A Southern Soiree

My daughter's wedding the first week in May was the second time that our family had the pleasure of working with Megan. The first time was my son's wedding in May of 2009 which was complicated because the bride and her family were from Japan and we were planning the wedding in the US. We were thrilled with both weddings. If a wedding day can be stress-free, these certainly were because of the superior planning, attention to detail and professionalism that Megan exudes in everything she does. My daughter and her then husband-to-be were swamped a couple of weeks before the wedding because of graduate and law school finals, graduation preparation and job searches. Megan had everything under control and everything worked beautifully as my daughter had hoped it would. It couldn't have been better!

I was initially skeptical about the benefit of a wedding planner, which I suspect was part frugality, part being a groom. In the end, however, I can't imagine what things would have been like had we not hired A Southern Soiree. My now wife stressed the importance of a planner early on in our planning. I agreed, hesitantly, but quickly saw the benefits. Here are some examples: 1) We were given an ear and a soundboard when we needed advice; 2) Megan would negotiate deals with vendors, saving us money and certainly stress. Megan and her team have inside knowledge and know the area vendors well; 3) We received valuable recommendations and advice on what vendors to hire and whom to work with; 4) We had regular planning meetings and received good ideas that simplified things on our end; 5) While the bride needs the most attention, of course, I was thrilled that Megan checked in with me alone many times before and during the wedding (at least ten times, no joke) and that always made me feel at ease; 6) The wedding day was a breeze. We didn't have to worry about a thing besides enjoying ourselves. They did everything behind the scenes, like vendor payment, making sure our wedding party knew the timeline, and bringing everything to our room at the end of the night (decorations, gifts, gathering picture frames, even a late night snack). Gina even climbed up in a tree to hang our tissue poms and put the boutonnieres on all of the groomsmen! These things are invaluable, believe me! Also, to close, my wife is picky--she has good taste (though I alone might prove that wrong ;). When she was shopping (she's a pro shopper) around for a planner, she consulted blogs, review boards, asked friends, and ultimately settled on A Southern Soiree. That homework...

Angus Barn wedding was perfect! Kailey at A Southern Soiree did an incredible job making our wedding weekend the best it could possibly be. She worked with us in the weeks leading up to the big day and delivered flawlessly on the day of. We had MANY small and last minute details that she handles with a smile and with a calming composure. I would recommend Kailey and A Southern Soiree for any future bride and groom as she makes you comfortable and makes sure that you don't need to worry about anything other than enjoying your special day. Thanks Kailey for everything!

Our wedding was on April 21, 2012 at the Carolina Inn. It was wonderful, due in large part to the efforts of Megan and her team. Without a doubt, hiring Megan was the best decision we made during the wedding planning process. She is highly organized, efficient and professional. Megan is incredibly well-networked and connected us to the best vendors; we were exceedingly happy with all of her recommendations. Megan reviewed our contracts, negotiated for the best deals and thought of details that never would have crossed my mind. Nearly all of our guests traveled to attend our wedding, including my immediate family. My parents and I were truly able to enjoy the weekend because Megan coordinated nearly everything that last week. I can't overstate how valuable Megan's services were.

Amazing wedding at the Carolina Inn....My fiance and I presented a bit of a challenge in that we both live overseas and he was there the majority of the planning time for our wedding. I was so excited to work with Megan and the girls at A Southern Soiree. The reviews and word of mouth were amazing and true to that, she did not disappoint. The first few "meetings" with Megan where over the phone as I was in Australia. She was very warm and immediately I got the feeling just over the phone that I had made the right choice. Megan was able to help me get organized early and helped me do what I could from overseas. In November, I returned to the States until my April 14th, 2012 wedding. I met Gina and Megan within the first week. They were exactly what I had expected-super organized, sweet and made me feel like I was their only priority. Leading up to the wedding, Megan and Gina met with me many times, organized vendor meetings and also met with my fiance the week before the wedding. He was the pickiest and he was thrilled with everything that Megan had done. Every vendor that Megan suggested was the best. The wedding day went exactly to plan! It was an amazing event and we could not have been happier with how everything came together. I would highly recommend Megan and her team. She is the BEST wedding coordinator in NC hands down!

