I don't think I'll ever have the right words to describe just how wonderful Sanja Dimitrijevic is. She went above and beyond to make our wedding magical, and as perfect as it could be. She saved the day on multiple occasions, took on the therapist/best friend role at times, and not only double-checked everything, but fixed things I overlooked, which she caught. While the planning process was quite stressful, I told my now-husband on numerous occasions that every time I got off a call with Sanja, all my planning stress went away. She understood our culture and Hindu weddings with such respect and knowledge, which made me so comfortable in telling her what obstacles I had through the planning process, those of which she seamlessly helped navigate me through.
Come wedding day, Indian standard time hit us like bricks. However, SHE WAS SO PREPARED! Every time I got worried with how untimely everything was happening, she assured me it was okay with all the buffers she incorporated in the schedule. With everything that happened, she handled everything like A QUEEN. Speaking of...I was so bummed that I missed the desserts at our wedding , but guess what our PERFECT coordinator had waiting in our hotel room for us.
I do hope Sanja continues making magical wedding moments for all her future couples. We couldn't have found a more perfect planner, and now friend.
Rina S. Married on 03/04/2023
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Incredible job by Sanja!
2023 bride here! I found LOLA events through The Knot. When I saw that they were in Vogue magazine, I could not help myself and reached out to Lori and request a day-of coordinator. She promptly set me up with Sanja who was absolutely incredible. Her warm personality and organization skills were a perfect match for me. She was attentive during our meetings and accommodated all my requests/meeting reschedules. During wedding week, she went above and beyond by picking up items from my home and made sure they were at the venue on the day of. She made sure the day ran smoothly (at least for the bride!) and sent a follow up email a week after the wedding with anything that she encountered that day. I would recommend LOLA to all future couples!
Jim D. Married on 10/22/2022
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Best-in-Class Wedding Planner (like Lori @ Lola) = Key #1 to a Perfect Wedding
Lori @ Lola was the best. Her preparation and expertise showed as every key detail really came to light throughout our entire wedding planning process and especially on our wedding day. She had answers if anything went wrong, and came prepared with backup shoes for me (the groom) after my feet started hurting after hours of dancing (one of many special touches she added to our night). Beyond her professionalism and experience, she's an incredible person to work with - we realized that a best-in-class wedding planner is priority #1 to ensure a smooth, successful wedding. I highly recommend Lori & Lola as a wedding planner!
Our daughter, KT, announced her engagement to us by asking, 'Mom, don't you want to plan a fancy 'destination' wedding for me in a few months?' I was thrilled she and Tom were getting married but I panicked at the thought of planning a wedding or even being a part of the process. I said yes but added that we needed to find a wedding planner. KT's fiancé also wanted to be involved in the wedding plans. KT had done some research and had already decided on Lola Event Productions. She received recommendations for Michelle Kurinec @ Lola from a relative. We met with her and immediately liked her. We hired Michelle and got to work right away. KT had preselected a venue located in New Buffalo, MI, 90 minutes from Chicago for her 'destination' wedding. I was concerned about the feasibility and costs of having vendors travel from Chicago to New Buffalo and equally concerned with what vendors were available in southwestern Michigan post pandemic. We had our first meeting with Michelle and my concerns became less important to me because Michelle was in charge! She was: * very patient and addressed all of our concerns. * organized and able to anticipate upcoming needs based on our personal decisions * very efficient & punctual with meetings & follow-up communications * cost conscious! We really appreciated this because she could have been focused on spend, spend spend! * extremely pleasant to work with * a supreme multitasker! Very detailed oriented * great with communications--wonderful about including me on some but not all of the details (at my daughter's request!)--which I really appreciated. I wasn't overwhelmed with the decisions. My daughter knew I would likely say 'no not necessary' to some of her ideas, like the bubbles??!! ; ) * kept my daughter on task with reminders, to do lists and even provided a packing list for the wedding! There were many options available to us in Michigan and/or Chicago. Michelle professionally navigated through these options and contracts very easily. Michelle's active involvement in all areas wedding were really a blessing! You know how mom's and daughters can have little tifs at any age? (Over things like the bubbles!!) The wedding planning was pretty much tif free!! I surrendered my concerns and opinions--our daughter was in good hand's with Michelle. The day of the event was masterfully handled by Michelle. While we were waiting to walk down the aisle I noticed a couple arriving from out of state who had not RSVP'd. Based on the note they had attached to their gift we thought they were not coming! KT & I told Michelle about the arrival of our unexpected guests and seamlessly took care of getting them a seating card, places to sit, place settings and meals. Michelle also provided suggestions as to what we could say to make them feel warmly welcomed and not mention their missing RSVP! It worked and was an excellent & thoughtful strategy. We found Michelle to be pleasant to work and very professional. We would highly recommend Michelle Kurinec.
