Anticipation Events

Elizabeth was my wedding day-of-coordinator, and I couldn't be more pleased with her work! Since I was planning our wedding all the way from California, I had to communicate with her primarily through email and phone. Even without meeting her personally, she really put me at ease, and I knew I could trust her to handle everything - even my 32-person wedding party!!! Elizabeth was extremely professional yet personable throughout the entire process. She helped me develop a well-detailed timeline and spoke to all my vendors the week of. Our wedding day went incredibly smoothly! I didn't have to worry about a thing :) She paid close attention to detail and was always thinking ahead (and also had a well-stocked wedding day emergency kit!). She gives quality service at a great value. I highly recommend!

Elizabeth helped make our wedding day perfect! My fiance and I asked Elizabeth to help us coordinate the day of our wedding at Café Brauer. Our venue was one in which you have to bring in all your own vendors. All the vendors, coupled with the fact that my fiancé and I live in New York and were going to be planning our wedding long distance, made me quickly realize that I was not going to be able to run the day on my own. I contacted Elizabeth who was thoughtful, energetic and responsive from our very first conversation. Elizabeth seemed to be quite different from the other wedding planners we met prior to choosing her. She offered real advice specific to our wedding, not just a standard response as many of the other planners did when describing their services. She made us feel like we were the only wedding she was working on and really customized the day to fit our personalities. Elizabeth is unbelievably organized. We worked together to create a timeline of the day and she included all the vendors’ contacts and timing. She also had a detailed list of everything that we wanted her to oversee and what she should send home with us. A few days before the wedding, we dropped off a truck load of wedding-related boxes with her. I remember thinking I was dropping off way more for her to do than probably any of her other clients, but she quickly reassured me that this was completely normal. We then went through the details of each item and it was clear she had spent a lot of time understanding what she should do with each. When we arrived at our wedding, not only was everything there, it was set up perfectly and exactly how we wanted it! We are still not sure how she even had time to do everything we gave her! In addition to coordinating all the logistics, Elizabeth was very calming and reassuring through the process and offered great suggestions. It is clear she is an expert in Chicago weddings. I asked her about vendor suggestions and back-up picture locations in case of rain and she had great, prompt responses for each question. Elizabeth attended the walk-through at our venue with us and helped us nail down all the last minute logistics and planning. It was also nice to have an expert know what we wanted because she communicated our wishes to some of the vendors to ensure we had the day we had in mind. At the end of our wedding, she packed up all of our gifts and leftover wedding items and brought them back to our hotel for us. It was so nice to be able to leave our reception not only knowing that our items were in good hands but that we didn’t have to worry about getting them back to our hotel. Instead of worrying about all of our wedding items, we could enjoy the rest of our night! Our day went off without a hitch. If there were any problems or issues, I never heard about it. In my mind, that is all you can ask for in a wedding planner! Elizabeth is hands down one of the best investments we made in our wedding. I cannot recommend her highly enough. She was thoughtful, kind, organized and just a really fantastic person to be around. We couldn’t have done it without her!

I contracted with Anticipation Events for Day Of services for my daughter's wedding July 15, 2011 however, I received so much more assistance from Elizabeth in advance of the wedding than I ever expected. We met several times to discuss the plans in place, walk through our chosen venue and determined a floor plan for the evening. She was available by phone at anytime that I needed her assistance. As this was my first and only wedding that I would be hosting, there were many things that I was not familiar with and Elizabeth walked me through the process providing advice where needed. She prepared a flow chart for the wedding day, beginning with the hairdressers arrival at the hotel through the end of the reception. All phone numbers, key decision makers, all vendors and contracted deliverables were all spelled out so that no glitches could occur. Timing for each event during the day and evening were planned so that the entire event would flow as we wanted. It happened flawlessly. Katie, the on-site manager for the day, took over everything so all I had to do was have a good time with our guests. She even had our car packed with the items we needed to take home with us after all the festivities. Elizabeth and Katie allowed me to experience the fun and joy of the day!!!

