Jess and her team were outstanding. We worked with her for about ~18 months during the wedding planning process and were in daily contact the weeks leading up to the wedding. On the day of, Jess was a behind the scenes queen making sure every single little detail was perfect and just the way we planned it. I had forgotten one of those details at home and was very sad as it was a sweet nod to both sets of parents. I let Jess know and she found a way to still make it happen day of. She was very patient with all of our questions and some changes we made closer to the wedding. She also was very thoughtful about which vendors to suggest based on style, personality and price point. I am so happy with each person she recommended and am truly sad I won’t get to see them now that the wedding is over. I would say having vetted vendors took A LOT of the stress out of having a wedding across the country while balancing a job and life. She and her team are very professional and everyone commented on how seamless the day was which was truly because of all the planning we did together and Jess executing our vision on wedding day. This allowed us to focus on each other and all our loved ones that day. Cannot recommend Jess enough!!

Jessica and her team helped me plan the wedding of my dreams! I had a destination wedding in Scottsdale, a city I'd only been to once. Jess was able to take every email and call we had, and make it a reality. Throughout the entire planning process, she would constantly follow up with me, make suggestions, send me pictures - all the things I didn't know I needed.
The week of the wedding was completely stress free because of Jess. She took over and truly let me, my husband and our families enjoy the day. Jess is patient, kind, thoughtful, quick and dedicated. Her skills go beyond designing and planning, she genuinely cares about the well-being and happiness of her clients.
We could not recommend Shine Events more to any couple seeking a beautiful and stress-free wedding. They will be best investment you'll make. Jess - thank you for making our day so unforgettable.

Jessica and her team at Shine events are truly amazing. They made my dream wedding come to life. I hear of people being stressed planning their weddings. I had the complete opposite experience. I enjoyed the entire experience, stress free. Jessica and the Shine team took care of everything. Held my hand every single step of the way. Any issues that arose they handled gracefully and swiftly. From planning the event, to the design, to managing our families and wedding party, they did it all. If I could give 10 stars, I would. If you’re looking for a wedding planner, look no further.

Jessica Gelder, owner of Shine Events was fantastic! We had a general outline of how we envisioned our wedding day and she made it come to life. Great creativity with unique ideas! Always with a focus on our style and budget. We would reccomend Shine Events to everybody!

We had our wedding at the fabulous Omni in Scottsdale. When we booked the event, they told us that we needed a wedding planner to have our event at the Omni. In the beginning, we were a bit reluctant because we thought we could handle it ourselves. It wasn't but more than a few sessions in with Jessica when we realized she was going to be invaluable to us in the planning and preparation of our wedding. Our wedding was not a normal wedding and even though that was the case, Jessica took it in stride and was able to accommodate all our quirky asks and made sure that on our wedding day everything was in place and executed the way we wanted/hoped it would. Without a doubt, our wedding would have been a debacle without her. For the 100 things we knew she did, there was undoubtedly another 100 things she did that we didn’t know. Our wedding day was amazing, and it would not have been without Jessica and Shine Events. We highly recommend her if you want your wedding to be as great as ours was!

Hiring Jess was the best decision I made during my wedding planning journey.
Initial consultation: During the first meeting, Jess listened carefully to my vision, tradition and concerns. One thing that sets Jessica apart from others is that she does not set a limit for communication – she is committed to making my wedding day perfect.
Planning phase: As a professional wedding planner, Jess is very detail-oriented, hardworking, and patient. She made multiple trips to the linen shop and chatted with me via several emails until I was satisfied with my selection. Jess truly cares about her brides. One time I met with her to look at dinnerware after a stressful day of work. She pulled out a warm box of cookies and said this would help.
Another perk of working with Jess is she is well networked with other high-quality vendors. She identified high caliber vendors, including a specialized fireworks company and a maker of custom signage with Chinese characters. She made requests on my behalf to the venue, such as adding extra service – she made it all happen.
What I really appreciate about Jess is that she truly understood my needs. I am a professional woman, and time is scarce for me. Jess took over all the small details so that I could focus on other things.
Wedding day: My wedding was not an easy wedding. Jess orchestrated all the moving parts – guests throwing rose pedals (and looking perfect in photos), complex dress-bustling and button repairs, fully-rented furnishings and tableware (Jess was ironing tablecloths and linens for the ceremony arch), choreographed first dance with a customized setup, lion dancers, fireworks, multiple people giving (long) toasts, keeping us on-time/schedule, coordinating the packaging of all leftover untouched food for us (we don’t like to waste), collecting and safekeeping gifts, and much more behind the scenes work. Jess executed everything flawlessly! I did not want a gap between the end of the lion dance and the fireworks, so Jess made it better – she set off the fireworks right after the lion dancers’ final stunt. Our guests were in awe continuously throughout the night, and the event had a lasting impact on our guests and us.
Jess is very knowledgeable and experienced, which is clear to see when working with her. She told us about all options ranging from traditional to more modern and gave great advice. The 6-8 months leading up to the wedding were full of planning, but Jess alleviated the burden of planning by handling all the complexities. As a bride, working with Jess was wonderful because the entire experience was stress-free and without concern, as Jess had everything covered. Not only did she execute splendidly, but she led a once-in-a-lifetime event that gave us and our guests lasting memories.