Ellen F. Married on 10/01/2022
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Review of LOLA Day-of Wedding Coordinator
Having Sanja from LOLA as our day-of wedding coordinator made our wedding day feel smooth, seamless and stress-free! After months of planning the wedding, I wanted to be sure to minimize stress so I could truly enjoy myself during the week leading up to the wedding and on the wedding day itself. I knew I was in great hands with Sanja — she handled communication about day-of logistics with all of our vendors, set up the cutest guest book signing area with her own polaroid camera, ran through our rehearsal with our entire wedding party, helped avoid a minor crisis with our flowers and even helped me steam my dress again right before walking down the aisle to make sure it was perfect. From big details to tiny ones, I knew I could trust Sanja to handle everything and let me really enjoy my day. I’d highly recommend working with LOLA!!
Emily P. Married on 09/24/2022
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Hire Sanja!!
Sanja Dimitrijevic was the absolute MVP of our wedding day.
Even though we technically only hired her as a day-of coordinator, her commitment to us started well before the day of our wedding. Sanja was detail-oriented and responsive – starting from our very first meeting. She was an excellent listener and was always willing to provide feedback when needed.
If there was a question that she didn't immediately have an answer to, she would seek out a response and get back to us quickly. She was incredibly helpful in reviewing our contracts, communicating with our vendors and establishing a detailed timeline.
But the real magic of Sanja came out the day of the wedding!
She was in her element.
She had a calm yet confident demeanor that made us feel so at ease so that we could enjoy our day. From morning until night, anytime we needed her, somehow Sanja appeared in our sights.
She thought of every last detail, from providing treats to the ring-bearer bearer and flower girls (and the anxious bride) to making sure that we had hors d'oeuvres and our signature cocktail in our bridal suite.
And she wasn’t just great with us. Several of our family members came up to us independently that night to tell us big and small ways she had helped them.
We couldn’t recommend Sanja highly enough.
Taylor A. Married on 09/24/2022
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Go with Lola if you want an incredible wedding!
My partner and I didn’t know the first thing about planning a wedding and we went into the process a bit apprehensive with all of the decisions we knew that we would have to make. We had a quick introduction call with Lori, the owner of Lola, and knew immediately from the start we were in good hands. Her knowledge of weddings, connections with the BEST vendors in town, and her organizational resources were all so invaluable and helped us create, from scratch, our ideal wedding. From start to finish, Lori kept us on track and took an insane amount of stress off our plates because we knew every last detail was accounted for the entire time. It’s been a few weeks since our wedding, and we still have several friends telling us it was the most fun wedding they have ever been to. We have no doubt our wedding could not have happened as seamlessly as it did without Lori’s help and we are extremely grateful for her. We feel so lucky to have met Lori and happy we created a great friendship with her along the way that will continue now that our wedding is over!
Bob S. Married on 09/17/2022
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Great experience
It's been 10 days since our daughter's wedding and every guest we talk to still starts with..." that was the best wedding I've ever been to". Lori helped us accomplished exactly what we had hoped, a memorable day for everyone without feeling like we had overdone it. She helped us focus on the right things. She saved us time as she recommended fabulous vendors based on our tastes and priorities and eliminated much of the research we would have done. She saved us money as she helped us think about what was the most impactful for our guests. She saved us aggravation as she took control of items that became challenging. she kept us organized and made decisions when needed and she let us enjoy the day by having it so well planned and taking full control on the day of the event. She and her team were professional throughout the process. Hiring Lola Event Productions was money and time very well spent!!
Mary P. Married on 09/17/2022
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Mother of the Bride feelings about our wedding planner
Fabulous wedding planner.
Amazing ability to understand our visions
She made this whole process a breeze
Can't possibly give her a great enough recommendation
Lola Married on 09/01/2022
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Hire Kirsty & Lola Event Productions Immediately! Best decision.