Megan was fantastic and helped make our wedding day truly memorable! Her assistance allowed us to have a wonderful ceremony and reception without being stressed! She provided with support and advice through the whole process, advice on vendors and kept us to our timelines! On the wedding day, she had everything running smoothly, allowing me and my husband just to enjoy the moment and our guests! Hiring Southern Soiree was one of the best decisions we made! Megan was a pleasure to work with and was very responsive and reliable. Our wedding day was amazing and I appreciate all of her efforts! Thanks!!

Our wedding at the Carolina Inn on January 28th was absolutely wonderful! My fiancé (now husband, **smiles**) and I started planning this wedding while we were in a long distance relationship. I was living in New York and he was living in Dallas and to make the situation even more complicated, we decided to get married in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. With me in New York, my fiancé in Dallas and my mom in California, we knew we needed help! We began working with Megan about a month and a half after the engagement and it was the best decision we made! There is no way we would have been able to pull this off without her! She helped with ceremony/reception recommendations, vendor selection, budget, timelines...you name it! But more than the logistics, Megan was a constant source of support through out the entire planning process and the weekend of the event. We relied on her a great deal for her advice and opinions. I trusted her completely. I would highly recommend A Southern Soiree for your wedding planning services. I will really miss working with Megan, but I am excited for all of the future brides who get to go through this process with her team!

Megan made us feel like we were planning a wedding with one of our close friends. She made our entire wedding weekend absolutely perfect!! We decided to hire a planner 3 months after being engaged. We both have jobs that require large amounts of our time and we were struggling to plan the wedding we wanted. Hiring Megan was the best decision we made (besides deciding to get married of course!!). She coordinated all our vendors and made them cost effective. But, most importantly, she quickly and truly understood our vision for our entire wedding weekend. She made the planning and the wedding weekend go smoothly and it turned out even better than we had dreamed of. We have no idea what we would have done without her. She is extremely detail-oriented and doesn't let anything fall through the cracks. She is incredibly sweet and everyone involved in the wedding commented on how wonderful she is! We STRONGLY recommend Megan and the entire A Southern Soiree team.

Megan helped me plan a rehearsal dinner for my son's wedding. We are not from Raleigh and would have ben lost without her. She was awesome! She is so organized, so professional, and very thorough. The smartest decision we made!! Love her!

I am so glad I hired A Southern Soiree to help me with the last minute details of my winter wedding! Kailey was an absolute joy to work with. Not only is she patient and organized, but she is also an incredibly good listener- an invaluable skill during the final stages of the wedding planning process. She completed each last minute task (and there were dozens!) without hesitation or flaw. She also was so much fun to meet with and talk to! I would absolutely recommend Kailey and A Southern Soiree to any bride looking for a beautiful, stress-free wedding day!

Megan was a crucial part to planning our wedding! From the moment we met with her, we felt comfortable with her and her team. She helped me make decisions on items I had no clue about, like linens and lighting. I never had to deal with any small details. I never had to keep track of any details. It was all in her hands. I started a new job when I got engaged so she took all the pressure of planning of a wedding off my shoulders. We had one of the most fabulous weddings that was planned in 6 months! I have recommended her to anyone of my friends that I know is getting close to being engaged!

At our first meeting with Megan, my daughter and I felt immediately comfortable and confident that we were in good hands. We received prompt responses to our questions no matter how important or trivial the matter. She especially helped us with the timing of events on the wedding day and determining the flow of activities at the reception. Once the wedding day arrived, Megan's and Melissa's calming presence allowed me to relax and enjoy a wonderful event. From expertly handling a seating problem to packing gifts in our car, they were professional, gracious, and truly a pleasure to work with! I highly recommend Megan and Southern Soiree. Many thanks from a very happy mother of the bride. Kathy

Kailey was an invaluable help as a wedding planner for our daughter & son-in-law's wedding. All the arrangements were being done long-distance, yet I was still able to feel confident and relaxed, knowing that Kailey was advising us & keeping us organized. She guided us through the many details in an intelligent and efficient manner, which helped us all to fully enjoy the wedding day. Kailey was such a pleasure to work with that I didn't want to say goodbye when it was over!

