Planners on Retainer Reviews
Reviews
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
Awards
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![CC]()
Cc Sent on 06/09/2025Picky Bride
We feel incredibly blessed to have found Sarah-Jane at Planners with Retainers for our wedding at the Four Seasons Hotel. From our very first conversation, we knew we'd found someone special. We clicked immediately, and it felt like we were finishing each other's sentences in no time!
Sarah-Jane took the time to fully understand our vision for our special day and executed it flawlessly. She provided us with excellent options and always offered an objective perspective, helping us think through every decision from all angles. She was instrumental in pulling every detail of the wedding together. We put our trust in her completely, and she absolutely over-delivered!
Her expertise truly showed when a key vendor unexpectedly couldn't deliver just four days before the wedding! I was near panic, but Sarah-Jane was on it immediately, leveraging her strong business relationships to find us a replacement who rearranged their schedule to accommodate us. Even on the wedding day, when a vendor delivered and installed an incorrect item, Sarah-Jane was already rectifying the issue before we even had a chance to mention it later. The entire day went so smoothly, thanks to her incredible proactive approach.
We highly recommend Planners with Retainers and Sarah-Jane. In fact, we were so impressed that we've already rehired her for another service! If you're a picky bride like me, looking for a wedding planner who is dedicated, insightful, prioritizes your best interests and handles ANYTHING that comes their way with grace, professionalism and efficiency, book Sarah-Jane with Planners on Retainers! We have zero regrets! -
![Tiffany]()
Tiffany Sent on 11/25/2024Sarah-Jane gets it done!!!
Sarah-Jane was our month of coordinator and she was absolutely wonderful! She has so much experience working in this field that she knew all about our key vendors right off the bat, and had worked with many of them before. As the wedding day got closer, it became so easy to worry about the little details and whether or not everything would come together. But we didn’t have to worry with Sarah-Jane on our side. The peace of mind from knowing that she had our back, she knew these folks, she would get whatever situation had come up sorted – that’s absolutely priceless.
When the big day came we learned what elevates Planners on Retainer from ‘excellent’ to ‘multi-award winning’ – the whole dream team. Sarah-Jane’s assistants are just as amazing as she is. I want to shout-out Kim in particular – she was absolutely AMAZING!! Our venue (Top of the Town) has limited access points for vendors and incredibly strict rules for everything – its a residential building first and foremost, so they can be very particular. To make things even more complicated, it was a morning wedding with a tight reception timeline.
But it went perfectly! Every speech, every toast, every dance that we wanted to get in, we got in – with plenty of time for cocktails and dancing and memory-making. Everything from the floral arrangements to the wireless mic was exactly where it was supposed to be. If any of the vendors had questions (and I’m sure they did!) they knew exactly who to talk to. As we zipped around that day, taking pictures or greeting guests or practicing speeches, Sarah-Jane and her team were always there, just barely out of sight, running around with clipboards and boxes, keeping everything moving perfectly. That's the sign of an amazing coordinator, I think. Everything went flawlessly, and every time we saw them during the day they was busy getting *something* taken care of. They always had something in hand, always in mid-conversation with someone. But because of her and her team's incredible skills and professionalism, we never knew what those "somethings" were. I am sure that there were a million tiny snags that never made it to me or my guests, all because of the amazing work of Planners on Retainer.
They're just such a great team to work with. Thank you for making our special day so perfect! -
![Jess]()
Jess Sent on 11/05/2024The Absolute Best!
So special! POR’s level of organization and expertise made our wedding day. -
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![Julien]()
Julien Sent on 08/14/2024Sarah-Jane is very best planner
We knew immediately it was an ideal match as soon as we spoke with Sarah-Jane. The conversation was fun, easy and we felt she understood what we wanted and where we were in the wedding planning process.
She truly became invaluable to us throughout the year we spent planning our wedding. She was flexible with our work schedules. She always had the answer and was very understanding with any curve balls we threw at her. Her designs and ideas were exactly what we wanted. When it came to the day, it was perfect. It was light, beautiful and easy. We honestly were carefree and knew she had everything under control. We would undoubtedly recommend her 10 times over.
