Leah Stewart from Black Dog Affairs is an absolute gem! Hiring her was the best decision we made when beginning our wedding planning process back in July 2019. Within the first minutes we met her, she shared with us that she wants to build a sanctuary of love for her clients. We knew at that moment that Leah was the perfect wedding planner for us! We had the intention of getting married in July 2020, but the pandemic changed our plans. Leah helped us transition everything seamlessly to July 2021, and our wedding was an absolute dream. Leah is very easy to talk to and is amazing at communicating with the couples she is working with. She has so many connections to vendors in Vermont and helped set us up with the ones that would help carry out our dream wedding. She did an amazing job at reaching out to our vendors and coordinated what needs to happen for the big day. She took a lot off our plate and allowed us to enjoy the joys of being engaged. On the day of our wedding, Leah made sure everything was in place and all we needed to do was show up and enjoy our special day. Most importantly, Leah is a friendly, patient, and kind person. Anyone who has Leah with them on their wedding day will be in amazing hands!

Our daughter and son-in-law have a farm on an island in Lake Champlain. Their dream was to have a DIY kind of wedding on their land, featuring their pasture-raised pork and hosting some 180 guests from all over the country. Given their hectic lives, the mother and father of the bride felt we needed help to pull off such an event successfully. After considerable research, we chose Jackie and Leah of Black Dog Affairs to help us. Initially, they advised us on some of the big decisions like the tent rental and the photographer, but as the wedding date drew near, they also became very proactive in asking the questions we needed to answer about all the little details of the wedding. At the same time, they were fielding all kinds of questions both from us and the wedding couple, doing the research that no one had the time to do, e.g., lighting a walking path through a rugged farm field, sprucing up a bunch of portable toilets, etc. With their experience and expertise, we arrived at the wedding date confident that every detail was covered, and we all could thoroughly enjoy ourselves. That is exactly what happened. Leah and Jackie worked tirelessly and quietly “behind the scenes” so that everything was perfect—the arrangement of the tables, the display of flowers, and the guest book. Also we had a slideshow to present and setting that up in a remote tent was tricky. Luckily, Jackie confidently claimed “I got this” and sure enough, the show went off without a hitch.
Many of us only host one or two weddings in our lifetimes. Most of us learn what works from trial and error. Hiring Jackie and Leah brought their experience and expertise to the table, and that, in turn, enabled us to relax and really enjoy the days leading up to the wedding and the wedding itself. We are most grateful! Thanks again, Jackie and Leah!!!

Jackie and Leah were a fantastic resource during the entire planning process, and invaluable during the weekend of the event. They really made things run smoothly so we could enjoy the big day with our guests. They were amazing!

Leah and Jackie were nothing short of outstanding throughout the entire wedding planning and event process. We love them. They are knowledgeable, attentive, helpful, supportive, and are just absolutely wonderful people that genuinely wanted to give us the perfect wedding that they possibly could. And they certainly succeeded. Their design for our venues for the rehearsal dinner and reception were absolutely stunning (and to be honest, this is not something I particularly cared much about but was supremely impressed and grateful once I saw it). We truly feel that we had the perfect wedding and we attribute all of this to them. They also clearly had a great rapport with all of our many vendors, which also helped to make the experience and day of completely stress free and way more fun. Could not recommend them more. Simply the best. And, as a groom who wasn't as involved, I think that's saying something.

We spent a lot of time finding the right caterer, the right linens and chairs vendor, the right band, the right fancy porta-potties for our outdoor Vermont wedding. As the date approached, however, we realized just how many moving parts our wedding would involve and we panicked we would be so busy coordinating we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the day. Then one last search: wedding day coordinators. Thankfully, we quickly found Leah and Black Dog Affairs. Even though we were arranging the wedding while out of state, Leah patiently worked with us initially by phone and then in person to create a to-the-minute schedule for our wedding day. Always with a smile on her face, Leah learned what was important to us and created a behind-the-scenes choreography that allowed our day to unfold exactly as planned, without looking planned. Leah allowed us to be ourselves and to spend time with our guests rather than worrying where the BBQ smoker would go or where the tip envelopes were. In shouldering the burden of stage managing our wedding, Leah actually gave us our wedding. We will always be grateful for that gift!

Our advice? If you are booking an important event and Leah and Black Dog Affairs are available, HIRE THEM. If they are not available, MOVE YOUR DATE.

Glenn and Craig

We hired Black Dog Affairs and worked with Leah for our day of coordinator. We had a lot of crazy logistics with our wedding have so many components of different locations, etc and Leah was on top of everything and made it al happen! We were so thrilled with how the entire day unfolded and we really could not have done it without her help.

Jackie and Leah are amazing, what a power duo!

Thanks to these two ladies I had the wedding of my dreams last October! I was no cookie cutter bride.. I had them finding me ferris wheels, elvis impersonators and fire breathers (just to name a few) and they did that and so so much more.

On the day of our wedding they were absolutely indispensable - everything flowed so nicely even though there were so many moving parts. We couldn't have done it without you guys, thanks again for a dream day. XOXO

Leah and Jackie were with me every step of the way when planning my non-traditional wedding. From our first phone conversations I said I wanted to do things differently, without a bridal party and a small ceremony but a big party with no sit down dinner. Every crazy decision I made they were right there with suggestions and kept my idea alive! We found them early on when we couldn't find a venue close enough to Burlington to fit our guest list and accommodate my wants (no ugly ballroom rug & close to Burlington) with my mom's need for AC (aka Barn's were out!) From day one of meeting, they showed us so many amazing venues we had to create a pro's and con's list over a glass of wine to narrow it down. With their guidance we went on to plan my dream wedding for the next 11 months including weekly phone calls, countless emails and my pinterest ideas being sent their way (which they can absolutely make come to life). Black dog has great relationships with local vendors and was able to point us in the right direction at every decision leading up to the big weekend, all of our other vendors were excited to work with Black Dog for our big day. At our ceremony & reception events, they were amazing, I didn't have to think about one thing, I got to enjoy every minute because they were there bringing it all to life. I already miss my weekly calls with them!

AMAZING!!!! I highly recommend working with these amazing ladies! They were so helpful throughout my whole planning process I couldn't have asked for a better experience!

Leah and Jackie were my A-team! I had just moved from my home in Vermont to NYC and that took up so much energy that by the time I got around to wedding planning I only had 4 months left (with 200+ guests invited)! They were super friendly, fun, and understanding when I was overwhelmed with emotion and stress. They also knew how to get down to business without being overbearing or controlling. Jackie & Leah were well connected locally and were able to pull some vendors in at the last minute. During the wedding they were on point and in charge at the same time as blending right in. Our parents and guests loved them too. Once it was all over I was sad to say goodbye to our regular chats and planning sessions! I encourage you to work with Black Dog Affairs and to hire them right from the start like I wish I had!