SarahFrench Events

     

I don't say this lightly when I say that Sarah changed our lives. She was an original top choice for us, however due to timing issues, we elected to hire another planner. A year out from the wedding, this planner dropped off the face of the planet to never be heard from again. My husband and I attempted to reach out for several months with nothing but radio silence as a response. With our wedding less than 10 months away, we elected to find a new planner to help us finish the major planning details and to be our day of coordinator.

We reconnected with Sarah and knew she would be a perfect fit right away. Thankfully, she was available at this time and excited to work with us. She came into the situation and managed to get us back on track!

Sarah is incredibly kind, compassionate, conscious, and talented. She is a very effective communicator and she made us feel at ease straight away. She will allow your vision to flourish while keeping you grounded and being completely transparent about what can and can't work. When I saw this woman would move the moon to get you your perfect day, I absolutely mean that.

On top of our previous planner crisis, we also had the pandemic hit. Although almost everything had already been planned at this point, we had to reimagine our entire wedding. Sarah was absolutely crucial into figuring out creative ways for us to celebrate while still maintaining health and safety as a top priority. We went from 200+ to ~40something guests, two venues to one, outdoor/indoor to exclusively outdoor, and a dozen other covid friendly regulations. Sarah ensured our day went off without a hitch and made us feel completely stress free the entire time. It was the absolute perfect day and I am so grateful for Sarah and all of her hard work. Without her, none of it would have been possible!

     

Sarah, from start to finish, made planning our wedding thoughtful, easy and fun. She was a godsend for two people based in DC, with full time jobs, and high expectations. She helped us to not only feel confident in our choices (as we utilized her partial planning services) but helped us to consider ones we hadn't before, based on our vision and budget. She aligned us with amazing vendors and helped us to truly make our day reflective of us through other details like table signage (etsy recs) and flowers that came from local growers. Sarah's blend of easy going nature and tried and true professionalism makes her approachable, funny and a pleasure to work with. She helped us to get out time back on our day, and helped us to focus on each other which is the whole point. She went with all of crazy ideas (Whipped Cream on the Dance Floor versus a Wedding Cake) and made of families feel loved and trusted (hundreds of compliments all around). If you need a reliable confidant, team leader and genuine lover of love on your wedding day, we would highly recommend Sarah!

     

If you are considering working with SFE, congratulations - you've found yourself at a great point.
Wedding planning should be fun, but let's face it - it can become a stressful beast, especially if:
-you are on a tight budget
-you have friends and family with specific requests
-you have people travelling in
-etc.
Thus, you may not think you "need" a wedding planner or coordinator; but if you are spending money on a "big day," treat yourself to this. You will thank yourself later.
A tip on working with any wedding vendor: just be honest and forthcoming (in a polite manner of course!) The more straightforward you are, the easier communication is for everyone.
Sarah was recommended to us by the venue we chose and we are so glad that she was. Sarah not only *crushed* month-of coordination, but she really understood that we wanted to focus on "fun" and forgo tradition and perceived "class." Within 15 minutes of meeting us, Sarah stopped to say: "I take it you're the type of people who would rather have a pinata smashing than a cake cutting." Ding ding ding! And that, we did... and everyone LOVED that freakin' pinata.
Sarah recommended 5/6 vendors that we worked with, including: DJ, bar tenders, caterers, furniture rental and florist. We loved all of them and even on our tight budget, found compromises that worked for everyone.
She gave us great ideas for our guest book, seating chart, and beyond; and helped us create a color palette that integrated a ton of odd elements.
Sarah is communicative, willing to meet where is convenient for clients, and knows other vendors + the Philadelphia area very well.
Finally, where would we have been without Sarah the weekend of our wedding? She led the rehearsal, fully owned loading and unpacking of about 100 boxes of supplies, quickly and calmly let us know if we were running low on liquor, solved "problems," and brought an extra (and very friendly staffer). Be upfront with what you want & need, and Sarah will find a way.
Thank you Sarah!

     

We first met Sarah after she came recommended by our wedding venue, which required a day-of wedding coordinator. Sarah was on time, organized, and cordial. She was receptive to our concerns but also provided general guidance for how the process of planning a wedding should go. After meeting with other potential coordinators, Sarah was our front runner but a bit above budget.

Upon discussions of our budget, Sarah worked with us and offered to have a colleague be our main coordinator and she would be an aide on the day of for a reduced price. We felt comfortable with this proposal and signed the paperwork. Long story short…the colleague was unable to perform the services and Sarah stepped up and took over. Only real problem here was some mixed notes, lost time, and a little frustration.

From then on, we met with Sarah a few times to discuss the logistics and vendor situation. Contractually we were supposed to get a bit of help on brokering deals with our vendors that didn't really worked out.

When we were a month out Sarah took responsibility for ensuring all vendors were on the same page and knew what to do. Once we got a rapport established between Sarah, other vendors, and us we were relatively smooth sailing. Sarah the week of was on point and provided behind the scenes work to squash a few problems.

Day of…

Our wedding was nonconventional with minimal formalities. One thing we did not do was a rehearsal of the ceremony. Although we had tried pieces of our wedding ceremony and done phone calls and recap emails with all vendors, the day of saw some changes to our vision. Although this was a bit disconcerting, the ceremony ended up going very well.

The wedding overall was a whirlwind. Hair and makeup ran slow and guests were later than we ever thought they would be. Between that we ended up trying to make up time in our pictures schedule and keep to our general timeline. This proved difficult but we still got it all in; this is where Sarah shined. Faced with compounding technical difficulties Sarah was able to keep things moving and keep our wedding as close to plan as possible. There were times where things got a bit terse between guests, ourselves, and Sarah likely stemming from this stress.

During the wedding Sarah remained attentive to the bride & groom, shielded us as best as possible from outside stresses that were occurring, and at the end of the night held up a bus in Philadelphia traffic to make sure we got a smooth ride home. Sarah went above and beyond. She delivered all the wedding items that needed to be removed from the venue to our house in Baltimore that very night and took care in making sure our cats were safe.

So looking back, we had a few minor issues that we worked together with Sarah to resolve and the wedding wonderfully with all factors considered.  We would absolutely hire Sarah again knowing what we know now.  She is able to get the job done.

Afterwards Sarah provided us with behind the scene shots and it was very meaningful to us that she would share these with us.