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![Brianna]()
Bria Sent on 10/29/2023The absolute best in the business
Sarah-Jane, Cierra, and the entire team at Planners on Retainer are just phenomenal. They go above and beyond to make sure every single detail is attended to. From the beginning of your planning process until you’re walking into your honeymoon suite and beyond, they make sure that you don’t need to worry about anything and you enjoy being a bride and groom to the fullest. If you do not book the POR team for your wedding, you’re truly missing out!! We are forever grateful for everything they did to make our fairytale come true. -
![Tracee]()
Tracee Sent on 08/03/2023Phenomenal experience with Planners on Retainer
Where to begin - I truly resisted having a wedding planner, believing I could do it all myself. I am very Type A and am one of those people who would rather do things themselves, so that I only have myself to blame if things go wrong. We were having a relatively short engagement and needed to plan an ~180-person wedding in 6 months and on a limited budget (for this market). After about 6 weeks of planning on my own, the stress started to consume me. Between work and the wedding, I was totally spent. My now husband decided that the best wedding present he could give me was to hire a wedding planner. As I said, I truly thought I could do it myself. We went to a bridal show and met a bunch of planners, but I didn’t connect with anyone. I started searching online and I found Planners on Retainer (PoR). I reached out to Sarah-Jane (S-J) and she set a meeting. From the first call, she got me. I knew that she would be patient with me and help me to craft the vision that she would execute. And execute she did! S-J was amazing. She has a very busy calendar between her local and destination weddings, yet always had time for my calls and late night emails. She joined me for meetings with vendors and helped to negotiate when necessary. On very short notice, she drove out to Chantilly to meet us at the florist and truly honed and elevated our designs. She has an amazing eye for detail and great taste. If you want an elegant wedding, you can trust S-J and PoR to get you there.
On a more granular level, planning my wedding with PoR was very easy. She knows everyone in the business and proposed a wonderful selection of vendors for us to choose from - with discounts! The PoR planning portal was a Godsend - from the design portal to the guest tracker and seating chart maker. All were far more user-friendly and detailed than anything I saw on Minted, the Knot, etc. We created our website on Minted with a custom web address, but ended up using the PoR site for all of our guest tracking as it was much easier to download/print for dissemination to the vendors.
Finally, on our actual wedding day, I met the rest of the PoR team and they were just as amazing as S-J. Super helpful and not intrusive.
Needless to say, we were very happy that we chose PoR for our wedding. S-J has become such a good friend to us - we both miss talking to her post-wedding.
Note: I was hoping to post professional pictures of the venue design with this review, so that you can really see her work, but they haven’t arrived yet. We’ve added a few candids and will update the post once received. -
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Shaleece Sent on 06/19/2023
Wow our day was very special
Sarah Jane is amazing!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to Sarah for being the brains and organization behind our wedding. I am not a organized person by nature, but I knew when we started planning a wedding that this was beyond my strengths. I was scrolling through the internet and instagram looking for a planner. I originally wanted a destination wedding but circumstances changed for us. When I met Sarah Jane we hit it off immediately. Her positive, supportive and bubbly personality made every step of planning that much more fun and relaxing. Her team handled everything for us till the day of the wedding, and it was the best decision we made! She also had amazing recommendations for things to include that we hadn’t even considered. I couldn’t have asked for a better planner. I definitely recommend Sarah and her team on your special day! -
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![Nancy]()
Nancy Sent on 10/15/2022Hire POR as your wedding planning team! Highly recommended!
My utmost gratitude goes to the Planners on Retainer team in planning and executing our wedding day! We were planning a wedding in Alexandria, VA while my (now) husband and I lived in the northeast, and despite the distance, POR made themselves available to support us from beginning to end. During the planning process, Sarah-Jane, Felicia, and Ciera were communicative, organized, and supportive. They recommended excellent vendors while also helping us to incorporate vendors that we desired. They are clearly knowledgeable and experienced with the ins and outs of the wedding planning process – from reviewing vendor contracts with a careful eye, making suggestions about important considerations with selecting venues and vendors, and so much more that we were unfamiliar with. We could comfortably rely on their expertise to guide us. Leading up to the wedding date, Ciera was an impeccable leader who was responsive, responsible, and caring as she organized the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and entire wedding day, with the additional support from Winnie too! With everything lined up and in place, the unpredictability of the weather made me feel nervous, but wow – Ciera and Winnie were flexible, made thoughtful decisions, and immediately took care of things that we didn’t have to think or stress about. We had planned for a mostly outdoor wedding, and with the magic of Ciera and Winnie, we were blessed to have a wedding that accommodated guests to move between indoors and outdoors seamlessly (as if that were the plan all along)! As another example, during the ceremony, we realized too late that we forgot to bring the cutting cake from home, and I was totally ok without one. When we entered the reception for the grand entrance, there I saw a cake, and later learned that Winnie ran out to the store to pick up a cake for us. It was moments like this like many others from the wedding weekend that exemplified how trusting we were with the POR team to seamlessly execute an incredible day and experience for us and our guests. In moments of feeling overwhelmed, Ciera and Winnie stepped out and helped me to feel calm and find joy in the day, which I was so grateful for. My family, bridal party, and guests were thrilled with the hard work and commitment of POR and they couldn’t stop raving about them too. Thank you for everything, POR. We are so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with you! -
![Lakeisha]()
Lakeisha Sent on 06/02/2022An absolute dream come true!!