Let's see, where do I begin. Okay, I'm just gonna come right out and say it, Elizabeth is absolutely awesome! When I first interviewed Elizabeth, I knew right away that she was a good match for me. I could tell that we would be able to work well with each other both coming from a design background. I asked her to send me some samples of her work as a wedding planner and also her work with store displays. I was very impressed. Over the months of planning she got to know me pretty well and it showed when I received my inspiration board. She's very good at paying attention to detail and a good listener. Also very organized! Everything that I wanted for my wedding was taken into account. Elizabeth and I spent a lot of time together since my wedding was a mini-destination wedding in Michigan. Most of my vendors were from there and she did a great job of scheduling the day so we could get most of it done. A whole day filled of picking out flowers and cake can be exhausting but she kept on going. Sometimes I didn't know where she got her energy. The best part about her, when I had absolutely no idea what to do, she stepped right in and helped me. Any time I had a question or wanted her opinion she was there with an answer. She's good about steering you in the right direction. Let's just jump to it. My wedding day. A day full of jitters, excitement and wonderment. But I knew I had no worries, I knew Elizabeth would in complete control. And she sure did prove that because my wedding turned out a little out of the ordinary. The ceremony was beautiful, the weather held up and I married the love of my life. After the ceremony was our cocktail hour, and then from then on, it went downhill. Let's just say one of the appetizers did not agree with me. It resulted in constant puking and then later a trip to the emergency room. We missed our entire reception. But Elizabeth was right there with me, holding my hair, bringing me anything to help. When she knew I wasn't getting any better she had to keep my guests and the party going. She did a great job of following through since we couldn't be there for the cake cutting, the first dance, etc. The whole night went so smooth even though I spent the night with my head in a bucket. Seriously, my guests had the best time. The next day arrived and all is well. I'm back to normal again. But I have to admit, I was a bit sad too. Of course for the obvious but also because I knew I would miss Elizabeth. It sounds silly but she's not just a wedding planner, she's fun, witty, genuine and has an excellent sense of humor. I can't wait for my next "big" event.

We hired Elizabeth as our day-of coordinator for our June wedding at the Byron Colby Barn (Grayslake, IL). With our venue you bring everything in separately -- like caterer, alcohol delivery, chairs for the outdoor ceremony -- and do all your own decor. So we had our hands very full. A 4-page inventory of craft projects and decor, etc. About 4 months out I realized -- there's no way I can orchestrate all this on the day! And I don't want to saddle my family members with this. We needed, as my theater-world dad said, a stage manager. Enter Elizabeth! For a reasonable fee she handles everything on the day of the event, which really means a ton before the event too. She asked to be copied on all emails with my vendors and even family (wedding-related topics of course!) and then offered her suggestions when needed. She offered to help with decor -- she is incredibly talented, just check out her blog -- and came with us for a walkthrough of the venue, where we went over everything in detail. She wrote me a day-of timeline and we tweaked it together. She confirmed all details with my vendors and reviewed contracts. I really felt like we had a full-on planner. A few things will go wrong on your wedding day. Any time something needing fixing on our day (from turning up the a/c to dealing with a late florist) Elizabeth was ON IT. She even coaxed our dear sweet ring bearer out of his momentary stage fright. I'm sure there are a bunch of things she handled that I'll never know about. Everyone in our wedding & family remarked on how cool, calm and collected she is, even as she rushes around to be in ten places at one time. Elizabeth was also was so attentive to my husband and me on the day. She made us plates from the buffet and then made sure we sat down to eat! (For that we are eternally grateful -- our food rocked). She brought bottled water and cocktails out for the bridal party during our 80-degree photo shoot. She kept us on schedule so I didn't have to think, just enjoy. And enjoy we did! She also followed up after the event on a few other matters. I'm now of the opinion that you can't afford NOT to have a coordinator. I shudder to even think of our big day without her. In fact, I know. Elizabeth was booked on the night of our rehearsal, and offered to send a colleague instead, but we stupidly, stupidly said nah, our officiant will run it. Well, it was pretty much chaos. Never underestimate the value of a true expert running the show! And did I mention she returns calls & emails promptly and has a great sense of humor? I could go on...

