We just got married in Key West a few weeks ago. We live in NJ and we hired Kate Bentley as a wedding planner. The importance of having a good planner who is on top of things is crucial for a destination wedding. Some of the things she did at the wedding were so careless that even the guests noticed she was simply not paying attention. Here are just a few things that were done incorrectly the day of the wedding that truly highlight her neglect for attention to detail.

• She wrote the wrong wedding date on the cake table. Not only that, but she wrote her own birthday instead. Everyone at the wedding was whispering about the wrong date and the photographers only got pictures of the cake with the incorrect date on it.

• She showed up with the “steamed dress” and it was full of deep wrinkles. This stalled the entire getting ready process and first look. The photographer was paid extra to be there early for the first look and we had to wait 45 minutes for Kate to bring the steamer back to the room.

• On the day of the wedding, the bridesmaids were forced to provide their own transportation to get photos done at the ceremony site, and then bring their car back to the hotel before the ceremony so they could join me on the trolley to the ceremony.

• Kate was nowhere to be found as the photographers rushed to take professional shots. It started to downpour and thankfully the photographer had an umbrella and a car there or I would have been soaked.

• I requested a very important locket that had a picture of my deceased father in it to be included in the bouquet. Not only did Kate not do this, but she totally forgot about it until seconds before I walked down the aisle. COMPLETELY CARELESS and unacceptable.

• The lighting at the reception was harsh and bright and she refused to dim it for the first 45 minutes of the wedding. No one danced because of this. Keep in mind Kate was supposed to provide special "up lighting" which was discussed in the planning. There was no special colored lighting at all.

• Kate didn’t book the DJ for the full time of the reception so one of my bridesmaids had to make a playlist on her ipod.

• We had special champagne glasses that were purchased by my mother. Kate never brought them to the reception. Funny thing is before the wedding I told her I would just ship them to the reception venue so they wouldn’t be forgotten and she insisted I just send them to her.

• There were a bunch of décor details in our plans that never happened. For example, rose petals in paper cones for the guests to toss after the ceremony, sparklers at the end of the reception, ivory cushions on the bamboo chairs, menu cards listing the buffet items.

• There was no one overseeing the schedule for the day. Photographers and other vendors had no idea what was going on. As soon as we arrived at the reception the groom and I were bombarded with questions about walking in, first dance, who is giving speeches when etc. The point of hiring Kate was so we didn’t have to worry about that.


I addition to the problems on the wedding day, there were various other things that came up the week before the wedding. There was a major financial typo in the contract. There were also many mistakes/ overcharges on our décor invoice. We found out that the vendor we thought was doing the flowers, lighting and décor was not doing it and that Kate was doing it herself. We went down there in the fall to meet with all of the vendors so this annoyed us because that means our trip was a waste of our time and money. We had guests staying at 4 hotels. I sent Kate all of the welcome bag materials which were supposed to be dropped off with the weekend itineraries. She only left bags at one hotel so half of my guests missed all of the weekend events because they had no idea what was going on.

Thankfully, our family and friends that attended still had fun. But Kate did not do her job. She was hired to be a coordinator of events and make sure that everything was working on schedule with me the day of my wedding. That is not what she did. She was too busy running around worrying about the décor. As a result the entire day was chaos and very stressful for me, the groom our bridal party and parents. I have been trying to get answers from her about her shortcomings since I returned home from Key West. Her lack of response further proves her unprofessionalism.

Dear Kate,

Most people would say we are crazy for not meeting our wedding planner until the weekend of our wedding. We love it!

Thanks to you, our wedding weekend exceeded our wildest expectations. Finding Christian was the best thing that ever happened to me. Finding you was the next best thing. Throughout this process you have become more than someone that plans perfect weddings. You have become a dear friend of ours. Your ability to take what little ideas we had and turn them into a wedding no one will ever forget is certainly indicative of true talent.

We truly believe that your dedication to this profession and the love you share with your clients is what sets you above. We will never forget your unbelievable dedication to us and the countless hours you must have spent planning. The amazing memories will never leave us.

To call you a friend would be an understatement. You are such a talented individual with such a beautiful heart. We will never forget you!

