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Weddings

About

Blue Sapphire Events is a full-service event and wedding planning company based out of Arlington, Virginia. Blue Sapphire Events specializes in custom curated events to match each couples unique love story. We love incorporating personal details and fun experiences to make every wedding one-of-a-kind, memorable, and personal. We love beautiful design but our goal above all else is orchestrating the moments our couples will remember for the rest of their lives.

Experience
Kolena Thomas, the Owner & Lead Wedding Planner at Blue Sapphire Events has over a decade of experience planning events. She has executed a wide range of events in varying design aesthetics, logistical complexity, and price points. She has experience designing and building events from the ground level. Kolena specializes in logistics and the event experience; her goal is to always create events that are seamless and leave a lasting impression.

Services Offered
Blue Sapphire Events offers full wedding planning services and day of management services. We also love creating other special events including: birthday parties, rehearsal dinners, anniversary parties, and all other social affairs.

We love what we do and we'd love to hear how we can make your special day everything you've always dreamed of!

  • Woman-owned
illustration popular

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Frequently asked questions

What is the starting price for day-of wedding coordination?

$4,000

What is the starting price for full wedding planning?

$10,000

Do you offer an hourly rate?

No

What wedding events do you provide services for?

Ceremony
Reception
Rehearsal Dinner

What wedding planning services do you offer?

Day-of Coordination
Full Planning

What weddings do you have experience planning?

Civil
Cultural
Destination
Elopement
Eco-Friendly
Military
Non-Religious
Religious

Reviews of Blue Sapphire Events

This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

Review summary

Powered by AI

Blue Sapphire Events, led by Kolena Thomas, receives glowing reviews for their exceptional wedding planning services. Kolena is praised for her organizational skills, attention to detail, finance-focused approach, and design talent. She is described as calm, professional, and responsive, handling every aspect of the planning process seamlessly. Clients appreciated her ability to anticipate needs, guide vendor selection, and execute weddings flawlessly, ensuring a stress-free and beautiful experience. Kolena's expertise, professionalism, and dedication to exceeding expectations make Blue Sapphire Events highly recommended for couples seeking a seamless and memorable wedding day.

Review summary

Powered by AI
This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

Blue Sapphire Events, led by Kolena Thomas, receives glowing reviews for their exceptional wedding planning services. Kolena is praised for her organizational skills, attention to detail, finance-focused approach, and design talent. She is described as calm, professional, and responsive, handling every aspect of the planning process seamlessly. Clients appreciated her ability to anticipate needs, guide vendor selection, and execute weddings flawlessly, ensuring a stress-free and beautiful experience. Kolena's expertise, professionalism, and dedication to exceeding expectations make Blue Sapphire Events highly recommended for couples seeking a seamless and memorable wedding day.

J
John Sent on 01/21/2026
5 out of 5 rating

Look no further - Blue Sapphire Events is the best!

We are so incredibly grateful for Kolena Thomas and Blue Sapphire Events! From the very beginning, Kolena brought a sense of calm, organization, and genuine care that made the entire wedding‑planning process not only stress‑free, but actually enjoyable.

Our wedding day was everything we hoped for and more — beautifully coordinated, perfectly timed, and truly reflective of who we are as a couple. From our personal vows to the heartfelt speeches, Kolena ensured every moment flowed seamlessly. Guests kept telling us how smooth and well‑run the entire day felt, and that is completely thanks to her.

Kolena is warm, professional, responsive, and incredibly detail‑oriented. She anticipated needs before we even realized them, handled every moving part with ease, and made us feel supported from the first meeting through the final send‑off. Choosing her as our planner was one of the best decisions we made.

We cannot recommend Blue Sapphire Events highly enough. Kolena made our planning journey joyful and our wedding day unforgettable!
Anne
Anne Sent on 12/15/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Hire Kolena!

I cannot say enough good things about our experience working with Kolena. We partnered with her for full-service planning, and it was the best decision we made for our wedding. Kolena is professional, organized, and very responsive. The first time we spoke to her, she already knew what time the sun set on the day of our wedding and was working backwards on a timeline. We were sold!!

Her finance-focused style was exactly what we were looking for. She is calm and just knows her stuff. I found myself asking her "...what do normal people do?" and she had such helpful, non-baloney answers for me.

She is also incredibly talented at design (and thank God, because I am not). Our tables were beautiful, but she also found smart ways to keep costs down, such as only renting more intricate linens for one-third of our tables.

Stop looking and hire her! Best money we spent, hands down.
Rachel
Rachel Sent on 11/11/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Kolena was the best money we spent!

Planning a wedding from halfway across the world would not have been possible without Kolena and she really showed us what a difference a good planner can make for your wedding. Our priority was to make things simple and easy for guests, and we chose Kolena because her approach aligned with that goal.
From the beginning, she really helped make the vendor selection process easy and, as someone who frequently gets overwhelmed by choices, it gave us peace of mind knowing someone in the industry had experience with and could vouch for the various vendors we considered. Kolena also helped us make tradeoffs to get what we really wanted for our wedding and cut costs where we could to stay within our budget range. We both felt really relaxed throughout the whole planning process, most often asking if there was anything more we should be doing but Kolena always had everything handled (even with an 8+ hour time difference!).

Kolena also has a great eye for design and attention to detail. We got so many compliments from guests on how beautiful our wedding details were - it was all thanks to her.

