Congratulations on your engagement. I hope you realize the day of your dreams. Having Emilie along will certainly help that to happen. I am a wedding photographer so I am at a lot of weddings and have seen different event planners at work. When it came time to plan my daughter's wedding I spoke to several planners including some I know quite well. I chose to go with Emilie based on what I sensed she would bring to the day. Her enthusiasm, warmth and creativity really impressed me. Some planners are a bit too intense for my taste and style. In the industry we call them the "wedding nazi". They do their jobs well but don't bring any joy to the day which can really stress a bride and her mother.

My daughter's wedding was a three day event at an Episcopal church camp in Conneaut, Oh. (We live in Cleveland) We served six meals and had 70 overnight guests with us at the camp for whom we had to provide bedding and towels. Another, 30 or so at nearby hotels. We had guests from France, Switzerland, Turkey, England, the Philippines and across the US. This was a monumental undertaking.

Emilie helped with all the "normal" wedding stuff and beyond. Emilie's service was incredible. She was very accessible. We met numerous times and every meeting was followed up by email confirming our discussions. She brought a lot of creative ideas to the table. She always returned my calls promptly.

We had some problems: torrential rain the morning, one of the groomsmen stuck on the turnpike calling to say he would not make it in time for the ceremony, a bridesmaid who split out her zipper 20 minutes before the ceremony, balsamic syrup that couldn't be located by the caterers. Suffice it to say that we had our share of glitches. Emilie was involved and focused and while she couldn't change or solve every problem, she helped in what ever way she could, staying calm and reassuring us all the way. She kept the communication flowing between the catering staff and other vendors and myself. The wedding started 35 minutes late while the dress was repaired allowing the groomsman to make it in the nick of time (Emilie had him scurry around to enter the chapel through a side door) she had the caterers make a lemon vinaigrette and somehow made the rain stop and the sun shine. She helped the staff transform a camp dining hall into a pretty picnic venue and then into an elegant dinner reception space and back again. She arranged seating assignments, made cabin assignments, washed and folded loads of towels, transported and helped load and unload stuff for the camp, helped with ideas for the crafts for the children. joined us for the program making, and more. I wish I could list all she did for us.

The best part of working with Emilie is that I knew I could count on her. She is capable, efficient and faithful. Ultimately, having Emilie allowed me to enjoy my daughter's wedding without having to be in charge of making sure everything got done. I knew Emilie was there to take care of it all.

I know this sounds like a commercial for Emilie because it is. I recommend her to my brides and I would not do so if I didn't think she would do a great job for them.

The rain did stop and the sun did shine and while I do not really give Emilie credit for the weather, Emilie will bring sunshine into your day regardless of the weather. I recommend her without reservation.

Chris Holley-Starling
Mother of the Bride

P.S. My daughter really objected to my hiring Emilie (cost and why can't we do this ourselves....) but in the end it was Jennifer who said, "Wow! I'm so glad
we had Emilie."