LOLA Event Productions

Booking the LOLA Lavish Package with Lori was the best investment we made during our wedding. Lori is a fantastic professional and elevated and executed our vision with perfection. She is experienced and candid about what is needed or optional to make the event memorable and EPIC. Her connection with a fantastic vendor team, fantastic eye for design, proactiveness and drive make her the perfect wedding planning master. We were planning the wedding from New Jersey and this was never an issue, and being Brazilian with guests from all over and even Brazilian vendors, Lori made sure our Brazilian culture was represented with ease! Best planner ever!!! Lori will execute your vision with no necessary expenses and amazing input - all of the favorite details or our day were Lori insights! On day of if there were any issues we have no idea! It ran absolutely smoothly despite two venues across town, snow and a bilingual crowd! Talk about being an awesome leader!

Even weeks after our multi-day Indian wedding finished, we are still receiving heaps of praise. Multiple guests told us that not only was it the best wedding that they have ever been to, but it is also going to be the best wedding that they will EVER experience. Some of them told us that they had to set expectations for their kids that no other wedding will really compare. People constantly mentioned the attention to detail, and one guest even highlighted that the most impressive thing about the wedding was not the extravagance but rather all the logistics, how everything operated so precisely. All that praise is due to Michelle, Kristy, and the entire LOLA team. If you’re like us, you are trying to do all your research upfront so that you can find someone to trust to make your dream wedding a reality. We can confidently say that LOLA is that team.

We are going to write an extremely detailed review highlighting every single reason why you should go with LOLA. Instead of burying the lede, we will start with the two most impressive qualities. First, our wedding was from Tuesday through Sunday morning, with four large events in four separate venues and numerous smaller rituals and mini-events, involving over twenty separate vendors. Calling it complex would be a massive understatement. Yet, nothing fell through the cracks. Not a single thing. We are in the process of building a house, and we half-joke that we should hire Michelle and Kristy to run that project even though it is so out of their ballpark simply because we don’t know what to do without their organization. The second quality is that they can control the weather. Let us explain. On our wedding ceremony day, we were faced with torrential downpour and unpredictable weather. From the beginning, our biggest desire was to have our ceremony outdoors. Michelle and Kristy worked tirelessly, fighting for our dream to somehow make that outdoors wedding a reality, coming up with some brilliant ideas with the help of Lori. See, they didn’t take the easy route of just sticking with the rain plan. They cared. They cared a lot. We can’t stress this enough because you can’t figure that out by looking through portfolios or interviewing planners. It is found in all those moments where Michelle and Kristy picked up on one of our discomforts and gave us some quiet space, where they understood what we wanted (sometimes even better than we ourselves realized), where one of them would dive to the ground to look through their bag for a pair of scissors or to help place dance shoes on the bride right before she had to go onto the stage, where they literally helped rig an important décor installation when a venue installer did not show up. The thing that differentiates a great planner from a good planner is how they handle emergencies, and for that, they need to care. When the wedding was over, the saddest realization that dawned on us was that we were not going to be able to spend as much time with them. They have become close friends through this process, and if there is one thing you take away from this review, please let it be that.

When we started looking at planners, we did a lot of research. We interviewed multiple people and did numerous reference checks. LOLA sent us multiple references, all of them Indian, some brides and some parents as well. They were the only planners who did that. We talked to every single reference. Even through some of our more interrogative questions, not a single person had even an iota of criticism. That consistent universal trust in the LOLA team almost seemed too good to be true, but it sold us on them. Now, we will join those ranks of references because we need to sing their praises everywhere.
We decided to hire both Michelle and Kristy together. They had never actually planned a wedding together before, and so we went into the process knowing it was going to be a slight experiment. We had no reason to worry. They worked perfectly together, sharing ideas. They divided and conquered with Michelle focusing more on décor and Kristy on logistics, but both were present at almost every single meeting we had. In the end, it seemed like both knew every detail in and out and had helped in every single area. Even though Michelle and Kristy are individually extremely responsive, answering emails at any point, having both on the team meant that someone was essentially available on any given day. It didn’t feel like we just doubled the quality but raised it exponentially.

Michelle and Kristy helped us build a team of all-star vendors and venues for our wedding. They have the best connections in the Chicagoland area, but it never felt like they were pushing anyone on us. Instead, it really felt like they were understanding our needs and guiding us to the vendors that best fit those needs. They would always give us a list to choose from and never influence our decisions unless we explicitly asked for guidance. They helped handle all the communication with these vendors so that we did not get stuck with small details and logistics that were unimportant for us. There were so many conversations that happened in the background between vendors, venues, and LOLA that we thankfully did not have to join.