Xoxo,
Christian and Libby

I worked with Kate Bentley at Happily Ever After to help me plan my wedding and she was an absolute pleasure to work with. I live in Central Florida but I wanted a beautiful Beach Wedding in Key West and that is exactly what I got, thanks to Kate and her girls at Happily Ever After. When I talked to Kate over the phone, she was very friendly and professional and I felt confident I would be in good hands. When I met her face to face, I was so excited and she was just so fun and I could tell that she truly loves wedding planning, and each wedding that she does, she dedicates alot of time and genuinly wants to make it the brides most special day. She took my vision, and added her professional touches and made it even better than I could have imagined. From the very beginning she was great about getting back to me, very sensitive to family issues, helped mend out the last minute details, she recommended the BEST vendors in Key West to me, and I was overall THRILLED with my wedding. She had great ideas for decorations, themes, and being a local in Key West, she knows all the great venues for weddings, recommended great places to stay, places to eat, sights to see, and transportation ideas for the bridal party and guests. She recommended the Trolley to me and that was perfect for some really fun photos. After attending a few weddings where the bride and their family members are running around trying to get everything decorated the day of the wedding, I knew I did NOT want that kind of stress for my Wedding. It was a huge relief knowing that Kate had every detail under control. She made my Wedding day fantastic for me, my new husband and all of our family and guests. We had a tropical storm hovering the week of our wedding and Kate eased all of my worries, fully prepared with back up plans. Fortunately the storm did it's worse the day before my wedding. The day of, we had gorgeous weather, but either way I was completely confident Kate and her team would have done everything they could to make it a beautiful event. I was able to be carefree throughout the entire day. Honestly there was not one single thing I would go back and change about my wedding. Key West was the best location! Every one of our guests told us we had a lovely wedding and that they enjoyed themselves. It was Perfect!! Many of my guests asked me how I found Kate because they were very impressed with my wonderful wedding planner. I would very highly recommend Kate to anyone planning their wedding. She really is the best in the wedding business and she made this brides dream wedding come true. My wedding was flawless, what more can a bride ask for??

Kate was absolutely amazing! She was worth every penny and more. She did everything from helping me with my save-the-dates, to my invitations, my flowers, centerpieces, to melt downs and anything else that had to do with my wedding. She is very quick at returning emails and very easy to get a hold of. I would not have been able to get through all of things going on in my life and try to plan my wedding if I did not have her. She did an amazing job and helped make my big day amazing and it was everything I wanted an more.

Happily Ever After did an absolutely amazing job on my wedding! Kate and Shannon are both very nice, fun people. My friends and family all had a wonderful time. My husband and I were able to relax and spend time with our friends and family throughout our week in Key West knowing everything was taken care of for our wedding.
Kate was able to incorporate every thing I wanted into the ceremony and reception. When my flowers came out over budget Kate found a way to save me money by getting the particular orchids I liked from a wholesaler instead. She was even able to help me find a cheaper and better photo booth company than the one I had initially booked. All of the details: the welcome bags, logo, programs, place cards, linens were absolutely gorgeous and came out great. All of the vendors she suggested were great and did an amazing job.
My only complaint is I think we had a couple mis communications as far as times for one or two phone appointments to discuss details. That being said, rescheduling was never a problem. She was also excellent about calling me and keeping me updated with everything throughout the week leading up to the wedding. I highly recommend Happily Ever After Weddings! I would use them for any event I was planning in Key West.

Kate did an amazing job with our wedding. She and her team went the extra mile to make sure we had an amazing event and the results were stunning. We wanted a beach wedding that was formal and elegant and were very nervous about finding a planner in Key West that could pull it off, but Kate and her team completely delivered. The small touches and attention she pays to aesthetic details made all the difference. I think all of our 80 guests commented on how beautiful and well executed the wedding was. My only negative comment is that as an anal retentive control freak I was sometimes stressed out in the weeks before the wedding by our communication or lack thereof, but once we got down to Key West the week of, everything went perfectly and it was clear that Kate was on top of it. If you are looking to have a "real" wedding in Key West and want it to be beautiful and memorable, I would absolutely recommend Kate.