We used Planners on Retainer for full wedding planning services and they have exceeded our expectation in every way. We live in San Diego, CA and were planning our big day in Alexandria, VA. Being that we were having a destination wedding, we knew we would need full wedding planning services and someone we could fully trust and work well with. Sarah-Jane is INCREDIBLE! From the moment we talked to her on the phone to hear about her services we loved her professionalism, vibe and interest in working alongside us to create the wedding of our dreams. She was very communicative, prompt and clear in deadlines and any information she needed. She provided excellent vendors! They were all superb and provided the services we wanted and more. Sarah-Jane worked behind the scenes to coordinate meetings with vendors, ask follow up questions for us and reviewed contracts ahead of us to ensure all was in line. We also got to work with the lovely Ciera who helped us in so many ways! From securing a rehearsal dinner location, finalizing invoices well before the wedding and being present and hands on the day of our wedding, we really loved working with her. On our wedding day there were a couple of unexpected things that came up, but Sarah-Jane and Ciera promptly resolved all issues before we even knew there was a potential problem. Our wedding day ran smoothly and was the literally the best day of our lives. Our guests laughed and danced the night away. It was a day we will never forget and we sincerely appreciate Planners on Retainer as they helped our vision become a beautiful reality. I HIGHLY recommend using Planners on Retainer for your wedding or other planning needs. Thank you Planners on Retainer! We appreciate you so much Sarah-Jane and Ciera!Planners on Retainer's reply:
You and Chris were such a dream!!! Thank you for your kindness, trust and confidence you bestowed upon us. It was such an honor to work for you both and be part of your wedding planning journey. -
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Anna Sent on 03/15/2021
Best Wedding Planner Ever!!
Felicia Engdahl was phenomenal, she was great to work with. She helped make the planning of our wedding memorable. I would recommend Planners on Retainer to anyone looking for a professional, flexible, quick response, work with you wedding planner -
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![Ebony]()
Ebony Sent on 10/24/2020Exquisite Service
Working with Sarah-Jane was a wonderful experience! She was present at every meeting at our request and provided the advice necessary. Planning a wedding is already stressful, but planning a wedding during a pandemic adds even more stress! I found that a lot of things were already taken care of and it took a lot of stress off of us as we prepared for one of the most important days of our lives. Sarah-Jane and are team were on top of everything! Our wedding day was truly magical and everything went perfectly! I would highly recommend Planners on Retainer. They are extremely professional and working with a team of experienced planners is worth every penny! We selected the full-service planning, but probably should have gone with the month-of service. Either package you select, you can't go wrong! My husband and I were definitely satisfied with the professionalism and quality of service provided by Sarah-Jane and her team. -
![Brittany]()
Brittany Sent on 10/23/2020Bringing our Pinterest Wedding into Reality
Felicia and the Planners on Retainer Team did a fantastic job bringing our Pinterest Wedding into reality!! Felicia was very responsive to our requests and helped us beautifully incorporate our personal touches to the wedding. She made it easy to plan the wedding even though we were 3,000 miles away! Planners on Retainer connected us to amazing vendors and did a great job coordinating vendor visits when we were in town. After two years of planning, we are especially grateful that Felicia closely worked with us as we made many adjustments to safely host our wedding. Everything on our wedding day was absolutely gorgeous!!! We highly recommend Planners on Retainer to have the wedding of your dreams!Planners on Retainer's reply:
Brittany, the pleasure was all ours! Thank you for choosing us! We cannot wait to see what the future has in store for you and Matthew! -
![Kayla]()
Kayla Sent on 10/06/2020Awesome Stuff!!
Sarah Jane and Bria were awesome! They did everything we needed and took a lot of stress off of us in regards to planning and dealing with vendors!! We even had a little problem with menus and their team took the time to cut out the rest of the menus!! Would definitely recommend!! -
![Ria]()
Ria P. Sent on 03/08/2020Made our dream wedding happen
Sarah-Jane and her team were incredible. We had a lot going on during our engagement (we unexpectedly became parents a few months in) and POR kept us on track and having fun each step of the way. The end result was an incredible celebration with over 200 people, many of whom said it was the best wedding they had ever attended.
