Hiring Jessica Brown from Simply Chic Events was probably the best (and arguably the most important) decision we made during the wedding process. Planning a DC wedding while living in Boston would have been impossible had it not been for Jessica's expertise and invaluable help.

We hired Jessica Brown as our wedding planner, and she was simply amazing! She made the whole process much easier and manageable for us. Jessica put in the time and effort to get to know us--our style, our vision for the wedding, and our budget. She totally got us! And because she knew exactly what we were looking for, she was able to narrow down options to a few manageable choices. Jessica made it easy for us to choose our vendors and our design elements because she sifted out the best people/options for us. This goes for everything from finding a venue, to picking a photographer, catering service, floral designers, wedding party attire, cake, print materials, etc.

Staying within our budget was very important to us, and Jessica was very respectful of that. She helped us get great discounts, and she also proactively searched for better deals on our behalf. Even when we were slow to making a decision on things (or sometimes changing our minds), Jessica was always understanding and helpful.

Our wedding turned out to be better than we ever imagined!! It was beautiful, SUPER FUN, and stress-free (Jessica was there to make sure everything ran smoothly). We couldn't have done it without Jessica's help. She was easy to talk to, easily accessible, and always there for us! We strongly recommend her for anyone's wedding!

If I could give her a 10 out of 5 I would Jamie Sears and her team - Kate and Alexa - are MAGNIFICENT! Jamie worked with us for over a year planning the wedding of our dreams and I can't begin to describe how easy to work with, organized and fun she is to be around. Her attention to detail and ability to think ahead really helped us plan the day of our dreams. I cant imagine planning this without her and am SO grateful for all of her hard work!!! I have recommended her to friends and will continue. She is the BEST in DC!

Jamie and her assistant Claire managed to make my wedding day perfect -- despite the fact that Hurricane Irene crashed the party. Everything went off without a hitch, and I managed to stay calm because I knew Jamie and Claire had everything under control. Jamie and Claire provided me with an amazing piece of mind throughout the process and were fabulous sounding boards to have -- not to mention they are extremly pleasant ladies to be around. Highly recommended. Thank you Simply Chic Events!

My fiancé (now husband) and I both suffer from a disorder known as “type A personality”:) In fact, two months after we got engaged (and 13 months before the actual wedding) my fiancé had already visited 17 venues, I had spotted and scheduled interviews with 9 of the top photographers in the DC area, my fiancé had reached out to 14 caterers for proposals and I had spoken with 5 florists regarding flower arrangements.

As a result, we were not really sure we would need a planner; however, in order to confirm that we were on the right path in our vendor selection, I decided to take a look at the best wedding planners in the DC area and see what they had to say about our initial selection. After a thorough search I narrowed my list to 11 planners and set up interviews with each of them.

During my first in-person meeting with Jessica I found her to be extraordinarily peaceful, which was so comforting to a worried bride. Jessica was very professional, but still managed to be very warm. When we asked her opinion about the vendors we had already interviews or spotted, Jessica was able to give us invaluable feedback and confirm some of our initial feelings. That’s mainly due to the fact that Jessica has worked with some of the most popular vendors in the area. When I shared with Jessica my vision/wedding theme, she immediately grasped the concept and was able to guide me in the right direction. In fact, she sent me several inspirational boards to help me. She amazed my fiancé and I as she started to answer (with precision and examples to support her answers), all the critical questions my fiancé and I asked her regarding specific logistical details. Clearly, Jessica had many years of experience in the field and her precise answers highlighted that fact.

During the months to follow, Jessica proved to be invaluable and different from the rest of the planners I had interviewed or my friends had worked with because she went WELL above and beyond of what is required to put the wedding together. For example, my fiancé and I work in DC and many of our vendors were located in VA (in areas that are not metro accessible). Jessica met us in DC on several occasion to drive in rush hour traffic to take us meet our vendors.

Also, two days before for the wedding, she came to my house to pick up items necessary for Persian ceremony. This is something that we would have expected the professional company we had hired to help us do, but since there were not flexible, Jessica took it upon herself to get that done as well.

One of the many things i love about Jessica is her responsive. She responded to every of my many emails promptly. I would get emails from her at 12:45am on a Saturday evening after she had returned home from working at a wedding all day. The woman is dedicated:)

The two weeks before the wedding were incredibly stressful and it was at this point that Jessica really proved her worth. Jessica handled the final details that would otherwise make the weeks before the wedding totally overwhelming. She confirmed all of our vendors, made sure that they were paid, and put together a detailed schedule/timeline so that everything ran like clockwork. Every little detail was in place four days before the wedding so I was able to relax and enjoy my time with friends and family.

