x7 Award winner
Award winner thanks to recommendations from couples on WeddingWire.com.
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HBIC Weddings
Interested in this vendor?
1/86
"HBIC Weddings is on a different level! Diane is truly like no other planner. I met with many..."
"Very strongly recommend planning your celebration with HBIC! We worked with Diane for several months..."
About this vendor
We make wedding planning as much fun as your wedding day!
If you like our name, you'll love working wiht us, our approach to planning is straightforward. No BS, but lots of fun. HBIC Weddings is a wedding planning company that supports couples with planning services in Chicago, and the Chicagoland area.
If you're looking for stress-free wedding planning and then to have your day managed by professional planners that know how to get sh*t done, you need HBIC Weddings. Engaged couples are beyond happy that they choose HBIC Weddings, not only on their wedding day but in the planning process too.
Our services are created to answer the call that so many engaged couples have; our approach is different. For the newly engaged, we offer Kickstart Services" that help you in specific areas of where you are at the very beginning including:
- VENUE SOURCING will get you appointments for private venue tours faster than a blink of an eye to your top pick and a few that might not be on your radar. Before you know it, you have a wedding date set.
- BUDGET ROADMAP with an experienced pro by your side, you'll be able to have a clear & realistic picture of wedding costs from the start. This financial assessment is based on YOUR priorities and our experience.
- POWER PLANNING SESSION - 2 hours of no holding back; ask anything you want about wedding planning and logistics. By the end, you'll have answers, offered up planners perspective & a handful of key planning documents.
Do you know who really loves working with HBIC Weddings? Really busy professionals. In fact, they love us A LOT!
If we had to guess, your already full life looks like something like this:
- A career you love that requires AT LEAST 70+ hours a week
- A few set-in-stone early morning (or late at night!) workout sessions
- A furry friend (or fiancé?) that requires some TLC
- And now you’re expected to add wedding planning into the mix?!
If that at all describes you, then you’re going to love our expertise and streamlined process.
We know you don’t have time to take on a second job as a wedding planner extraordinaire.
You will be navigated through the wedding planning process, receive useful answers to your questions, and benefit from our over 25 years of Chicago area event planning experience, plus you'll soon see that HBIC Wedding is fun to work with!
Our method is a bit different as we do not have a preset "here is a list of services" in a package we have, it's more like easily sculptable service tiers, so you'll have only the service you need and drop the ones you don't.
Engaged couples find that hiring HBIC Weddings puts them in a process that is streamlined, personal, and centered around their highest priorities. You'll have what you think you need plus everything you don't even know you need.
You'll plan at your own pace but be kept on track and avoid feeling overwhelmed thanks to monthly bite-site checklists you'll get, and everything that is wedding-related will be kept organized on 1 cloud-based platform.
The 100% cloud-based planning software makes the planning process smooth and very mobile. It's all-inclusive of what you'll need for a well-planned wedding.
And on the day of your wedding, not only will you have a great day, your guests to be able to enjoy every second of it too! No worries, if anything pops up from wild groomsmen to you name it- we'll swoop in and address the situation before it goes sideways on you. With HBIC Weddings as your point-person, you're covered!
FAQ
What is the starting price for day-of wedding coordination?
$2,995
What is the starting price for partial wedding planning?
$5,995
What is the starting price for full wedding planning?
$6,995
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
Partial Planning
What weddings do you have experience planning?
Civil
Cultural
Destination
Elopement
Eco-Friendly
Non-Religious
Religious
Still have questions?
Reach out about anything you didn't see answered here—no question is too small!
Reviews of HBIC Weddings
This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.
Review summary
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HBIC and Diane are praised for expert, organized, budget‑savvy planning that made large, complex weddings seamless and stress‑free. Reviewers highlight excellent vendor connections, thoughtful cultural sensitivity, and flawless day‑of coordination. Many say hiring HBIC was the best decision of their planning process.
