Where do we even begin? One of the biggest life events anyone will ever experience is their wedding, and you want it to be perfect and seamless. The Fred + Kate wedding planning team — Maya, Joanne, Henry, Tessa, and Christine — truly made our dream wedding come to life.

We are forever grateful to have worked with this incredible team for our destination wedding at the beautiful Four Seasons Ko Olina on September 28, 2025. We selected their Full Planning Service package, and it was the best decision we could have made.

A bit of context: my husband and I are Canadians who dreamed of a tropical destination wedding, and Hawaii checked all the boxes. We originally started planning in 2023 with a different planner, but after things didn’t work out, we found ourselves just four months away from our date, desperately searching for help. The Four Seasons recommended Fred + Kate, and after one meeting we immediately knew they were the right fit.

Tessa is the most capable, detail-oriented, and confident planner you’ll ever meet, the kind of person you want running your wedding. As a couple planning from afar, we needed someone to take the lead and handle everything behind the scenes, and that’s exactly what she and her team did.

Throughout the entire planning process, the team was organized, proactive, and communicative. They scheduled biweekly meetings to keep everything on track, handled communication with all our vendors, and took care of every little detail from logistics to timelines. Tessa and Maya were especially mindful of our budget (given the CAD exchange rate), always finding creative ways to make our vision come true without compromising quality. They were honest, transparent, and always gave us realistic expectations while helping us meet in the middle when needed.

Every single vendor we worked with had nothing but praise for the Fred + Kate team, which speaks volumes about their reputation and professionalism in Hawaii’s competitive wedding industry.

On our wedding day, everything ran flawlessly. If there were any hiccups, we never saw them, because the team handled everything seamlessly. We didn’t even have a rehearsal, but you’d never know it; everything flowed perfectly. Christine was by my side the entire day, keeping the energy positive and ensuring I felt supported even when I was exhausted. My husband and I truly felt taken care of from start to finish.

Working with the Fred + Kate team was hands down the best decision we made for our wedding. If you want a stress-free experience and five-star service from a team that truly cares, this is your sign to hire Fred + Kate.

The Fred + Kate Events team was beyond incredible and made our wedding an absolute dream come true. From the start, Tessa, our lead planner, brought an unmatched level of resourcefulness, creativity, and insight that made the entire planning process seamless. Planning from afar without seeing the venue in person was initially intimidating, but Tessa’s guidance, her connections with trusted vendors, and her genuine care made it all feel effortless. She and her team turned what could have been a stressful experience into something truly enjoyable. I’ll genuinely miss our planning sessions—she made everything feel easy, beautiful, and exactly how we’d imagined.

Maya’s support was also invaluable, as she went above and beyond in every way. Her attention to detail was unmatched; she even allowed us to ship multiple packages to her home and spent time assembling welcome bags and name tags. Maya was endlessly patient with all my questions and ideas, and she offered sincere feedback that helped me express my thoughts and feelings beautifully to our guests. Her kindness and laughter made each step of planning so enjoyable.

On the day itself, Henry was by my side the entire time, providing incredible support. From helping me into my dress and handling last-minute wardrobe fixes to ensuring I had food, Henry made me feel like royalty. Every single person I spoke with praised how helpful, attentive, and genuinely caring the entire Fred + Kate Events team was.

I am immensely grateful for the Fred + Kate Events team for making our wedding truly unforgettable. Their expertise, dedication, and personal touches were above and beyond, and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to plan an extraordinary event!

Problem solvers. Supportive. Kind. Experts. FUNNY. Thoughtful. Honest. Thorough. Dedicated. The Fred + Kate Events team was truly outstanding to work with for our destination wedding and I couldn't recommend this incredible team more!

Tessa and her team are true professionals when it comes to supporting their couples throughout the wedding planning process from vendor management to day-of coordination and everything in between. Thanks to Tessa's relationships, we received discounts from vendors and her team did an incredible job ensuring every question we or our vendors had was answered. My husband and I planned our Hawaii wedding from Texas (sight unseen!) and throughout the process, Tessa and her team gave us great advice based on our budget and our vision so we didn't feel like we were compromising at any step along the way. We had monthly video calls to check-in with Tessa where we were able to brainstorm ideas and get our questions answered which made such a huge difference to our big day.

Leading up to the wedding, while on one of our calls, I shared some of my stress about logistics and details trying to manage with our venue and without missing a beat, Tessa instantly reassured me that her team wouldn't drop a ball - and they didn't! Two weeks before the wedding, Tessa FaceTimed us to show another wedding that she and her team were working at our venue and shared they had a foolproof plan for our wedding day. As soon as Tessa, Henry, Jeanette, and Maya arrived for our wedding day, I was instantly put at ease as they seamlessly managed every single detail from our outside vendors to the hotel team to our families - I'm still in awe three weeks later!

