Kelly Mc Events (formerly Sassy Bash Events) is a boutique wedding planning and design company created by Kelly McInturff of Lifetime TV's reality show, Little Weddings.

"We are passionate about every tailored detail, skilled at translating your vision, but our favorite part of what we do is the friendships we develop joining you in the journey to your big day."

What is a boutique company?
Why reach out to Kelly Mc Events?
Do we really need a planner? Can't we save money planning it ourselves or find a venue with packages?

We know your time is valuable so instead of writing a small quip or a long novel trying to answer the questions we believe you already have, we have included in depth answers from our blog below so you can quickly find the answers and information most important to you.

What is a boutique company?

• Boutique means small, authentic, quality focused, and close knit.
• Boutique means we choose to stay a small company because we are more passionate about what we do than growth. We are perfectly happy with the balance that comes by limiting the pressures growth presents.
• Boutique means we take on a limited amount of clients and therefore we will not win in the most reviews game and that is ok with us.

Why should we reach out to Kelly Mc Events?

• Kelly Mc Events mission and emphasis is focused on the personal relationships with our couples.
• We understand how exciting yet overwhelming planning your dream day can be. We become your friends very quickly get just as excited about it as you are. We love late night texts never limit your access to us because want to answer every question or concern you have. Many of our clients remain life long friends and even include us in their big announcements like buying a home and new baby on the way group texts long after their wedding.
• We can be all business with very little contact if that is more comfortable for you as well.
• We are small but mighty. Trained, experienced and capable of everything a bigger company can do. We just prefer to do it for less couples at time so we don't have to put limits on how much time we allow or devote to each of them.
• We believe in full transparency with our clients and complete authenticity. We realize the power of social media and are working towards more presence but feel outsourcing it is not genuine. So for now we will remain focused on clients even if it means less time to post and that is ok with us just as the slower growth in reviews is.

Do we need a planner? That is the wrong question as I will explain below.

Can we save money doing it ourselves or finding a venue with packages? Rarely and not at all if you put a dollar value on your own personal time you will need to invest.

We can't stress the importance enough to engaged couples to enlist a planner before anything else. Once you read the reasons below, the real question is, Why wouldn't you hire a professional to plan and design your wedding?

It will be the best decision you will make and here is why:

• Planners are not an extra expense like choosing to have a photo booth or not because we can save you more money with our expertise than we cost in the end. Enlisting a planner from day one makes that even more true. And because of that, chemistry between you and your planner should guide your decision instead of fees. So instead of emailing or messaging one and asking, "What are your services and what is the pricing?..ask them to tell you a little bit about themselves.. or better yet, call them! Don't be put off by voicemail as the sales calls we receive are overwhelming so voicemail helps us filter them.
• We give you peace of mind by saving you countless stressful hours of work and research, costly mistakes and oversights when negotiating contracts, plus missed opportunities by not being aware of everything that is possible. These oversights I mentioned and missed opportunities can be in the thousands once the venue or catering contract is signed without a planner's involvement.
• Planners have more negotiating power because we bring more business to a vendor and therefore they want to play ball with us. A reputable planner will have some vendors they recommend and prefer to work with because they have proven their value and reliability. But they should offer a few in every category. One that uses a vendor exclusivly could indicate a deal has been made between them. While sadly this is accepted between venues and caterers, it is not and should not be for planners and vendors.
• Package deals from venues look easy and attractive but you need to remember…the venue manager works for the venue not you. Packages also mean your wedding is not tailored and is also everyone who chooses that package's wedding….How do you know if their packages are less expensive than what a planner/designer could put together for you without talking to one?...Venus contract rentals with one rental company and then mark up the rates before they quote them to you. Planner/designers shop for the best rates on what fits the tailored design they put together for you. They negotiate in your best interest and then pass on the professional discounts they receive to you to help pay for their fees. (Or they should be doing so). If the venue is offering something at a great rate, your planner will tell you which things those are and be sure to check that the venue isn't adding anything more during contract signing other than sales tax to it, the way catering adds 23-24% plus sale tax..."But the venue is including or offering a coordinator for a small fee"...Who's best interest do you think they will be looking out for? What if a problem arises at the venue for another event that steals their attention or a problem between you and the venue arises the day of? Something you contracted for is not right or staff, usually instructed by the coordinator, is breaking down everything way too early to signal the end of the party because they want to go home early?...Costly oversights, no real advocate working for you, and limited creativity, not costing you any less in the end...still sound like a good deal?
• "I will just find the venue and caterer and hire a decorator and/or coordinator, or add the services to another vendor's contract like the venue, caterer, or florist"... The truth is it will usually end up costing almost as much if not the same as a planner/designer/coordinator would have been to begin with. Because of the same practices as an inclusive venue with no real obligation to source the best pricing or pass on savings, now it is for sure an expense that can't be recovered with all the planner's skills and benefits lost. And hiring a planner just to coordinate the day of...I can't speak for others but in order to guarantee a smooth wedding day we have to be involved in the last month to be sure all loose ends are tied, nothing is out of order, all last minute inevitable changes are handled, etc. so we charge accordingly where it would have been included with full planning.
• "We can just DIY the decor"...If you are an avid crafter then I completely understand the want to do some or all of it. But you should still enlist a planner for the rest. And keep in mind that what you will spend in DIYing your own decor will be much much more time and money than you needed to spend when a professional already has what you need. We will charge small rental rates and most include things like votive candles and many small items are included for free.

100% true story that just happened this week that I thought I would share...I just bought decor off a DIY bride. She spent over $8000 on it and sold it to me for $800 when hiring a pro would have cost a fraction of that and saved her all that time planning the wedding plus the decor. Finding it, hauling it back and forth, storing it, and having family set it up just to have a storm blow in and so it was hurriedly pack up and never even seen by the guests. They thought the tents they added last minute after seeing the forecast would be all that was needed and the rental company didn't advise that the winds were going to be too much for the tents.
So not only did she overspend by at least $5000- $6000. She didn't have the planners foresight and resources to save the reception from becoming an extended cocktail hour because there was indoor space to use. But a decision that needed to be made hours earlier instead of mistakingly relying on the tents.