Tiffany Sent on 09/18/2025
5 out of 5 rating
You Need HBIC in Your Life
HBIC Weddings is on a different level!
Diane is truly like no other planner. I met with many other planners who all gave me the same cookie cutter pitch and answers. She is very realistic and straightforward when it comes to what you actually will get on your wedding day versus the Pinterest photos you see of super expensive weddings. She is also an expert at knowing what to spend money on and what you can skip for the best guest experience. This is super important if you don’t know the wedding industry. More importantly, I went with HBIC because Diane is authentic, unhinged, hilarious, and honest.
I don’t know the first thing about weddings. I didn’t know what I wanted, who to contact, or what I needed—and I only had 8 months to do it. Enter Diane, my holy grail wedding planner who made it all happen. I showed her some inspiration pictures and she helped me create a more thorough idea of what I wanted for my wedding. Next thing you know, she’s matching me with photographers, DJs, florists, makeup artists—basically everyone I needed— and we’re in non stop “vendorpalooza” as she calls it. Needless to say, we had every single vendor booked and secured in under 2 months.
On my wedding day, I did not use a single brain cell. She had a whole team with her that managed me, my wedding party, my family, and all the guests. Not to mention, she has great relationships with all her vendors so she also made sure they knew where they had to be, when they had to be there, and exactly what to do. One of her team members was always escorting me to where I had to be and keeping track of the time and schedule for me. I was so busy and worried about my family not sticking to the itinerary, but Diane’s team successfully managed everyone in the ceremony including my old Chinese grandparents that don’t speak English.
One thing I really appreciated was she always asked about any preferences we had or any cultural traditions to include for all parts of the wedding. Everything felt very custom to us as a couple and it was so considerate to acknowledge our culture even though it was a western wedding.
Everything was so seamless, worry free, and well managed with HBIC Weddings. The wedding was more beautiful than anything I could have imagined. All of guests said it was the most extravagant, well planned wedding they had ever been to.
My absolute favorite memory was when my bustle ripped and Diane was sewing me up in the back room while her son fed me bread because I was missing dinner.
Even my parents that complained to me non stop about how expensive a wedding planner is admitted that it was well worth the money and that Diane is the one who made it all happen.
A wedding planner is not a necessity. But, if you actually want efficient, stress free planning, do yourself a favor and splurge on the full wedding planning package with Diane. You will thank yourself later when you’re actually having fun and enjoying your wedding because Diane has every little thing taken care of. I love love loved working with her and her team and they really gave me my dream wedding.
Diane is truly like no other planner. I met with many other planners who all gave me the same cookie cutter pitch and answers. She is very realistic and straightforward when it comes to what you actually will get on your wedding day versus the Pinterest photos you see of super expensive weddings. She is also an expert at knowing what to spend money on and what you can skip for the best guest experience. This is super important if you don’t know the wedding industry. More importantly, I went with HBIC because Diane is authentic, unhinged, hilarious, and honest.
I don’t know the first thing about weddings. I didn’t know what I wanted, who to contact, or what I needed—and I only had 8 months to do it. Enter Diane, my holy grail wedding planner who made it all happen. I showed her some inspiration pictures and she helped me create a more thorough idea of what I wanted for my wedding. Next thing you know, she’s matching me with photographers, DJs, florists, makeup artists—basically everyone I needed— and we’re in non stop “vendorpalooza” as she calls it. Needless to say, we had every single vendor booked and secured in under 2 months.
On my wedding day, I did not use a single brain cell. She had a whole team with her that managed me, my wedding party, my family, and all the guests. Not to mention, she has great relationships with all her vendors so she also made sure they knew where they had to be, when they had to be there, and exactly what to do. One of her team members was always escorting me to where I had to be and keeping track of the time and schedule for me. I was so busy and worried about my family not sticking to the itinerary, but Diane’s team successfully managed everyone in the ceremony including my old Chinese grandparents that don’t speak English.
