Note: If you are a bride-to-be reading this, please direct your groom-to-be to this post.

If you are like most of the grooms out there, your first reaction to the idea of hiring a wedding coordinator is “Let’s try to save some money and organize it ourselves.” A “not so surprising” reaction to the “logic-defying” cost of weddings these days. That was me at the beginning. I was like most of the grooms out there. But after going through the entire process, I can definitively say that the money spent hiring Jennifer was the best investment we made. I describe it as an “investment” because our “return” was our sanity and peace of mind, which enabled us to enjoy the day of our wedding exponentially more. And here’s the real kicker, we ended up saving money by hiring Jennifer. Read on to see how I came up with this crazy conclusion.

Jennifer is everything a wedding coordinator needs to be – A-type personality that is organized, assertive, and responsive. Great, but so are many other coordinators out there. What makes Jennifer a cut above the rest? Simple, she knows a lot of people in the industry. This is important because it enables you to tap into her network and get great prices in everything from flowers to desserts. The wedding industry is no different from any other industry – it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I honestly believe that we made back every dollar spent on Jennifer, and then some. Obviously that makes this descision a no-brainer. Get a wedding coordinator, but don’t just get any, make sure you get Jennifer Shin.

Jennifer is absolutely amazing – hiring her was by far the best decision we made during our wedding planning process. She’s got all the skills that make her the perfect wedding planner:

1) Professional: event planning is her career – not a side-job

2) Great communication skills: very responsive to all my emails/calls – so very important!

3) Assertive, but never over-powering: a very important trait for when you’re counting on her to work with your other vendors on your behalf & making sure nothing goes wrong

4) Wonderful personality: I had so much fun planning my wedding with her – I felt like I hired a BFF! LOL!

5) Part-Psychoanalyst: She knew exactly what to say to keep me stress-free & could read me like a book on whether I liked something or didn’t and could help guide me in the right direction, which was great because I kept over-thinking everything and couldn’t figure out what I liked or didn’t!

6) Experienced: She gave great advice on how to spend our $$ to get the best bang for our buck, knew the industry really well to give us the best vendor referrals & hook-ups, she was always giving us great ideas for design/favors/inspiration and always stayed up to date with the latest wedding blogs, etc

I’ve been to too many weddings to count - some of which where there were planners, some with hired day-of-coordinators, some with none-of-the-above. After each wedding, I always think how lucky we were to have found Jennifer. We were so happy and stress-free on our wedding day - and it seriously was the happiest day of my life... =) Thank you Jennifer!

When I say our wedding wouldn't have gone as smoothly without Jenn Shin, it's absolutely no hyperbole. Due to my crazy work schedule, I had very little time to think about my wedding during the month leading up to it. Jenn always made sure to keep me on top of everything and even took things off my plate so I wouldn't stress out. She has an innate ability to know exactly what you want even when you don't know you want it! She knows where she has to take the lead to make sure you don't stress out. I'm sure it helped that we've known each other for years now, but I really appreciated the fact that she made the planning process bearable and low-stress for me. Also helped that she knew my style and personality when she suggested ideas and details. Jenn's taste is impeccable though!! But regardless of our non-wedding planning relationship, Jenn was always professional and responsive. She's amazing! My now-husband didn't know what wedding planners/coordinators did when we first hired Jenn, but now he shouts her praises to everyone. Thanks Jenn for making our wedding beautiful and easy (relatively speaking)!