Va de Vie Events

I am so happy that we chose to work with Va de Vie Events. Vera and her team were great. The day of the wedding, and leading up to it, we worked with her assistant Jemma who was wonderful. My family and I were able to sit back on the day of and let Jemma and her assistant handle the details. I was worried that as a «month of» planner, Vera wouldn’t really be around until that last month — but she really worked with us throughout the process, answering questions and making recommendations. The team provided great advice along the way, and we were happy with every vendor they suggested for us (all of whom were more affordable than what we’d found on our own). Without a doubt, Vera more than covered her fees by saving us money on vendors, rentals, etc… and not to mention cutting stress!

Vera of Va de Vie Events was a pleasure to work with! Her prices are very reasonable and she is just so on top of everything! Not only does she bring cute, good ideas to the table, but she goes above and beyond to help you save money wherever possible. Even though technically, we hired Vera as a «Day of Coordinator» for our May 2013 wedding, she was SOOOO much more than that! We met, spoke on the phone, emailed, etc. on multiple occasions and whenever I got stuck on something or got bogged down with choosing a vendor out of hundreds, she always gave great advice and/​or recommended some of her favorite vendors that were within our budget. As for the day of our wedding, talk about smooth sailing! I didn’t have to lift a finger and everything was set up beautifully. The whole day flowed perfectly and we just got to focus 100% on enjoying our special day :) Our wedding definitely would not have been the same without her!!!

I hired Vera exclusively based on her amazing Unilocal reviews, and even chose my wedding date based on her availability. I worked with her from out of state. The two times we met prior to the wedding, she seemed scattered (one time she had a worksheet with another bride and groom’s names on it, she referred to my now husband by the wrong name, etc.). I figured she was busy and we all have bad days, and so I didn’t think much of if beyond that.
Fast forward to the rehearsal. At the church, I was rather embarrassed when Vera took over the rehearsal, like this was her show, instead of having the priest and church’s coordinator coordinate this, as they would be the ones actually running this part of the wedding. (This was her first time meeting the priest, church coordinator, and wedding party.) After the rehearsal one of my guests overheard her talking about how she couldn’t wait to get to the bars that night; which I gather she did, as the day of the wedding she was supposed to arrive at noon, and didn’t show until 12:30. That gave her two hours to get to the venue, set everything up, and be back at the church for the wedding ceremony. The day of the wedding she never checked in with me, when she came to pick up the stuff for the venue, she didn’t even pop in to say «hi». The whole day, I think I spoke to her maybe 10 – 15 minutes, tops.
At one of our meetings she said she would be at the wedding to make sure late guests didn’t disturb anyone, but she left before I even walked down the aisle (probably because she still had to set things up). She was constantly on her phone (as evidenced by every photo that she’s in). The playlist that I had lined up for the cocktail hour was not played, instead she put on her own playlist, which was not my taste. She was no where to be found when it came time for the anniversary dance, so I went table to table to encourage guests to dance. She did not explain the newlywed game to the matron-​of-​honor who was facilitating the game, so needless to say, it was a total flop. Two days before the wedding, we had spent hours fold paper airplanes days (when every minute counts) that we wanted to be thrown during our first dance. We’re both pilots, our dads were pilots, and my husband’s grandfather was as well; I thought this would be a nice way to incorporate this part of our lives into the wedding and would make a great photo. This was explained to Vera, but it never happened nor did she explain why not. Several of my family members and guests stated that she was bossy/​borderline rude to them, which was totally disappointing to hear. Prior to the wedding she sent the wrong day-​of timeline to our videographer. And on the timeline note, I feel Vera could have guided us more as to how to plan the day to make the most of our time with vendors, our bridal party, and guests. A lot of time was wasted with the photographer and videographer while we were getting ready. I don’t need 100’s of photos of me getting ready. The day really should have been scheduled differently to optimize everyone’s time, but as a new bride, I didn’t have the experience to know this. This is where a coordinator’s experience should come in. Over a month after the wedding, I received a charge on my credit card for a torn linen. The rental company said it was mentioned to Vera the day after the wedding; she never mentioned anything to me so this came out of left field. A heads up would have been appreciated. Overall, I feel Vera was distracted by a new boyfriend and we were not her focus.
I gave her two stars because she did provide some good vendor referrals, and up until the actual wedding she was very responsive and on the ball. But when it came down to the wedding day, she was a disappointment. As they say, you get what you pay for.