Both my husband and I have been to and in many weddings where we've seen many things go awry but Tessa and her team had every single minute and detail accounted for. Throughout our wedding day, my husband and I kept telling each other (as did our families and friends!) how SMOOTH the day went. We didn't stress about a single thing thanks to this resourceful, helpful, friendly, and amazing team.

I could easily bust the Wedding Wire word count with all of the great things there are to say about the Fred + Kate team so if you are looking for your wedding planner, I recommend Tessa and crew wholeheartedly. And if you're a podcast listener, you have to listen to Unveiling Paradise which Tessa and Joseph Esser (the photographer we hired!) host and share the BEST tips and tricks for planning a destination wedding.

For one last example of Tessa's expertise, she helped us plan the sweetest surprise at the end of our wedding ceremony for my sister and brother-in-law - watch until the end! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45ry2j14cdg&t=16s

In this COVID era, it seems weddings are acts of futility more than anything else. The challenges are frustrating, overwhelming, and constantly in flux. The restrictions on gatherings, socializing, and celebrating in the traditional manner have left few options for any type of party, including weddings/receptions.

Enter Tessa from Fred & Kate Events.

I would be understating the impact Tessa had on our wedding experience if I were simply to rate her 5 stars with an adjective such as "great." However YELP leaves few options. We would, without question, rate Tessa far higher than the 5 star max, as she was instrumental in the design and execution of the wedding we desired...especially in such trying times.

From the onset, Tessa was professional and dedicated. Her organization, attention to detail, and positive attitude were so helpful to us as we were required to keep track of so many different aspects of the wedding, as well as, the need to constantly make covid-related changes, adjustments, additions, etc. It was extremely frustrating and tiresome but Tessa kept us positive, calm, and on task. She was very effective at limiting the amount of stress we would both have to endure and we so very much appreciated how patient she was.

In these difficult times, Tessa and Fred & Kate Events are the coordinators any couple should have. They are so attentive, calm, positive, and forward thinking. When we were contemplating the possible cancelation of our wedding, it was Tessa that forced us to see it from different perspectives and what resulted was a small, efficient, intimate, and beautiful wedding and reception. Fred & Kate, with their innovative mindset, will be able to execute any wedding or event in any climate, covid or otherwise. If you are determined to do it, Tessa with Fred & Kate Events, are the ones to call.

We are so so thankful that Tessa was on our team as we planned the wedding we wanted. Everything turned out beautifully and we owe much of that to our wedding coordinator. Thank you Tessa and Fred & Kate Events! We are forever grateful.

There is NO way we could have pulled off our wedding day without the help of Tessa and Fred+Kate Events.

We booked them for the Day-Of Coordination Package and it was worth every cent.
Tessa was great at prioritizing what needed to be done right away and what could wait. She was also great at reassuring me that we were ahead of schedule and we were fine. She was so responsive through text, call, or e-mail. We would schedule calls through her Calendly account, which I thought was great. Calls would initially occur every 2 months and as the wedding got closer, the calls became more frequent.

We were planning our wedding all the way from New Jersey and in the 2 years of planning, we met with Tessa only twice for about an hour each.

As the day got closer, Tessa slowly took over all communication with vendors. Her final timeline for our day started at 8AM, ended at 10PM, and was broken down to every 15 minutes. If that isn’t organization then I don’t know what is. It was the most thorough timeline I had every seen and I would frame it if I could because her organization was what made our wedding literally the most perfect day of our lives.

The week before our wedding day, it rained every day. I had spoken with our reception venue and they suggested we modify our layout to have the dance floor moved under the tent instead of outside. Tessa worked with our rental company and was able to revise our layout that ended up being WAY better than the original plan.

The day of our wedding, Tessa had team members come to both my hotel room and the groom’s hotel room to be with us to make sure that everything was running smoothly. Each staff member had a copy of the timeline and made sure that we were meeting everything on time. They made sure the florist, photo, and video were on time. Tessa and another staff member were at our reception venue making sure everything was set up on time, too.

While I was getting ready, one of my dress straps was not fitting correctly and Jeannette actually sewed it on the spot so it fit! Jeannette and Sachi were great at making sure we were all ready that we actually had like 20 minutes to spare before we headed to the ceremony.

At the ceremony, another staff member named Mark was so great because he saw that I was so nervous and he ran across the street to Starbucks and got us all cups of water. They had tissues on hand for me because they saw I was crying already!

