Pavaune from Invited provided full wedding coordination services for my wedding on June 18, 2011, and I can say without a doubt that hiring her was the best decision we made in the wedding planning process. Because we got married in my parents' back yard, she literally had to come up with every last item and detail from scratch. In particular, she did an amazing job at taking an inspiration photo or idea and tracking down several different ways to make it happen within our budget. Even better: she did all the upfront research on vendors for each service so that the time we had to spend on finding and meeting with vendors was efficient and minimal. She's also incredibly organized, so not only did she keep us on track with making decisions and payments during the planning process, she also had the wedding day itself managed to perfection...I honestly can't think of one thing that went wrong or that should have happened differently. And the best part is, she's a pleasure to work with: super responsive, lots of fun, and full of wonderful suggestions and ideas. If you are looking for low-stress wedding planning that results in an absolutely beautiful and personal wedding, Pavaune and Invited will be a great fit.

We absolutely LOVE Pavaune! It's been almost a year since our wedding (this review is so late-sorry!) and we still keep in touch! Pavaune is absolutely awesome and these are some of my favorite qualities about her:

1. Her sense of humor! The fun didn't start until we hired Pavaune! We were pretty stressed out before we brought her onboard and not only did she get us organized, she got us excited!

2. Her honesty. This woman's not going to lie to you! She keeps it real! I was obsessed with inspiration photos, and like most brides, gushed over 'styled shoots,' and Pavaune flatout told me "Your wedding is NOT going to look like that!" It might sound harsh, but it's actually just what I needed to hear!

She also kept it real when it came to our budget! She stuck to what we originally wanted and didn't let us go overboard as we tried to do many times! She was great about working with us to prioritize and make the most of the money we had!

3. Her style. I left a lot up to Pavaune with regard to our ceremony and reception layout and setup, which as you know, is hard for a bride! But you know what? It looked 10xs better than I could have ever imagined! She used her creative genius and while I enjoyed getting pampered that morning, she brought to life what we envisioned for our venue. Our photographer got pictures of us when we saw it for the first time, and our mouths literally dropped!

4. Her hook-ups! They say you hire a planner for their vendors, because unlike brides, they have relationships with vendors and Pavaune's friends do. not. disappoint! We couldn't afford letterpress but I wanted it so bad! She put us in touch with the ladies at Letterpress Light and we got the most phenomenal wedding invitations! Our family and friends raved, and they'll be keepsakes of ours forever! We also got a great DJ and florist through her!

5. Responsiveness. I don't know who was more relieved when we hired Pavaune, me or my husband.. cause finally, I had someone to call/email about every little detail and it wasn't him!!! She didn't let a single email go unanswered and when I called (or texted her) on the weekends and week nights, she responded! It was awesome and just what you need as a bride!

Some of my fondest memories of our wedding day revolve around things Pavaune did; for instance, when we got to the venue, before anything got started, she showed up with double cheeseburgers from McDonalds for me and all the bridesmaids! We were starved (hadn't eaten breakfast) and it was the most thoughtful thing! How did she even know? She said she didn't want me passing out later, and thankfully, I didn't :-)

She also checked in with us throughout the day as we segwayed from the ceremony to the reception, but it was never with something bad going on or a concern; it was always just to say, this is what's happening next! It made us feel GREAT!

Pavaune saw us off to the very last minute and I can honestly say, I have missed her since then! She was so fun and without her, our wedding day would not have run as smoothly, or been as beautiful. We certainly would not have enjoyed ourselves as much as we did! If you wanna see you wedding dreams come to life, hire this woman!!! She's the best this area/this industry has to offer!!

I was on the fence about whether or not to have a DOC for our wedding. After reading other people's experiences, I decided it would best so that I could have someone else monitor the vendors and have someone else deal with the little things.

Pavaune was wonderful to work with - she didn't push anything on us and knew exactly what we were going for with our more laid back wedding. The kicker was that we had a Marine Corps/Jewish wedding, but Pavaune was more than willing and able to tackle the biggies involved in that - ketubah signing, sword arch, and also our dog ring bearer.