Vera was our «Day Of» coordinator. From our first meeting to the end of our amazing wedding Vera was an integral part of our planning process. She was honest and decisive and best of all had really good taste and a great solution to every issue we had. She took good care of us on our wedding day as well, sending us home with the top of our cake and some goodies.
If I had it to do over again, I would absolutely hire Vera! She’s the BEST!

Vera is amazing!!! I hired her for month of wedding coordinator last year and could not have been more pleased. My wedding, which took place December 2012, had about 120 guests. I hired Vera 6 month before the wedding and everything turned out great. Vera is experienced, budge conscious, and super responsive. She did not keep regular business hours, like most other planners; she was available practically ²⁴⁄₇. The first time I spoke to her was at 11pm at night and our final day-​of timeline review was at her house on a Sunday evening. She also had a list of affordable vendors. I enjoyed working with all of them. The cost for Vera’s service (which is unbelievable affordable on its own) was off-​set by the savings she found for us. I couldn’t have pulled off my wedding without her. Thank you Vera!

We hired Vera for our ‘month of’ wedding coordinator, and we couldn’t have been happier. She helped us with everything from finding the right vendors, double checking contracts, and making sure everything ran according to plan for our big day. This allowed my bride and I to enjoy every moment of our wedding and not have to worry about the little things.
Vera was a pleasure to work with. Her positive attitude, attention to detail, and willingness to go above and beyond was an integral part of why our wedding day was so magical.
Vera at Va de Vie Events is the best in the business. I would recommend her without hesitation for anyone who is looking for a professional to help with their wedding, big event or production.

I don’t even know where to begin, Vera is spectacular! No review that I write will sum up the amazingness that is Vera of Va de Vie Events.
My (now) husband and I knew we had a tall order when we decided we wanted to plan our wedding long distance. Right away we decided to get a coordinator to make the planning a little less scary — best decision of the entire wedding!
I am a perfectionist, and self admittedly pretty high strung; I’m fairly certain all of my friends and family members were expecting me to ba a major bridezilla. But with the help of Vera that fear never came to fruition, our year of wedding planning was completely stress free and super fun! She made every aspect of our wedding a breeze. We hired Vera for day-​of coordination and month-​of assistance, technically what that means that we would plan the wedding and Vera would come in and pull all the pieces together at the end. Vera was SO much more than that — she happily answered emails and phone calls, met with us for check-​ins, and even came to a few vendor meetings for a YEAR. Anytime I started to feel an ounce of stress coming on, I would email Vera and all my stresses were gone. She confidently had the answer to everything and anything wedding. Not only did she always have the answer, she always had it fast, answering our emails usually within the hour.
Where Vera truly shines is with organization. I knew planning a wedding would be a lot of work, but until you actually start planning it’s hard to comprehend just how many details go into it. Vera was on top of it, mapping out a budget, assisting in the selection of each vendor, guiding us in choosing our linen colors, and figuring out the timeline of our wedding day (down to five minute increments). She has a knack for keeping everything together and has exceptional taste. I never felt like any detail would overwhelm me, because I knew Vera would have it covered beautifully.
Vera was also extremely flexible about scheduling meetings, which was a blessing since we were only in town every so often. My husband and I truly looked forward to each meeting because Vera is not only an incredible wedding coordinator, but she is such a loving and wonderful person. She introduced us to amazing coffee shops, and treated us to adorable mini pies and treats during meetings in her home. (Bonus points for having the worlds cutest dog attend our meetings!) Every time we spoke with Vera it felt so nurturing that it was practically impossible to feel wedding stress. I can’t even count how many times one of us said «I just love Vera!»
We aren’t the only ones that feel the love — every wedding vendor that heard we were working with Vera gushed about her. When you work with her, you feel like you have the MVP on your team. This is huge because on the day of your wedding you need your coordinator to pull all of the vendors together to bring your vision to life. She brought her assistant (also lovely!) and created a wedding that far exceded our dreams. Vera and her assistant were perfection; from the ceremony walk through the day before, to the first look photo, to making sure every cupcake on our dessert table was beautiful. She even had our guests and rabbi gushing about what a delight she was! What makes Vera so special is not simply her ability to organize and plan, but her warm friendly personality. Vera was able to keep every vendor, emotional family member, and drunk groomsmen on track the day of our wedding without ruffling any feathers.
After the wedding she continued to be her amazing adorable self, giving us the sweetest handmade wedding gift and helping to provide information to the editors of Style Me Pretty for a feature! It is now a running joke in our home that anytime we have anything to celebrate we want Vera to be the one helping us… «So Vera is planning our anniversary party, right?»
Vera is everything you could ever want in an event coordinator and more. We love her and can’t wait to work with her again!

