Bride and Joy Events

My now husband (!!!) and I feel so lucky to have had Kim on our team as we planned our wedding. With two very large families, two demanding jobs and collective problem of general indecisiveness, Kim was a Godsend. She was so calm, organized, flexible and capable. From day one, she provided us with sage counsel, and her support never wavered over our year-​long engagement. Her knowledge of the wedding world is unparalleled, and she has some of the most amazing relationships with the BEST vendors in the country. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a single thing. Now, THAT is the true hallmark of an incredible planner. Thank you for everything, Kim!

Joslyn is a life saver! I cannot say enough good things about her. My experience with Joslyn and Bride & Joy in general was more than amazing, and my wedding day was perfect.

We got married this past August at Salvage One in Chicago. We LOVED our wedding, and a lot of that can be chalked up to the role Kim played throughout planning and on the day itself. There’s endless positive things to say about Kim, but here were the highlights:
1) Logistics. Kim made the colossal task of wedding planning into a manageable schedule that my fiancé, mom and I were able to follow over the course of the months leading up to our wedding. She readily jumped on the phone with me when I had the occasional panicked moment, but more importantly stayed one step ahead so that I had far fewer moments of feeling overwhelmed than I would have had without her.
She also took care of all of our transportation, our hotel blocks, and our print materials. I cannot recommend this enough. These are the not fun parts of the party to be dealing with, and handing them off to Kim allowed us to spend our energy on the things we cared about while ensuring that our guests had a really positive experience with all their needs met. With hotel blocks, she sat down with us about our priorities and price point, did all the research, let us choose the final hotels, and then secured all the contracts and followed up with all the details with the hotel staff. With print items, she guided us through a design process with the calligrapher we chose and then coordinated all the print details and pick ups. For transportation, she and I had a conversation about style (did we want limos, buses, trolleys etc) and then she took care of all the details including timing and schedule.
These three specific areas were so important because they take a huge amount of effort to follow through from the initial idea to every guest getting the right thing, and it was such a crucial part of our wedding day.
I also should mention that Kim created a day of schedule that not only ran flawlessly but really took into account who we were as a couple and what our priorities were. Simple things– like I wanted to make sure that I ate lunch for a moment by myself before getting dressed so that I wouldn’t be hungry during my ceremony– got put into the schedule and followed up on. There were no moments where anyone in my wedding (or the vendors) were stressed out about time– it all was figured out beforehand and Kim managed the day perfectly.
2) Vendor Guidance. I quickly realized that Kim could help me actualize my plans much, much more efficiently than I could just by asking around. We had a few of our major vendors in place (venue, band, caterer) when we hired Kim, but for the rest we talked with her first about what we were picturing. She would send us 2 – 3 choices and we’d talk with each of them and have a clear favorite each time. We LOVED our vendors without exception and we saved a ton of money from using Kim’s connections.
3) Good Judgment. At the end of the day, you are hiring someone who you want to spend your wedding day with and who you trust to solve problems that you hopefully won’t ever have to know about. The first time I met Kim, she told me that her goal was that I would lose track of time on my wedding day because she would be managing the details. I was highly skeptical but that’s exactly what happened. No wedding is perfect, but Kim solved problems I never even heard about– my sister with severe dietary restrictions didn’t get the right meal at dinner but the only thing I heard about was several days later when she mentioned how Kim immediately solved the problem and got her the right food. We had 9 people over the age of 80 at our wedding– all of them had great seats and navigated stairs and hallways without problems thanks to Kim’s coordination. The list goes on and on. Even more importantly, Kim manages people without them feeling managed. Her people skills and creativity are amazing.
I met with several wedding planners when I first started this process– I chose Kim because I felt like she was exactly who I would want to have around on my wedding day– competent but not controlling, visible but not overbearing, and with a great, laid back personality. My time wedding planning with her only confirmed all of my instincts.

All my thanks to Kim for helping create and execute my dream wedding! She is an amazing wedding planner and such a JOY to work with! I hired Kim for full wedding planning and hiring her was hands down the BEST decision I made. My husband and I got engaged in July 2015 and set a wedding date in November 2015. With only 3.5 months to plan, a full time job and moving from Chicago to the burbs, I had no idea how I was going to do it all. Then I met Kim. She assured me that all was possible and made planning FUN and eliminated ALL stress. She created a timeline, provided her trusted vendor list that fit my taste preferences/​budget and provided help all along the way. Did I mention her style? Yep, it is AMAZING. She was able to take my basic ideas, enhance and refine them, then was able to articulate them clearly to my florist who, through the both of them, created the MOST STUNNING wedding ceremony and reception ever. All my thanks to Kim on creating the most perfect and beautiful wedding day! I cannot recommend her enough! xx, Lisa

Kim was our incredible wedding planner for our wedding at Lake Shore Country Club in August 2015. My husband and I cannot say enough great things about how she conducts her business and her overall demeanor. She was a calming force throughout the whole process and was extremely organized and helpful. When looking for a planner you want someone who is knowledgable and trustworthy of your vision and Kim totally got it. She was also independent and took care of things she knew we didn’t need to be involved with. She was one step ahead of handling an issue before we even asked or without us even knowing. She is the type of person that we would be friends with outside of a professional setting. If you are even questioning hiring her, stop and do it. It will be one of the best investments you make in your special day.

Kim is one of the most talented, nice, organized, spunky in all the right ways, and humble people out there. She is so creative and super professional. She knows what she’s doing and is worth every penny. She has tons of experience in the industry and is trustworthy. Wedding planning is overwhelming and she makes the entire process enjoyable.

I had the honor of getting an accidental text from Kim. It’s typical for me to go screaming in a blind rage swerving in and out of on-​coming traffic in my underwear on a Divvy bike when I am the wrong number recipient from a stranger, but there was something about the words Kim had that soothed things. If there were a song that could theme my interaction with Kim, it would be Jumper (step back from that ledge) by Third Eye Blind. She uses proper grammar and spelling and I can truly say I am a better man from her now. She is also is one of the most loyal people I have ever come across as her initial text mentions her significant other, Joel. I am not sure how else to repay Kim for this experience besides asking you, reader, to hire Kim for your wedding (s).
–Steve

I don’t often write Unilocal reviews, in fact I think this is my first, but I felt compelled to after working with Kim. My husband and I got married at the end of February and hired Kim early on in our engagement for full service wedding planning. From the beginning, Kim was not only organized, creative and knowledgeable (all of the things you want your planner to be) but she also helped to calm our nerves when necessary and to allow us to actually relax and enjoy the time leading up to the wedding rather than stressing about getting everything done.
My husband was a little wary at first and tried to argue that we could do it ourselves. I’m a teacher and knew that time would not be on our side so I pushed him to at least talk to her. We decided to hire Kim and after almost every meeting, my husband would say, «I think you were right about getting the planner.» She pays for herself in her extensive vendor knowledge and contacts as well as ways to save money here and there to make sure we stayed within our budget.
Kim kept us on track and I most appreciated how she involved us in the things that we needed to be and just handled items when that was appropriate as well. I can’t say enough about Kim and I truly feel like finding her was kismet (I know how corny that sounds) but she helped us to achieve the wedding of our dreams and one that we will always remember. If you’re on the fence about hiring a planner, hire Kim, and you will certainly not regret it.