I love event planning so I wasn't sure about hiring a planner -- but it was truly the best decision we made. Sarah-Jane ensured that we could focus on the fun parts of wedding planning while she + her team handled logistics. She's an expert, and it showed. We would hire them again in a heartbeat!Planners on Retainer's reply:
It was such a wonderful experience to work with you guys!! Thank you so much for the opportunity. Your wedding day was pure magic! -
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![Manuela]()
Manuela Sent on 02/25/2020Beyond amazing!
SJ and her team have been nothing be amazing to work with!!! We originally started planning a destination wedding but had to end up canceling it and starting over within 8 months. We would not have had the wedding of our dreams or maybe a wedding at all if it was not for them. I cannot say it enough they are truly the best!!!!Planners on Retainer's reply:
You guys are beyond fantastic! What a joy and honor to have been chosen to be part of such an amazing love story. You were simply stunning Manuela. The love between you and Justin is undeniable. Thank you again for the trust and faith in Planners on Retainer. -
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![Jennifer]()
Jennifer Sent on 09/04/2019Great Wedding Exxperience
Sarah-Jane provided all of the expertise we needed for our low key wedding. From making our custom centerpieces to staying on top of everything on the big day she was professional, dependable, and provided expertise. She also got us a great deal on our honeymoon! -
![Rick]()
Rick Sent on 06/27/2019Team Work Makes Their Dreams Come True (from venue)
Hello happy couples! I am the Director of Private Events at Mystic Dunes Golf Club and have been in this industry professionally for nearly 15 years. Working with hundreds of planners over the years, I have experienced my fair share of all types of planners and day-of wedding coordinators. Sarah-Jane is excellent in her field and is so easy to work with. Kind, patient, funny, active listener, and detail-oriented are just the beginning of how to describe her and how much trust you can build in her.
When industry partners/vendors clash, it makes for a potentially bad experience for the wedding day. When they not only get along, but actually work TOGETHER and in tandem, the experience potential for each couple and their guests is limitless. Sarah-Jane is the one you want working for you, with you, and with the rest of your vendors and venue.
I highly recommend you contacting her for a meeting so you can see for yourself.
Sarah-Jane, I look forward to working with you on many more weddings and events to come. CHEERS! -
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![Eric]()
Eric Sent on 05/20/2019Great Wedding Planners!
Sarah-Jane and her team are as professional as they come, going above and beyond what is required for the bride's big day. SJ worked great with myself and all the other vendors, always making sure we were comfortable and taken care of. Great wedding planners!Planners on Retainer's reply:
Thank you for the review, Eric! It was great working with you too and look forward to working together in the future! -
![Lyssa]()
Lyssa Sent on 05/15/2019Professional and Friendly
This was my first time working along side Felicia and from the first email up until Erin's wedding day, it was a pleasant experience. She was very responsive and kept me up to date on all changes, which made my job easier. The wedding day went very smooth and Felicia was very professional but very friendly and calm- in this business I do not see many calm coordinators but she was confident in her role and it showed! Any client who books her will have relief knowing that every detail will be covered and presented beautifully. -
![Ciara]()
Ciara Sent on 04/19/2019The BEST in the business!
Words alone cannot possibly express my sincere gratitude to Sarah -Jane. She has been such a blessing in my life and I’m so honored that she was apart of Brandon and I’s special day. Initially we planned to have our wedding in the D.C. area however, once our guest list exceed our intended number, SJ recommend having a destination wedding. It was the PREFECT alternative. We were able to execute our vision within budget without excluding any of our loved ones. And instead of celebrating for 5-7hours, we were able to celebrate for 4 days. Was planning a destination wedding a walk in the park? No, but SJ made the process so easy. There were things the resort staff couldn’t give us an immediate response to that SJ could based on her years of experience planning destinations weddings. She was such a wealth of knowledge, from vendor recommendations to proper wedding etiquette she always had the perfect answer. Did I mentioned how AMAZING she was when it came to accommodating our crazy schedules. Not only was there a 3 hour time difference between SJ and I, but my husband and I were also traveling somewhere. Not a problem for SJ, she was answered emails and texts in a timely manner. My heart has been so full since the wedding, it was truly an unforgettable, stress-free weekend and I would be remiss if I did not say SJ played a key part in that. No matter the event I will always recommend and chose her to be on my team. We love you SJ.Planners on Retainer's reply:
Thank you SO much! I would do this all over again for you and Brandon ;) Thank you for being such a wonderful couple to work with! -
Mecca Sent on 04/09/2019
Dream Destination Wedding
Planners on Retainer was the best! They helped me plan my dream wedding in Turks & Caicos for 15 months. I hired them as soon as I got engaged so they helped us from finding the right island to fit out needs to ironing out all the details with the resort for the wedding and for our guests that were attending. They traveled with us and took care of all the final details while we enjoyed our friends and family for 4 days. Everything was beautiful and magical. We are forever grateful.Planners on Retainer's reply:
Thank you for choosing us as your wedding planners! We are so grateful that we made your day beautiful and magical. Can't wait to plan your next milestone event! -
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Tiffany Sent on 10/31/2018
Best decision I made!
