I had the initial pleasure of meeting Denise back in 2016 as she was the wedding planner for my best friend’s wedding. Fast forward a few years later and I got connected to her as a client.

Working with Denise Lillie over the past five years has been nothing short of extraordinary. She first helped me plan my Chairman inauguration for the California Hotel & Lodging Association in 2019, and her expertise, creativity, and attention to detail left a lasting impression.

Fast forward to October 2024, when she flawlessly planned my cousin’s stunning wedding in Napa, and once again, she exceeded every expectation.

Denise has an unparalleled ability to bring a vision to life while ensuring the planning process remains engaging. Her professionalism is complemented by a personal touch that makes you feel like you’re her only client. From managing intricate logistics to curating breathtaking designs, she handles every aspect with grace and precision.

What makes Denise truly special is her passion for her work and her genuine commitment to creating unforgettable experiences. She has become a trusted friend and an integral part of our family’s most important celebrations. I say that unequivocally as my family’s former “designated” planner prior to meeting Denise.

If you’re looking for a planner who combines artistry, expertise, and heart, Denise Lillie is simply the best.

very nice and very responsible and very professional.she always on time to make sure everything going smoothly.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about our experience working with Denise as our wedding planner. Her impeccable time management skills meant that every deadline was met with ease, and the entire planning process felt remarkably stress-free. She created and maintained a detailed timeline that kept everyone on track while never making us feel rushed or overwhelmed.

What truly sets her apart is her exceptional relationship with vendors. Her strong industry connections and professional rapport with everyone from florists to caterers ensured we had access to top-tier services, often with added perks due to her established relationships. She knew exactly which vendors would align with our vision and budget, saving us countless hours of research.

Denise's collaborative style made us feel heard and supported throughout the entire planning journey.

Thanks to her meticulous attention to detail and proactive approach, our wedding day ran seamlessly.

Denise is the best!! We had the perfect wedding day thanks to her and her team. We interviewed a few planners before deciding to go with Denise, and this was hands down the best decision. I think the planner is the most important wedding vendor, the one who makes it all come together and guides you through the whole process. We had great chemistry with Denise which made the whole planning process so much fun even with all the stress that can come with it. Denise perfectly understood our vision, taste and preferences, and made us great recommendations, even for other vendors. She also designed the decor at our venue so beautifully, it was beyond anything we imagined!
Detailed planning, flawless execution and our schedule running exactly on time if not slightly early - all characteristics of a 10/10 planner.
Above everything, from the first time we spoke to Denise, we knew that we could put all our trust in her, which she proved right countless times throughout the planning process. She holds herself to a much higher standard than we as clients do, and that is clearly visible in her work.
Thank you so much for everything Denise, we love you!

During the early stages of wedding planning, our family reached out to Denise for guidance and she was incredibly helpful. With a bride attending school full time, the groom working full time, and families in different states, Denise helped coordinate between us all. Denise introduced us to and helped us coordinate with vendors, helped develop day-of timelines, and very calmly addressed stressful issues leading up the the day of the event. We recommend Denise if you are throwing any big event, particularly in the Bay Area!

This review is long overdue! I totally completely and wholeheartedly agree with all of the other reviews posted here. I hired Denise for my wedding and it was one of the best decisions we made. First of all our wedding was a luxury wedding that lasted a week long including two big Indian Sikh Punjabi families. She was responsive, creative, very respectful to what everyone wanted, and most importantly fun to work with. Very easy going and easy to talk to. The best part was she included unlimited text communication. I felt like I was constantly texting her on WhatsApp and Instagram every time I got inspired about a new wedding idea, not only did she keep track of it but she was always excited to hear for me. The most complicated part about our wedding she handled with ease And grace. A week before our wedding week we had to postpone ...Denise handled all of our vendors and closed everything out leaving us in a good place to pick up our wedding six months later, keeping most of our deposits to be reused with many of the same vendors. Since then we have had her plan and decorated my baby shower and daughters first birthday party( which was like another mini reception(125 people)-Indian style). Definitely will continue to use Denise and Denise Lili engagements for all of our family events and functions. I couldn’t imagine working with anyone else. book her! You won’t regret it!

