A Fresh Event was everything that we wanted in our wedding planners. From the start, Jen and Rachel made us feel like they understood and cared about our vision for our wedding and also that they had the experience and ability to guide us through the process and make it happen. We were one of the many weddings that had to be pushed due to Covid, and they were incredibly helpful during that process.

Leading up to and on our big day, Rachel couldn't have been better. We knew that she had all of the details covered, and she communicated with us clearly about what was going on each step of the way. She handled our frequent and random questions easily. Our wedding day itself flowed very smoothly, and was clearly very well managed. We had several of our guests make a point of telling us just how impressive everything was - from the schedule all the way down to the small details. This can be attributed to Rachel's organization and execution. On top of everything, both Jen and Rachel were professional, courteous, fun, and a pleasure to work with. We would 10/10 recommend A Fresh Event to any couple looking for planning help.

There are quite literally no words to express how thankful we are to have had AFE by our side to plan our wedding. Jen was five steps ahead of every decision that needed to be made and her knowledge of the planning process and local vendors was immeasurably helpful. After we had already contracted all of our vendors, Jen helped us reschedule the wedding for the next year due to the pandemic with very little work on our end. Jen is not only incredibly prepared professionally, she is so fun and has become a friend throughout this process. Her excitement was genuine and we always looked forward to our catch up meetings. This is the second time our family has worked with AFE and we would recommend them to absolutely everybody. Thank you Jen and AFE!

Jen was absolutely incredible!! We hired her in February 2020 to do day of/month of planning for our July wedding, but when we had to postpone she was there for us. She helped us move all of our vendors, rebook a few new ones, and was there as we changed our plans based on state and local COVID rules multiple times. As Chicago opened up, we were able to have our dream wedding at Cafe Brauer. Jen had the whole day planned down to the minute - she’s so organized. She was well connected with our other other vendors and it was clear the whole day that she was in charge. I could ask her anything, from what time the trolley was coming to if she could help me pee in my wedding dress. She thought of every little detail because she’s clearly done this a million times. I would recommend Jen to anyone! She was a joy to work with.

I cannot say enough good things and Jen and her team! They ensured our wedding day went off without a hitch! Jen was so wonderful to work with during our entire wedding planning journey - she guided us through the process with expertise and compassion. Hiring Jen was the best wedding decision we made! My mom loved working with Jen so much, she hired her to plan my brother’s wedding!

We absolutely loved working with Jen and her team! We would have been completely lost without her. Jen’s bubbly personality was such a joy to be around and she made the planning process a breeze. We had no concerns and were able to enjoy our wedding day while she and her magical team handled everything. Jen is so fantastic, that my Maid of honor loved her so much she is using her for her wedding in November.

It’s pretty simple, if you want one of the most important days of your life to be prefect... you need Jen and her team!

We are so thankful for the AMAZING services Jen and her team provided us. We were stress-free on our wedding day and it’s because of Jen. We hired A Fresh Event to help coordinate our wedding. She was very quick to respond to our initial inquiry, listened to our needs and provided us with what we needed help with. She made sure we were completing tasks when we needed to and made herself available to help answer questions (small or big). She is so fun to work with and made the planning process enjoyable! We had a few small issues come up and Jen stepped right in and resolved them quickly. On the day of our wedding, she was by our side the entire day- making sure we ate, ensured everyone was where they needed to be, coordinated with all of our vendors and made sure we never had an empty glass throughout the evening. She had every detail taken care of in terms of who would be taking our gifts/cards home, packing up our things and sending us back to the hotel with no worries at all. Not only did she make sure we were taken care of, she made sure our families were as well. The next day as we were sitting in the airport, she sent us pictures she took throughout the day. Such a special touch! We love Jen and had such an amazing experience. Words can’t thank her enough for everything she has done for us!

Jen Henderson is the VERY best! She is the best decision we made for the entire wedding! Everyone kept warning us how stressful wedding planning was, but Jen made is manageable and truly enjoyable. If you are on the fence about a planner, just do it. You won’t regret it. Let’s start with HER. Jen is SO fun! We were so excited for our meetings with her. Her energy is contagious, and from day 1, we were confident she would help us plan a beautiful party. I’m a Type A planner (and so is my mom and husband), so initially I didn’t know if we needed a planner. However, my friends encouraged me to look into it. We interviewed 5 planners, and Jen stood out among the others. It was as if I hired a best friend to plan with. Her organization skills matched mine, and she used Google for all her planning materials which made collaboration easy. We never felt like our questions were an annoyance. She answered our emails early each morning with thorough and informative answers. (I loved seeing her name in my inbox!!) Every single vendor she recommended was top notch, and she made the selection process seamless. We honestly ended up with the A-team in my opinion. ALL of our vendors I actually wanted at the reception because they were that bubbly and fun (not to mention talented!) Another reason to hire Jen? She helped mediate a lot of our decisions. Planning can get tricky with everyone’s opinions within the family, and Jen was a great resource to get honest feedback and someone I felt comfortable sharing my personal opinions with. We are so excited to have Jen as a lifelong friend. She helped us pull off the most beautiful day, and we are forever grateful. Hire A Fresh Event!!! It’ll be the wisest decision you make!