Vera is an AMAZING wedding coordinator. We hired her for our wedding recently in Sonoma as a month of and day-​of coordinator. Don’t know what we would’ve done without her. As weddings go, there will always be emergencies or some unforseen events. We found out that Vera successfully put out a few «fires» only after the wedding day was over. From what we saw of her on the wedding day, we had no idea. WIthout her, there would’ve been some calls/​arguments with vendors, etc. but that was all taken care of by her without anyone noticing. The event went soooo well and all the guests are still raving about our wedding. Vera came through in a big way and we were so impressed with how she carried out the set-​up/​decorations specifics exactly the way we talked about it with her. She’s a true G-​E-​M and if you haven’t heard about her, you will soon as she’s getting more popular. Glad we caught her sooner rather than later;)

Vera is AMAZING.
She is:
1) Affordable
2) Extremely helpful
3) Budget Conscious
4) Very responsive to all requests — as in the same day almost all the time
5) Organized
6) Fun to work with
7) Dependable
8) Flexible
9) Very knowledgeable and Experienced
She was an absolute life-​saver for our wedding. I do events for work but could never have imagined all the other elements that play into a wedding. She recommended excellent (affordable) vendors, helped us think of things to make our wedding special, brought up elements that we would have been in trouble without and was just all-​over wonderful.
We hired her as our DOC, but my guess is the amount of work and care she put into our wedding is what most people get for the next level or two up of planning.
Even if you think you can’t afford a planner, you should reconsider as Vera actually saved us so much money with her affordable vendor and other recommendations that she more than paid for her services.

Vera is magnifique! Our venue required the we hire a day-​of coordinator and everyone on their «approved» list was WAY out of our budget. We searched for alternatives on Unilocal,and knew we had found what we were looking for when we met with Vera. Unlike a few other coordinators we met with, her positive attitude and excitement about weddings was contagious and she went above and beyond by jumping through hoops to become an approved vendor for our venue.
She provided just the right amount of support and advice during the wedding process and was always available to make suggestions or remind us about deadlines. On the day-​of, she required no direction — she took everything and ran with it. She’s totally organized, with great attention to detail and excellent vendor management skills.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to the bride who wants to research and plan herself but not worry that all of those months of planning won’t be executed on the day of the event. One of our favorite vendors!

Vera is a truly superlative wedding coordinator. She is enthusiastic, creative, extremely professional, and very reasonably priced. And perhaps most important of all, she was a genuinely nice person to work with, who shared our sensibilities and was able to help us create our own DIY event while remaining attentive to the needs of 100 relatives and friends.
Though we initially felt strongly about not hiring someone to help with day-​of planning (we began the search for a coordinator mostly as a concession to our parents), I can say without hesitation that having Vera’s assistance was one of the best decisions we made.
In the months leading up to the wedding, Vera was accessible, responsive, and helpful. We did the majority of the coordination with vendors, and Vera provided us with a valuable way to check what was reasonable, what was needed, or how to go about managing a particular task. She had great techniques for collecting information about the flow of the day and even drew up sketches of the site to help us visualize each area of the wedding site (helpful when working with vendors). Also, while it was easy to get caught up in some of the family tensions and aggravations of planning a wedding, it was a breath of fresh air to have Vera around helping us get excited again.
The day of the wedding, Vera was instrumental in making the event run smoothly, from the little things (bringing a basket for gift cards, finding additional envelopes for tips, making signs for the bathroom that no one could find) to the larger ones (timing the processional; facilitating toasts between our emcee friends, the toasters, the servers, and the photographer; and smoothing out some end-​of-​the-​night transportation hiccups). She was a blur of activity and even had an assistant for part of the day.
Why hire Vera?
The assistance she gave us was above and beyond any reasonable expectation for a «month of» or «day of» coordinator.
So many of the other coordinators we interviewed were either professional but flat and jaded or enthusiastic but a little ditzy and unprofessional. Magically, Vera has this incredible ability to be clearly enjoying herself while being extremely organized and efficient.
The day of the wedding, my partner and I were able to throw the schedule we’d made away and just focus on enjoying the gathering of friends and family. If we hadn’t had her around, we would have spent way, way more time trying to run the event ourselves. Instead, we had the confidence that Vera was around to help things run smoothly. And while we did a huge amount to incorporate friends into the wedding (baking wedding cakes, creating our decorations, leading group dances, etc.) it was incredible to have Vera there to make sure that our friends were able to help in ways that were meaningful without being saddled with so many responsibilities that they missed the fun of the event.
In sum, Vera was a pleasure and made our event a pleasure as well.

