It was through wedding channel that I found The Smitten Bride. I contacted them to ask them a few questions. My biggest concern was the day of the wedding. I went through so many different vendors. I was worried there would be nobody to guide them, and to make sure they did their task and the room change. I didn't want to ask family to do a room change. It would be too much stress on my mom and I to think about what was going where and if it would be done correctly.
I had talked to at least one other wedding coordinator in person at a bridal expo. I told her about my concerns and her response was that the caterers should take care of that. It wasn't her job. Then she suggested (because I had a two hour gap) to hire a trolly to take people around the city. I didn't like her personality or her attitude. She also didn't answer my questions the way I wanted. It felt like she only worked with high end brides.
I could not believe the difference when I talked to the smitten bride. They work with all kinds of brides (including ones on a budget) and immediately said they would help me with whatever I needed the day of! Even moving the rentals themselves to help me with the room change. I was so excited. After meeting up with them, I found that they were the sweetest ladies I've met in the wedding industry. They were so kind. I ended up working mainly with Katie who was just fabulous. I was always a nervous wreck when I met with them, but left feeling so much better knowing that they would be there to assist.
What did they actually do?
I had talked to at least one other wedding coordinator in person at a bridal expo. I told her about my concerns and her response was that the caterers should take care of that. It wasn't her job. Then she suggested (because I had a two hour gap) to hire a trolly to take people around the city. I didn't like her personality or her attitude. She also didn't answer my questions the way I wanted. It felt like she only worked with high end brides.
I could not believe the difference when I talked to the smitten bride. They work with all kinds of brides (including ones on a budget) and immediately said they would help me with whatever I needed the day of! Even moving the rentals themselves to help me with the room change. I was so excited. After meeting up with them, I found that they were the sweetest ladies I've met in the wedding industry. They were so kind. I ended up working mainly with Katie who was just fabulous. I was always a nervous wreck when I met with them, but left feeling so much better knowing that they would be there to assist.
What did they actually do?
- They, without even knowing it, calmed my mom and I down. When we booked them, my mom said she literally slept better that night.
- They met with me three times total before the big day. The second was to talk about details. She, after looking at my confused face I'm sure, even said if I needed to we could talk some more later at another meeting
- Katie responded to my e-mails quickly and gave me helpful suggestions when I needed another opinion.
- I never felt judged even when I gave them my blank stares because I was stressed! Hey that's helpful right!?
- They wrote up the timeline for the day. I know that sounds easy, but I had a cocktail reception. I've never been to a wedding like that so I didn't know the order of things and when it should take place. They wrote that out. I was so relieved when I got that!
- They confirmed everything with all the vendors before the wedding! So incredibly helpful!
- They held on to all the contracts. That was also great. You never know what you might need the day of!
The day of...
- They set everything up for the ceremony.
- Helped line everybody up when it was time!
- They did the room change! This was worth every penny in itself! Kitchen Chicago has a balcony and they brought stuff up and down the stairs! (I believe my servers that I hired also helped)
- They made sure everything went smoothly with me and the vendors.
- Katie was there constantly checking on me. When my husband and I were going around greeting each guests, a lot of them handed me their gift. Katie would come out of nowhere to grab it and put it in safe keeping.
- She got us drinks and food! That was great!
- They were there until the end
- They cleaned everything up and broke everything down.
- She organized all my wedding stuff like the decorations and gifts so that it was easier for my mom and dad to take with them.
They were fantastic. If I had to rate them I would give them a hundred stars! They were great. I literally don't know what I would have done without them there that day. I had so many different vendors. My photographer, DJ, caterer, table rentals, photo booth, servers, and bartenders where all from different companies! So you can imagine how happy I was that they were there to run everything. I would strongly recommend them to any Chicago bride! I only had them for the day of coordination and they were great!
