October 21, 2007

To Whom It May Concern:

It is our pleasure to recommend Bonnie Bates of My Weddings & More. Brian and I recently (July 2007) had the privilege to work with Bonnie to plan our wedding in Tuscany, Italy. I have been an event coordinator and planner for the past six years for a large multi-purpose facility in Memphis, Tennessee and I can say with the highest confidence that Bonnie was everything I expect in a fellow event coordinator. Our level of satisfaction for Bonnie' s work is not easily written or verbalized. However, we would like to share the experiences we had while working with Bonnie.

Brian and I decided to get married in Italy after having trouble with planning “the right" wedding here in the United States. After we had established that we were getting married in Italy, we knew we needed a wedding coordinator who knew what it would take to put together our dream wedding in a foreign country. Brian nor I are fluent in Italian, and neither of us knew a single person in Italy. We knew that we would need to rely on a wedding coordinator for insight and knowledge and generally every aspect of having a wedding in Italy.

So, I took on the task of scouring the internet for wedding coordinators in Italy and there are many! Due to the fact that you really can't judge a service based on a website, we were at a Ioss. I suppose my standards were high as I had the experience necessary to run a wedding with my eyes closed - at least here in the United States. So, I finally asked the only contact we had in Italy for assistance - the woman who had helped us book our villa in Tuscany. She was quick to tell me about Bonnie. We are so thankful she did!!

Bonnie took us on with only three months to plan. We contacted Bonnie in mid-April and our wedding was in July. She was extremely eager to help us plan every aspect of our wedding, even with the time constraints. Bonnie was thoughtful and engaging while helping us figure out the tone and theme for our wedding. We had several ideas of what we wanted and Bonnie delivered on every single one. For example, we wanted to provide all guests with massage therapy on the day of the wedding and we needed a reasonable price. She quickly responded and was able to set-up the entire package. However, being a bride – I changed my mind and decided I wanted the massage on-site at the villa and miraculously Bonnie made it happen and most importantly in a cost sensitive way. This type of service is what you can expect from Bonnie.

A month prior to the wedding Bonnie had worked with us via email and Skype telephone calls to organize and plan all aspects of our wedding. We never felt ignored, forgotten or like just another client. We were unique individuals to Bonnie, commonly forgotten in event coordination.

Two weeks prior we received our wedding itinerary and all planning was now set in motion. Bonnie provided us with information we were not even expecting! She took the time to put together an information packet that included a short history of the small town we were married in and plenty of information about Florence and the surrounding areas.

The day prior to the wedding, Bonnie arrived with Lucas - the celebrant and we were thrilled to finally meet them. We were impressed from the beginning. Bonnie had not missed a single detail. The following day she arrived early to assist with set-up and to help calm me down. The ceremony decorations were amazing and beyond what we had envisioned. Thanks to Bonnie we had a relaxing, beautiful, and memorable wedding in Tuscany.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.
Cordially,
Tammy Overacker & Brian Reed