“Hiring Ashley was easily one of the best decisions we made for our DIY wedding. Here’s why:
1. Ashley does it all. When you’re planning your own wedding, the last thing you want is to juggle a dozen vendors. The fact that Ashley is a day-of coordinator, florist, and dessert person is a huge plus. We even asked her to cater our farewell brunch the next day!
2. Flowers: They were freaking beautiful. We asked for bud vases and my bridal bouquet, and I’m not exaggerating when I say I teared up when I saw my bouquet.
3. Dessert: We told Ashley that our guests weren’t really dessert people, yet the fact that there was almost no dessert left is a testament to how tasty everything was. The heart cake she made for us to cut into was adorable and, unsurprisingly, delicious.
4. Day-of coordination: Where do I even begin? Ashley was easily the most responsive vendor we worked with, but more importantly, she has a way of putting you completely at ease—which means so much when you’re a DIY bride juggling a million things.
Here’s the best example I have: just over a week before the wedding, I realized I had given Ashley the WRONG DATE for the wedding. I had somehow missed it in all our communications and contracts. It was 100% my fault, and when I realized it, I was this close to throwing up all over myself. We were one week out, and I was screaming. I immediately texted Ashley to apologize and ask if she was still free, and instead of freaking out, she simply said, “Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out. You’ll have a beautiful day—don’t worry!” And she did. She dealt with her hotel, juggled all the logistics for the flowers, and made it work.
That’s exactly the same calm, helpful energy she brought on the wedding day. When I realized there was no wine on the tables during our reception, she handled it. When I asked her to come early for a rehearsal, she did. There were a million little details that I either a) thought I had accounted for (as someone who is extremely Type A and naturally anxious) or b) hadn’t even thought of (since I’d never planned a wedding before), and Ashley either handled them herself or discreetly gave me two potential solutions to choose from.
One example: vendor meals. Obviously, you know you have to feed your vendors, but I hadn’t considered where they were going to eat—it was still on my to-do list the morning of the wedding. With a million things happening, I didn’t get to it, but thanks to Ashley, all our vendors were fed and I didn’t have to worry about it one bit.
5. Bonus perk: Ashley has a bunch of wedding items you can borrow (like candle holders, easels, signage), which is a game-changer when you want to be mindful of the planet and avoid buying, dumping, or reselling everything afterward.
All this being said—if you’re a DIY bride and think you can just deal with all these little details yourself (or have your maid of honor or mom do it), don’t. Hire Ashley instead.
No matter how organized or prepared you are (which I thought I was!), you need to hand over the reins—and Ashley is the perfect person to pick up where you leave off. The amount of stress and anxiety she took off my shoulders on our wedding day (and before that!) was worth every single penny. I cannot thank her enough.”
