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About

If you're looking for your wedding planning bestie, look no further! Gems and Joy is your luxury wedding go-to for all things planning, designing, and coordinating! Serving Iowa, all around the Midwest, and destination weddings, you've never experienced luxury like this before. We are a husband and wife duo-and we truly love working with one another! We have a great love for short engagements, themed, and destination weddings. Denise's signature style is unique lighting, and lush florals. Our services include full wedding planning, design, coordination, and custom packages. We have also added elopements and mini-weddings!

With years of experience in planning weddings and events, we are sure to bring a high level of expertise to your wedding day! We have three main goals at Gems and Joy:

  1. To give you a luxury wedding planning experience
  2. To exceed your expectations for your wedding day
  3. To bring your vision to life, within your budget

At Gems and Joy, we know that your wedding is not just one day. It's how you spend every day of your engagement. It's your wedding day. It's every time you watch your wedding video, or even think about your wedding day. It's every anniversary, and every time you walk past your wedding pictures. You deserve to relax, be present, and make joyful, beautiful memories.

Services Offered

  • Full Service Wedding Planning + Coordination
  • Design + Coordination
  • Design
  • Wedding Management
  • Wedding Timeline and Dossier Creation
  • COVID weddings (minimonies, mini-weddings, wedding festivals, COVID consultations)
  • Woman-owned
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Frequently asked questions

Do you offer an hourly rate?

No

What wedding events do you provide services for?

Ceremony
Reception
Rehearsal Dinner

What wedding planning services do you offer?

Day-of Coordination
Full Planning
Partial Planning

What weddings do you have experience planning?

Civil
Cultural
Elopement
Military
Non-Religious
Religious
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Reviews of Gems & Joy

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8 Reviews
100% recommend it
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Heather P. Sent on 10/05/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing Wedding Planner- blew our expectations out of the water!

Gems and Joy did an absolutely amazing job coordinating our wedding at IMU. For a day of coordinator, I feel that Denise went above and beyond! I am definitely a last minute planner but she helped keep me more on task with the months and weeks leading up to the big day. As organized as I thought I was, there were definitely several things I hadn't considered or planned for. I was a lot more at ease on the day of our wedding knowing that Denise was running the show. I had no idea how the months of planning would come together but when I walked into the ballroom- WOW! She really did an amazing job coordinating all our vendors and I had very few questions coming at me the day of. I would VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND Gems and Joy for anybody's wedding. And in hindsight, I wish I would have had her do more than just the day of coordinating.
Kat
Kat S. Sent on 07/25/2020
5 out of 5 rating

I couldn't have done it without Gems and Joy.

Denise and Julie were just the most amazing people in the world to work with and my dream wedding would not have happened without them. Denise went above and beyond to make my day stress-free and perfect. She is absolutely on top of everything from the timeline to the tiny details. Not only is she the most amazing wedding planner, but she is just so sweet and kind and she will make you feel so special. During the planning process, she helped me to navigate the chaos of having to postpone my wedding due to COVID-19 when I was ready to give up on the whole thing entirely. Throughout the entire day, she was always right there next to me with a calming smile that made me know that everything was taken care of. I am so beyond thankful for her and I would recommend her to every single bride.
Olivia
Olivia G. Sent on 08/13/2020
5 out of 5 rating

A dream planner for “corona brides”

Denise has been so great to work with thus far!! We hired her for our November 2020 wedding in January and then coronavirus hit. After dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety, my fiancé and I made the decision to postpone our big wedding and do a small wedding on our original 2020 date. Denise was so supportive and helpful right away and willing to answer any questions and give recommendations during an unprecedented situation. It’s really great knowing she is there FOR YOU and wants to do what she can. We’re so excited she’ll be there at our big wedding that we’ll have waited so long for!
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Awards

8
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2021 Winner

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