We knew from the start that we wanted a wedding planner for at least day-of but most likely month-of. We were planning a wedding with a guest list that was pushing five hundred… yes, nearly 500 potential guests. We were mixing cultures – Vietnamese, Filipino and American. We wanted someone who we got along with well because really, we would trust this person with one of the most important days of our lives, we’ll be spending a substantial amount of time with this person and communicating regularly… we wanted to someone we’d “click” with. Needless to say, we were quite picky. After interviewing 7 wedding planners with various experience levels from the newbie to those who’ve been in the industry (and magazine) for decades… and various price ranges from steal deals to crazy sell your first born prices. Still, no one clicked. We wanted someone charismatic, fun, honest and firm. Someone with fun but realistic ideas. Someone who will tell another vendor that they did something wrong and make them fix it. Someone who would tell me I’m crazy for going DIY overboard or to convince me that I really didn’t need [insert overpriced wedding detail no one else will notice but the bride, here]. Someone real.
We were going to give up until we met with DeShai. Wow. When we met with her we just knew she was “the one”. She’s fun, creative, versatile, open-minded, honest, detailed and most importantly, down to earth. She was the 8th planner we interviewed and well worth the long search. We hired her on the spot and it was one of the best wedding decisions we ever made. I would say that she was worth every penny but honestly, DeShai was invaluable… She was a huge blessing – our Wedding Angel. Her attention to detail is excellent, and her standards of service are high. She is the most professional, organized, and genuine person I’ve ever worked with. She truly turned our modern, whimsical, diy Dream Wedding into a reality.
I can honestly say I was a wreck the weeks leading up to our wedding. I was terrified that our cheesy Chinese restaurant venue would look like a cheesy Chinese restaurant. I was drowning in DIY projects that I thought I *had to* do and too many loose ends to count. DeShai kept me grounded and sane. She convinced me to let go of many of the unnecessary projects I had planned (even though I did some anyway) and she was right, the things I didn’t end up doing, no one even noticed. She wrapped up all our loose ends and kept everyone organized. I’m sure there could have been plenty of mishaps on our wedding day but we didn’t know about any because DeShai managed everything and kept us as stress free as she could. I still remember vividly the minute we walked into our venue. It was far from the cheesy Chinese restaurant it was the previous day. We felt like we were on Platinum Weddings. It truly took our breath away. DeShai transformed our venue and made our dream a reality. Our candy bar was perfectly executed – sure, I bought the jars/vases and candy but DeShai styled it like no other; her attention to detail is flawless. We still get complimented on it and it’s still the talk of the wedding. The tablescapes were flawless. She set up our bird cage, escort cards and calendar guest book prettier than we could have imagined. She has a natural sense of timing; she created our timeline and kept everyone on track. The day went by so quickly, there’s no way we would have been able to keep to the timeline without DeShai. She had us dancing, cutting the cake, tossing the bouquet etc. right on time. She guided our other vendors through the day with a sense of grace and adapted to situations as they arose. In the midst of everything, she still managed to keep me calm, or calm me down. There was a point where I had to change into my reception dress and nearly had a panic attack because my dress went missing. I had the garment bag but it was empty. I was freaking out and DeShai came to the rescue. She calmed me down and found my dress, which wasn’t lost at all, it fell to the bottom of the garment bag and I had bride brain (aka airhead moment) and panicked without looking closely enough. She helped me into my dress, reassured me everything was ok and sent me on my merry way. At the end of the night, we were exhausted – from smiling for the cameras and chatting up our guests. Getting married is really like putting on our show… Broadway ain’t got nothin’ on weddings. DeShai took care of the aftermath without any help from us. She cleaned everything up and kept all of our belongings organized. She sent us on our way and all we had to do was come back and pick up our things the next day. We could have had our bridal party or a family member pick up the things but we wanted to do it ourselves. Everything was packed up in boxes and ready to go – no extra effort from us. I can’t even begin to think of what it would have been like without DeShai. If you’re getting married, hire a planner, you won’t regret it. If DeShai’s available on your date, hire her. Not only will you not regret it, it’ll be the best decision you ever made. She’s truly priceless.