On my wedding day, as I was getting ready in my hotel suit with my bridesmaids and family, Jessica came through to door to check on me on last time and it’s at that moment that I realized that 15 months ago I had hired a planner, but on that specific July day, I had gained a friend. I saw in her that same peaceful demeanor that I had noticed in her during our first meeting and once again I was comforted and reassured and I knew I was in good hands. And I really was! My wedding was amazing!

To all my beautiful brides, if you are undecided as to whether to hire a wedding planner, treat yourselves to the best wedding gift possible: hire the best planner, Jessica Brown. To all the grooms, if you want your bride to enjoy the planning process without driving you insane, invest in Jessica Brown:)

Kate Harlan of Simply Chic Events was wonderful to work with from the start -- we were able to craft our own package for Kate help us as our "day of" coordinator and also to help with decor. Kate had wonderful recommendations for our other vendors, and good relationships with other people in the industry, which gave us great peace of mind.

Kate had original and creative ideas for every part of our wedding decor. She was constantly coming up with great ideas throughout the process, and was always very respectful of our budget. She understood what we were looking for even when we could not articulate it ourselves! She was willing to over-analyze every detail with me - which the groom really appreciated! The end product was totally unique wedding decor, and we got countless compliments on our wedding decorations.

Kate Harlan was also excellent on the wedding day. She provided us with an extremely detailed timeline for the entire wedding weekend and made sure we were always right on schedule - and always with a smile! Everything on our big day went perfectly and we never had to worry once about making sure everything, and everyone, was in the right place.

Kate was always responsive, detail-oriented, inventive, and (most importantly) fun! She really is the kind of person that you will want helping you on your big day. No matter how hectic things got she was always calming and fun to be around. She could not have been more enjoyable to work with, and we ended up feeling that Kate provided incredible value; we would hire her again in a second, and recommend her strongly. We only wish we could find some way for Kate Harlan to plan our entire life!

Kate Harlan from Simply Chic was our wedding planner. Its hard for me to describe how wonderful she was. During our 6-month engagement, my fiance and I both had intense jobs and limited time for wedding planning. But I really wanted the wedding to be outdoors, rustic, and unique - not the same cookie-cutter wedding we'd been to many times before. Kate worked tirelessly to make that happen, and it did -- the wedding was perfect.

Kate is extremely organized, has impeccable taste, works around the clock, is always cheerful and responsive, and never, ever lets anything slide through the cracks. She goes WELL above and beyond the basics of what's required to put the wedding together. For example, she surprised me at the wedding with ribbons everywhere and an adorable cake-topper as gifts. She found the perfect cufflinks for my husband. When my grandmother started to feel ill during the ceremony, Kate spotted it and was right there with a glucose pill, water, and snacks. When my mother-in-law wanted a last-minute hair-dresser, Kate made it happen. She lent us her own parasols, mason jars, etc, etc, for the wedding. She was at the venue from 7am until after midnight for the 3 days before the wedding, and from 7am - 2am on the wedding night, just making sure everything was in order. When it started to rain during our ceremony, Kate had a back-up plan ready- no one got soaked, everyone had a great time, and I didn't worry at all.

The list goes on and on. Obviously I would have been lost without her. I have never been more impressed by someone I worked with. If you are planning a wedding in the D.C. area and need a little help, hire Kate Harlan.

Kate Harlan is a miracle.

Wedding vendor reviews seem to come in two flavors: it's either "my vendor was good and I had the best wedding": 5/5 for everything; or "my vendor was the worst": 0/5 for everything. That doesn't seem especially useful, so I am staying away from that sort of thing.

I gave Kate 5/5 in every single category above, however, because she actually deserves it on each unique dimension. Every single one. She is the only vendor we had for whom that is true, and I bet if we got married 10 times, it wouldn't happen again.

If you have already decided to hire a wedding planner: hire Kate Harlan. If you are undecided as to whether to hire a wedding planner: it will be the best value-for-money decision of your entire wedding to hire Kate Harlan.

We were already crazy about Kate during the lead up to the wedding. She made prepping for the wedding into an easy, color-by-numbers experience. She had a process, so we didn't need to reinvent the wheel. I cannot overstate how nice that is. She responded to emails at all hours of the day and night, she never lost her cool, she always had good ideas. If we changed our minds, she immediately shifted to make it happen. Weeks before the wedding, we were telling everyone we knew to hire her. It only got better.