Hiring Kirsty (& Lola Event Productions more generally) was hands down the best and easiest decision we made throughout all of our wedding planning. Truly, truly incredible. We said it. Our parents said it. Our guests said it. Kirsty & Lola are in a tier of wedding and event planning all their own. I now tell everyone immediately that the first and best thing they should invest in for their wedding is the planner. Pick the planner first, and pick Kirsty & Lola!
From our initial call we knew Kirsty was the perfect fit for us—her energy, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail were immediately apparent. Kirsty told us on the first call that part of her job is to make sure that planning and the wedding run smoothly—but also that even if something goes wrong, as it can with large events, we (the couple) will never know because it will already be handled. Kirsty and Lola executed on that promise perfectly. Our entire wedding weekend went off without a hitch (or the hitch was so well handled that we’ll never know about it, as promised!). Throughout the wedding planning process I felt sheepish at times talking to other brides who were so stressed—when they asked how planning was going for us I could only answer honestly: it was fun! Kirsty handled all the logistical parts of planning so that my (now wife) and I could enjoy the creative and personal aspects of planning.
Although we had a front row seat to Kirsty and Lola’s work throughout the whole process, it was conversations with our guests that really highlighted how lucky we were to have our entire vendor team: our guests told us that the weekend permeated a sense of calm, pure joy, and utter fun (in no short part because we the brides were able to be so calm and joyful because all the details were taken care of!). It's hard to capture everything we loved about Kirsty and Lola, but here are some of the highlights:
The details. My wife and I both have very hectic work and travel schedules, so the idea of managing the details of a wedding felt quite daunting at the beginning of the process. This is one of the major places Kirsty really showed her skills. Kirsty managed communications with vendors, kept all of our budgeting and contract details organized, tracked important dates and flagged anything for us that needed our immediate attention. It was an enormous weight off our shoulders to not feel like we had to be on top of all of the details--Kirsty had it handled. Kirsty's attention to detail also goes beyond just the logistics--Kirsty helped us understand all the different aspects of weddings and wedding planning, including things as granular as explaining possible approaches to our Head table. Kirsty was there for reassurance and understanding when various interpersonal items came up throughout the planning process, in addition to all the big-ticket formal planning to-dos.
The team. Every single one of our vendors was incredible, and they all came highly recommended and vetted by Kirsty and Lola. There's a huge market of vendors, so having a tailored understanding of who would be the best fit for us was so helpful. Kirsty's level of experience means that she can tell you, with personal examples, the differences among the vendors, etc. She was instrumental in putting together our full vendor team, and part of why the weekend was so magical is because everyone involved trusted each other and worked together well. Working with all the vendors was also made easier by the fact that Kirsty and Lola Event Pros have a stellar reputation--if vendors didn't already know that Kirsty was our planner, they became excited and relaxed as soon as we told them. They immediately knew who to talk to & that they wanted to work with us because the overall event planning was in good hands.
The communication. Throughout the entire planning process Kirsty was present and easy to reach any time we needed her. She checks in and is a clear and patient communicator. My work schedule can make me tough to reach, but Kirsty was able to prioritize items for me that needed my attention, and was patient with me when I was slower on other things! She is super easy and fun to talk to, which made every conversation a joy. And critically, Kirsty is also good at having tougher conversations with people if they need to happen. I can be a people pleaser, but Kirsty knew my goals, vision, and budget, and was able to gently step in for me if I was struggling to articulate what I needed in various meetings. I always felt comfortable telling her what I needed, and she is open-minded and flexible in a way that I know she would have adapted to whatever style I needed in approaching the planning process.
Inclusivity. As a queer and interracial couple, it was important to us that we work with a company and vendor team that values diversity and inclusion. Kirsty made us feel welcomed and valued from the start, and we never had to think about or worry about explaining bride-bride language to vendors, etc. We also asked Kirsty to help us find and prioritize diversity within our vendor teams, and she made that happen! More generally, it was clear to us throughout the whole process that Lola supports their clients and their organizational values--including diversity, inclusion, and beyond.
Day-of. So much of the planning process is, of course, the months leading up to the event--and those were all flawless. But perhaps most importantly, the wedding day itself ran like a well-oiled machine. Everyone knew where they needed to be and who the point people were--both I and my wife were completely relaxed because we knew the details were taken care of and that Kirsty would tell us anything we needed to know. Someone was with each of us every step of the way, and the vendors were also coordinated perfectly.