One thing I really appreciated was she always asked about any preferences we had or any cultural traditions to include for all parts of the wedding. Everything felt very custom to us as a couple and it was so considerate to acknowledge our culture even though it was a western wedding.
Everything was so seamless, worry free, and well managed with HBIC Weddings. The wedding was more beautiful than anything I could have imagined. All of guests said it was the most extravagant, well planned wedding they had ever been to.
My absolute favorite memory was when my bustle ripped and Diane was sewing me up in the back room while her son fed me bread because I was missing dinner.
Even my parents that complained to me non stop about how expensive a wedding planner is admitted that it was well worth the money and that Diane is the one who made it all happen.
A wedding planner is not a necessity. But, if you actually want efficient, stress free planning, do yourself a favor and splurge on the full wedding planning package with Diane. You will thank yourself later when you’re actually having fun and enjoying your wedding because Diane has every little thing taken care of. I love love loved working with her and her team and they really gave me my dream wedding.
Sarah Sent on 10/14/2025
5 out of 5 rating
Hbic is gold!
Diane is everything you need in a wedding planner. She is highly organized, on top of every detail, well-connected to the Chicago Wedding and vendor scene, plus she is hilarious and an absolute pistol! We didn't have a single meeting in which we were not laughing! Diane helped me decide what to focus my time and energy on and what was not necessary or important. I should mention, we planned a 200+ person event with all the stops in under 4 months! So we needed Diane to help us major on the majors. As people who are not the most organized and efficient, we absolutely could not have done it without her.
Diane did a fantastic job of seeking to incorporate elements into our wedding that would represent both me and my husband and our different backgrounds. She helped us keep pursuing the details that would really matter and to let go of the ones that would not.
Because we planned a large-scale wedding in a short amount of time, it was invaluable to have Diane's knowledge of reputable vendors. It was incredibly helpful to tell Diane (a month prior to the wedding) "I changed my mind! I think we want a videographer!" and boom! She had amazing vendors for us to choose from within days. She took out all the risk and guesswork of finding the right people to be involved in our day. Instead of sorting through endless listings online, we had hand-picked, vetted professionals who we could trust. The seemingly impossible task of planning a dreamy, gorgeous wedding for 200+ in under 4 months became a reality working with HBIC. There is honestly no way we could have done this without her!
People are still raving about how beautiful our wedding was (almost a year later) and how much fun they had! I find myself daydreaming often about how spectacular our day was, and just wishing we could go back and relive it all! I honestly cannot imagine doing this with any other planner. My husband and I interviewed a few others before deciding on HBIC and I do not think we would have had what we truly wanted had we gone in another direction. HBIC is gold!
Diane did a fantastic job of seeking to incorporate elements into our wedding that would represent both me and my husband and our different backgrounds. She helped us keep pursuing the details that would really matter and to let go of the ones that would not.
Because we planned a large-scale wedding in a short amount of time, it was invaluable to have Diane's knowledge of reputable vendors. It was incredibly helpful to tell Diane (a month prior to the wedding) "I changed my mind! I think we want a videographer!" and boom! She had amazing vendors for us to choose from within days. She took out all the risk and guesswork of finding the right people to be involved in our day. Instead of sorting through endless listings online, we had hand-picked, vetted professionals who we could trust. The seemingly impossible task of planning a dreamy, gorgeous wedding for 200+ in under 4 months became a reality working with HBIC. There is honestly no way we could have done this without her!
People are still raving about how beautiful our wedding was (almost a year later) and how much fun they had! I find myself daydreaming often about how spectacular our day was, and just wishing we could go back and relive it all! I honestly cannot imagine doing this with any other planner. My husband and I interviewed a few others before deciding on HBIC and I do not think we would have had what we truly wanted had we gone in another direction. HBIC is gold!
Jeffanie Sent on 09/03/2025
5 out of 5 rating
Best Planner Ever!