I thought ... “I can plan my own wedding” and I’m so glad I did not listen to myself.
Jen is the prefect balance of professional and personal. She makes planning a wedding such a wonderful experience...
Communication is easy through her shared spreadsheets, her couple meetings never feel like work, and her vendor recommendations do not fail!
I’ll never forget my now husbands and I first look- it started drizzling and I turn to see Jen sprinting with two umbrellas ... she is always ahead of the game- she ensures every moment matters and is just what the couple wants.
You will share tears, laughs, and many personal emotions with your wedding planner so make sure it’s Jen... she is so genuine and honest. She is the queen of Chicago wedding planning. She is the best at what she does.

Sounds cliché ... but Jen helped me create the wedding of my dreams.

Echoing the reviews before me: I cannot say enough about Jen Henderson!! She is like your cool cousin, meets Oliva Pope. She just HANDLES things. I've been a corporate event planner for nearly 10 years in Chicago, and a promotions coordinator for a few years before that. As such, I have a very high bar when it comes to event planning and coordination, and was very worried about handing off the biggest event in my life to a stranger. Jen almost instantly became a friend, and her planning and execution blew my expectations out of the water. When the day came I didn’t worry about a thing! It was the first event I’ve ever planned where I didn’t have to worry or stress about a single thing (well, aside from my vows of course ). My *now* wife, Katherine, is my polar opposite when it comes to event planning. She's analytical and science minded, so she needed a lot more hand holding through the process. Jen was always patient, supportive, and more than willing to answer questions three or four times if need be. Jen has the personality, passion, and organization skills every wedding planner should have. Seriously, if you can book her, do it now! Don't wait!

I simply do not know where to begin with Jen & Michelle!! These two humans are the most caring, organized, ahead-of-the-game people my wife and I have ever met in my life! From day one upon meeting with them, they were taking care of things that we didn't even know needed addressing. This continued through the big day! Jen and Michelle were in constant contact with our venue, the florist, the hotels, the caterer, the limo service, and were always one step ahead of us! They created amazingly detailed timelines, walked us through ideas, organized meetings, phone calls, and negotiated prices on our behalf and without us ever having to ask first!! I could go on with more examples, such as emailing the hotel that the bridal suite needed chairs, extra full-length mirrors, valet services, gave the hotel a list of vendors that needed room access, etc.... Did we know we needed to do ANY of this? No. Did Jen take care of it before we even had to stress about it? Yes. If that's the one thing you take away from this review, then it should be that. You will not even know things need to be done, and Jen will have them done already. If anything isn't to your liking, she will take care of it. If you have a question because your dad won't stop bugging you with questions, she'll answer it AND address any additional questions he has. From the second we hired them, we could breathe again. A load had been lifted from our shoulders, as they took over the whole planning process. I do want to be crystal clear and state that they never ONCE made us feel like we weren't in control. They simply acted on our behalf. After we hired Jen, I could see the difference the most in my wife, she was back to being her normal friendly, bubbly persona, she became herself again. For you and your partner's personal sanity, PLEASE hire A Fresh Event, you will thank yourself for the rest of your life!! Every single time we emailed Jen about ANYTHING during the 8 weeks leading up to the wedding, she had already taken care of it. Any time we told her "Ok we have to talk to ______ and get back to you" she would volunteer to contact them herself and do the work for us. I can't put into words how incredible the feeling of safety is that Jen & Michelle give you and your partner. They never once left us wanting for more, they never once let us drown, and they never once let any hiccups get in the way of our special day!! (My favorite LOL memory might still be Michelle standing behind our sub-par DJ for nearly the entire reception to ensure he did NOTHING without her explicit approval) Jen and Michelle were truly THE deciding factor to whether or not we were going to have a good wedding vs an UNFORGETTABLE wedding!! I can not thank them enough for the hours of work they put in, and absolute gargantuan undertaking they performed for us! Jen & Michelle you two are an incredible team, and one that we can only hope continues to help thousands of other couples to have the wedding of their dreams!