I like Darlene because of her utter professionalism—no drama approach she has with clients, at least with me. Everything with her is pretty straightforward. From the moment I started filling out her tedious template (almost even more tedious than my OTD’s hehehe), she was very supportive the whole time. Whenever I will email her about ANY inquiries on weddings, whether it’s about hotels or lights and sounds, she will always reply in under 24 hours. This is a big deal especially for an overseas bride like me. This feedback mechanism is very customer-oriented and I appreciated it.
As for the program, I only “Skype-d” with her once, I think two weeks prior to me flying back home. She insisted that we close out anything reception program related as I will be quite busy leading to the day of the wedding. And I’m glad she did. True enough, it was quite hectic once I arrived. A week before the wedding, we were almost set, though I had to submit to her songs to be used during the reception. I was initially wondering why she needed it. She explained that just in case the L/S crew are not able to play it or bring a copy, or for some reason, our coordinators also forgot a copy, she has her own to play. Wow. As I said, what professionalism.
I believe Darlene has what we would call a Type A personality. Haha! I mean that as a compliment. :)
On the day itself, indeed, I felt I had two coordinators. One was in charge of the receiving of guests and arrangements on the floor (like a floor director) and the other was focused on the program. Darlene was quick to think when we had challenges with our entrance (as we didn’t have any more space for an aisle or a stage); or when one of E’s groomsmen insisted on a specific “dance”. Darlene was able to handle all of that. In addition, our guests came up to me and said they loved our program. We had something for everybody. So we did not just cater to singles or couples or our entourage—the program was quite inclusive, so that everyone is encouraged to participate. And they did!
“Perfect wedding!” was what the guests told us after. And I know that a big part of that was because of Darlene and her awesome program and hosting. I was ever so happy I booked her quite early.