We had TWO weddings. Elderly family could not travel to L.A. for the BIG wedding; so we held a second tiny wedding/reception our of state. Dana & Joann ("Party & Be Married") helped us plan & execute the first but there was no one for the second and WOW did we learn so much by seeing the difference. -- GET THE PLANNING & COORDINATION HELP!! Worth every penny!

We saw so many little things show up for just a tiny reception; creating difficulty and noise. All of that was fully taken care of and invisible at our BIG reception, thanks to Dana & Joann.

We met several coordinator/planners; we asked, "what would you do if XYZ happened?" We found 3 types of answers:
1) "Yeah,... I'm not paid to solve problems, just facilitate the schedule,... "
2) "We could send someone to the store to get some supplies to solve it,... "
3) "We've seen that happen, so now we have a day-of "tool-kit;" so we already have what's needed solve that problem." full of the needed supplies to fix that, and several other issues we've seen... "

That was only Dana & Joann, and their tool-kit was exactly as promised; every bit as useful. Their knowledge & experience are worth it even at twice the price!

That's our story. I recommend both planning and day-of coordination, so you have a person that knows all the details thoroughly, or else YOU TWO will be the only source of answers; constantly pestered with questions; unable to enjoy your day and your moment. This will be on top of high expectations for the day itself. Oh yeah, now add alcohol. :) ...and then add, "family". An "explosive" potential. ...easily avoided.

Hire Dana & Joann; you'll never regret it.

One last tip, take several breaks from wedding prep work, every other day for the last two weeks -- get a massage together, see a show, anything for a couple hours to stop and just be together and de-stress. Then day-of, will have way less stress too.

Hiring Dana and Joanne was one of the best decisions we made. We knew from the start we needed to hire a coordinator. Our wedding was at a community center, and several of our key vendors had not done a wedding before. Our caterer had never done a large scale event before. Dana was able to seamlessly coordinate the many moving pieces together. If there were any problems on the day of, I was unaware of them. She took care of everything the month before the wedding. Instead of being a ball of stress trying to coordinate everything, my husband and I went into the wedding relaxed.

They had great vendor recommendations for us. For appetizers, we were looking for something really basic and simples - chips, dips, veggies, etc. I was getting quotes for $1000. I was getting ready to suck it up and just go to Costco the day before, but Joann recommended a personal chef who could do it for less than half. This chef also was able to make a vegan gluten-free lasagna that everyone raved about.

Her bridal emergency kit was a huge hit! The steamer was in high demand while getting ready and the eyelash glue was a life saver. I never would have thought to include eyelash glue, but half way through the reception I needed it!

I really liked that Dana wanted to hear what kind of wedding we were having before giving us a quote. Someone who is having a wedding at an all-inclusive venue is going to have significantly less coordinating needs than mine. This way there were no surprises about the level of help we needed.

Dana was wonderful!!! Could imagine our day with out her!