As decisions started to mount, Michelle and Kristy were extremely organized and helped keep us on track with a planning timeline and a plethora of spreadsheets. When we were interviewing planners, a lot of them showed flashy software for organizing the planning. LOLA uses plain old Excel, and trust us, you won’t beat it. We cannot stress how high our bar for organizational excellence is, and somehow, they managed to exceed it. We had over seven permutations for guest invites, tons of boxes that had to be delivered to different venues, multiple outfit changes, and so many different rituals that kept getting added on throughout the process. They managed everything in stride, and we have no idea how. One of the best testaments to their level of organization was their four separate minute by minute timelines. We sent these to our families, and one of my cousins commented that the timeline was so detailed that even though she should not have been surprised since it came from me, she was still left stunned. Except, that was all Michelle and Kristy. Our families never run on time, but that weekend, everything ran like clockwork.

On the day-of, they literally left their families for an entire week to attend to not only our needs but those of our parents. They were everywhere all at once, in the hotel, at the venue, working with our family, working with vendors. They knew exactly what to escalate to us and which things to handle themselves. That week, we got to know more LOLA members. Shout out to Nicole who had the arduous task of dealing with both sets of parents, and she handled all their requests and worked extremely hard. Sanja was responsible for transportation, and despite all the intricate logistics, everyone was at the right place on time without any issues. Lori worked with us, helped attend to some of our last-minute emergencies, and shepherded us to where we needed to be, really freeing us to be in the moment and relax. Damina and Morgan helped answer questions for our guests. It was a whole team effort that put LOLA’s best values on full display. Our wedding week, despite its intricacies, felt flawless to us. We literally could not have asked for anything better on any of the days. That is thanks to Michelle and Kristy’s impressive work ethic, battle-tested experience, relentless pursuit of perfection, and simply their desire to make our dreams come true.

We cannot say enough good things about LOLA!! We booked the “Last Minute LOLA” package and we worked with Sanja Dimitrijevic through the last few months of our wedding planning. She exceeded all of our expectations and really helped to make our wedding day the most perfect day. The whole planning process with her was so fun and we felt really prepared in the week leading up our wedding. No ask was too much and she met with us countless times to make sure all of the details were accounted for.

On the day of the wedding, she was on top of everything and did so much behind the scenes work. She took all of the stress out of the day which was exactly what we were hoping for! Booking with LOLA was one our best investments during our wedding planning process and we can’t recommend Sanja enough!!

Working with Michelle from LOLA Event Productions was hands down the BEST decision we made for our entire wedding. If I had to plan my wedding all over again, the only thing I’d change is that I would have called Michelle even sooner. She is the best of the best and truly everything you could ever want in a wedding planner!!

From day one, Michelle brought a level of organization, expertise, and calm that completely transformed the planning process for us. Her attention to detail is unmatched. She thinks of things you didn’t even know needed to be thought about. Her planning docs, timelines, checklists, and weekly guidance made the entire year so much easier. I never felt lost or overwhelmed because she always had a clear plan, helpful direction, and everything ready before I even asked.

One of the biggest things that set Michelle apart was her vendor network. She has worked with so many of the top vendors in the industry, and she steered us toward the best of the best. Every recommendation she gave us was spot-on. Our flowers, band, venue team, lighting, rentals, beauty, photography… basically everything that made our wedding what it was came from her guidance. You can tell vendors genuinely love working with her, which made our experience even smoother.

Michelle is also unbelievably responsive. Whether it was a late-night text about a detail or a mid-day call to help finalize decisions, she was always available and somehow always ten steps ahead. She never once made us feel like a burden, even when I had a million questions. She truly cares, and you feel that every single step of the way.

Beyond everything she handles logistically, Michelle is simply a joy to be around. She brings such positive, fun, easy energy that made the entire experience enjoyable. We looked forward to our calls with her, and my family and wedding party all loved her. She was such a joy to work with that we were genuinely sad when the planning ended, but we know we’ll stay in touch far beyond the wedding.

And on the wedding day… I cannot emphasize this enough… Michelle made it possible for me to fully enjoy every second. I did not stress about a single thing. She handled every detail, every transition, every vendor, every question before it even got to me. I got to be present on my wedding day because of her. That is the biggest gift any planner can give.

Michelle is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met. She is committed, reliable, creative, and truly wants your day to be perfect. She goes above and beyond in ways you don’t even expect. She took our vision, elevated it, and created a wedding day more beautiful than anything I had imagined.


I cannot recommend Michelle enough. She is exceptional at what she does. If you’re lucky enough to work with her, you will feel supported, cared for, and confident from the moment you start planning until the very last moment of your wedding night. Hiring her was the best decision we made, and I’m forever grateful. If you’re considering working with her, do it. You’ll thank yourself for years to come!!!