Like the pro she is, Elizabeth transformed the random bits and pieces of my wedding day wish list into a full blown reality. I honestly can’t imagine how the event would have turned around without her at my side every step of the way through the nine month planning process, but also on our wedding day. She has great instincts on knowing when to break out the pro/con list when you’re on the fence on a decision.. Knowing the ins and outs of how to find the right vendors, how to work with them and the components of what make a great event. Knowing when you need a pep talk on tackling the next items on the to do lists And most importantly knowing when she’s needed, even when not specifically asked. She’s just there, to the rescue. Elizabeth’s approach was very different with other wedding “experts” we met along the way, as not once did we feel she offered us the same cookie cutter guidance she gave all her brides or simply regurgitated the latest trend found online. Based on her research and true understanding of what we wanted for the celebration, we loved that every one of her recommendations were ones that were planned out specifically for John and me. In turn, our wedding was personal and very much us. Also, if you’re in need of great thinking about wedding, shower or bachelorette invitation layouts and themes, ask Elizabeth. We’re now four months after our wedding and guests still talk about how fantastic our invitations were. She's the best!

We cannot say enough great things about Elizabeth. When I first interviewed Elizabeth, I said I'm looking for one thing. I want my fiance (now wife) to say "wow, weddings aren't stressful at all!". She more than delivered. It was not an easy task for Elizabeth. We had 2 ceremonies of different faiths, wacko bride maids (my wife would probably be mad at me for saying that), and 300 drunk wedding guests! She took what could have easily had been a disaster and organized the chaos into a phenomenal day!!! Not only did she design and print our wedding invitations, she introduced us to a wonderful florist (Janessa of 'Forget Me Knot'), videographer (Jason Groh of Lexoria), and our DJ (Kevin Price of Cage & Aquarium). Elizabeth took care of problems left and right for us including problems with the hotel. She made the day go smoother than imagined. We cannot say enough great things about Elizabeth who guided us through every step of the way! We love Elizabeth and have already recommended her to 4 other couples. Thank You Elizabeth for everything!!! Jerry & Nivi Voit

I truly enjoyed working with Elizabeth! She was very easy to communicate with, very professional and she cared about making my day perfect. She has a unique skill set in that she is very creative and very good with the details. She understood my vision and provided me with creative ideas and credible vendors. My wedding day was perfect! I didn't worry about a thing because I knew Elizabeth had it taken care of and if anything did go wrong, I never knew aobut it!

Elizabeth was our Day of Coordinator, and I absolutely loved working with her! She was always very responsive and organized. She made sure to gather any and all information from us and our vendors well in advance of the wedding so that we didn't have to be bothered with details on our wedding day. When a problem or issue came up during the wedding planning, she always had a creative solution. She was always upbeat and a pleasure to work with. We didn't have to concern ourselves anything on our wedding day, and guests remarked to us how seamlessly the ceremony and reception went.

I can't rave about Elizabeth and her services enough! She was my day-of coordinator for my wedding in Sep'10 and she made sure that the day ran as smoothly as possible so that myself and my husband, as well as our friends and family, could just enjoy the day. I am very type A and was honestly a bit skeptical about needing day-of coordinator, but ended up deciding in the last chaotic month of planning that it was a good idea. I met with Elizabeth 2 weeks before my wedding and after chatting with her for an hour or so about the details of the day, I was 100% on board with hiring her. She raised questions about certain details/timelines that I never would have noticed and from that moment on, did everything she could to make things easier for my husband and I. The day of the wedding, she was like a wedding fairy! She was so thoughtful and took care of so many little things (eg: made sure the ballets flats I had bought for my bridesmaids were placed under their chairs at dinner so they could change in to them whenever they wanted), while also running interference on any issues that did come up (eg: the tux store had given my huband pants that were a few sizes too big for him and he didn't notice until he put them on the day of the wedding, so he called her and she hurried over to the store and got him a pair that fit just in time for the ceremony). She was 100% focused on not only my husband and I having a good time, but our wedding party and family as well and made sure that we weren't bothered with a thing all day. She's such a down to earth person and is so great to work with. Not to mention the fact that her services cost about half of what some of the bigger planning companies out there charge. Elizabeth was worth every penny and hiring her was one of the smartest decisions we made while planning!

