The Best Wedding Planner

I got married in Woodbury Country club on Sept 17. I own a bridal shop in Brooklyn and believe me, being in the bridal business does not make wedding planning any less stressful. 2 months before the wedding, I realized that I had tons of things to do that should have been done months prior. I kept getting 'to do lists' from the Knot and Wedding Channel about items that are due. The list just kept getting longer and longer. I cried for help on LIWeddings.com and Francesca from Dazzling Affairs came to my rescue. Initially, I was very skeptical about hiring a wedding planner. I still wanted to plan all aspects of my wedding and didn't want to waste time listening to input from someone else. But then, I caved in because I couldn't handle the
stress anymore.

Francesca was invaluable to my wedding. You know a wedding planner is excellent when all your guests raved about how nice and helpful she was. Some of my friends who were getting married next year grabbed her business card immediately when they saw what she did for my wedding.

2 months before the wedding, I was still looking for limos, tuxedos, ceremony musicians, officiant and florist. I was too overwhelmed with all the
choices I had. How do you know who's good? Francesca emailed me everyday with tons of contacts and recommendations. Being the stressful bride I was, I wouldn't return her emails for days. However, she constantly followed up to make sure everything was okay and that I was calling some of the vendors back. She made appointments for me and went with me to them no matter how far away they were. She was so patient and energetic. Whereas the wedding was draining my energy, it seemed to revive her. She was more than happy to commute from Long Island to Brooklyn for our meetings. She never seemed to get tired even though she was constantly running around.

2 weeks before my wedding, Francesca called and followed up with all my vendors and reminded me of last minute appointments. she was always there to tell me what needed to be done. I didn't have to worry about any due dates. She was my appointment book and planner. She told me what I needed to do and facilitated everything with my vendors and reception hall.

1 week before the wedding, Francesca came to my house and offered to take 3 huge boxes of wedding favors to the reception hall so that we wouldn't have as much to bring to the reception the week of. She went over the guest list, the assembly line, last minute tasks and the wedding day schedule with us. She was so ready to take care of everything for me. Although I was freaking out, having her there calmed me down.

2 days before the wedding, I was utterly FREAKING out. Relatives and friends were coming in from out of town and I still had so much to do. My bridesmaid dresses, wedding dress, ring bearer tuxedos all needed alterations.

The day before the wedding, I was in tears. We were still doing alterations. We had to make our own boutonierres. Our rehearsal was at 6PM but my girls and I still didn't get our pedicures/manicures. Francesca came on time but we had to delay rehearsal by 2 hours because we were getting our pedicures/manicures done and some of the bridal party hadn't arrived yet. I had 6 flowergirls and ring bearers causing chaos. Eventually, around 8PM, we were finally able to start the rehearsal. It was really happening. I couldn't stop my tears from rolling down my cheeks. At that moment when everyone was lining up and I was wedged between my parents, it finally hit me that I was getting married. The rehearsal went great. Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to. Even the kids cooperated. Although my parents and grandparents didn't speak English, Francesca made them felt at ease.

On the day of the wedding, I woke up at 6AM to get my hair/makeup done. Unbelievably, I was relatively calm. I was so relieved that I didn't have to check with vendors to see if they were on time. It was going to be a long day because of certain Chinese wedding traditions that needed to be performed at both the bride and groom's houses. Our official wedding ceremony started at 10AM that day. Francesca met us at my husband's house and took with her all the things that needed to be transported to the reception hall. She followed us to Westbury Gardens because the limo driver didn't know how to get there. From there, she took all of our belongings - purses and all, with her so that we wouldn't be bogged down by luggage when we were taking our pictures. She then went to Woodbury Country Club to coordinate with the florist, the officiant, ceremony officant, DJ and other vendors that were setting up at the hall.

When we arrived at the hall, everything was taken care of. We were ushered into the bridal suite where in 1/2 hour, we were due to walk down the aisle. Francesca directed all the guests - half of them didn't even understand English, to their seats. She collected the entire bridal party and made sure they knew what to do. The ceremony went flawlessly!

When it came time for the reception, she again lined us up and directed our entry into the banquet hall. Francesca was all over the place. She was constantly there to remind us what's next. Never once did I fear that something wasn't being taken care of. She thought of things before I even had time to think of it. To be entirely truthful, my wedding went by in a blur. I felt somewhat detached from it. Francesca told me what I needed to do and I did it. I didn't even have to think about it. I was too tired from lack of sleep and the abundance of activities of that day to even enjoy the wedding. After the wedding, we went to the bridal suite to find that everything was packed and ready to be taken home. Francesca packed everything up for us before leaving for the night.

I can go on and on about all the things that Francesca has done for us but you really need to see for yourself how useful she can be on the day of your wedding. She is genuinely nice and truly enjoy what she does. She was the one vendor I felt I underpaid. We pondered how she can charge so reasonably for the amount of work she does. If Francesca wasn't there to coordinate everything, I would have been a nervous wreck on my wedding day. I love how
she's always on top of everything and taking care of things that we would have otherwise forgotten! I cannot praise her enough for what she has done.

My wedding wouldn't have gone as smoothly as it did without her. Her warm smile and affable personality was an asset to our wedding. She interacted with many of the guests and made even the non-English speaking guests feel comfortable in such a foreign setting. Please FM me if you have any questions about Francesca's services.