All this to say, although it's a cliche, our wedding weekend was truly one of the best weekends of our lives and that would not have been possible without Kirsty. I want to throw more events just so we can work with Kirsty again! Beyond being our planner, Kirsty became a trusted friend. Thank you, thank you, thank you--to Kirsty and to Lola Event Productions.
Mamatha C. Married on 08/13/2022
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Kirsty Basch & LOLA are the absolute best!
If you are searching for a wedding planner in Chicago, look no further. Kirsty Basch & LOLA Event Productions are the absolute best!!
My husband & I first met Kirsty when she planned our friend’s gorgeous wedding in 2019. We were SO impressed with her work and were super lucky to get her to plan our wedding too!
Our original date was set for 2021, but of course with COVID there ended up being lots of unexpected considerations, including making the decision to postpone until August 2022. Throughout the entire planning process and pandemic chaos, Kirsty was so warm, professional, communicative, reliable, considerate, intuitive, proactive, creative, fun, flexible, and frankly our steady rock.
Kirsty makes it a priority to first really understand the fundamental needs, personalities, and goals of each of her couples. She then uses this formulation to inform her work and guide couples in picking the best personalized options *for them* and their budget. Kirsty & LOLA clearly have tight relationships with the best vendors in Chicago, and she made selecting them a breeze. She stayed in constant contact with them, advocated on our behalf before we even needed to say anything, and somehow knew what we wanted more than we knew ourselves! Kirsty & and our vendor crew basically felt like the Avengers – they were such a strong, cohesive team with immense experience working in the industry and with each other, and we had 100% faith in their expertise.
Kirsty was also an expert at navigating the complicated aspects of a large multicultural (Indian-Italian) wedding. As a psychiatrist myself, we often joked that Kirsty must be secretly trained in family therapy! She was extremely interpersonally skilled at navigating our families’ different goals and expectations, while also ultimately prioritizing us as the couple. I was particularly impressed with her knowledge and experience with planning South Asian weddings and found that she actually knew way more details about them than I did! She clearly excels at inclusivity and cultural humility and I would trust her to plan any event amazingly.
Our wedding day itself ended up being truly stunning and magical, better than anything we could have possibly imagined. We had so much faith in Kirsty that we didn’t have to worry about a single detail that day – we just got to fully enjoy it. Hiring Kirsty Basch and LOLA were by far the BEST decision we made for our wedding, and if we could hire Kirsty to plan our entire life we would!!!
Megan P. Married on 07/23/2022
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Kirsty is the BEST Wedding Planner Ever!
I wish there was a 10,000 star rating on here. If there was, Kirsty Basch would get that a million times over. To say she is the best would not be doing her justice. We started working with Kirsty on our wedding planning back in March 2020. We originally had our wedding planned for July 2021 but pushed it to July 2022 because of Covid. Kirsty was a magical worker during that process. When we told her we were thinking of postponing, she got new dates and availability to us within a few hours. She basically picked up everything we had booked and moved it to the same weekend, a year later. She was seriously a miracle worker. The vendor team she put together for us was incredible. Everyone was so amazing and so fun to work with. She seriously put together our dream wedding. She answered all of our (my) crazy questions and was always able to read my mind and vision.
As for our wedding day, there were crazy storms in the morning and we were planning for an outdoor wedding. She made our Plan A happen, even though there were crazy storms still going around our venue the whole night. I swear she and the other vendor teams put out some storm net and physically pushed the storm away. Her and the vendor team worked at turbo speed the whole day and didn't show me or the groom any signs of stress or panic. They made us feel so calm, cool and collected the entire day.
If you are looking at other planners, this is your sign to stop. Hire Kirsty and she will plan you your dream wedding! When I was dreaming about my wedding as a kid, July 23rd, 2022 was exactly what I dreamed of. It makes me so sad that I have to write this review because that means the planning process is over. But, I know that I will still keep in touch with Kirsty and forever be grateful to her! Thank you for everything Kirsty! xoxox
Taylor R. Married on 07/16/2022
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The (wo)Man, The Myth, The Legend—Carly C!
