The Creative Planners Reviews
Reviews
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
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Julie Sent on 11/05/2024
A magical garden wedding!
Loved working with Creative Planners. Alexa was the perfect planner for my daughter’s wedding — organized, thoughtful and kind. Our family would highly recommend working with them! -
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![Jean]()
Jean Sent on 10/20/2024I highly recommend Holli at The Creative Planners!
Holli helped my daughter and her husband create the most magical wedding celebration we have ever seen. She was open to their ideas and helped guide them to vendors that made their vision a reality. It never felt like a cookie-cutter wedding. Holli was very flexible with their Zoom meetings in a different time zone and around their hectic work schedules. She was attentive and responsive to us, parents of the bride, whenever we had questions. Her attention to detail and logistic planning was incredible. The entire wedding day was flawless due to Holli's hard work. I wish I had another daughter and could do it all over again! -
Samantha Sent on 09/10/2024
Hire Holli!!
Holli was the absolute best. I couldn’t recommend her enough. We hired her for day of coordination and she started helping 6 months out and then again 1 month out. Her ability to remain organized for our 187 person wedding was unbelievable and something we needed! She stayed in touch with our families and best man and MOH to keep the day flowing. Her communication with our vendors was incredibly helpful. Holli has great taste and a vision, so we leaned on her to help us make last minute decisions. We love her so much!! -
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Grace Sent on 07/08/2024
Grace & Matt Wedding - University Club of Chicago
I truly have no words to describe how fantastic Stephanie and Alexa are. My husband and I just got married this June at the University Club of Chicago and it far exceeded our expectations and our guests. If I could only give one recommendation for the rest of my life, it would be to work with them! The wedding planning process can be very daunting especially at the onset of an engagement and Alexa and Stephanie from day one made a huge effort to get to know us and understand our vision. For the first half of our engagement, we were still living in NYC and Alexa and Stephanie could not have been more accommodating. They have THE best vendor relationships and that can really make or break the event. They are incredibly prompt, communicative and exceptionally creative and innovative. Alexa has impressive attention to detail and is fantastic at her craft. Something I had never thought about until going through this process, was just how much time you spend with your planner. By the time we had our wedding, The Creative Planners felt like family and Matt and I feel so fortunate to have worked with them. Thank you for everything!! -
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Michaela Sent on 06/29/2024Worth every penny! Alexa is the best decision we made about our wedding!
You truly cannot go wrong with choosing The Creative Planners! Alexa is absolutely outstanding and cannot recommend her enough. She is the most detail oriented person I know. My husband and I were engaged for 20 months so there were a lot of changes to the overall vision/timeline/details and Alexa remembered every little detail that I mentioned over our engagement. For instance, I would say I liked one aspect of a flower arrangement years ago and then I would change my mind to something else and Alexa would remind me what I originally had in mind (which I quite frankly did not remember since everything is coming at you so fast) and I LOVED it since it would give me some perspective on my decisions over time.
Speaking of decisions, she encourages you to make your own decisions about your wedding while giving you advice on past weddings and vendors she’s worked with. We truly would’ve been lost without her knowledge and expertise.
On our wedding day, she was calm and collected. She kept everything and everyone on time even if a vendor wanted to spend more time elsewhere. She has an impeccable ability to respectfully handle a situation at a moments notice without any hiccups for the bride, groom and guests.
On behalf of my family, my husband’s family, and my husband and I, we cannot recommend The Creative Planners (especially Alexa) enough. You can sit back and relax and let them plan your perfect day! They are without a doubt the best decision we made about our wedding. -
Kim C. Sent on 06/29/2024
Magical wedding with The Creative Planners
We are still reveling in our daughter's magical wedding celebration at The Chicago Botanic Garden 2 weeks ago, today. A big thank you to Alexa Karkazis with The Creative Planners for helping to make that happen, by making sure every single detail was covered and the entire day flowed smoothly. The absolute best part about working with Alexa besides her professionalism, creativity and positive demeanor, was the calm we felt during the entire 18 month period leading up to the wedding.
Priceless!! Thank you, thank you, Alexa!