Brides, if you are looking to book Denise for your big day, I wouldn't hesitate even for a second. Hands down, the best decision we've made.

My husband and I are both originally from Chicago but we decided to have our wedding in the Bay Area as we fell in love here. Being the control freak that I am, I decided to originally tackle the wedding planning myself. About 6 months in of planning while working my full time job, I was so completely overwhelmed and exhausted. Cue in, the best decision I made in the wedding planning process! I interviewed a few wedding planners but Denise immediately stood out. I hired her for partial planning which included set check in calls a few months out, bi weekly as we got closer, and every single day as our wedding day approached. As the day approached, my stress levels decreased as my trust in Denise grew.

Given our wedding weekend involved 4 different events, there were sooo many moving pieces which involved constant coordination. Denise and her team handled it with absolute ease. Everything ran on time and smoothly at every single event - we got SO many compliments from guests who were so happy that the Sangeet started on time, baraat didn't run late, the ceremony was wrapped up early (which never happens in long Indian weddings), and that the dinners was served on time. My husband and I also appreciated how Denise looked out for us the entire weekend. She made it a point to bring us food after the ceremony and during our reception to make sure we were taken care of, listened to all our needs and executed them flawlessly. Denise is truly the reason that my husband and I could enjoy every moment of our wedding events to the fullest extent. Our parents were also able to relax and enjoy our events because coordination was being taken care of so well.

Denise's passion, drive, and execution is unparalleled and I want to thank her and her team for helping us create such happy memories for us. I would recommend her & her team wholeheartedly to any bride looking for a seamless and beautiful wedding experience. Thank you for everything Denise!

Denise and her team are exceptional to work with. I only interviewed one wedding planner and the moment we met Denise, we knew we would be in good hands because I am a A type and so is she, therefore we both know we get stuff done! :) I did partial planning with Denise and having her guidance was so helpful through my whole wedding planning process. She a great listener, super sharp, solution provider and is always there when you need her at anytime. Through stressful times, she kept us calm and made us realize that things were not as bad as them seemed! She also has great taste and has great expertise in design and built great relationships working with other vendors. The day of our wedding, we had some last minute situations that came up and she and her team handled everything so well. My husband and I got to enjoy every moment of our wedding stress free and we got to eat everything! I truly miss working with Denise, but now we have became friends and I'm so glad I picked her to be my wedding planner. Denise and her team are one of a kind, I would pick them all over again in a heartbeat!