Booking Felicia and her team as my day of coordniators was truly one of the best decisions I made for my big day. They came in and made sure the vendors did what they were supposed to do, the decorations were set up just how I envisioned and just went out of their way for the last minute things since I moved out of the state. She even did all of this shortly having a newborn! She really did put my mind and my now hubby's minds at peace leading up to the big day.Planners on Retainer's reply:
Thank you, Tiffany for the review! You're so sweet! It was our pleasure to be apart of your big day! -
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Samantha Sent on 10/20/2018
Wonderful experience!
WOW! Is all I can say! Talk about a talented group of coordinators. Sarah-Jane and her team did an amazing job coordinating and planning my wedding. As a anxious bride, I struggled to find exactly what I was looking for in my dream wedding. Sarah-Jane listened to my wishes and put together the most SPECTACULAR ceremony and reception. Her vision was flawless down to every last detail. She, as well as her team, was always responsive to emails and questions or concerns. The day of our wedding her team was timely, organized, and incredibly helpful. The rants and reviews from guests are still happening and we will never forget our amazing wedding day. A special thank you to Sarah-Jane and the rest of Planners on Retainer for making my wedding dreams come true! I am so incredibly grateful for the passion and commitment you give to your clients. I cannot reccommend Planners on Retainer enough! -
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Sarah Sent on 07/22/2018SJ and Felicia were our Day-Of-Coordinators from Planners on Retainer for our wedding in May of 2018. They were able to adapt and understand the nuances of our venue, along with contacting and communicating with our vendors in a short period of time. Felicia also helped a lot with making sure the ceremony went as planned from our rehearsal (some intricacies were involved).
Our vendors were thrilled with SJ and Felicia, and so were we! Thank you for a smooth night!
Thank you for a smooth night! -
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![Dominque]()
Dominque Sent on 06/06/2018Sarah Jane and her team did an amazing job for our wedding. She was extremely flexible and accommodating with everything. We were originally planning a wedding a year in advance but had to push it back to 1.5 years out and she was more than accommodating to our decision. She gave us the best wedding we could imagine! Everything was perfect and stress free because of her. Couldn’t recommend her services more! Very happy with how everything turned out. -
Ashley Sent on 03/20/2018Sarah-Jane and her team stepped up to the plate! We called them 10 days before the wedding and they stepped in showed up at all our last minute appointments and the wedding day was magic, everything we asked for they delivered and then some. We are so appreciative.
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Faith Sent on 01/25/2018My sister made me get a planner when I didn't think I needed one. I will be thanking my sister for a very long time. Planners on Retainer thought of so many things that had never crossed my mind. We just got to be present in the wedding and didn't worry about a thing.
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Jessica Sent on 12/09/2017I am OCD to the core so it takes a brave person to deal with my antics but Planners pn Retainer came through like no ones business. I am so grateful I am that girl that ask for something and I wanted the answer before I even asked. I appreciate them for putting up with me and keeping me on task and helping us execute an incredible wedding
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![Kayla]()
Kayla Sent on 10/08/2023Awesome Planner
I cannot express enough how grateful my partner and I are for having Sarah-Jane as our destination wedding planner. From the moment we began working with her, it was evident that she was not just a professional but also someone who deeply cared about making our wedding week a truly magical and unforgettable experience. One of Sarah's most remarkable qualities is her incredible ability to manage vendors and ensure the smoothness of the wedding day. The month leading up to our wedding was filled with last-minute details, and she handled everything with grace and precision. Knowing that she had everything under control was truly a weight off our shoulders. Every vendor was seamlessly coordinated, and our wedding day went off without a hitch, thanks to her meticulous planning and execution. Beyond her professionalism and organizational skills, it's clear that Sarah has a passion for what she does. If you're looking for a wedding planner who not only excels at her job but also genuinely cares about her clients, Sarah is the one. We feel blessed to have had her by our side on our special day, and we recommend her to anyone embarking on their own wedding journey.
Thank you, Sarah, for making our wedding week an unforgettable experience filled with love, laughter, and cherished memories. Continue to run your business with grace and love for every single bride that comes your way!
With heartfelt gratitude,
Kayla and Jeremy Paulino -
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