Katie ~ Bride
Milton, West Virginia
I could not have asked for anything more with my wonderful wedding planner Elizabeth of Grand Occasions. One amazing thing about Elizabeth is that she planned most of my wedding from 500 miles away. Yes, I did NOT have a myrtle beach wedding. She will be there for every aspect of your wedding but trust that Elizabeth could plan a wedding over the phone - -she's that good!
In the few short months Elizabeth had to plan our wedding she managed to organize and execute all aspects of our wedding including cake, flowers, and all aspects of our venue. I didn't have to worry about a thing. Looking back now I can't think of a single thing that I would have done differently and it's all thanks to my dear Elizabeth.
I was one that didn't have a clue what I wanted for my wedding - she was so kind and took so much time emailing me and calling me with photos, videos, and ideas to help me get my "vision" of a perfect wedding. I would also like to add that Elizabeth has an amazing amount of patience and empathy for the stressed-out bride. Her patience must have been tested while dealing with ME but she never showed it!!! = D
Sue ~ Mother of the Bride
Blacksburg, Virginia
Weddings can be a lifetime dream come true event for families with daughters. To be perfectly realistic however, weddings today cost a lot of money & have so many moving parts that doing your own wedding planning would be akin to doing your own dental work. Often by the time a family gets to the wedding & reception, the bride & her parents are so stressed, they can hardly enjoy the wedding until they sigh at the end, realizing they survived.
This was nearly our plight in January 2007. My husband & I (brides's parents) live in Virginia & our daughter, Sarah, lived in Conway, SC & was planning her wedding there. I asked Sarah to hire a wedding planner since I worked full time & didn't even know where to begin to help her. She hired a wedding coordinator who basically handed her some checklists of what needed to be decided in order to have a successful wedding. Sarah tried contacting this person to set up times to get together or to get some help with her lists, but the woman was always too busy. Time went on & three months before the wedding Sarah had nothing to show in terms of consulting/planning services provided by the planner & basically felt stranded & alone in the process.
In came Elizabeth Hodges. She was absolutely a gift from God to us. Elizabeth was amazing! She met with Sarah & helped her focus on what needed to be accomplished to be able to pull off the wedding Sarah had dreamed of. Elizabeth listened to & guided Sarah, while moving Sarah forward in planning & making informed decisions that needed to be made in a timely manner. Elizabeth met & took Sarah places to pick things out. Elizabeth's creativity, excitement & positive attitude about Sarah's wedding made every aspect of the three months prior to the wedding a time of peaceful anticipation & pleasure for everyone involved. Elizabeth kept in constant contact with Sarah so Sarah could ask her any question, regardless of how insignificant it might seem about all the wedding & reception details. Elizabeth had lots of good ideas & suggestions to help make this process go smoothly. She was a wealth of resourcefulness in working with supplies, vendors & decorating items, enabling what could have taken months to accomplish, easily completed in the short time we had.
The day of the wedding, Elizabeth was there, hands on, directing, answering questions & reassuring everyone involved that it was totally under control And it was, because Elizabeth was at the helm. Everyone, including the bride & her parents had a marvelous, memorable time at the wedding & reception, so unlike what I've heard from my friends who either didn't have a wedding planner or hired someone out of the phone book. Elizabeth Hodges is the very best at this job. This seems to be her passion & it clearly shows. Choosing Elizabeth will guarantee that your wedding will turn out to match your dreams & be a celebration to remember.
Melinda ~ Mother of the Bride
Conway, SC
Being the mother of the bride is a stressful job! Especially when the bride is a student teaching, working every Saturday, and trying to refurbish a house as well as plan a wedding! Top it off with the fact I had 6 other kids, a husband, and my parents at home to care for.....I was feeling pretty "stretched"! Elizabeth was such a blessing. She is so organized and efficient! I had peace knowing I could contact her any time and she would be able to guide me through any situation that might arise. Having her on my team made wedding planning fun. She was always organized, prepared, enthusiastic, compassionate and cheerful. Everything she undertook was done with excellence and diligence. I can't imagine anyone more qualified to plan my function than Elizabeth Hodges.
Latoya ~ Bride
Greensboro, NC
Elizabeth is the best wedding planner ever. I talked to all the wedding planners in the area and had an immediate connection with her. My wedding was an all day event on July 4th. We had the ceremony, brunch,and reception. Every single aspect of my wedding was perfect and beautiful. I didn't see anything before the wedding, so I was surprised the whole day. Everything was beautiful and there was so much detail at every event. Elizabeth was very patient and worked very closely with me to give me my dream wedding. My husband and I was completely satisfied with Elizabeth's work and taste. When I look at the pictures I get excited all over again. My husband wants Elizabeth to plan another wedding again for us. He was pleased with how our money was spent. I am a teacher and give Elizabeth an A+.
Lily
Raleigh, NC ~ San Francisco, CA
Elizabeth has been helping me create lovely showers and birthday parties for over 20 years. She is my go to girl for questions of design and rules of etiquette. Elizabeth is especially talented in organization and meeting deadlines.
Our latest projects were a shower for my daughter-in-law and a birthday tea party for my 6 year old grand-daughter. Elizabeth takes your rough ideas and forms them into a concept, then completes the project with suggestions of where to obtain materials down to how to place accessories around a room. Also we rarely occupy the same state so everything is done long distance via phone, email and internet.
Elizabeth is multi-talented and never misses a detail. Choosing event planning is a natural outflow of Elizabeth's' innate talents.
Sarah and Mike ~ Bride & Groom
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Planning a wedding is naturally a stressful experience. We did not understand how stressful, however, until we were a few months out and saw how much we still had left to do. Realizing that we needed assistance in a big way, we contacted Elizabeth to see if she could help. At our first meeting, Elizabeth sat us down and asked how we envisioned our day looking. After she got an idea of our desires and budget she went to work taking care of all the details, large and small. Elizabeth understood that our schedules prevented us from being as involved as we would like and she made it so easy to hand over the planning to her. With Elizabeth on board, it felt like a huge weight was taken off our shoulders and we could finally get excited about our wedding. Not only did our wedding and reception turn out better than expected, we ended up saving more money than if we had done the planning ourselves. Elizabeth had tons of ways to save money without sacrificing look or quality. There is no way our wedding would have been as beautiful, stress-free and fun as it was if Elizabeth had not taken over the planning. Elizabeth worked tirelessly to make our wedding day a total success. We would recommend her to anyone who is looking for a stress-free and beautiful wedding. Thanks Elizabeth!