She was sweet to work with, and I felt comfortable putting everything in her hands for our day, even though I'm a control freak. While the officiant was a bit late, I was still OK because I knew Pavaune would know what to do.

I'd recommend Invited to anyone looking for a way to put their ideas in to action for their wedding day.

Pavaune at {invited} assisted my husband and I six weeks out from our wedding and with day-of coordination. Without her, our rehearsal and ceremony would have been a mess!

Thank you, Pavaune!!

We hired Pavaune of Invited Event Design as our DOC a few months prior to the wedding. When meeting Pavaune for the first time to go over what we envisioned for our wedding, Pavaune was on time, professional, very friendly and had a great sense of humor which matched ours. She even gave us advice and links to websites which she thought would help us during the planning process (which they did!). In the months leading up to the wedding, Pavaune was responsive to emails, gave great insight and advice on how to keep our budget on target. About a month before the wedding, Pavaune came out to our venue to meet with us, the DJ and the venue coordinators to go over the day of and she collaborated with the venue to make sure everyone was on the same page. Two weeks prior to the wedding, Pavaune followed up with all the vendors, drafted a time line, and made sure my sanity was still intact! Four days before the wedding, Pavaune picked up all ceremony and reception decor and told us next time she saw us would be at the chapel, everything was set and ready to go!
On the day of, My (bride) nerves were shot and I was a bit stressed but as soon as I saw Pavaune, her smile and care free persona just calmed my nerves. I knew she had been running her tail feather off with the preparations because she was sweating and out of breath! lol..
Our day couldn't have been more better. Pavaune had set the ceremony decor up perfectly, the reception decor was exactly as we had wanted it. Everything (and everybody) was in their correct place.
All I can say is, I thank the person up above for bringing Pavaune into our lives and taking the stress of the day off of us so we could enjoy every minute of it. If your looking for a DOC or a full time planner, get a hold of Pavaune, you won't regret it!

Working with Pavaune Pearson of Invited was the single best decision we made and resulted in an amazing wedding, during which we were completely relaxed and were able to just enjoy. My (now) husband and I live in London, but as I am American and had lived in DC, I really wanted to get married there. We met with Pavaune at the very beginning of our venue search and right away we knew that Pavaune would be able to help us. We went for the full planning package, which was a great value. The package is based on a percentage of your budget. Being skeptical, I was at first concerned that this might push our budget up-- but this was not the case at all. Pavaune asked us what our budget was, and which elements were most important to us. She then got us the best vendors at the best prices for what we wanted. Pavaune skyped with us as necessary to discuss decisions. Some of the services Pavaune provided for us included:
-driving us all over Washington, DC in order to visit all of our venues
-researching over 25 photographers (because that was the most important thing to us)
-designing and printing our escort cards, programs and menus
-working on our behalf to get great deals with all of our vendors
-finding a videographer and florist that worked with our budget
-being a key negotiator for us when we couldn't be present.
-locating an officiant and a rental huppah
-locating a bagpiper at a week's notice before the wedding (actually we had a few to choose from!)
-locating a Scottish band to play our wedding even though it was the same weekend as the Virginia Scottish Games!

Pavaune was the consummate professional, but at the same time she was so easy to work with, so friendly and just an all around great person. She was not just our wedding planner but a friend and an honored guest!

On the day, we didn't have to think about anything. Any question that was raised by any family member or guest received the answer, "ask Pavaune." It was such an amazing day, we were really able to enjoy it, and multiple guests said it was the best wedding they'd ever been to. I'd have to agree!

Pavaune from Invited Event Design was fantastic! We hired her to help us jump through the final hoops (confirming vendors, final venue walk-through, ran the rehearsal) and help make our wedding day as stress-free and beautiful as possible, and she did! Pavaune was super friendly, extremely responsive, and has a great calming energy about her. I had no worries about the wedding day, and despite a little bit of rain, everything turned out great. Not only was she able to play behind-the-scenes on the wedding day to make sure everything went well, but she also has a strong creative/design sensibility, and at our first meeting, she really wanted to get an idea for the feel and style of the wedding we were looking for. Even though she was only doing day-of/month-of coordination, she really helped finesse the final special touches of the wedding day to make sure everything looked pulled together and had an answer for basically every question I could think of! I had a few projects that were quite time consuming and Pavaune helped pull them all together on the day of, which I am so thankful for, as my guests and I were able to enjoy the wedding day and weekend more instead of running around setting things up. She also stuck around when we extended the reception for more dancing, which I am also really grateful for! She was super flexible, and a fantastic value for the services rendered.