We decided to go with a wedding planner once we found our venue and photographer since besides those two items we had NO idea where to even begin.

- She facilitated all the communication between vendors so we didn't have to which made our lives easier since we only had to communicate with one person at all times.
- She also helped us find vendors that we wanted. For example, our florist and rentals vendors. Everything turned out amazing so highly trust anyone Jess recommends.
- She made sure she was always available and I was able to e-mail and text her whenever I had questions. She even took a Zoom meeting once in her car when her child was at practice! That's dedication.
- She was a lifesaver leading up to the wedding. I was so stressed, but she handled everything and answered all my questions. Especially on the day of. She made sure we followed the schedule and was able to be firm to get everyone moving along, which I know can be difficult.

On top of that she was super easy to talk to and we really connected with her right away. I would highly highly recommend going with Jessica as your wedding planner if you're looking. I would pick her all over again!

So to begin we had hired jessica back in 2019 for our 2020 wedding in Phoenix. We had interviewed many wedding planners and in the end felt jessica would be the best help us plan our special day. She was very attentive, had great suggestions, lots of contacts and experience, which is what we needed since we live in another country (Canada).

Fast forward and everyone knows the pandemic hit. Now trying to plan an out of country wedding during the pandemic was not an easy task but lots of communication and follow ups from jessica made us feel that we could pull this off. Unfortunately when the time came the pandemic was full on and this wasn’t going to happen. Jessica helped with all the negotiations with the resort and aided in anything we needed during this difficult time. We were able to rebook for 2021 hoping the pandemic would be done in a year. Jessica stayed in touch the entire time. I’m sure this was the longest time between hire and a wedding she’s ever had.

In the end the pandemic wasn’t slowing down and us being from another country, the realization was settling that this wasn’t going to happen with 95% of our guests flying international to attend. We have to say during these tough times and Negotiations trying to cancel. Fighting to get our deposits back. Jessica was instrumental in talking to vendors, keeping our hopes up and doing everything in her power to help. I’m happy to finally say in the end, even though we didn’t officially have the wedding we were able to retrieve a large portion of our deposits back. Jessica even offered some back which was very appreciated. She went above and beyond for us and I would recommend her for anyone needing a wedding planned in Phoenix. She was with us during the hard times and I wished we were able to use her for the good. I encourage anyone that needs assistance to hire her as she never left our side for over 2 years when we were stressing if we would ever have this wedding or get any of our money back afterwards.

Jessica thank you for everything you have done to help us during this roller coaster ride.

Much love,

Brian and Kelli

Jessica is THE most amazing and I wish the first thing we did when we got engaged was hire her. Instead, we chose a venue that claimed to help with day of planning (in addition to many other things). Long story short, the venue lacked any attention to detail, treated us like just a number, couldn't keep track of things we'd already discussed, turned over event staff regularly, and kept getting details of our wedding wrong (wedding date, last names, style preferences, etc.). We met with a few wedding planners and after speaking with Jessica, she was the obvious choice. She went above and beyond to work with us to ensure our wedding day and the days leading up were stress free, happy, and unforgettable (in the best way). She is extremely organized, has impeccable attention to detail, is easy to talk to, was firm with our venue (who was unfortunately also our florist) when she needed to be, provided her professional expertise when we got tired of making choices, and it truly felt like we had a friend and ally during every step of the process. I don't want to imagine what our day would have turned out like without her help and luckily I won't have to. Do yourself a favor and hire Jessica!

I cannot say enough good things about Jessica. Getting married in the midst of a pandemic was incredibly stressful and difficult. Jessica went above and beyond to ensure that everything with the day went as smoothly as possible. She was highly communicative, very available, and just so good at what she does. She was able to help with just about anything from vendor recommendations to scheduling to decorating. My wedding and experience as a bride as a whole would've been so much harder if it wasn't for Jessica. I am so thankful I came across her business. Book her, you will thank your self endlessly.