It was so great to have Vera as my day of wedding coordinator on 6.18.11. I love working with her, she made sure that I had nothing to worry about the day of my wedding. She went above and beyond her duties, especially when she picked up my wedding bouquet and bridesmaid flowers. I couldn’t believe she did that for me. On my big day, everything went so smoothly, I couldn’t have asked for a better day. She is so organized and helped me get organized too especially when I had a lot of little projects to do. She even came to my house to help me. She is full of great ideas. I’m so glad I had her at my wedding, she definitely eased my mind on my wedding day. Thanks so much Vera :)

I had the pleasure of working with Vera on a recent wedding reception. She was extremely organized and although there were several vendors (myself included) working the event, it really felt like we were all part of the same company because everything was absolutely on point.
There are many details and much time that goes into a good event. As the saying goes, «Plan your work. Work your Plan.» Save yourself the headache and additional stress by hiring a professional that knows what she is doing!

Let me just start off with some facts:
Fact 1: One of, no, the best vendor we worked with for our wedding.
Fact 2: Vera was extremely organized and always accessible (a bona fide workaholic if you ask me).
Fact 3: She has that perfect balance of being very sweet yet still great at getting what she needs out of vendors before the wedding and on the day of. In fact, our venue coordinator said she never saw vendors work in such a cohesive group on the day of the wedding and attributed that to Vera.
Fact 4: Our venue, a very popular one in SF, put her on their preferred vendors list after working with her. Now, I’m just one person but they’ve had hundreds of weddings and worked with a ton of wedding planners. So the fact that they did that says something.
Fact 5: Very reasonably priced for what she delivers.
Fact 6: She’s a hidden gem.
Overall Vera was an absolute joy to work with. I would, and have, highly recommend her to anyone. She went above and beyond to make this experience easier for us. She was a huge breath of fresh air in an otherwise suffocating time. Feel free to reach out to me if you guys have any questions but, really, can’t recommend her enough.

Vera was the day-​of-​coordinator for our September 4 wedding and we’re so happy that we hired her!
I was very hands-​on with the planning and details of my wedding, but I knew that once the big day arrived, I didn’t want to be the one having to execute – and I didn’t want to put that task on my friends or family. That’s where Vera stepped in and did a great job. She helped me to get organized leading up to the day, confirmed the schedule with all our vendors, attending our walk through, made helpful suggestions when I got stuck, and cheerfully went through a marathon meeting with me, my groom and family in the week before the wedding. She went above and beyond her duties in researching options like lighting and helping to finalize a contract with our cocktail musician. She was also a great help in taking on little tasks like prepping our table number frames and sending details on tipping, and executing on bigger ones, like laying out the escort card display exactly as I wanted it.
As a bride herself, she is so enthusiastic about wedding details and has great taste — so it was always nice to share our wedding plans with her as they developed. She was very responsive and professional. And she was very willing to work with our budget compared to other coordinators.
Our wedding turned out to be an amazing day, but there were a lot of details and programming, and Vera really helped keep us on track and keep everything very faithful to my vision. I recommend her without hesitation!

Vera is top notch, buttoned up, fun to work with, and totally on it. I used her «month of» coordination services and don’t know what I would have done with her. She just got married herself, so she totally gets it.
I would recommend Vera to anyone. My wedding was amazing and I know a lot of it had to do with her. She has this delicate balance of knowing how to get things done without being intrusive — I’m a control freak and she was also great about gently taking responsibilities off my list, and putting them onto hers.
At first I didn’t think I could afford a coordinator, but as the days to my wedding dwindled, I realized I could not afford to NOT have one. Vera’s services were worth every penny and more.

