Gina and Jordan are amazing!
I can not imagine our day going as smoothly as it did without the help of Gina and her assistant Jordan. I am a very crafty bride and while i needed less help with the "look" of the wedding, I was so happy to have help making sure everything went along with my vision. All I had to do on my wedding day was show up- the girls did the rest! I can not say enough good things or recommend distinctive occasions more! THANKS SO MUCH!!!

There were a lot of decisions we had to make in planning our “dream” wedding and choosing Dawn with Distinctive Occasions was definitely the best decision we made as it made all other decisions that much easier.

We were married early September 2010 in a beautiful outdoor courtyard ceremony with the reception immediately following in the indoor ballroom at the venue. What we thought would make our wedding particular challenging was that we both live in Los Angeles and the wedding would be in my home town of Buffalo, NY. Coordinating with vendors, making decisions on the spot, site visits, etc, were just not quite possible. We needed someone who could guide us through the process who we trusted to make decisions that would reflect us as a couple on our behalf in the event we were not there. We were so fortunate to find this in Dawn at Distinctive Occasions.

Being that we do live in LA, we and our guests have begun to grow accustomed to lavish weddings with seemingly infinite budgets. This budget was not quite in our cards. Instead of blindly throwing money around, Dawn was able to direct our resources to basically get the most bang for our bucks. In the end, to sum up the words of our out-of-town guests accustomed to these extravagant weddings, we heard plenty of, “this was by far, the best wedding I’ve ever been to” and, “I’ve NEVER had so much fun at a wedding” or how about, “I have never seen such a beautiful wedding in my entire life.” As for us, this truly was the most wonderful day of our lives and we owe it all to Dawn.

Dawn’s level of professionalism, expertise, and organization made everything go by without a hitch. We followed Dawn’s checklist in the months leading up to the wedding and by doing so, we never felt overwhelmed, or that things would not get done. Being that we could not meet quite a few of the times in person, we set up numerous meetings over the phone to discuss decisions that should be made and what was next in line to do. Throughout all of this, Dawn always kept careful notes and never missed anything. When planning a wedding, it’s easy to have all these wild ideas but to bring these ideas down to earth and successfully implement them takes the work of a true expert which we were so fortunate to have found in Dawn. As things got finished on the task list, Dawn would check it off the list. By doing so, we never felt lost or misguided. The path was as clear and we knew exactly what needed to be done to get from planning stage to the wedding day. To be a successful coordinator, meticulous organization is an absolute must and Dawn’s organizational abilities were just PERFECT.

Vendor management is such a hugely important job in putting together a wedding. Dawn’s ability to do so was amazing. Everything from the tables and chairs, to the florist (Flowers by Johnny), to the photographers, to the various music acts (we had a bunch), to the transportation were all perfectly handled and managed by Dawn and her staff leading up to the wedding and most importantly, during the wedding so that we did not have to worry about it. Dawn made sure that everything that was supposed to be done was done. I can see it easily being overwhelming dealing with so many vendors, but, Dawn takes the worry out of it.

No matter how organized and professional the coordinator should be, I think it is equally important to have a creative vision and to understand the vision that we (the clients) have. We really felt like Dawn was instantly able to relate to us and understand what we wanted no matter how off-the-wall some ideas were or how much additional work would have to go into it. She was always receptive to our new ideas and always had new fun ideas to go over with us.

Even though this statement is probably not true in all cases, I think it’s important to note. For other coordinators we considered, we noticed A LOT of individuals who have been doing this too long of a time. While that is great and all, what we found was the inability of other coordinators to think outside the box. It’s important to have fresh ideas of today and tomorrow, not the ideas of 20 years ago. She thinks like us and can relate to us but still has a firm understanding of proper etiquette and wedding customs. She keeps current on all the relevant wedding trends across the country and is always willing to try new things. A wedding should NEVER be a cookie-cutter type of event and Dawn makes sure to make the wedding a true reflection of us and add that element of beauty and grace to the event that on our own, we just would not be able to do.

I know cost is one of the biggest decisions in planning a wedding. We found the cost of Distinctive Occasions to not only pay for itself, but, to end up being a cost SAVINGS in the end. Here’s why: Dawn knows all the vendors, all the costs, all the people, everything! Right off the bat, Dawn was able to bring in some vendor or some innovative ideas that ended up saving us A TON of money. After the wedding was done, just for fun, we added up what those misc savings were and they ended up being greater than the cost of Distinctive Occasions – officially making it the best decision of the wedding!

With all of the out-of-towners at our wedding (more than half) and all of the custom extra stuff we threw in, this would be considered by most, a very logistically complicated wedding. On our own or with any other coordinator for that matter, this would have NEVER worked. It was amazing to see Dawn and her staff on the day of the wedding making sure everything went on without a hitch. Dawn’s day-of staff was absolutely wonderful in every way. They were able to spread out and ensure that every detail was tended to and everything was covered to ensure perfection. I’m sure that with any big event like ours, there would always have to be hiccups BUT, we (the bride and groom) were not aware of ANYTHING going wrong. I guess in the end, that’s what makes Dawn and Distinctive Occasions so valuable. We were able to enjoy our amazing day without being bogged down by problems, issues, or anything else. It was incredible to see the day go by without any incidents that we were aware of. We kept asking ourselves, how can everything be so perfect? Well, it takes very competent individuals managing all the small details and working their tails off to ensure that we and all of our guests have the most fabulous times of our lives.

Dawn is ethical, hard-working, creative, organized, knowledgeable, relevant, and an absolute pleasure to work with. With the greatest confidence and without any hesitation or doubts, we would recommend Dawn and Distinctive Occasions to anyone getting married or planning any type of event. This decision of hiring Distinctive Occasions made our wedding exactly what a wedding should be: the most amazing day of our lives!

If you have any questions about our experience with Distinctive Occasions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at zais2AThotmail.com.

Thanks for reading and happy wedding!

Abby & Zack

Dawn is absolutely the most attentive and organized planner I have ever met. You would have thought that I was her only client; she was always there for me and put up with me asking tons of questions and being a bit of a control freak. I had to plan my wedding from Madison WI, my wedding planning occurred well I was moving to Madison from Minneapolis, starting a new Job and buying a new home. Without Dawn there is no way that I could have gotten everything done she recommended vendors, who were absolutely the best of the best!! The day of our wedding Dawn and her team, Jordan and Sandy, we amazing. Every wedding has their story and ours was, the night of the rehearsal dinner I burnt myself in the middle of my forward. Dawn reassured me that all would be fine and to contact our make-up artist, Michelle Sperazz, that night to give her a heads up and that she would cover it, well she did no one knew what I did the night before. Then after pictures my Matron of Honor's zipper completely broke, her entire dress in the back was left open, do not trust Jcrew's quality (but that is another story). Dawn didn't panic at all, even though she only saw this once before. Her Intern Sandy had a fashion back round and jumped into sew her back into her dress. Our guest had no idea that this was all occurring and my Matron of Honor went on to have an amazing and fun night. I am not a girly girl who ever dreamed or envisioned what my wedding would be like; all I wanted was a fun and classy event. Dawn made this happen from the Save the dates, to the invitations, all stationary the day of the wedding to the flowers, cake and color scheme. Every guest comment on how beautiful everything was, in fact 3 weeks after the event myself and my mom are still getting calls commenting on how wonderful and fun that night was. We cannot thank Dawn enough and whether you are an out of town bride or a local bride you should reach out to Dawn!!!!! Thank You Again - Michelle & Joe Garvey