Adam and I have been working with Megan and her team for just over a year when we had our October 15th wedding. The number of wedding guest was large and the wedding party was very big, too. Megan and her team did a fantastic job! Everything was perfect and was an amazing reflection of both of us and both our families. We have heard over and over again that it was the best wedding and reception anyone had ever been to. Megan was wonderful to work with before the wedding with very specific lists of what we needed to do and how to get those accomplished. She also was able to work with our very busy schedules and get everything planned. The night of the wedding we had no worries at all (nor did any of our family members). Her team was where they needed to be and in control of everything. We would recommend Megan and a Southern Soiree over and over again!

Kailey Branham was a wonderful and key player in our wedding planning! She stepped right in and in a flexible, relaxed, and always professional and courteous manner, she was able to gracefully juggle the various details of the planning process, as well as various family member requests and questions. She held the fine points together when my mother and I thought we would never be able to keep track of everything. Best of all was the confidence she inspired in us- we knew everything would be smooth sailing with her help. She was a joy to work with leading up to the day, but also on our wedding day, when we knew that the people around us would truly help set the right mood... and she did! We cannot thank her enough!

There are no words to describe how grateful we are to Megan and her team at A Southern Soiree for bringing to life everything we wanted for our wedding. Megan was by our side to help us throughout the entire planning process and made our wedding day completely stress free :) From the beginning, Megan has gone above and beyond to help us with anything we needed... and everything we didn't know we needed! From the very first meeting, Megan has done everything to help us plan OUR wedding and not just a cookie-cutter event. She connected us with the best wedding vendors that fit our wedding needs and we really couldn't have asked for a better wedding-planning experience with A Southern Soiree!

Our wedding wouldn’t have been as amazing as it was without Megan and her team at A Southern Soiree! We started planning with A Southern Soiree shortly before Megan took over ownership, and are so thankful that we had the pleasure to work with Megan. She helped us with every single aspect of the planning process, making everything so easy for us. She was always available – whether through email, over the phone, appointments at her office, or even to stop by our house – to answer any questions or to run through all of the details one more time with us. She was always such a joy to be around and made the planning process so much fun. I would highly recommend Megan and her team at A Southern Soiree… they will ensure you have the wedding of your dreams!

It is my pleasure to enthusiastically recommend Megan and her team at a Southern Soiree! We were introduced to Megan, when she replaced the planner we had originally contracted to help with my daughter’s wedding. Megan put our initial apprehension to rest immediately, and has continued to exceed our expectations ever since. She made it possible for us to have the wedding that we dreamed of, within the budget we allowed. And, the vendors that she recommended were amazing! Megan was an absolute pleasure to work with … it was like planning a party with an old friend. In the months prior to the wedding, she met with us regularly to ensure that everything was on track, and always responded promptly to any questions or concerns that we had. As the big day approached, I was so grateful for her organizational skills, attention to detail and calming presence! She and her staff were extremely professional … they made sure that the ceremony and reception ran smoothly … yet, were unobtrusive. The wedding was, as my daughter described it, “the most amazing day”. I am thrilled she and her husband were so happy, and I will always cherish the “special moments” I was able to share with her throughout the process, because I had the comfort of knowing that all the details were in Megan’s capable hands.

A Southern Soiree did a great job planning my wedding. I could not have done it without them!!! Megan is the best!! She will go out of her way to make your day special.

We hired A Southern Soiree in January, 2011 for a July 30th wedding. We selected the premier plan which basically meant they were with us every step of the way, on every decision being made. We (bride's family) were not local to Raleigh so having somebody for my daughter to work with, run ideas by, etc was very key. For me, being able to pretty much show up in Raleigh for the weddding and not have to worry about ANYTHING the entire weekend (Rehearsal, Wedding, Wedding Reception, Clean Up The Day After) was Huge. They were always willing to suggest based on their experience or just be a sounding board for ideas and offering opinions. AT the end of the day, all decisions were ours. They simply would provide us the information and expert advice on pros/cons. All contracts that had to be signed were reviewed in detail so that I did not need to do this. Wedding weekend....they ran the rehearsal including handing out a very detailed timeline of how everything was going to happen at the wedding. We walked through it as a group, everybody was on the same page. Finally they are extremely pleasant and personable, people you like to be around. You can't go wrong hiring Megan, Kailey and the rest of their support team. Ken Hayes khayes1032@aol.com