Elizabeth did a fantastic job with the day of coordination for our wedding. She went above and beyond making sure I didn't need to worry about any of the details. In my opinion, hiring Elizabeth was one of the best decisions I made! After all of the work I put into planning our wedding, I didn't want to be worried about all of the little details that day. Elizabeth took care of everything and more. Making sure the vendors were doing what they were supposed to do and smoothing out minor issues that arose. If it weren't for Elizabeth, our wedding and reception would not have been nearly as nice . She provided help, guidance and support any time I needed it. She was absolutely wonderful!!! Not only is she competent and hard-working, she's also a very nice person which makes her a delight to work with. If you are getting married in the Chicagoland area, I would highly recommend her.

It is hard to put in to words how happy we are that we chose Anticipation Events to be our wedding planner, but we will try! Elizabeth, the owner of Anticipation Events, is AMAZING! My now husband and I joke with each other that we would still be planning our wedding today if it were not for Elizabeth. We live on the east coast and decided to plan a wedding in our hometown of Chicago. After being engaged for a year and getting nowhere on our plans, we decided to hire a wedding planner. We found Anticipation Events and chose their 'kitchen sink' (full planning) package. Truly some of the best money we spent on the wedding. From the very beginning, Elizabeth was the epitome of what a wedding planner should be. She's infectiously positive and can instantly make you feel like you've known her for years. At the same time, she is professional, grounded, extremely organized, and creative. Elizabeth helped us with so many of the elements of our wedding, including helping us find the perfect venue, researching and recommending vendors based on our needs and handling most interaction with them, conducting our rehearsal, and coordinating the wedding day. Another huge piece she helped us with was style and design. Elizabeth designed and produced our save-the-dates and invitations (and even mailed them out for us), programs, and so many other decorations for our wedding day. We were blown away with her creativity and ability to put such unique items together that totally fit our style and personality. The day of our wedding, Elizabeth was the most calming presence, she was behind the scenes making sure everything was running smoothly. My husband and I were able to truly relax and enjoy each other and our family and friends because of Elizabeth. We were so thrilled with how everything that we planned together turned out. Our family and friends are still commenting about how impressed they were with Elizabeth. Elizabeth's willingness to go above and beyond is unlike anyone else in the wedding industry we worked with. Any time I had a question, she was there to email or talk over the phone, even for the most minor or random issues. Even after our wedding was over, she was still willing to help us work out a situation with a problem vendor and tie up other loose ends. I know everyone dreams of a perfect wedding day, and if you are looking for someone that can help you achieve that while making it all about you and your unique style, look no further, you cannot ask for more with Elizabeth. By far the best!

Elizabeth was the DOC for our barn wedding this summer, and I have no idea how we could have pulled it off without her. She was amazing. The first time we met her was the day before, as she was orchestrating our rehearsal. I had been stressing so much about the wedding I was starting to get sick, but she instantly put us at ease. She has this calm, confident manner that lets you know you are in good hands, without being pushy or controlling. The rehearsal was quick and painless- not at all what I had been preparing myself for! And our wedding day? If a single thing went wrong, I certainly didn't know about it. The entire day flowed perfectly, and the whole time, Elizabeth was there, quietly working her butt off but never showing signs of fatigue. She was somehow completely unobtrusive, but everywhere at once. She even stayed late to break down all the decorations and tablescapes pack them away! She is utterly professional, quick and responsive, and really friendly too! I would recommend her to anyone.

I had Elizabeth as our rehearsal and ceremony coordinator. She was great from beginning to end. She was very easy to get in touch with, and was very quick to respond to my emails. She was very easy to work with at every step of the way. Elizabeth guided everyone through the rehearsal very professionally, and had the right balance of offering suggestions and listening to how we wanted things. Even though I didn't have her as a full DOC, she offered to help out with the other events of the day. She really helped make the ceremony as stress-free as can be!