Our easiest and best decision was working with Carly C during our wedding planning process. We truly had no idea how many components went into planning a wedding! Carly led us through the entire process with ease and confidence. I’m not sure how many times I heard “it’ll be fiiiine” from her and it always was! I have to give full credit to her for my relaxed demeanor throughout the past year (especially on my wedding day); I know Carly had everything under control from start to finish. She’s attentive, available when you need her, organized, and incredibly professional. She’s great at anticipating needs and kept us on track with our deadlines which was necessary with our busy work schedules. I have and will continue to recommend Lola and Carly to all of my friends embarking on their wedding planning process. She’s simply the best! There wouldn’t have been a wedding without her!
Cassie K. Married on 07/16/2022
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Lori the Wedding Wizard from Lola Event Productions
After getting engaged in the December of 2019, Brian and I decided to wait a few months to plan a wedding. Shortly after, the pandemic hit and planning a wedding seemed like something we should just hold off on. Finally, in January of 2021, with the pandemic still in full force I decided to investigate wedding planners who could help us navigate the ever-changing situation of the pandemic.
When I spoke to Lori from Lola Event Productions, I was immediately drawn to her fun personality and her calm demeaner. I felt like she was someone we could work with. We waited a few months and ultimately decided to hire Lori to execute our entire wedding in August of 2021. What Lori brought to the table was as follows: a plethora of knowledge on anything related to a Chicago wedding including a vetted list of vendors from venue options, to caterers, to photographers and videographers, to DJs, florists, and invitation and printing gurus. Yet while her rolodex of vendors saved us hours of research because we signed with people she had worked with and trusted, Lori’s greatest asset was her ability to connect with us both as a couple and as individuals. She understood who we were as people and what we wanted in a wedding. She executed our wedding vision that was less traditional and combined a more relaxed/casual atmosphere with the sophistication of high-end food and drinks. She designed the reception and décor to cater to my desire for vibrant colors of oranges, reds, yellows, and blues. She provided Brian with the organizational structures of timelines, lists and details so that everything for the day was mapped out and we could have a great time.
Since our wedding this past weekend on July 16th, 2022, people have been commenting on how cool and fun the day was. Family and friends have said they enjoyed the “non-assigned” table seating and the ability to eat, drink, mingle and dance with so many different people. However, what resonates with me the most is guests said, “this wedding felt so much like a representation of you and Brian.” I credit Lori and Lola Event Productions for that.
Joseph L. Married on 07/09/2022
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LOLA is best in the business!
Lori and her team are the best in the business. Our wedding was everything we had hoped for and Lori was there every step of the way. Could not have asked for a better event and overall experience!
Kelly A. Married on 06/18/2022
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The best Chicago wedding planner ever - Lola Event Productions & Carly Carynski
Carly Carynski is the best wedding planner ever! She planned our entire wedding, but we wanted to her to be a guest and have fun at the actual wedding, so we also worked with Angela Chereso at Lola who was our amazing day of wedding planner. Both Angela and Carly are truly fantastic, and we would recommend them to anyone!
Carly -
Not only is Carly an upbeat, positive, and organized person, she is extremely professional and gets the job done. She worked with us from day one when it came to finding our venue to suggesting the best vendors to the decor process to the wedding weekend planning and everything in between. She is detail oriented, very responsive to emails, and anticipates your needs in advance. She is always thinking ahead about the next areas that need to be accomplished. Carly's expertise having done many successful weddings was very valuable during the process. She kept us on track with deadlines, knew when to give her opinion and could offer advice when we didn’t know the answer. She’s a great communicator and committed to making your wedding as stress free and as perfect as possible.
Our guests and our bridal party commented on how the logistics ran so smoothly. Carly's timeline set in advance of the weekend was a life saver. Everyone in the wedding party new exactly where they needed to be and was thankful for the organized information. We could not have thought of every scheduling detail without Carly’s help and expertise.
We would highly recommend Carly and LOLA to anyone planning a wedding! Thank you, Carly, for being an amazing wedding planner, neighbor, and friend. We love you!
Angela -
Angela Chereso was our fantastic day of wedding planner. She was involved in the timeline process, ran an amazing rehearsal walk through and facilitated the day of wedding. Angela is professional, calm, honest and a great listener. During the day of, she was responsive, kept us on track and was flexible when needed. She was well organized and knew exactly where everyone needed to be to run a successful ceremony, dinner, and reception. She kept our wedding party, families, and vendors on time and on track. We cannot thank Angela enough for all the love and support on our wedding day. We would highly recommend Angela and LOLA to anyone!