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Wendy Sent on 10/29/2023
Perfect experience with the Creative Planners
We had used Stephanie and her team for my other daughters wedding, so when my youngest got engaged it was only natural to contact the Creative Planners. Stephanie is so professional in her approach to organizing what vendors we could use, the day of timeline down to the minute and asking the bride and groom all the right questions before the big day. Everything went smoothly on wedding day and we couldn’t have been any more happy with the final results. CP knocked it out of the park again! -
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![Haley]()
Haley Sent on 06/14/2023Best Decision!!!
Hiring stephanie as our wedding planner was easily one of the best decisions we made!! Having a destination wedding was hard, but she so effortlessly helped everything come together perfectly. She helped us stick close to our budget while also providing fun and creative ideas to make it unique to us! When people asked how the planning was going, I always said we wouldn’t have been able to do it without Stephanie! Hiring her not only made the process so much more stress free, but made it even more fun! We will miss our trips to Park City and our zoom calls!! It is safe to say we would not change a single thing about our wedding and couldn’t have imagined a more magical wedding day in the mountains of Park City and couldn’t thank Stephanie enough for making our dream wedding a reality! -
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![Kendel]()
Kendel Sent on 05/08/2023Thank you, Stephanie and team!
We are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Stephanie and her team to plan our wedding day last November. She was so thoughtful and was a true guide in helping us think through every single detail. We looked forward to, and thoroughly enjoyed, each of our Zoom calls and meetings throughout our journey together. She was insightful in sharing her experiences and recommendations on everything from the best choices for vendors to the smallest details of the ceremony and reception, especially on matters where we felt lost or had no idea what the best choice was for us. Most of all, we appreciated her expertise in finding ways of honoring loved ones who were missing for our special day in a celebratory way. Throughout the process, Stephanie was an essential resource, an expert planner and coordinator, and a friend to us. She truly cares about you and making your wedding everything you want it to be, and her approach in getting to know both of you will ensure that every detail of the day is exactly right for you. By the end of the process, we were so thrilled with how amazing our wedding day turned out to be, and Stephanie was vital in making all of that possible. If you’re looking for a wedding planner, Stephanie should be your top choice to make your wedding day as special as she made ours. -
![Allison]()
Allison Sent on 12/10/2022Great choice!!
I worked with Holli and Stephanie and have no regrets at all. I would recommend them to anyone! From the moment I met both of them, they did everything right to make me feel comfortable and relaxed. To accommodate my hectic schedule, they were willing to have Zoom meetings at any time. Somehow, Holli had the impeccable ability to flawlessly wrangle and manage our 20 person bridal party, and the whole day went extremely smooth. I promise, hiring them will be one of the best decisions you make for your wedding day! -
Cynthia Sent on 10/23/2022
Stephanie Cook - The Creative Planners
Having a wedding ceremony, reception, and Sunday brunch at your home is not for the faint of heart! Everyone - including our Minister told my husband and me “don’t do it!” Stephanie’s grace, professionalism and calming smile had us convinced at the first meeting that she would be able to give our daughter her dream wedding! Stephanie listened to our daughter and connected us with all the right vendors from the caterer to the florist, decorations company and band! It was magical and Stephanie gets all the credit! -
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![Oralia]()
Oralia Sent on 10/06/2022Dream wedding come true!!
Working with The Creative Planners was one of the best decisions I made during the entire wedding planning process! Stephanie was there for us from day one and supported us through our 2020 postponement. She helped make our dream wedding come true this past summer after waiting two years! I am definitely a Type A Bride and very detail oriented. I was looking to work with a planner that would give me a piece of mind and offer insight when making big (and little) decisions. Needless to say, Stephanie was the perfect fit. She is extremely knowledgeable about weddings and has amazing relationships with vendors in the industry. Stephanie is unbelievably kind, professional, and organized. Since the wedding, we have had so many guests comment on how beautiful everything was! My husband and I are so thankful to have worked with Stephanie and consider her like family now. I highly recommend The Creative Planners to all my family and friends. -
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![Tracy]()
Tracy Sent on 06/20/2022Stephanie, the owner and head of Creative Planners is a one stop shop. She does it all!