When it came time for the wedding weekend itself, she just completely blew us away. When things went to plan, Kate added huge value by making our wedding special. Coming up with little personalizing details without creating any work for us. Running point with all the vendors. When we had questions, she knew the answers, but she was never overbearing. She wanted it to be the wedding that we wanted it to be, and because she's talented and extremely hard-working, we all got exactly that. Again, having Kate around actually let us enjoy our wedding day.

And when things didn't go to plan, Kate saved the day. It rained, she had poise and a contingency plan, and we weathered the storm. It's all well and good now to say that the rain only brought people together. But without Kate, we would have just had a bunch of wet, unfed, impatient guests. That would have been worse.

She is creative, thoughtful, and hugely responsive. She cares deeply about the people getting married and the weddings she plans. Hire Kate Harlan. You will stay sane during the planning, you will have fun at the wedding, and you will spend the week after your wedding (thus far) hearing about how much people loved all the various things you (read: Kate) did to make your wedding unique.

Dearest Jessica,

Several months later, we are still receiving compliments from family and guest who attended Julia and Jason's wedding and reception. To set the tone for this letter it is fitting to being with quotes from our guests:

*Comparisons to the latest issue of Martha Stewart's Wedding Magazine, friend and family said, "they saw nothing that compared to Julia's beautiful wedding and reception."
*For our guests, the definition of a beautiful wedding/reception has been raised to a new level. "Julia's and Jason's wedding/reception is the event by which future weddings will be measured."
*"Most importantly, Julia and Jason have memories of a happy and beautiful wedding day, which serves as a wonderful beginning for their life together."

The day my lovely Julia announced her engagement and asked me to plan her wedding, I could not have been more pleased. Once I listed all the program activities, it was more than apparent we needed a wedding planner who had direct access to and experience with highly competent wedding purveyors. Thus, began my search for a wedding planner that has the temperament to:

*appreciate the sweetness and sensitivity of Julia and
*work with me, a business executive, whose focus was to ensure that if there were to be tears for Julia on her wedding day, they would be tears of overwhelming joy and happiness ant not from disappointment.

So began the interviews. While all wedding planner interviewed were capable of executing a memorable wedding, you, Jessica were the planner that genuinely displayed not only sensitivity to Julia, but also a understanding of the wedding we desired. You:

*were always available and accessible to us and our many quesitons.
*provided practical input into our decisions.
*were transparent in all communications.
*introduced us to highly creative and talented purveyors, ie., florists, caterers, musicians, graphic artists, etc.

Several months later, we and are guests are still baking in the joy and happiness of Julia and Jason's wedding. No doubt, years from now, Julia, Jason, and our family will still be as happy with the outcome of their wedding as we are today. Both the wedding and reception were elegant and beautiful and a stunning success.

Jamie Sears was the glue that held my wedding together! When we were in the early planning stages we were on the fence about hiring a planner. Many of the major decisions had already been made (venues, caterer, florist, photographer). In addition, my mother, my (now) husband and I tend toward the "control freak" side of the personality spectrum. So there was some concern than a planner would up the tensions by making people feel like they were being shut out of the process. In the end we decided to hire Jamie for partial planning, and I am so glad we did. To be totally honest, there was a phase in our planning when weren't sure that we needed Jamie. There wasn't much "day to day" work for her to do and I was so indecisive (other than knowing what I didn't want) that she wasn't able to help me much. Also, she gives her brides her full attention in the days and weeks leading up to the wedding, which means that she gets very busy in high season. As a result, she was at times a bit slow to respond to emails, mostly when we were early in the process. But once I finally settled on my vision for the wedding and we got closer to the big day, Jamie sprung into action and made me feel like we were her only clients. She even drove to Pennsylvania to meet with my florist and help me communicate my ideas. The two months before the wedding were incredibly stressful and it was at this point that Jamie really proved her worth. I made a major error with our hotel blocks. We called Jamie and the problem was solved within a few hours. I was upset over a bad hair and make-up trial. Jamie found me a new vendor (KPN) who was fabulous and who could meet me the next day. We had complicated transportation needs and Jamie set up a schedule that worked flawlessly, even when we decided to make a change at the last minute. Every crisis was handled quickly and calmly. I felt so comfortable on my wedding day because I knew that things would run smoothly and that Jamie would take care of anything that came up. The biggest benefit to working with Jamie is that she handles the final details that would otherwise make the weeks before the wedding totally overwhelming. She confirmed all of our vendors, made sure that they were paid, and put together a ridiculously detailed schedule so that everything ran like clockwork. Every little detail was in place four days before the wedding so I was able to relax and enjoy my time with friends and family. I really can't say enough good things about Jamie Sears. She seems to be an emerging planner in the area so she is still building relationships and growing her team. But unlike some of the bigger companies she will make you feel like you're working with a friend and not just a vendor.