Caitlin P. Married on 06/18/2022
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Fantastic!
5 out of 5 stars isn’t enough! We worked with Kirsty Basch at Lola Event Productions for our wedding in June 2022 – and we absolutely could not have done it without her! When we started working with Kirsty we were living in Manhattan while trying to plan a wedding in Chicago. We were unfamiliar with Chicagoland venues and vendors and Kirsty helped us navigate everything with ease (or at least she makes it look like she does it with ease!). She narrowed down the vendors for us and offered recommendations and candid commentary where we were having trouble choosing between all the amazing options. We absolutely loved all our vendors – they were all fantastic people and experts at what they do- and they all had the most amazing things to say about Kirsty. I’m convinced they took us on as clients just for the opportunity to work with Kirsty again! Unlike some brides I didn’t have a picture perfect vision of what I wanted and I was able to trust Kirsty and all our vendors to read my mind and know what I wanted before I knew! We ended up moving to Chicago before the wedding and were able to spend some time with Kirsty at our final walkthroughs and meetings. Not only is she a fantastic wedding planner, shes also a phenomenal person. The morning of the wedding I realized my veil was lost and proceeded to freak out. Kirsty swooped in and found a backup veil in no time- I can’t even tell the difference when I look at the photos. Crisis Averted! Throughout the day everything ran so smoothly, Kirsty was there to walk me and my husband through anything and everything. We got so many compliments from guests on the wedding and how organized it all was. We couldn’t have pictured a more perfect wedding day- it was really everything we could have hoped for and more. We will treasure it forever. We would highly highly recommend Kirsty and LOLA to anyone!
Michael M. Married on 06/18/2022
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Amazing event planner
We hired Lori to plan our daughters wedding, which due to Covid related cancellations and reschedules finally happened in June 2022. Lori is really good at what she does. This is the first event we’ve hosted where I was able to spend all my time the day of the event enjoying the moment. We’ve used planners in the past and there is no comparison. I expected her to handle things like table and limo mixups - stuff like that happens. But she went above and beyond planning this wedding multiple times, guiding us through emotions and around potholes we had no clue were even there, and I’m sure won’t quit until all the loose ends are resolved. I can’t imagine having another event without her by our side. Lori - thank you so much for helping us make this perfect wedding a reality!
Mita P. Married on 06/11/2022
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Amazing Wedding Planners!
Lola Event Productions is amazing. We feel so lucky to have worked with them!!! Our wedding was June 11, 2022 which is in the middle of probably the craziest wedding season we've ever seen and you could not tell that Lori and Sanja had been working like crazy. Our wedding was always important to them and they continued to keep their fast-paced, energetic, and detail-oriented work style in place from beginning to end. Lori has SO much experience and it shows. She has basically seen it all which is such a treat. I felt confident in Lori and Sanja from the first meeting that was so detailed and I knew they could problem solve any issue. The biggest thing with a wedding is that things are always going to go "wrong" and as the bride you are way too busy to deal with anything. Sanja and Lori had everything under control from start to finish and knew when to come to me with questions and when not to which is honestly the hardest skill to learn. They are SO PROFESSIONAL and SO KIND. They both have exceptional taste and high standards. We are so grateful to have them. They were always invested in us as a couple and in our events and demonstrated so much passion and energy which really showed through for our life-changing wedding! They both contributed so much positivity and loving energy to the event and to both my now husband and me. I know we will stay in touch with them for years to come. Lori even walked around to every single table, every single table setting, every candle etc, and made sure each detail was in place while Sanja was literally running around everywhere making sure all the vendors were in place and each task was taken care of. Both of our families commented on how Sanja and Lori were always in control and dealt with any issue before it became a problem. They are consistently anticipating the next 3 steps which is an invaluable skill. I have been to family weddings where I had to tell the wedding planner what to do - there was NONE of that at this wedding. Sanja was with me in the bridal suite and was always giving me water, making sure I ate, and overall just being the best cheerleader and hype woman. Working with a woman-led and owned business that is the BEST in the industry is a beautiful experience that I will always remember. I can't say enough positive things but just go with them if they are actually open on your date...trust us!
Beth R. Married on 05/28/2022
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Carly is the best!