Kate and her Happily Ever After Team exceeded all of our expectations! Kate was able to take everything, I mean EVERYTHING that I threw at her and make sense of it all. Having complete faith in Kate and her team, Andy and I were both completely calm and relaxed the whole time we were in Key West and on our Wedding Day, we had no worries at all! Having Kate allowed us to enjoy our family and friends that made to journey! Andy and I are already talking about a 5 year anniversary party to do it all over again....of course with Kate!

Happily Ever After was the best! They are young, fresh, professional and fun!
I would use them again for any big even and pass along their information to anyone planning an event!

Kate and her team did an excellent job. There was so much that went on behind the scenes that she kept me from worrying about the day of. I.e. the rain that loomed over our wedding day and the many changes in plans. It was so nice having them there for the whole weekend, from beginning to end they were involved every step of the way. They made sure we ate at our events, were on time for everything, and were able to enjoy our guests. They even brought our favorite foods to our room at the end of the night. You guys did a great job and although we won't be needing another wedding planner :), we will highly recommend you all to any one heading your way for a wedding!

Kate and the staff at Happily Ever After Weddings were a pleasure to work with. We live in Miami and were unable to be in Key West as much as we would have liked to during the wedding planning process. It was a very comforting feeling for us to know that we had Kate and her staff working for us. They had many connections in Key West that came in very handy and were able to assist us with any special requests that we had. On our wedding day Mother Nature tried to throw a wrench in our plans but Kate and her staff did an amazing job of making sure everything worked out just as we had wanted and they were also able to make some last minute adjustments to work around the weather.

Overall all the guests, as well as myself and bride, were thrilled with the way things turned out, and that is all that really matters.

I would highly recommennd Happily Ever After Weddings to anyone who is interested in a Key West Wedding.

Thank you again to Kate and her staff!

Kate and her staff at Happily Ever After were so helpful and wonderful! It was definitely a benefit to have them help coordinate the wedding and provide so much assistance and great ideas! Things were much less stressful with their help! We had the best time of our lives!

Kate envisioned and executed EXACTLY what we wanted and so much more!! She also saved us a lot of money and time! She was very personable and accomodating considering she was ver busy. Highly recommended!

We hired Kate to plan our Key West wedding. Right after she recieved the signed contract and deposit, she was horrible with communication. All she ever provided us was a one day guide of vendors to interview with. After that, she never returned phone calls or emails, and when we did finally speak with her, she said she was busy and SHE set up a day and time to get back in touch with us but never did. After several failed attempts, we had no option but to fire her and plan our wedding ourselves. In that phone conversation she stated she would return our deposit but never did. BEWARE of giving her a 50% deposit. I would not recommend her. While we were planning wedding and speaking with other vendors, we were informed of numerous other couples who had the same or similar experiences with her. Again, I would not recommend her to plan your wedding! All she needed to do was to communicate, and if she did not want to do that, the next correct and professional thing would have been to be a woman of her word and return our deposit.

We planned our wedding from a distance, and Kate did a great job helping us make our day perfect!

Kate and Happily Ever After truly made our wedding day beautiful and allowed it to go off without a hitch. We were planning a Key West church wedding and outdoor reception and I was very indecisive (even switched the reception venue 2 months before the wedding) and Kate was really great about going with the changes and helping me make the final decisions. I can't complain at all about her accessibility or time spent with us as she met with us multiple times before the wedding. Her e-mail communication could be a bit slow but she experienced some server problems which is understandable. Overall it was her vision and attention to detail that allowed for a perfect day. At times I had trouble "seeing" how things would turn out but she knew what worked and what didn't and created a picturesque scene for our reception. Hiring a wedding planner is expensive, especially in Key West but for all that she does, it's worth it in the end. I would absolutely recommend her!

Kate was super wonderful. She paid so much attention to detail, helped coordinate everything to every last detail. She ensured there was no problems, anything that was not running smoothy she quickly fixed and made better. She made my wedding so beautiful and memorable. I would highly recommend her services to anyone.