So Smitten Special Events - Long Beach, California

Julia Ehler

Obsessed is an understatement when it comes to the experience I had with So Smitten. I’m convinced I looked into every single planner in southern California, and after my chat with our coordinator, Ben, I knew I found our perfect match. From our first conversation to the day after the wedding, Ben was so attentive and helpful. From asking for advice on art projects to panicking about candle rentals, Ben quickly answered all of my emails. Once I hired So Smitten, I didn’t feel like I was blindly planning a wedding on my own anymore. Their extremely detailed spreadsheets were also a huge selling point for me. There isn’t a checklist I could find on Google that could compare, So Smitten makes sure not a single detail could be missed. I didn’t think I could trust anyone other than myself to run my wedding day, but Ben made sure all of my hard work went off without a hitch(as far as the guests know), and I couldn’t ask for anything more! The rest of our day-of team was so kind, coming in with the best attitude, making our guests feel welcomed, and showering me with compliments throughout the night! I really hope they know how much their presence meant to me at the end of the night. Don’t even get me started on Melanie, their in-house florist, having her there was a godsend, so I would highly suggest getting her on your vendor team as well. As much as I don’t want to get married again, I’d love an excuse to work with So Smitten again! I will be recommending them to all my future engaged friends!

Sarah Davis

Melanie at So Smitten was a lifesaver when it came to wedding planning. She is incredibly organized and has the most beautiful spreadsheets to utilize throughout the wedding planning process to make sure everything gets done in a timely manner and nothing is forgotten. The day of our wedding, she coordinated everything perfectly and was there to put out any fires that arose. She helped make sure everyone had the best time and made sure everything ran smoothly. She made sure I ate, made sure I got photos at certain times, pulled us for the cake cutting, and sorted everything out when someone arrived with a date who was not invited. She is also just a wonderful human, very kind and easy to talk to, which made the wedding planning process that much easier and enjoyable. Finally, she helped us with the final rentals we needed and helped bring things to the venue and make sure it was all set up for us. We love her so much and highly recommend her for all your planning needs.

Jeannette Ledesma

I have nothing but glowing feedback and so much gratitude towards So Smitten, and especially our coordinator, Gris! She was an absolute rockstar throughout the whole process-- kind, funny, easy going, always 100% professional and so organized. She responded to our texts and emails quickly and was always ready to jump on a last minute phone call if we needed it. She is the perfect liaison between a couple getting married for the first time and the chaotic wedding industry; Gris is patient and friendly, but assertive when she needs to be (meaning she will get sh*t done for you!). Plus, she's bilingual in English and Spanish which was so helpful in helping us coordinate with our taquero.

Now I never imagined that our wedding day would be perfect, but with Gris running the show, it really was PERFECT. I'm still stunned by just how smooth and easy the day was. We stayed on schedule, everyone knew where to go and what to do, all the vendors were exactly where they needed to be, and my husband and I genuinely did not have to worry about a single thing. If there were any mishaps, I didn't hear about them. Gris was running the show, and my husband and I got to enjoy our long- awaited wedding day. I could go on and on but I'll just say this: So Smitten was a dream to work with, and Gris is simply the BEST!

Ryan Neff

The So Smitten team, and in particular our coordinator Chantelle, did a fantastic job with our wedding! The resources they provided leading up to the event, specifically their very comprehensive spreadsheets and questionnaires, did so much to make sure we had every element of our wedding accounted for. Especially in the month leading up the event, Chantelle met with us frequently to go over the many small adjustments to the timeline and item lists to help us stay on track. The day of the event went so smoothly and relatively stress-free, with Chantelle and her team handling all the vendors and any issues that came up, and she did a lot to make sure we had drinks in our hands and food on our plates, letting us really enjoy our day. Definitely hire So Smitten to coordinate your event!

James Ellsworth

This past May, my wife and I had the pleasure of working with Gris from So Smitten as our wedding coordinator. Having a day of coordinator took a huge weight off our shoulders and allowed us to really enjoy our wedding day. Gris was professional and prompt throughout the process and we recommend couples looking into So Smitten for their weddings.

grace song

I cannot recommend Angelica enough as a wedding coordinator! From start to finish, she was an absolute dream to work with. Her organization skills were unmatched—everything from our timeline to the little details was well coordinated. She kept us on track and made sure everything ran smoothly, allowing us to truly enjoy our special day without any stress.