Stephanie knows what she is doing down to the smallest detail. Her timelines and constant updates and check ins were so helpful. She will guide you but also listen to your vision and do everything in her power to make it happen. No request is out of the question. She is a great problem solver and will do what ever it takes to make it happen. We are extremely happy with how our wedding turned out. Every detail that we requested was taken care of. She has great venders who she works with a lot, but is very receptive to meet and use venders that we wanted. She made a really crazy day- seamless and amazing! -
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Nina Sent on 11/24/2021Must hire!
Working with the Creative Planners, and Holli Volkert especially, made planning our wedding a breeze. It truly turned out to be the most beautiful day because of her. We live in Dallas, TX and were planning out wedding in the Chicago/Arlington Heights area and she made it feel like we were right there with her. She went above and beyond to make sure every detail was set to perfection. There is no doubt in our minds that Holli made our day- you need the Creative Planners if you’re in the midst of planning your own wedding. We could not recommend them more. If there were more than 5 stars, we’d put it. -
Shadi Sent on 09/12/2021
Stephanie's a no-drama pro. 10/10, would recommend in a heartbeat.
Would absolutely recommend Stephanie. Stephanie is a no-drama pro. She listened and understood exactly what we were looking for, she has good taste, and she executed the logistics well. We also enjoyed working with her on a personality level too. We were on a pretty compressed schedule, and she pulled everything off perfectly.
There were multiple people who told us it was one of the best weddings they'd ever been to. It was a backyard wedding and the next day, one neighbor called to say that it seemed magical, and the other neighbor admitted to watching through the bushes and dancing. -
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Wilson Sent on 08/16/2021What a luxury!
Stephanie was such an amazing prescience before, during, and after our wedding. We had a few hiccups with vendors before/after our wedding, weather the day of the wedding, and more. Stephanie was always there to lend a hand and tackle the issues before they got to us. We love her! -
Proachie Sent on 06/03/2021
What a wonderful and joyous experience Creative Planners made our special day.
With our daughters wedding postponed twice due to the pandemic, and with the decision to change the venue from Napa to our home in the Chicago area this May, we needed an event planner who would see our vision and make it happen! This is what Stephanie at Creative planners did beautifully, created a wedding that was everything our daughter dreamt of.
She is able to get the best out of her vendors and seeing how well liked and respected she is by them is testament to what a good planner she is.
The best compliment I can give her is to relate what our daughter and son in law had to say …
‘Our wedding was even more fabulous than what we had imagined it to be’!
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![Susan]()
Susan Sent on 05/06/2020Stephanie and the Creative Planners are Rockstars!
Stephanie Cook and the Creative Planners team were an incredible combination of expertise, organizational skills and creativity for our daughter's recent wedding. Those organizational skills were tested frequently as the the bride and groom were in two different cities and the parents of each were in another two cities. Furthermore, it was a destination wedding in the mountains in the middle of January! Stephanie was a powerful negotiator with the vendors and had terrific ideas that made the weekend memorable and intimate. Both the reception venue, which hosts over 75 weddings a year, and the rehearsal dinner venue mgmt, pulled us aside to comment that she was one of the best and most enjoyable wedding planners they had worked with. Our wedding weekend started on a Thursday and ended on a Sunday - and she was there every step of the way - with a smile on her face and an unflappable energy. Five stars! -
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Melanie Sent on 10/24/2019The absolute best!
A family friend handed my mother Stephanie’s card the day after my fiancé and I got engaged and said “trust me on this one”. Boy, am I glad we did! At our first meeting with Stephanie, I knew we were in the hands of a talented, kind, organized professional who was going to make wedding planning easy and enjoyable. Stephanie was absolutely amazing. I can’t say enough wonderful things about her.
She outlined the whole process for us. I never felt confused or like I didn’t know what the next step was. She prioritized the elements of the wedding that were important to us and got to know us as a couple so the wedding felt personal and perfect for us and our families. Stephanie is always responsive and prompt. She worked within our budget. She has impeccable taste, and worked wonderfully with all our vendors, photographers, and the venue to make our dream a reality. It’s important to note that it was very clear that all the vendors we worked with respected and enjoyed Stephanie just as much as we did.