— detail oriented
— organized
— answered emails promptly
— friendly

Not just weddings — Vera can throw a heck of a party! We hired Vera and Brittany to help us coordinate/​plan/​execute a birthday party our 1 year old inviting over 200 of our closest friends. (Seems excessive for a 1 year old party, but we had a LOT to celebrate. This little girl has overcome much in 12 short months.) Vera provided guidance and creativity while keeping our budget in mind throughout. She did all the heavy lifting and the light lifting for that matter. I barely had to lift a finger! She did the research. She did the shopping. She managed the vendors. She did the timeline. She did it all. And she did it beautifully. She planned for every detail and removed all the stress from my.
I actually got to enjoy my own party becasue Vera planned so well and Brittany ran a tight ship with the day of coordination. It was a match made in heaven.
I totally and completely recommend Va de Vie for your party planning needs. Vera ROCKS!

Vera is a life saver! At the beginning stages of wedding planning, I didn’t think I’d need a day-​of-​coordinator. But, slowly I realized how much there was to plan and execute on the day of and being the type of person that I am, I didn’t want to get caught up in the details, I wanted to be able to relax and enjoy the day. Also, given the amount that we were already spending, I didn’t think a coordinator would fit into our budget. But, I decided to shop around for pricing and services. I decided to contact Vera based on reviews that I’ve read. She responded promptly and gave me more detailed info on pricing and services. Since, we were getting married in a church we didn’t need a ceremony coordinator and she was very flexible with her pricing. Some vendors are so set on having a minimum charge or say they aren’t, but are not willing to customize their services. This was not the case with Vera, from the start I felt like she understood and genuinely wanted to help in any way she could. After a few e-​mails and a phone conversation, I decided to reserve her services for our wedding.
My husband and I had our first meeting with Vera at the Starbucks in Danville and I thought it was so sweet of her to drive out our way to meet. Vera was so personable, friendly, asked all the right questions, and most importantly helped relieve some of the stress I was experiencing. My husband and I walked away from the meeting feeling like we’d known Vera and trusted her.
After our meeting, we’d send e-​mails back and forth and she’d respond with advice, suggested vendors, etc. The month before, she created a time line. Together we revised and when I made changes a gazillion times, she was patient, efficient and the final time line was perfect! When it came time to follow up with vendors, Vera was so on top of it! The vendors that I’ve worked with even told me that they enjoyed talking/​e-​mailing her and that she’s very sweet!
On the day of, Vera was professional, organized, polite, and moved things along smoothly. My husband surprised me with a photo booth and I found out Vera brought her own props and even made the photo booth sign!!! I was so touched and appreciative that her and my husband planned this surprise and that Vera went above and beyond! In fact, when my husband said he researched photo booth companies, the lady who owns the company he booked, was thrilled when she found out that Vera was our coordinator. Towards the end of the night, I gave Vera some of our wedding décor (she is planning her own upcoming wedding) because I was so thankful for her and I gave her a big hug before the night was over. Other people have said that she feels like your friend and I totally agree, she is kind, likable, and totally trustworthy, in addition to her organization and professional skills as a wedding coordinator.
I want to throw another wedding, maybe a renewal in 10 years, just to work with Vera again! She went above and beyond and she does all that she can to help, by being flexible, working with our budget and providing excellent service. It’s hard to find good people in the wedding business, it’s a money making business and people can get greedy and a lot of the times you feel like you’re being taken advantage of. But, after working with Vera, I know we made the right choice and she loves what she does and care about the people she works with. I highly recommend her!

Vera was my day-​of wedding coordinator, and she is the best you can possibly get. She was extremely organized and on top of things, and she was the perfect person to handle logistics while I was off, well, getting married! Vera is very professional, courteous, and able to work with all sorts of people and juggle a bunch of things at once. She also has a great sense of style, so if you want to bounce ideas off her, she’ll make you look good. Not only did she do all the coordinating and organizing day-​of, she also worked with my mom-​in-​law to do a rehearsal dinner with «surprise» decorations that I loved!
If I had to do it again, I would 100% choose Vera Devera and Va de Vie Events.