At the reception, Tessa and all the staff members were there and they were so kind and helpful and I couldn’t stop thanking them for everything they were doing. Jeannette and Sachi made sure that we were able to eat a little and drink some water in between pictures and being pulled every direction for things.

Everyone involved with the wedding complimented us on how organized everything was and how we were all on the same page with the schedule. That is all thanks to Tessa.

This review is SO long, but I cannot put into words how grateful we are for all of Tessa’s help. Thank you to Jeannette, Sachi, Seychelle, and Mark for all of your help with our special day.

Fred & Kate Events did a terrific job coordinating our wedding! Even though their prices may seem high, take our word for it that hiring a good coordinator can be the difference between an unforgettable experience and a catastrophic disaster. Even though your aunty or best friend might be good at making sure people came to your sweet 16th birthday on time, doesn't mean they can coordinate your wedding. Don't take a chance, just hire the professionals like Fred & Kate. Besides, aunty and BFF want to enjoy your wedding, not be "obligated" to coordinate it. :)

F&K staff was always available for help but know what you're entitled to under contract and try not to abuse this privilege! Even though they may seem pushy at times, it's what they do. As with any coordinator, they make sure everything goes according to planned! Be GLAD they are this way because if not, chances are that nobody will listen to a shy coordinator, politely and kindly asking if you could please kindly and politely take your seats, please. :)

F&K staff was also kind enough to do things that weren't required or expected, to help make the experience after the wedding more pleasant and enjoyable! I'd highly recommend them and don't hesitate to spend for what you deserve. You won't regret it! (Let aunty and BFF enjoy!) Thanks F&K!!

Fred+Kate Events is the wedding coordination company that The Wedding Cafe Hawaii created. They are fairly new to the wedding scene, as they are only a few years old. We initially booked them because we had heard rave reviews about their lead coordinator, Kelly Sugano. Over time though, Kelly became pregnant. She had her child, decided to leave Fred+Kate Events, and chose to restart her own company, A Perfect Day. This left us with a hard decision to make. We had to choose who we wanted our wedding coordinator to be. Since our wedding was less than six months away, we decided to stay with Fred+Kate Events since they had been helping us up until that point.

We had the pleasure of working with Kristen and Tessa. Both are VERY nice, professional, and easy to work with! I must have sent Kristen 200+ emails. She ALWAYS responded to them in a timely manner, and never thought any of my questions were silly, even though some of them were. She also created our timeline and ran our meetings prior to the wedding. We were gracious that Tessa and Kristen took the time out of their days to meet with us and attend any appointments possible, i.e. wedding ceremony rehearsal.

On our wedding day, Kristen arrived to our hotel room and got straight to work. She, Tessa, and their team worked their magic to make sure that we followed our timeline/schedule for the day. They helped our wedding run smoothly and made sure that we had everything that we needed. They even helped us set up our wedding reception site!

After our wedding, many of our guests complemented us by saying how great and creative it was. It was also good because Kristen helped me to follow up with one of our vendors after the wedding was over. She didn't have to but she was more than happy to help out! That was VERY nice of her!

Fred+Kate did a GREAT job on our wedding. I am VERY happy with their services. They helped my husband and I to have the wedding of our dreams! They are THE BEST!

If there were three words to describe the services provided by Kelly Sugano & her Fred & Kate Events Staff (formerly A Perfect Day), my husband and I would not be able to because words can not express how OUTSTANDING & EXCEPTIONAL they are. Kelly was highly recommended to us by other vendors, and we also highly recommend hiring Kelly & her staff for your wedding coordination services. Hiring a coordinator was one of the best investments that we made for our wedding. Kelly was very professional & responded to emails quickly. Her insight and suggestions were helpful during our planning process. She reviewed all of our contracts, confirmed Vendors, and ensured that our family helpers knew their tasks for our wedding. Kelly also created a detailed wedding day timeline to ensure that your day is SMOOTH and STRESS-FREE. Our guests were very impressed on how smooth and organized our wedding ceremony and reception flowed. Kelly and her staff definitely went above and beyond our expectations. We felt very pampered and relaxed on our wedding day.

THANK YOU Kelly & F&K/APD Staff for making our wedding day A PERFECT DAY!!!

Every girl dreams of their wedding day. That takes planning. With that planning, it has to be executed. When that special day comes, the last thing you want to do is think and stress out over all what's been set forth. The center of attention is the BRIDE...being just the bride.

Highly recommend this vendor.

Professional, extremely responsive, and especially invested in the wedding. You cannot go wrong with hiring Kelly and her team, who are not only committed to making sure that the wedding goes as planned (that's to be expected in a coordination service) but who will go above and beyond what's expected to make sure that you can enjoy the wedding day. We put our trust in Kelly and it paid off.