“We will prefix this review with 1) we engaged to work with Datso 5-6 months before a 50 person Fort Bragg garden wedding in April, organised 100% from Singapore and 2) our big day was a second wedding to both the Bride and the Groom, so we knew the things that mattered to us and what we wanted the planning and day to be in terms of experience.
Beauty and ease were major priorities, I (the bride) wanted the day to be gorgeous, but within a specific budget, and we both did not want to stress about anything, as we were arranging things out of country and timezone.
We are so lucky that we managed to find Datso (and the team she works with) for our wedding. We found her online and decided to go with her after just one call (we also spoke to a few local vendors, many of them were totally out of our price range but also many were not as generous with advice and pointers as she was in that intro call).
Datso proved to be incredibly human, knowledgeable, and reassuring throughout the entire planning process, accommodating us many times over with the time difference, meetings, requests and 'ideas' that had to be conveyed just over the phone or via pictures. It was a risk for us and we didn't "know" what the day was going to turn out like but she kept us well informed during the process and was positive but reasonable in the guidance she gave us. She was respectful with our budget and never pushy. She was also informative and positive but never disingenuous, she remained incredibly human and acted with integrity from start to finish.
But the proof is in the pudding, and finally the day came. I cant convey how just perfect our day turned out. She truly "got" us, the whole brief: flowers, local produce, music style (and band), the look, the feel, dinner menu and layout, the photographer style (and cost!)... she just 'got' us with all her vendor recommendations and understood that we wanted a GORGEOUS but heartfelt, warm and fun evening with close friends and family. (She also quietly did some contingency planning, like bringing extra decorations that she thought we'd need, and things like umbrellas that we didn't plan for as it rained a bit on the day.)
End to end, Datso and her team delivered a thoroughly well-managed, thoughtful day that felt and looked exactly as we had hoped.
It was very special, but felt intimate and personal. Gorgeous, but not frilly. It was stress free, everything was handled, the aesthetic detail were spot on and was just what we had in our heads; she managed to translate it and make it happen for us.
Weddings are hard; planners are translating dreams on a very firm budget at times, and events are hard work keeping on top of all the 'things'. But we felt we did not just get good client management and organisation, we got Datso's keen ear to understand what we really wanted, a fine eye to recognise the specificity in look or feel of the things, and her deep/wide expertise and connections in knowing who exactly could do it.
We are so grateful to Datso for making the wedding we had hoped for come to life. We would recommend Datso in a heartbeat.”