Elizabeth was absolutely, positively FABULOUS! I don't know what we would have done without her; she's amazing with communication - extremely responsive, which for a Bride to Be, that's HUGE! The first day we met, was about a week before the wedding and she had everything down as far as the questions to ask me, the day of timeline - and OMG it was an amazing timeline. I referred to that countless times. Elizabeth followed up with all of our vendors to ensure they knew what time they needed to arrive, and of course where to arrive to; she is fabulous! Elizabeth came to our rehearsal which was SUCH a tremendous relief. I had no idea what to do, and was nervous about taking too long (we had a huge bridal party), but Elizabeth was proficient, detailed, professional and incredibly sweet! We got through it in no time - and if she wasn't there, it would have taken 3 hours. The day of the wedding, she arrived promptly at noon, as she said she would. I barely saw her at my parent's house because she got busy helping with everything. She went to the church to help decorate, bring the items we needed there (unity candle, marriage license, flowers, etc.). She was sweet enough to go to Dominicks to pick up two peace roses and even tied our wedding colored ribbon around them to make them pretty! During the ceremony - there was a monsoon - and she went to pick up sandwiches that we had ordered for the BP so that when the wedding was done, they'd be in our trolley b/c for sure we'd be hungry! After the ceremony, she went straight to my parent's house to let in the guests and to setup the appetizers/cocktails. When everyone left she cleaned the house spic and span! It was such a relief for my Mom and Dad to know they wouldn't have to spend the next day cleaning everything up! If you are looking for a FABULOUS, DETAILED, SWEET, RELIABLE wedding planner, look no further than Anticipation Events!!! A+++

Elizabeth was absolutely brilliant to work with. Hiring her was probably the best decision that we made. She worked with us to refine and finalize our day-of timeline and then contacted all of our vendors the week before to confirm our plans. In addition, she attended a walkthrough and helped us run our rehearsal. The rehearsal would have been madness had she not been there. The events manager at our venue was a bit snobby and inattentive at times, and Elizabeth dealt with his spaciness in a 100% professional, completely graceful manner (and in the process managed to help shelter the husband and I from the crazy). Elizabeth was so in tune to the details of our wedding day that I simply handed over boxes to her and then didn't think twice about any of it. I know she must have been running around like mad taking care of the setup while I got to relax and hang out with friends and family without giving setup a second thought. At the end of the night, she had brought all of our gifts, my veil, guest book, etc up to our suite. She included a list of notes that were tremendously helpful (for example: the top of the wedding cake is in the hotel's kitchen, I'm mailing the marriage license for the rabbi, the hotel saved 25 vases of flowers for display during brunch on Sunday, etc). I definitely get the sense that this is more than just a job for Elizabeth. She really cares that that the event turns our perfectly.

Elizabeth was such a breeze to work with. She probably did more for me on my wedding day than I’ll ever know. Anytime I thought of something that needed to be done, I’d turn around to find her saying, “I’ve already taken care of that, you just need to have fun.” She’s a hard worker, even with not-so-clear instructions, and a reliable contact. I was able to relax and knowing all my plans were in her hands. She’s the best!

Elizabeth was great. She was always so upbeat and willing to help out. Even with all of the weddng research that I had done, I would not have been abe to pull this event off without her. She thought of things that we hadn't and kept everything in order. Everything ran smoothly on the day of, and she corraled everyone to there correct places, all while keeping a smile on her. She even checked in with us after the wedding to make sure things were ok. She very flexible with her services and with the price. She comes highly recommended.

Elizabeth seriously saved the day, several times over and I shudder to think what our wedding would have been like without her. She showed up early and did everything from hanging curtains, putting out place cards, our guest book, coordinating details with the caterer, taking deliveries. She also put a timeline together with me and confirmed all our vendors in the week before. Elizabeth was an amazing trouble shooter too – and made several snap decisions well for me (or checked in and advised me on what to do if I asked). She was the biggest stress relief of the day and the BEST planning decision I made was hiring her.

I could not have been more impressed with the diligence and amount of details that Elizabeth put into my baby shower. She went beyond the chips-and-dip and put together a spread that highlighted the "animals and infants" theme. From animal cookie gift bags for the guests to decor that resembled the nursery, she put on a classy shower that was a far cry from the "measure the belly" showers of old. Her creativity, ingenuity, and enthusiasm made her a joy to work with and it was apparent that she poured every ounce of energy into making this shower and day perfect for me. The special touches that Elizabeth included are still talked about by my circle of friends today. You can entrust your event to Elizabeth!