Swank Events

My husband and I used Kristin for our wedding planning, for our wedding in September 2015. We first met Kristin at the Wedding Expo at the Somerville Armory in 2014. We met with her a few weeks later to discuss our planning. We ultimately did «full planning» with her, but she does offer several ‘tiers’ of support, from full planning down to just ‘day of’ support.
I travel a lot for work, and new that we would at the very least need assistance in planning given my travel schedule. Kristin was great all along the way keeping us on track with our plans, on track with our budget, and helping us find the best location, and vendors for our wedding. She communicated with vendors, got contracts squared away, kept spreadsheets, gave us projects and to-​do lists, and kept it all available via dropbox for us to handle on our very active day-​to-​day lives. She even was able to handle some last-​minute audibles with our lighting vendor.
Day of, Kristin basically told us to do nothing but enjoy the day. She managed all the vendors, made sure everything was where it needed to be, helped us wrangle all the peoople, but more importantly… simply made sure the day went as smooth as it could be. She really was our knight in shining armour for our wedding. She made sure everything worked.
In the end we coudn’t be happier with Kristin and her team that helped us plan our day.

My fiancé and I hired Swank Events after making no progress on wedding planning after a year of being engaged. With busy work schedules and an illness in the family, the idea of planning a wedding on our own (and enjoying it) was really overwhelming. Before hiring Kristin and her team, we talked with a few other potential planners in the Boston area, but they scoffed at our budget and their pricing was outrageous. When we met with Kristin, she made us feel comfortable and respected our vision and priorities. Not to mention, Swank Events’ packages and pricing are probably the most reasonable and provide the most value in the entire Boston area.
We worked with Kristin for almost a year leading up to our wedding. She helped us select every vendor, all of which were amazing. She put together our day of timeline, came to meetings with the caterer with us, reminded us that payments were due, worked directly with our vendors, etc. All of her communications were professional, prompt, and reassuring.
The day of coordination went flawlessly — I don’t think we would have enjoyed our wedding without it! If there were any problems, I had no idea because Kristin handled them. As a result, we were actually able to be guests at our wedding and enjoy ourselves. I don’t know why people would spend all that money on a wedding and not make this extra investment to be able to enjoy the event you are spending tens of thousands of dollars on.
My fiancé was a bit skeptical of hiring a wedding planner in the beginning. However, he will constantly sing Kristin’s praises now. We were both absolutely exhausted at the end of our wedding day when Kristin said that she would take all of our gifts, cards, decorations, etc. home and meet us a few days later to give them to us. My fiancé looked at me and said, «Wait, so if she wasn’t here, we would have to clean up and load our car right now, at midnight, after the most exhausting day of our lives?» That alone made hiring Kristin worth it to him.
We had an absolutely flawless day and were able to enjoy it and the planning process thanks to Kristin and Swank Events.

I decided to work with Swank Events last summer, just before starting my PhD program, and I would absolutely do it again! I worked with both Kristin and Jeanette for my wedding last Friday at the Lyman Estate, and they were both excellent. Extremely organized, major attention to detail, and just a pleasure to hang out with throughout the planning process. They hooked us up with fantastic vendors when I didn’t have the time to research all the possibilities — this was essential for me. They were always highly responsive, ready to answer any of my random etiquette questions that came up along the way when I wanted an expert’s opinion to inform my decision. And, just as important, they respected our budget and never pushed us to spend more. Throughout the planning process, Kristin thought of many questions I never would’ve known to ask, and Jeanette was great about keeping us organized and on schedule without being intrusive on the day of the wedding. The peace of mind that comes with knowing you have a professional to put out the little fires that arise on the day of the wedding is also well worth the price! From our perspective, the day was flawless, and the whole event hit just the right notes with our guests. We got many compliments on how the day was very «us,» and Kristin and Jeanette helped us achieve that.