Jamie was simply a phenomenal wedding planner to have. If you have the good fortune to get to hire her, you will end up with someone you can trust to help you make the right choices on vendors, style, and budget. I couldn't recommend Jamie and her staff any higher. They made my wedding the best day of my life so far and I didn't have to worry about anything the day that it happened. Along the road of planning with her, when there were any problems, Jamie was responsive and available to solve the issue. Her timeline for the day of the wedding really made sure that we were set up for success and a smooth day without being rushed through the different rituals of the day, photos and other activities. Jamie is also a wonderful person and you will enjoy having her as your friend during the process of planning the wedding. She is attentive to the little details that can make the day and the photos all the more special. I just couldn't recommend Simply Chic Events any higher.

Sad and disappointed. Decided to hire a planner to assist managing the vendors previously hired by myself directly and for the few vendors remaining to hire as well as possible vendor price favoring. WRONG.

Unresponsive to vendors that I had directly hired. Unresponsive to my inquires. Would receive "unlimited emails" from our planner maybe every two weeks when we did receive responses to our questions, we would receive numerous emails in one day. Not receptive to my odd hours as I work in a hospital. Example: wedding reception was held in Old Town, Alexandria. Had a question the week before the wedding regarding a last minute vendor recommendation in Old Town. Planner responded to my email that she was not familiar with Old Town and would not be able to help me. So many things wrong with that response - especially when the 1 of the only 2 vendors she did recommend to us and that we hired was also located in Old Town. What upset us was that she emailed us earlier that same day with our final invoice. Which was dated 3 weeks earlier and in the body of the email kindly informed us that she had waved the late fee. Like we would not notice the date on the invoice and the date she actually got around to sending it to us.

Our wedding may have been to small for her for her to even pay attention to us. I do know that she was more "visible" on our wedding day than she was during the entire process. Upsetting as she is many of the reception photos. Standing...

Jessica was very organized and disipilined in her approach. We had an international wedding with guests coming from all over the world, the groom in Germany, bride in Bulgaria and guests coming from all over. She negotiated well with vendors and assisted in making arrangments for international guests. She had to deal with two different bosses and deftly managed to make us both happy. She really excelled on incorporating international touches on wedding day and put up with late or last minute decisions while smoothing it over with the vendors. The people she recommended and especially the food preparation were superb. Jessica's people skills and sensitivity to competing demands were very admirable. I would highly recommend her.

Jessica Brown was a godsend on our wedding day! She went above and beyond on our wedding day- when my escort card idea fell through, she not only came up with a solution, but she put them together and arranged them beautifully and I didn't have to worry about a thing. I barely saw her during the reception because she was so busy behind the scenes making sure everything was perfect. My husband and I got to enjoy our day without worrying about anything except having a good time and trying to take it all in. My family and friends were also able to sit back and have a good time and not worry about running around because Jessica was taking care of it. I would not have been able to enjoy my day if I didn't have Jessica there.
Before our wedding she was exteremly organized and thought of all of the details that I missed. She reached out to all of my vendors and they were able to go to her on the big day with any questions or concerns. She helped me chose vendors and worked up a timeline, making sure my vision came first. I would highly recommend Jessica to other brides- she's so easy to work with and is great with coordinating even with the difficult and special vendors. Thanks a million Jess!!!

I worked with Jessica Brown at Simply Chic Events. She provided me with wonderful insight and direction when needed and was very professional in implementing our ideas for our wedding ceremony and reception.

I couldn't have been more pleased with Jamie Sears and Simply Chic Events. Jamie provided the perfect blend of advice, creativity, support and "letting me do my own thing!" Jamie was incredibly responsive and even came back a day early from a trip to attend our meeting with the florist. On the day of the wedding, Jamie made sure everything was organized and running smoothly. I literally didn't have to worry about a thing! As a self-admitted "Type-A" personality, I thought it would be difficult to relinquish control to someone else, but Jamie was exceptional!

Jamie is amazing! Simply put, I could not have done it without her. She is great and a real joy to work with. She is incredibly organized, which was so helpful in planning the wedding and of course the weeks and days leading up to it. Unlike most brides who I've heard stress about the wedding - I didn't have to because everything was under control and taken care of thanks to Jamie. Jamie was great about responding to emails and any questions that I had. I loved knowing that I could ask her anything from "I know nothing about flowers" to "what do you think about this song." Hiring Jamie was one of my best decisions ever!