We loved working with Diane! Our wedding would have been a mess if it had not been for Diane! We both work long hours out of state and Diane singlehandedly planned everything for us so that when we walked into our wedding it was a fairytale for the both of us. She was willing to meet with us at odd hours in the night and she was always available for questions. She thought of things that we needed that we didn't even know we needed. She communicated well with our families and provided clear instructions and timelines for our families and wedding parties. We would recommend Diane to everyone we know and we feel so lucky that we had the best wedding planner who created our absolute dream wedding. Our friends and families could not stop talking about how great HBIC was after our wedding. There was not a moment during wedding planning where we felt stressed because Diane always had it handled. We will be singing her praises from the rooftops forever!
Lauren Sent on 08/27/2025
5 out of 5 rating
Worry Free Wedding Day
From our very first meeting with Diane, we knew HBIC was the planning service for us. Their focus was on making our wedding feel authentic to who we are while taking every bit of the behind-the-scenes logistics off our plate — exactly what we were looking for.
We were paired with Heidi as our planner, and we truly could not have asked for anyone more perfect. She was attentive, professional, warm, and incredibly efficient. If an issue or change came up, Heidi handled it seamlessly and with complete grace. So many of our family members and bridal party even commented on how organized and on top of things she was — she made the entire day run flawlessly.
Leading up to the big day, HBIC provided us with easy-to-use planning tools that kept everything organized and (dare I say) even fun! From guest list management to designing the room layout to checklists that made sure no to-do was forgotten, everything was simple and stress-free.
Thanks to HBIC, we were able to be fully present on our wedding day — soaking in every moment with each other, our family, and our friends — without worrying about a single detail. We are endlessly grateful and would recommend HBIC to absolutely everyone!
We were paired with Heidi as our planner, and we truly could not have asked for anyone more perfect. She was attentive, professional, warm, and incredibly efficient. If an issue or change came up, Heidi handled it seamlessly and with complete grace. So many of our family members and bridal party even commented on how organized and on top of things she was — she made the entire day run flawlessly.
Leading up to the big day, HBIC provided us with easy-to-use planning tools that kept everything organized and (dare I say) even fun! From guest list management to designing the room layout to checklists that made sure no to-do was forgotten, everything was simple and stress-free.
Thanks to HBIC, we were able to be fully present on our wedding day — soaking in every moment with each other, our family, and our friends — without worrying about a single detail. We are endlessly grateful and would recommend HBIC to absolutely everyone!
Annie Sent on 08/01/2025
5 out of 5 rating
Best decision you will make
Deciding to work with HBIC and Diane was, without a doubt, the best decision we made in the wedding planning process. From day one and all the way through the final moments of our big day, Diane made us feel like a top priority. She kept us on track, and focused with decision making and planning. Diane is organized, systematic, pragmatic, creative, conscientious and warm. Most of all she is a complete and total expert at her craft of planning and executing thoughtfully curated and extraordinarily beautiful events. We had many guests comment that our wedding was the best wedding they had ever attended; this is entirely thanks to Diane!
Throughout the planning process, it became very apparent how well-respected Diane is in the industry. She managed every aspect with consideration and thoughtfulness from choosing top-notch vendors, budget considerations and delicate family dynamics. Diane treated me with kindness, humor and guidance when I was about to spiral into a ball of stress. Her responsiveness and consistent communication was reassuring that she had her finger on the pulse at all times. She took the edge off and brought a reassuring perspective to every quandary and worry I had (and there were countless). Diane truly made us feel like ours was the only wedding she was planning because of how attentive and involved she was throughout. In the end, not only did she plan the best wedding I could have ever dreamed of having, but she also has become a friend to me. If you choose to work with Diane (which you absolutely should) just know, you will laugh more than you expect to and you can rest assured that your wedding will be nothing short of fabulous. You will have a talented planner and team on your side and ultimately an absolutely amazing wedding.