One of the things that really stood out was her quick thinking when an unexpected hiccup occurred. The boutonnieres were accidentally forgotten, but Angelica didn't miss a beat! She immediately came up with a creative solution and made beautiful boutonnieres on the fly. It was such a relief knowing she could handle any curveball thrown her way, all while keeping a calm, positive demeanor.

Angelica is not only incredibly professional but also warm, kind, and easy to work with. She truly cares about her clients and goes above and beyond to ensure everything is perfect. I felt like I was in the best hands throughout the entire planning process, and I couldn’t be more grateful for her help in making our wedding day unforgettable.

Cameron Stark

I still get emotionally and physically upset every time I think about my wedding day and can't even bring myself to look at the photos.

We were reassigned to a new coordinator when our wedding date fell around our original planner's due date and were only notified of this change after several weeks of radio silence and multiple inquiries with the company. Our new planner, Shaunté, though seems like a nice person, had a very different management style than our initial planner.

We assumed that a planner would come with a constructive dialog between us and an expert in the industry, however it was left up to us to muddle through. Rather than starting fresh or checking in with us, it felt like Shaunté went forward with a sort of cookie-cutter default and unquestioning obedience to a "plan" that, if she had asked, was largely placeholders and still very much TBD from our first and only meeting with Jackie. Not to mention, several mystifying assumptions on her part regarding components of the wedding and schedule.

When we met in person at the design meeting, which was scheduled earlier than usual (something she only cared to share with us after the fact), it felt like she didn't have the time to be there but came out of obligation; like a pitstop on her way to something more important. Everything felt rushed and although she was hearing what we were saying, she wasn't listening to what we were saying.

Multiple deliverables from the design meeting were also slow in coming (i.e. draft of the final timeline, doggie concierge forms, etc.) and only happened after multiple emails back and forth. Although I had reservations at this point, my fiancé recommended we give her the benefit of the doubt, and so we did.

We carefully curated a timeline with her and things seemed to be going well. Cut to the day of the wedding and she was nowhere to be seen upon arrival. I had to ask my friends after being there for more than 45 minutes if they could find her for me to let me know where we were at with everything.

As a planner/coordinator, I was under the impression that she would be keeping us on schedule to the timeline we had painstakingly put together with her, (and utilized in coordinating with all of our other vendors). However, on the day it was as if the roles were reversed, with us keeping things on track and coordinating the schedule for her. Worst yet, she seemed to throw both us and our photographers under the bus saying that, because they had created "their own timeline" (based on the one she had made and mostly to outline who and what was being photographed and when) she felt they were in charge of keeping us on track, otherwise it was up to us.

Her energy was on the short side and many of the other vendors alluded to her less than desirable treatment of them. At one point when we were eating our dinner we could clearly see her very animatedly chewing someone out from across the room which certainly didn't make me feel great and immediately made me regret providing a tip and soured the evening for me.

At one point in the evening, my folks tried calling me until finally calling my husband to see when the dancing was going to start as guests had finished eating dinner and had been waiting even though the planner knew where we were and could have interrupted the photo session at any point.

Ultimately, I wan't able to be as present or enjoy the day as much as I would have liked because I wasn't feeling supported by Shaunté. Instead I found myself constantly having to worry about guest experience, what was happening behind the scenes, and where we were supposed to be.

Moreover, I feel like I was made to feel bad because of the other vendors I chose. Rather than working together to make sure the couple is removed from the drama, she made the decision to remove herself from the equation and blame others which is just not-productive, nor how I would want to conduct business.

Needless to say, I’m overall extremely saddened and disappointed with our experience and in turn our wedding day.

10/10 would NOT recommend.

Karin Smith

I have so many wonderful things to say about Marni I'm not sure where to start. Planning an out of state wedding, during a pandemic, was not easy. With the help of So Smitten Events we were able to pull it off without any hiccups. From the moment we hired her I knew we were in good hands. We got married on May 28, 2021 so stress levels were high in the months prior. Marni was organized, professional and so responsive. Right after we booked her, more than a year out, we had our first planning meeting. She was able to answer all of my (MANY) questions and really helped me to feel less stressed in general. Throughout the year, I could always count on her to answer questions promptly, with great suggestions and ideas. My only regret is that is that I only hired her for day of coordination WITHOUT design consultation including tablescape planning. If I were to do it again, I would have upgraded my package. I think it would have been worth it. On the day, my husband (who initially said we did not need a wedding planner) was so impressed with Marni and her team. He has said several times how great she was and that he was so glad we had her. If So Smitten is on your short list, snatch them up!