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Guest Management
Professionalism and Attention to Detail
Understanding the Couple's Vision
Stress-free planning

About

On WeddingWire since 2013

Cathy’s Elegant Events, based in Catskill, New York, is an award-winning full-service wedding planning and design company dedicated to creating memorable weddings & events. All of our clients receive the same unparalleled service and incomparable attention to detail that makes us a leader in the industry. With an emphasis on listening and understanding each client’s needs, we develop exquisite concepts and bring them to fruition.

Through innovative ideas, creativity, and attention to detail, we ensure that each undertaking is seamlessly executed. Cathy is the founder and creative force of Cathy’s Elegant Events. With 12+ years of experience and a resourceful approach, she provides the utmost in service and industry expertise.

There are planners who are designers, and then there are planners who are masters of the plan.

We do not believe in ‘cookie-cutter’!

  • Woman-owned

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
Destination
Double Weddings
Eco-Friendly
Military
Non-Religious
Religious

How many planners are on your team?

8
5.0 out of 5 rating
107 Reviews
  • Quality of service
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Average response time
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Value
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    5 out of 5 rating
90% Recommended by couples
This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

Review summary

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Cathy is highly praised for her exceptional organizational skills and professionalism as a wedding planner. Multiple reviewers mention her ability to handle all the details and logistics of the wedding, ensuring a smooth and stress-free experience. Cathy is described as diligent, reliable, and knowledgeable, with a deep understanding of the wedding industry and strong relationships with vendors. She is commended for her problem-solving abilities and her dedication to making the wedding day special for the couple and their guests. Overall, reviewers highly recommend Cathy for her impeccable planning and execution of weddings.

Review summary

Powered by AI
This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

Cathy is highly praised for her exceptional organizational skills and professionalism as a wedding planner. Multiple reviewers mention her ability to handle all the details and logistics of the wedding, ensuring a smooth and stress-free experience. Cathy is described as diligent, reliable, and knowledgeable, with a deep understanding of the wedding industry and strong relationships with vendors. She is commended for her problem-solving abilities and her dedication to making the wedding day special for the couple and their guests. Overall, reviewers highly recommend Cathy for her impeccable planning and execution of weddings.

Anne-Claire
Anne-Claire R. Sent on 10/22/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Cathy Ballone - not your average wedding planner

If you want a wedding planner who will actually roll up their sleeves and run the traps on all of the nitty gritty details of your wedding from start to finish, no matter how complicated things get during the planning or on the day of your event, and who will do it with grace and professionalism, you should hire Cathy. If you want to leave all of that up to chance, hire someone else, but I promise you will regret it. My husband and I were in no position to take on the complexity of our vision on a 9 month timeline and Cathy was honest with us at every turn about what it would take to get things done. On the day of my wedding when a forecasted squall threatened the evacuation of our tent, Cathy calmly came to find me during hair and makeup, helped me appreciate the options, and then personally moved heaven and earth to make an alternative cocktail hour plan happen as the storm passed.

Cathy is a hard-working, honest, experienced planner. She knows every vendor in the Hudson Valley. She chases people down and will not rest until there's an answer (e.g. given a very bad peach harvest this year, how will I source 250 peaches to achieve my client's vision?) When you’re writing check after check for your wedding and the thought crosses your mind — “can I even trust this person?” Um, yes, I would trust Cathy with most anything. She is not the wedding planner you see on TV or that your friends lament “didn’t even do anything”. Oh, no. Cathy will keep you on track week by week, organized in GoogleDrive, and even on top of things she’s not contractually responsible for (e.g. have you selected accessories yet? How is honeymoon planning going?), and then, when cocktail hour is going swimmingly and the first rain drops start to fall, she will just APPEAR with an umbrella over your head like she is ACTUALLY MARY POPPINS. She excels at the knowledge work, the hard work (turns out this can be a very physical job!) and is very service-oriented with families and guests.

I was perhaps the happiest I have ever been on my wedding day and I know that having a trusted, experienced planner like Cathy (and her team!) — who genuinely cared about us, our families, and our friends — gave me the freedom to enjoy my day to the maximum. There is no greater gift to give yourself.
D
Dan Z. Sent on 01/23/2024
5 out of 5 rating

We NEEDED Cathy, you do too

We cannot recommend Cathy highly enough. From our first contact with her, it was clear that we were over our heads planning a wedding, but the solution was simple: Cathy. Cathy immediately worked with us to create a vision board that made sure we all were talking a common language and had a singular vision. From there, biweekly meetings made sure we were making the progress we needed. Even better, between those meetings, Cathy was always available (both quickly over text and for in-the-weed phone calls). No detail is missed, because Cathy won’t let it be missed; she creates a masterfully organized Google Drive to make sure we are all working with the same documents and that nothing gets lost. We cannot emphasize enough how much easier life is with Cathy! I wish we could hire her to just run our lives forever.
If all the planning, contracts, vendor work, and tough love wasn’t enough, Cathy took it to the next level on our wedding day. In the midst of a torrential downpour, Cathy dug irrigation trenches to prevent our ceremony tent from flooding and got a friend to bring a tractor to help move a tree that was down and blocking the driveway to our venue. Then, because my wedding dress wasn’t bustled high enough, Cathy did emergency stitch work, while I ate dinner to make sure I could cut up the dance floor. Those are no hyperboles; Cathy literally did hard manual labor and on the spot seamstress work to assure we had the perfect day. And the best part, we had no idea either of those near catastrophic events had occurred. Nope, Cathy made our wedding day seem effortless and perfect, when without her it would have been the opposite of both.
In summary, Cathy has the organizational infrastructure to make your wedding planning seamless, a deep rolodex of vendors to make sure you have the right ones on your day and has seen it all. If you choose Cathy to work with you on your wedding day, you will end up wondering how you could have done it any other way.
Shara
Shara H. Sent on 10/08/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Highly Recommend

Cathy was friendly, flexible, accommodating and professional from the very beginning. I couldn't recommend her more. Anything we threw out there as far as ideas or thoughts was well received without any judgment or pushing us to go in either direction. I felt very taken care of, heard and she followed through on every part of the planning we needed. Cathy's organization was something I have not seen before- extremely reliable and always following through on tasks not only on her end but made sure we did our job as well. I felt like she really cared about our happiness for the wedding weekend and not that it was just a job to her. I was very impressed and would hire her for anything in the future.
illustration stars

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Awards

107
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2023 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2022 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2020 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2019 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2018 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2017 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2016 Winner

Deals

Pricing

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Professional Network & Endorsements

13 Endorsements
Bo Shim Bo Shim Wedding Photographers

It's always a pleasure to work with Cathy and her team! They are professional and so easy to work with. She does a great job in coordinating and bringing your vision to life!

Adena Orchard & Vine Adena Orchard & Vine Barn & Farm Weddings

Cathy's Elegant Events thinks of everything. EVERYTHING. Cathy is one of the most organized and professional people in the wedding industry and is always happy to help make connections and introductions. Her follow through is unparalleled and she can make even the most complicated and daunting logistics seem like a piece of cake! We highly recommend Cathy's Elegant Events.

Bennett Miller Entertainment Bennett Miller Entertainment Wedding Bands

Cathy's Elegant Events does a such great job of coordinating and curating beautiful events! It's always a pleasure to work with Cathy and her team. Her knowledge, professionalism, and positive attitude make for a winning combination!

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