When the big day finally arrived, I can truthfully say that never once did I have any doubts or concerns about anything. My fiancé, our families, and I were able to focus on the excitement of the wedding and enjoy every moment. We knew that Stephanie and her team had everything taken care of. And when a guest spilled red wine down the back of my dress, Stephanie got it out in a snap. I’m not kidding. Red wine. Gone. She is a magician! I didn’t panic one bit.
Our wedding was a dream. Thank you Stephanie and the Creative Planners team. We feel genuinely sad that our time with her has come to an end! She became such a big part of our lives this past year, and was a joy to work with. If you are looking for a wedding planner, let me make your decision easy and pay it forward like our family friend did. “Trust me on this one.”
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![Ellie]()
Ellie Sent on 08/27/2019Fabulous to work with!
We truly enjoyed working with Stephanie this past year. She personalizes each wedding by getting to know you and then makes great recommendations , accordingly. Stephanie was extremely organized, creative, calm under pressure and fun. Her attention to detail was so appreciated and most of all she truly cares about you and your event.
We would highly recommend Stephanie Cook. -
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![Nancy]()
Nancy Sent on 08/12/2019Many thanks to Stephanie Cook
I couldn't have planned my daughter's wedding without the expertise of Stephanie Cook. She skillfully helped us narrow down venues and decide on the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. All of the vendors (hair and makeup, photography, band, florist, videographer, transportation, wedding invitations, etc.) recommended were top notch (professional, flexible, a pleasure to work with). The wedding day was perfect and we could relax and enjoy it. I would highly recommend Stephanie! -
Rachel Sent on 10/17/2018
The best of the best!
Stephanie is truly amazing and we can not thank her enough for creating our vision and making our wedding absolutely perfect! We cannot thank Stephanie enough for all her hardwork, thoughtfulness and friendship that we created throughout the wedding planning. She is the best!!! -
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Stephanie Sent on 10/13/2018It is impossible to describe how amazing Stephanie is in a short review. She had us laughing from the first phone call. We were impressed by how professional, organized and creative she was. As mentioned in many other reviews, Stephanie has a magical calming presence. Wedding planning can be extremely stressful, and it was so nice to have someone who could make us laugh and put our mind at ease. We were very pleased with all of the vendors she found for us. We loved the way she guided us to create our dream wedding. We trusted her judgment completely. One of the things we appreciated about working with her was the way she kept everyone organized and on track, including the wedding party, family members, vendors, our venue coordinators, etc. She had so many beautiful and creative ideas about how to make our wedding unique and special. She was such a joy to work with. We are so appreciative of all that she did to keep us sane and make sure everything ran smoothly. Choosing the Creative Planners was by far the best decision we made throughout the wedding process. We are so grateful for Stephanie making all of our wedding dreams come true.
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Diane Sent on 09/19/2018Stephanie was amazing. She truly knows the venues and the vendors and works with creativity and enthusiasm. She has great taste, endless energy and can navigate her way through just about any issue with success. On the day of the wedding she did a last minute inside and outside setup for the ceremony when rain threatened and when it did rain mid ceremony the move indoors was seamless with laughter instead of tears. Stephanie is a 10!
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Kay Sent on 10/07/2017There are not enough words to express how wonderful Stephanie is. My son’s wedding was in our backyard with 145 guest and in just 7 months she took care of every last detail. She is connected to so many local vendors that she was able to get us the best possible prices. There was so much to do but she made it seem effortlessly. She became part of our family and in the end we enjoyed a wonderful day for my son and my new daughter. Thank you Stephanie ❤️
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![Elizabeth]()
Elizabeth Sent on 10/08/2015Stephanie was indispensable, from having marvelous ideas on venues to helping me negotiate price.
Even though I was a mature bride, on the day of the wedding I wasn't able to think about the details, and Stephanie handled everything effortlessly.
After it was over my brother and sister-in-law, who have been attending and giving a number of weddings in the last few years because of the age of their children, said our wedding was the best, tasteful yet relaxed and all the guests had a wonderful time.
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