Out of all our wedding decisions, working with Carly from Lola was our best! We happened to meet her while she was working on another wedding during our venue tour and we were immediately sold. She has such a personable and professional demeanor. You can tell she really loves her job. Leading up to the wedding, Carly made sure we stayed on track and communicated with vendors to ensure the same. She was always available when we had questions or needed her opinion. When wedding day came, everything went off without a hitch! My husband and I were able to relax the whole day and didn't worry about a thing. We knew we were in good hands! Many thanks to Carly and the Lola team!
Kimberly B. Married on 05/28/2022
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Lori Helps Make Wedding Dreams a Reality
Lori at Lola Event Productions has been nothing less than incredible throughout the whole wedding planning process. We wanted someone who would work with us to push creative boundaries and give us a truly unique and colorful wedding. Lori was more than capable of taking up the challenge! She worked flawlessly to find us all the vendors we needed, speaking candidly about what was necessary vs. what wasn't, and made sure that all the vendors we worked with kept our goals in mind when carrying out their responsibilities. In all the planning and re-planning that went on, we could NOT have done this without Lori! I would absolutely recommend Lori and Lola Event Productions to anyone who is looking to hire a wedding/event planner, and will turn to Lori first the next opportunity I have to plan something big!
Thank you thank you thank you so much for making our wedding dreams come true, and giving us a color-packed and super-fun event that we will remember for the rest of our lives.
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A.j. S. Married on 05/21/2022
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Look no further than Michelle at LOLA... seriously
This review is going to be long, so if you want the short version, RUN don’t walk to Michelle Kurinec with LOLA Event Productions. It will be the single best decision you make for your wedding. When my fiancé and I got engaged, I saw hiring a wedding planner as a splurge for myself. I love to plan things and am pretty type A, so everyone assured me I could just do it all myself. But, I really enjoy planning with someone, especially with an expert in their field, so I really decided to move forward with getting a planner just to fully enjoy the experience. What I quickly learned was that getting a planner (the right one) was not a luxury or a splurge, but a necessity. My fiancé and I got engaged in May of 2020, so COVID was in full swing and we decided to have our wedding at a distant date to hopefully allow some return to “normal”. So, Michelle worked with us for over 2 years to deliver the perfect wedding. In those 2 years we navigated various travel restrictions, changing guidelines, etc. We also live in California so we were planning at a distance. Michelle took the less than ideal circumstances of planning during a pandemic and brought a high level of flexibility and professionalism, from personalized virtual tours of venues of interest to several extremely helpful video calls with not only my fiancé and myself but also my parents. Remember, none of us have done a pandemic before, but you’d never have known that when working with Michelle. You would think that the long distance planning and COVID era would be the primary drivers behind why I say Michelle’s services were a necessity. Not the case. Regardless of where you live and whether you are grappling with “unprecedented times”, Michelle brings a huge wealth of knowledge, experience, and respect in the field that is priceless for planning a wedding. Before jumping into planning, I had an idea of venues I was interested in. When making the final decision of which planner to go with, I contacted the venues directly, and they emphatically recommended LOLA and Michelle. This trend continued throughout the process. I ended up with the absolute perfect vendor team for me thanks to Michelle’s guidance. And they were fully on board and excited to work with us because they knew we were working with Michelle. Over the 2 years of working with Michelle, she patiently and receptively listened to any idea or inspiration I had. She took the time to learn who I was and who my fiancé was, and worked to merge our two styles together. My dad was very involved in the process, and she did a great job of involving him but also putting up boundaries when needed if it didn’t go with our vision for the day as a couple. She will make sure you are always informed in all decisions, bringing up potential barriers or considerations that we would have never known about had it not been for her. I have never been so happy for someone to tell me “no”. She is direct while also being kind and genuine. She is not only the perfect planner, but an all-around fantastic human being that we feel privileged that we had the opportunity to get to know. With that 2 years of lead up, I was very nervous about the day not living up to my expectations. I’m a dreamer and am notorious for building things up in my head. So many times, I’ve heard people say that they just had to “get through the wedding’ or “it went by so fast we didn’t even get to enjoy it”. None of these fears were realized for us. The wedding was virtually stress free, the ceremony, reception, and cocktail hour truly exceeded my expectations (which again, were HIGH), and I was able to enjoy every minute. Do I wish that day could’ve been played on repeat, yes. But never did I feel I wasn’t able to fully live in the moment and enjoy it. The saddest part of the day coming to an end was saying goodbye to Michelle. She is a professional, resident expert, and wonderful person at every level. Wedding planning went from a splurge to a necessity to the best money spent. Okay, so if you’ve made it this far, stop reading reviews and just get Michelle as your planner as soon as you can. You won’t regret it, and trust me, you’ll want as much time with her as you can get!
