leading up to the wedding and even after! We couldn't be happier with our experience with Candi and her team at Thrifty Events. I'm definitely a Type-A bride and wanted to organize everything except on the day of, where I wanted to be able to enjoy the day and be in the moment. When I first met Candi, I felt instantly relaxed and comforted. She was so calm, collected, and organized, which is exactly what any super anxious bride needs to have a stress-free day. She even came downtown to meet me for a 2nd time to meet my then-fiance to ensure we were happy and aligned. She thought of the small details that I forgot about and even coordinated with a local vendor last-minute to provide additional items for the wedding day. She helped to coordinate all the vendors on the day of and even kept all the leftover items from the wedding so that we wouldn't have to worry about it on our wedding night and we could pick up at a later time. She also helped settle a minor issue with one of our other vendors (after the wedding) further proving how hard she works! She was like an invisible angel working behind the scenes the entire day and handling any/all issues with immense professionalism and ease. I couldn't be happier with our experience in Candi and would hands-down recommend her to all future brides.

Rachele Kloke

Hiring Candi with Thrifty Events is one of the best decisions we made for our wedding day! Candi is extremely organized and helpful with knowing ends and outs of wedding planning. She made sure our wedding day events went off without a hitch. Candi made sure that we were well planned ahead of time and on our wedding day she was wonderful with knowing how to deal with those last minute little “emergencies” or unforeseen things that DO happen no matter how organized you are. I am so thankful for Candi and her calm and confident personality. I can’t recommend her and her fabulous assistant enough!

Taylor Romero

Candi is THE BEST. We got so many complements from our wedding party, parents, and other vendors on how fantastic she was to work with and I couldn’t agree more. She paid such careful attention to help our day run smoothly - I’m sure for each small thing we noticed and appreciated there were perhaps 40 smaller things that she helped handle. Every meeting she took thoughtful notes and even things we mentioned vaguely from 5 months earlier she noted and brought to life on our wedding day. As I was telling everyone who asked about how wedding planning was going I replied, “Great! We have the best wedding planner who has the calming voice of a therapist and we couldn’t do it without her!”

Sarah Shearer

Candi was the day-of coordinator for our wedding in July of 2017. She came recommended by my hairdresser, who works in the wedding industry. When we read all that Candi and Eli do (so much!) and realized that we had a few tricky logistics to work out, we knew we should consider hiring her. About three minutes into meeting her, we knew she'd be great. Candi has a can-do attitude and a low stress approach. She thinks realistically and makes all the details come together. When it was extra-windy, she used driftwood to hold down the tent flaps and put a little beach rock on each menu. Both fit our vibe and were totally functional. It baffles me all of the things that got taken care of without my wife or me knowing how they came together. That's so very valuable at a time when you want to focus on the joy of the day and being with your people. It'd be hard to pick the best money spent on one's wedding, but this was right on up there. Thanks, Candi.

Lori Eastes

Amy was our coordinator for my daughters wedding and I have nothing but amazing things to say about her. She was warm and inviting and so easy to work with. She was extremely organized and made the whole experience so much smoother. The day of the event she and her team were priceless. They handled every detail down to the smallest item. I couldn't have done it without her. I would highly recommend her to anyone.

Matt Hughes

Candi is awesome! She made our wedding planning go so smooth and easy. When we started looking for a planner, she was the only one that said our budget was great (other planners said we needed to spend more money). She helped us every step of the way and made the whole process easy and stress free. Candi was great at communication in all forms, she would respond back quickly. She keep us on track and had everything ready for our wedding day. Then on the day of she did everything for us, keeping track of the vendors, setup, keeping track of every thing, tear down. I don't think we could have done it with out her. She was also very affordable for our budget. We highly will recommend her to anybody looking for a planner!

Heather Broadmante

Hiring Candi was by far the best decision we made. Throughout the entire wedding planning process, she was a calming presence and voice of reason. She was always available to communicate with us through email, phone, and even in person a few times. She had amazing ideas, execution, and professionalism. She is very warm and friendly. We never felt the effects of wedding stress, because Candi made everything so easy for us. After we committed to a venue and paid our deposit, we discovered there was a lien on the property and no longer felt comfortable doing business with the property owner. Candi helped us to find a new venue quickly, and even went with us all over the greater Puget Sound area to tour new venues. What could have been a wedding disaster, Candi stepped in and made the process super easy and took the stress out of finding a new venue. Candi read every contract, contacted every vendor to confirm arrival times, and her day-of coordination was off the hook. Prior to hiring Candi, we wanted to make sure that we each got to enjoy our day without stress or interruption, and that is exactly what she delivered. As a bonus, her wonderful husband, Eli, was on site with us helping and providing a second set of hands with set-up, clean-up, decorations, and anything else that needed to be done. Both Candi and Eli are an absolute joy to work with and we recommend them to any person getting married ever!!!

Kaitlyn Spore

Candi was amazing to work with and we couldn't be happier! She was incredibly organized and on point with everything. She went above and beyond from the moment we brought her on board and was an incredible asset to us. We thoroughly enjoyed our wedding (and LOVED not having to worry about anything because we had such high confidence in Candi!) I would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone.

Lisa Ung

Candi from Block Weddings and Events was fantastic to work with! We found her during the Snohomish Wedding Tour while we were browsing for a venue in 2017. Even though we were only using the day of coordination services, Candi was always available to answer questions, offer advice and guide us in the right direction while we were planning. She even was so nice to offer and hold all our decor and miscellaneous items in her garage before the big day so us or our families didn't have to worry about transporting everything. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day and we couldn't be more thankful to Candi and her team in helping us execute what we envisioned!

Kelsey Von Stubbe

When you work with Candi, you won't have to worry about a thing. Her calm and kind presence takes the pressure off planning a big event. Candi already had backup plans for things I hadn't even thought of yet in regards to planning an event. Definitely would recommend Thrifty Events!

Danielle Greiner & Drew Shenk

Candi is an amazing wedding planner and event organizer! She has a robust online tool set if you lean towards DYI. If you opt for full planning, she provides wonderful navigation through the maze of choices, personalized recommendations that fit your budget and style, and timely responses. Once you hit the main event, she is a wonderful people manager, decorator, and troubleshooter. We can’t recommend her enough!

Creighkett Smith

Candi, Always great to work with.... super fun and I lover her professional demeanor... highly recommend!!!