Working with Sanja from LOLA was incredible. Sanja was a huge help from the start - thinking through all of the small details that I would have never considered, joining calls with my vendors and offering great insight, and building/changing my timeline until it was absolutely perfect. On our wedding day, Sanja handled literally everything. Everything ran so perfectly and it allowed me, my husband, and our families to truly sit back and enjoy the day! Sanja is incredibly detail oriented, brings a calming presence, and handled things before I even thought of them. She is incredibly trustworthy and I had no worries about any logistics on the day of because I knew she had them covered. Thank you Sanja!!

Working with Sanja from Lola Event Productions was one of the greatest blessings of our entire wedding journey. From the very beginning, Sanja understood our vision in a way that felt almost instinctive. She immediately grasped what mattered most to us and helped bring it all to life with such elegance, precision, and care. What could have been a stressful process turned into something beautiful, organized, and even fun, thanks to her calm energy and her remarkable ability to anticipate every need before we even voiced it.

Sanja’s attention to detail is unmatched. She guided us through every decision with patience and intention, making sure that each element felt true to us. On the wedding day, she orchestrated everything so seamlessly that we were able to be fully present and enjoy every single moment. Every guest noticed how flawless everything felt, and that is entirely thanks to her.

What makes Sanja truly exceptional is her heart. She genuinely cares about her couples and puts so much of herself into what she does. We always felt supported, understood, and cared for. She was not just our planner; she became a part of our story and now is a forever friend. We refuse to let the end of our wedding day be the end of our relationship.

Sanja, thank you for giving us the gift of a day that felt effortless, meaningful, and perfectly us. You made our dream wedding come to life in ways we never could have imagined. For anyone looking for someone who will plan with artistry, precision, and heart, Lola Event Productions is simply incomparable.

As the mother of the bride, I can confidently say that choosing LOLA for our wedding planning was one of the best decisions we could have made. Sanja D. was our planner and were so impressed with her from the very beginning. Her organizational skills and attention to detail were incredible. She was on top of everything and helped up obtain the top local venders in the industry. Also, she reviewed all contracts and helped us meet every deadline throughout the planning process. Sanja was also incredible on the day of the wedding, allowing us to all enjoy every minute of the day without having to worry about the itinerary or any of the details. At the end of the night, Sanja even delivered my daughter’s belongings and a piece of wedding cake back to their bridal suite. We highly recommend using LOLA (and Sanja) for wedding planning!

-Catherine W.

One month out from our wedding and I'm just now able to put into words how incredible the day was, mainly due to Lori & LOLA Events. Lori goes above & beyond in every single regard -- not only does she facilitate every detail with venues, stationary, band, hair/makeup, etc, she puts so much effort into the small things -- table numbers signs, family photo tables, wedding programs, etc. There will be probably 10 things you had no idea to even think of when planning your wedding, but Lori will make sure you have them all and that they're fabulous. Lori cares so deeply about her clients and it shows in the months, weeks, and days leading up to the big day. She really became part of our family over the last 18 months, and we couldn't recommend her or LOLA any more. THANK YOU LORI & team!!!

To be honest I do not even know where to begin this review except to say that we could have not done the wedding process at all, and certainly not as well as it was done without Michelle! Shortly after our daughter became engaged, we realized we needed a wedding planner to assist us with the process. The engaged couple was too busy with work and life to be able to do this on their own. After interviewing a few wedding planners, they decided on Michelle from LOLA Event Productions. It only took one meeting with Michelle for my husband and I to realize this would be a worthwhile expense for the wedding. Michelle wowed us with her organization and planning skills. It was great for us as parents to understand the timeline, budget and possible options for creating a wedding that the couple would be thrilled with. Michelle really took the time to understand the couple and their personalities. Throughout the process she presented to couple the decisions that had to be made and options that could meet what they were looking for. She was careful not to persuade the couple one way or another, unless she really felt strongly about an option. On the day of the wedding and quite honestly the entire weekend, we were all relaxed and did not worry about any of the details because we had a timeline with details in hand from Michelle. We thoroughly enjoyed the weekend with our family and friends which was so important to us. For the couple weeks following the wedding we basked in the “afterglow” of a beautiful ceremony and celebration for a beautiful couple. We could not have done this without Michelle!

We worked with Michelle as our wedding planner last November and it was the best decision we made! To say that my husband and I had no vision for our wedding would be an understatement. All we knew is we wanted to host a beautiful and fun party with our friends and family but had zero clue where to start. From the very beginning, Michelle was incredibly organized and detail-oriented. She took the time to help us find our preferences and helped us craft a vision that reflected us. Throughout the entire process, we had constant communication and check-ins, which made us feel supported and informed every step of the way. She also managed our budget effectively and helped us not only spend money on what we wanted but what would make our day fun and beautiful. The wedding day was absolutely incredible, seriously the best day of our lives. We STILL hear about how amazing our wedding was from friends, family, and even strangers! Thanks Michelle!!!!!