Asam K. Married on 05/14/2022
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Best planners in town!
We worked with Carly as our wedding planner. Immediately leaving the Lola office on our initial meet and greet my fiancé and I looked at one another and said "We're hiring her!" During this meeting Carly seemed so excited about the whole process, and you could truly tell she loves her job. Carly was always there for us; answering any questions we had and setting up meetings with the best vendors in the industry from start to finish. She took all of our visions and made them come to life, and it truly turned out better then i could have imagined! We got married about a month ago, and I'm still obsessing over how well everything turned out. We could not have done this without Carly!
Linnea C. Married on 05/02/2022
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The LOLA team surpasses all expectations
Most importantly, if you need a planning team, work with LOLA.
There are almost no words to describe how PERFECT my experience was with LOLA. Kristy Diana is a rock-star. She is organized, intuitive, empathetic, kind, always listening and made our day truly seamless. Everyone expects at least one thing to go 'wrong' on their wedding day...and so did I...but that did not happen. I have Kristy and her coordination (and countless vendors) to thank for that.
Allison Married on 04/09/2022
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You need Lola!!
If you’re looking for the best wedding planner or day of coordinator in the business, you’ve found them! We had the privilege of working with Carly C. for all three of our wedding dates — originally 9/26/2020, then 8/14/21, and finally 4/9/2022. I only list the dates to highlight that we worked together from 2019-2022 — meaning that we not only worked together for 3 years, but we also worked together through the toughest years imaginable for the wedding industry. However, you would have never known that working with Carly, which is a testament to her professionalism, character, and laser focus on her couples. She went above and beyond her contract in so many ways: rebooking vendors, giving sound advice when we tried to predict the unpredictable in 2020/21, and truly being a friend and advocate every step of the way. Any bride getting married in those years would tell you how tough it was, including me, but I had the perfect partner in planning, strategizing, and finding the right solution for us. We ended up with our dream day at the Chicago Athletic Association — our original venue with all of our original vendors — and Carly was beyond instrumental in making it happen.
In addition to being an absolute pleasure to work with, Carly brings incredible experience to the table. She really has seen — and masterfully handled — everything. Ask her about vendors — she has solid recommendations in every field (and they love working with her). Ask her about how to handle a concern about your venue — she’ll tell you about what her past couples have done in that exact space (or leverage the LOLA brain trust!). You’ll quickly see you can ask her anything, and you will get a thoughtful, helpful, and productive response from Carly. She really is as good with the big picture as she is with the small details, and she cares about what matters to you. For instance, Carly knew I cared about the day staying “on time” as I’ve seen so many weddings get off track as a guest. I am not kidding when I say our dance floor opened at 9:00 PM on the dot. She knew I cared about predictability and structure, and she made it happen without me even being aware of it or conscious of it during the day.
That example brings me to another key point about Carly and the service she offers. The timeline of my day is a small example, but more broadly speaking, Carly seamlessly allowed me, my husband, and our family, to enjoy our wedding day unencumbered with details and decision making. We all floated through the day — focused on the joy of it all — while Carly had our backs. She does the right pre-work before the wedding (coordinating vendors, in/out times, planning details with venue, etc.), and then masterfully executes on the day. Having a coordinator and/or planner as wonderful as Carly allows for a shift in mindset — your work is done! It’s just time to enjoy the best day of your life.
My last words… if you are thinking you may not need a coordinator, you have parents, siblings, or bridal parties that will help cover tasks… I have to say that having a coordinator is a MUST. I would rank it as the #1 use of your budget. Nothing is as important as your ability to enjoy your day. I have been in 6 weddings in the last few years, 3 of which we’re planned and coordinated by Carly, and attended at least 25 with a mix of support. Simply put, when Carly is at your side, the difference is night and day. If you are still on the fence, have a intro call with Carly and you’ll quickly see what I see in her.