I couldn't have had the wedding I did without Pavaune. She stretched our budget to include many of my favorite items, negotiated awesome deals, and adapted to the ever evolving scope. I opted for the full package and was so glad I did. If a project seemed overwhelming to me, all I needed to do was call Pavaune and it would be taken care of. On the day of my wedding, I didn't think twice about any logistics. When my husband and I left the reception, Pavaune was there for breakdown, sorting the gifts, and packing everything up. If I had it to do over again, I would hire Pavaune in an instant.

I worked with Pavaune. She was an absolute professional. I customized my services with her to get day of help and several other things outside of day of. Here is a rundown of my experience:

Our first meeting:

Pavaune and I spoke prior to meeting and I told her about all of my needs and my budget. I had set up meetings with about 5 other wedding planners for that day because I was planing my wedding from California, and that would be my only day in the DC area to meet.

P came to the meeting very prepared, with lots of ideas and plenty of enthusiasm. I was convinced she was the right planner for me at that meeting for several reasons:
1. She provided me with excellent ideas about centerpieces based on my very particular desires (no flowers, contemporary, no candles etc.) without batting an eyelash--evidence that she knew what she was talking about.
2. She had several vendors she'd worked with in the past and was able to give me a good idea of their price range in our first meeting.
3. Her materials were professional and attractive.
4. Her overall demeanor and appearance was professional and attractive.
5. She was enthusiastic, friendly, and assertive, both required qualities to deal with my family.

Over the next few months:

Pavaune contacted us regularly with updates on where we should be in terms of the planning. Because we were incredibly busy, we were often behind and late in responding to her, but she was always pleasant and accommodating. She negotiated on our behalf for catering and offered to do the flowers (a godsend for us) at a very reasonable price.

Rehearsal:

Pavaune was present at the rehearsal, conducting our very large wedding party and ensuring everyone was well aware of their particular roles. The rehearsal went incredibly smoothly.

Wedding:

Here is where Pavaune really shined. My husband and I did not have to do anything, think about anything, direct anything. She had the entire ceremony and reception completely orchestrated and kept us shielded from all stressful situations. I came to her with questions and she was more than willing and able to fix things, change things, move things around. She handled all my vendors well.

I'm the groom. Like most grooms I was ignorant of the thousands of details that go into wedding planning, and didn't particularly care to learn.

Pavaune did a great job of holding my wife and me accountable for making decisions about food, rentals, decorations, etc. in advance so we weren't totally freaking out at the last minute (although you still freak out anyway). She also did a great job of managing our family and friends at the rehearsal dinner, which I did not think was possible.

Everything went great the day of the wedding under her direction, and I would recommend her services to anybody based on my experience.

Working with Invited Event Design and specifically Pavaune was, hands-down, the best decision we made during our wedding planning process. I was not originally planning to have a day-of coordinator, but without Pavaune our day would not have run nearly as well. Pauvane made the day perfect - right down to every little detail. She is the most organized person I've ever met and she always has a great vision, not to mention she's extremely nice! Using Invited Event Design was the best decision we made, you will not be disappointed!

Pavaune did an amazing job coordinating my wedding. I decided less than a month before the big day to hire someone and she stepped in to make it all come together. I can't imagine how the day would have gone without her! She was firm but gentle when she needed to be, very organized and easy to work with. I loved that she didn't make herself the focus of the evening but efficiently coordinated everything from the edges.
Her pricing was absolutely worth the quality of work we received. I highly recommend her services.

She spent a lot of time with us to carefully get all the details we wanted in our wedding. It was a beautiful event and wedding, though a few details like flowers and food didn't go as we planned - and not sure she could have fixed that.