Throughout the planning process, it became very apparent how well-respected Diane is in the industry. She managed every aspect with consideration and thoughtfulness from choosing top-notch vendors, budget considerations and delicate family dynamics. Diane treated me with kindness, humor and guidance when I was about to spiral into a ball of stress. Her responsiveness and consistent communication was reassuring that she had her finger on the pulse at all times. She took the edge off and brought a reassuring perspective to every quandary and worry I had (and there were countless). Diane truly made us feel like ours was the only wedding she was planning because of how attentive and involved she was throughout. In the end, not only did she plan the best wedding I could have ever dreamed of having, but she also has become a friend to me. If you choose to work with Diane (which you absolutely should) just know, you will laugh more than you expect to and you can rest assured that your wedding will be nothing short of fabulous. You will have a talented planner and team on your side and ultimately an absolutely amazing wedding.
Aleks Sent on 08/01/2025
5 out of 5 rating
HBIC was amazing!
Working with Diane and the HBIC team was hands-down one of the best decisions we made in the entire wedding process. When we first started planning, we had no idea what we were getting into—and thankfully, we didn’t have to figure it all out alone. Diane swooped in like a wedding fairy godmother (with checklists and great taste) and guided us through every big choice, tiny detail, and inevitable pivot with humor, grace, and total calm.
She brought a sense of fun to the planning process and always helped us keep things in perspective—even when we were spiraling over appetizers or guest list edits. On the big day, we truly don’t know what we would’ve done without her. Her team ran the show behind the scenes so flawlessly that we actually got to relax and enjoy our wedding.
Diane never lost sight of our vision or our budget, and she made magic happen within both. We felt totally taken care of from start to finish, and thanks to her, we had the most beautiful, stress-free, joy-filled day we could’ve hoped for.
We’re honestly sad we can only get married once, because we’d work with HBIC again in a heartbeat. 10 out of 10, five stars!
She brought a sense of fun to the planning process and always helped us keep things in perspective—even when we were spiraling over appetizers or guest list edits. On the big day, we truly don’t know what we would’ve done without her. Her team ran the show behind the scenes so flawlessly that we actually got to relax and enjoy our wedding.
Diane never lost sight of our vision or our budget, and she made magic happen within both. We felt totally taken care of from start to finish, and thanks to her, we had the most beautiful, stress-free, joy-filled day we could’ve hoped for.
We’re honestly sad we can only get married once, because we’d work with HBIC again in a heartbeat. 10 out of 10, five stars!
Namita Sent on 07/21/2025
5 out of 5 rating
HBIC was our savior!
Our wedding reception could not have been as successful as it was without the help of Veronica from the HBIC team! About 4 months before our reception, we knew we needed a day-of-coordinator for our large south-asian wedding reception! From the first phone call with Diane, I had already decided HBIC was the help we needed. Her expertise in the industry and vast experience working with so many of Chicago's venues (including ours at Venue SIX10, which we were surprised by) is unmatched by any other planning company I initially spoke to. For day-of-coordination, HBIC is the only team that does not charge PER phone call and also works with the couple many months in advance (versus only 8-10 weeks in advance for other company day-of services) thus they truly want to be involved on every detail and have the process as stress-free as possible for the bride/groom and families!