A professional wedding coordinator is one of the best investments that a bride and groom can make for their wedding. I cannot begin to imagine how we could have celebrated our traditional Punjabi Sikh wedding events without Denise and the Royal Engagement team. Most Indian and Pakistani weddings are very complex, and consist of multiple events over a period of 4 to 8 days or longer sometimes, and for each event, there are decorators, photographers, videographers, musicians and/or DJs, food caterers, make up artists, hair stylists, drivers, florists, dress makers and tailors, and so on, and so on. Denise Lillie and the Royal Engagements team were a tremendous help to us in the final month of our wedding.
My now-husband was reluctant to hire a wedding coordinator, and it took a lot of time to convince him, by which point, we were only about one month away from the start of the wedding. Even with such a limited timeframe, Denise was still willing and able to take over almost all aspects of the wedding planning, which was a huge relief to us. Denise and team Royal Engagements are very reliable and proactive. I was the bride, I am white / Caucasian, from an Irish-American Catholic family; the groom, my now-husband, is Punjabi Sikh, he and all his family from Northern India. Our wedding could be described as intercaste, or interracial, or intercultural, etc, although all of our events and rituals were of the Punjabi Sikh and Indian tradition, and our wedding ceremony was in the Sikh Gurdwara Sahib of San Jose, as I converted to that faith.
I really wish that we had hired Denise sooner, but that was our mistake. If there had been more time, Denise and her team could have taken over literally every detail. It was not possible to take over everything in such a short amount of time because there were so, so, so many events and vendors, and so many to-do lists, papers, schedules, accommodations, cars, houses, apartments, shops, salons, online retailers, shipped packages, so many guests and family, and international arrivals both people and packages from India, Canada and Pakistan. My goal as the bride was to relax; I did not want to have to deal with planning, and especially last minute errands or lots of phone calls. I just wanted to enjoy my wedding and enjoy hosting our love ones and people we care about; also, I wanted to be pampered like a traditional Punjabi Sikh bride, and not stress about anything. This is where Denise was very sympathetic; she came and took all the burden away from the me, so that I could just relax and enjoy being the bride.
Denise is very skilled at respectfully interacting with individuals of all types of personalities, cultures, religious faiths, races/ ethnicities, genders, ages, and moral attitudes. To put it lightly, not everyone accepts the concept of a wedding coordinator, especially in traditional Indian culture, where --at least in my experience -- it is expected that the bride's and groom's family members do everything. There were countless conflicting opinions and disagreements about how the wedding should be, and how the bride and groom should act, and so on. Sometimes, my now-husband, as well as some of our Punjabi Indian family members, even a few of our Punjabi friends, would challenge Denise or confront her (which they were never supposed to do); other times, some of our Punjabi Indian family members wanted to take charge of certain aspects of the wedding (like the ladies' henna, for example) and were very reluctant to work with a professional wedding coordinator. However, during such times, Denise was able to skillfully navigate through these difficult interpersonal situations, to reassure everyone with positive and helpful responses, and, all the while also, to focus on the vendors, itineraries and to-do items for the wedding events.
Denise and the Royal Engagements team were able to prepare the South Hall for the pre-wedding ceremony breakfast and post-wedding ceremony lunch at the Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in San Jose. The South Hall is a multi-purpose room, sometimes used for children activities, other times used for education classes, still other times used as a cafeteria and reception room. For our wedding ceremony breakfast and lunch, which would occur there, we wanted the South Hall to be converted into a traditional Sikh Langar Hall. Specifically, we wanted white sheets covering the entire floor (it was a very large room of more than 4,000 square feet of space), and atop the white sheets would be long strips of carpet for the guests to sit and eat their meals. In the Sikh faith, the religious participation in "Langar" is always done with everyone sitting on the floor to eat the meal. The preparations for the South Hall included a major clean up and moving of lots of random furniture, then hanging an end-to-end curtain 50 feet wide and 16 feet tall to conceal all that random furniture and clutter. The morning of the wedding ceremony, Denise and her team were arriving at my apartment at 4:30 AM to get my hair and make up started, as well as my mom and sisters, with the hair and makeup team, and then they went driving to the Sikh Gurdwara Sahib around 5:30 AM to finish the preparations and make sure that the South Hall was ready for the decorators and caterers. Ultimately, Denise and the Royal Engagements team completed the transformation of the South Hall into a beautiful Langar Hall. Better still, is that Denise knew and had already worked with most of our vendors (caterer, photographer, decorator), and therefore the coordination of the wedding ceremony events at the Sikh Gurdwara Sahib went smoothly, as planned. Denise is an honest person, and she truly wants to be helpful to people. We definitely recommend Denise and Royal Engagements for Pakistani, Indian, Punjabi, Hindu wedding events including Sangeet, Mehendi / Mehandi, ceremony, and reception party.

Denise was absolutely amazing. We used her for full service planning and she took care of everything. She set us up with great vendors in our price point, kept us on budget and on task, and executed our vision perfectly. I can't thank Denise enough for planning the absolute perfect day!