We really realized how amazing Kolena was at her job the day after our wedding, when we were reflecting on the best parts of the day. Our Wedding day went smoothly, and Kolena took care of all of the small details that we might not have thought of. Catering staff followed us around cocktail hour to ensure we got to eat plenty of the food we'd selected. The polaroid cameras we used for our guestbook were never out of film. We had not asked for any of these things and yet Kolena made it all happen. Kolena allowed us to soak in our special day and we did not have to worry about a thing because we knew she was on top of it. Cannot recommend her enough!
Sarah
Sarah Sent on 07/21/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Professional, Patient, and Invaluable: Kolena Was Amazing

We had the absolute pleasure of working with Kolena and Blue Sapphire Events as our wedding coordinator, and we couldn’t be more grateful for her support. She was incredibly knowledgeable and brought a wealth of experience to the planning process. Kolena offered so many practical tips and helpful recommendations that made a real difference, and her calm, professional demeanor helped everything run smoothly.

What really stood out was her patience and attention to detail. She always took the time to listen to our questions and concerns and guided us through every step with kindness and confidence.

We would highly recommend Kolena to anyone planning a wedding. She’s a true professional and a joy to work with.
M
Madalyn Sent on 06/02/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Kolena Crushes It

Hiring Kolena was hands down the best decision we made while planning our wedding. From day one, she was organized, calm and incredibly responsive, somehow always five steps ahead of everything. I'm a "type A, control freak" bride, and trust when I tell you she managed everything far better than I ever could. I truly mean it. Kolena listened carefully to our vision, brought creative ideas to the table (literally), and worked tirelessly to make sure every single detail was perfect. She has a fantastic team of vendors she recommends, which when you're just starting off can seem impossible to navigate on your own, and yet it was so smooth with Kolena's help.

On our wedding day, we didn't have to think about a thing. She handled it all with such grace and professionalism that we were able to be completely present and soaking in all the love of our friends and family, without a single care about what needed to be done next. Our day was seamless, stunning and so full of love, and that is entirely thanks to her. My mother and mother-in-law couldn't stop raving about her, we honestly cannot imagine what we would have done without her.

If you're lucky enough to book her, know that you'll be in the absolute best hands. She didn't just help plan our wedding, she made magic happen.Thank you SO MUCH, Kolena. You are such a blessing.
A
Amy P. Sent on 12/30/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Kolena Makes Dreams Come True

When we first meet with I Kolena we told her our vision was an elevated dinner party that incorporated Nigerian elements as my husband is Igbo. It was a hard task that required so many details, planning, patience, and flexibility. Kolena delivered on all fronts. She was our calm within the storm. She has a wonderful network of venders that were perfect and reasonably priced and made our vision truly come to life. My number one item I wanted was a floral installation above the dance floor. Kolena and her team brought my vision to life and it was gorgeous. She ensured Nigerian elements were incorporated into the big day and my husbands family and friends were so surprised and happy that we were able to meld both cultures into one day. From the bottom of our hearts Kolena, thank you for making our dream wedding possible. You truly make dreams come true! - Amy & Steven
Catherine
Catherine Sent on 12/17/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Best Decision!

Kolena was our best vendor! She was knowledgeable, professional, and exceptionally helpful when we needed to find other vendors for our big day. On the day of our wedding, we had peace of mind knowing that everything was taken care of by her and her staff! We highly recommend her as a wedding coordinator / planner!
C
Caroline Sent on 11/29/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Fantastic wedding planner!

We hired Kolena for full service wedding planning and she was very easy to work with from start to finish. She's highly organized, efficient, professional, hard-working, and responsive. She has a calm presence, which is so important during such a stressful time! She really listened to what we wanted and was patient when we changed our minds. She knew how to navigate family/relatives during the planning process and on the day of. She is very budget-focused and helped us come in under budget without feeling like we had to cut a lot of corners. While we still had to review contracts and things closely and were very involved in all the style decisions, it was clear to us that hiring Kolena was the best money spent in the entire wedding budget.
E
Emily Sent on 11/27/2024
5 out of 5 rating

The best!!

I can't say enough positive things about Kolena! She was incredibly helpful, organized, and truly went above and beyond to make our wedding day perfect. From the very beginning, she listened to our vision and brought it to life with such attention to detail. Her recommendations were spot on, and I’m so glad we trusted her expertise—everything came together beautifully! The best decision we made was choosing to work with her. I honestly don't think we could have had our dream wedding without her. I highly recommend her to anyone looking to have a stress- free and beautiful wedding!
S
Sarah Sent on 07/01/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Highly recommend!

Kolena is wonderful! We were looking for someone to provide month-of coordination and also guidance on selecting a venue and caterer at the outset - the most daunting part of the process. Kolena provided sound advice at every stage — she gave us a realistic sense of costs and logistics, suggested amazing vendors and ways of achieving the things we wanted without ever pressuring us, made sure we stayed on track in our planning timeline, and was a reassuring sounding board and essential source of guidance throughout the entire planning process. Unsurprisingly, on the day of the wedding, she was a calm and organized presence, making sure everything went according to plan. The trust we had built over the planning process allowed us to enjoy the day with complete confidence that she and her team had all the details in hand. We absolutely recommend hiring Kolena and Blue Sapphire Events!
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.

Awards

47
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2025 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2024 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2023 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2022 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2020 Winner

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Map

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