Once we were on board with Veronica, we were able to finally let out a sigh of relief. She has gone above an beyond in making sure all aspects of the reception were fulfilled and flawless. She was able to manage and coordinate the many moving parts of our reception hall including the creation of 4 bars (the venue has none), all furniture (coming from 3 different places), lighting (provided by 2 different places), catering (there is no kitchen in our venue so essentially a kitchen for catering is built on-site), DJ set up including last minute issues encountered with song files (thank you so much again, Veronica for saving our surprise performances!), a graphics design company for special touches, and each vendor's loading and clean up with only 1 loading dock available on the busiest avenue in Chicago. We are also so grateful that Veronica worked with our timezone difference (we are based in California) for meetings, as well as graciously welcomed us to mail signs and other personal items to her house where she can prep them and bring day-of so that our travel to Chicago for the wedding was less stressful! We cannot rave about Veronica and HBIC's day-of coordination services enough especially with the success of our event that had so many moving parts and venue restrictions! If anyone does not have a planner and is toying with the idea of day-of coordination, trust me, you need it and HBIC is the answer! :)
Once we were on board with Veronica, we were able to finally let out a sigh of relief. She has gone above an beyond in making sure all aspects of the reception were fulfilled and flawless. She was able to manage and coordinate the many moving parts of our reception hall including the creation of 4 bars (the venue has none), all furniture (coming from 3 different places), lighting (provided by 2 different places), catering (there is no kitchen in our venue so essentially a kitchen for catering is built on-site), DJ set up including last minute issues encountered with song files (thank you so much again, Veronica for saving our surprise performances!), a graphics design company for special touches, and each vendor's loading and clean up with only 1 loading dock available on the busiest avenue in Chicago. We are also so grateful that Veronica worked with our timezone difference (we are based in California) for meetings, as well as graciously welcomed us to mail signs and other personal items to her house where she can prep them and bring day-of so that our travel to Chicago for the wedding was less stressful! We cannot rave about Veronica and HBIC's day-of coordination services enough especially with the success of our event that had so many moving parts and venue restrictions! If anyone does not have a planner and is toying with the idea of day-of coordination, trust me, you need it and HBIC is the answer! :)
Hope Sent on 07/12/2025
5 out of 5 rating
June 1, 2025 Day of Coordination
We had an excellent experience with HBIC! We were paired up with Heidi as our Day of Coordinator and we are so grateful we had her throughout the process. I am a very Type A bride so had already had our vendors picked and many of the details we wanted for the wedding outlined. But we knew on the day of the wedding we'd want someone to take the reigns and tell us and all of our vendors where to be, when to do what, and problem solve when any last minute issues inevitably pop up, which is why we decided to look into Day of Coordination rather than full planning (which I'd imagine HBIC is also amazing for).
Heidi did an incredible job of listening to our wants and needs, teaching us how to make those things happen, and providing us with ideas of how to modify if we ever a little unrealistic. She was kind and caring and seemed genuinely invested in our vision for the wedding. As nice as she was in all of our meetings over the weeks/months leading up to the big day, on the day of the wedding she really took charge. She made sure every little detail we had asked for came to life and made it look easy. I am not even aware of what "went wrong" that day because she worked her magic and coordinated so well with all of our vendors behind the scenes without giving us a single thing to stress about.
HBIC ensures that you will go into our wedding day feeling prepared because they have a very thorough portal that they guide you through to make sure any potential details you'd want are planned out. The portal outlines things big and small, from contact info for your caterer or payment calendars for all vendors, to a reminder to buy your future spouse a gift (if you want).
From the portal that helped us stay organized, to the advise and truly priceless initiative from Heidi, we are convinced we could not have picked a better planning team. Highly recommend!
Heidi did an incredible job of listening to our wants and needs, teaching us how to make those things happen, and providing us with ideas of how to modify if we ever a little unrealistic. She was kind and caring and seemed genuinely invested in our vision for the wedding. As nice as she was in all of our meetings over the weeks/months leading up to the big day, on the day of the wedding she really took charge. She made sure every little detail we had asked for came to life and made it look easy. I am not even aware of what "went wrong" that day because she worked her magic and coordinated so well with all of our vendors behind the scenes without giving us a single thing to stress about.
HBIC ensures that you will go into our wedding day feeling prepared because they have a very thorough portal that they guide you through to make sure any potential details you'd want are planned out. The portal outlines things big and small, from contact info for your caterer or payment calendars for all vendors, to a reminder to buy your future spouse a gift (if you want).
From the portal that helped us stay organized, to the advise and truly priceless initiative from Heidi, we are convinced we could not have picked a better planning team. Highly recommend!
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Awards
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Team
Diane Brisk
Founder
Kathleen Esterquest
Sr. Planner & Keeper of the Sanity
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