I am so happy my sister (and MOH), found Kristin & Swank Events when i was seeking out day-​of coordination for my big Italian Boston wedding. As a type-​A, engineer, self proclaimed «super planner», i certainly found the perfect match!
First and foremost, I had an absolutely flawless and fantastic experience with Swank Events and working with Kristin, from the moment of our first introduction, through the final hours of my big day as she helped box up my final «takeaway items», through the follow up emails sending words of congrats and post-​wedding feedback on my vendors. THANK YOU!
I knew she was the perfect match from our first conversation. She brought a lot of wedding event planning experience to the table that educated us without our first in person meeting, that helped us out tremendously with our day of schedule, photo plan desires, vendor bookings, floor plan, and overall logistics, that guided us from the get-​go. And truly helped us focus our time and efforts in the right areas.
Kristin and Swank Events truly have it together and absolutely know the ins/​outs of the industry — even when you think you have thought of everything (trust me I tried), you realize there is still a lot to learn, and she’s got your covered. She’s personable, professional, extremely organized, confident, and makes you realize that you are in good hands for whatever services you may need.
On the day of, and leading up to, she went above and beyond to make sure all the loose ends we’re perfectly tied up, and she completely rolled with the punches and helped us execute our wedding dreams. Ex. I had to change a couple of tables within 24 hours of guest arrival, sent her a quick email, and she had it covered. Ex. On the day of, we had some tent layout challenges; she briefed me quickly with the high level details I needed, and off she went with flawless execution. Ex. She did an incredible job at keeping me, my husband and mom on a «need to know basis» when little things needed adjustment, and checked on us individually here and there to make sure our needs were meant as the event carried out; everyone, including many of my guests — who weren’t in direct contact with her — were very impressed.. Ex. Lastly, she helped me feel at ease with the whole orchestration. And by nights end, perfectly collected and packed up all the essentials for easy takeaway.
It was an absolute pleasure working with Kristin. I felt like I had a dear friend there by my side making sure everything played out as planned.
I have already sang your praises to many of my friends and brides-​to-​be, and they too are just excited to work with Swank Events from everything to small parties, showers, and gift baskets, to day-​of coordination and full on event planning. They are lucky to have you!

We hired Swank Events to help us with our wedding. We had picked most of the vendors and had things sort of lined up before we hired them, but they were still a life saver! We hired them for day-​of coordination, but of course they were not strictly limited to assistance on the day of the wedding.
Kelli worked with us over many months on a few details of the wedding and was always available to run an idea by or for any sort of sanity check I needed. She met with us a number of times prior to the wedding to make sure she knew what our vision was, what our priorities were, and what we were concerned about. She helped coordinate some really tricky transport logistics and even proofread and made suggestions on the wording on our invites that made things MUCH clearer for our guests (nearly half of whom were visiting from out of town).
I went back and forth in the beginning about whether we really «needed» a day-​of coordinator. Our venue had a coordinator there for us and I thought, maybe that will be enough. But let me tell you… every single penny we spent on Swank Events was worth it and then some. On the day of my wedding, I just directed vendors to Kelli for any questions. I didn’t know even now if anything went wrong or there were any snags. I got to just sit back and enjoy it. I trusted that everything would be done perfectly… and it was.
Our wedding was one of the greatest days of my life. The day came together perfectly, I got to focus entirely on having a great time and spending time with all the friends and family who came out to celebrate. And all of that was possible because of Swank Events. I cannot sing their praises high enough. In fact, if I could go back in time, I actually think I would have hired them for the «whole package» as I am totally confident they would have found amazing vendors and dealt with every detail perfectly and it would have been even less work on my part… with the same wonderful result. I would hire them for any event I plan in the future without a moments hesitation.

Swank Events deserves way more than five stars for the incredible work they do. We got them involved in our wedding planning process pretty early on, following a very strong recommendation from friends of ours. Looking back at how much legwork they did on our behalf, I can say that their services are easily worth ten times what they charge. From the very beginning, Kelli and Kristin worked tirelessly to understand our personalities and wishes for the big day. They are wonderfully flexible and accommodating, which was hugely important for us as we both work long hours, and they were willing to meet at times and locations convenient for us. They kept our vendors (and us!) on track with the utmost sweetness and tact. It was also such a relief to know that each decision we made and each dollar we spent was being supported by the opinion of experienced professionals. They know the Boston wedding scene and they are well accustomed with finding vendors to match any requirements, whether that be price point, aesthetic, or whatver else — and they are also well versed in negotiating with vendors to get what you need.
And for the actual wedding day, K and K (along with their small army of staff) made sure that everything moved smoothly behind the scenes, so that we could concentrate on what mattered — our guests and each other!
I am already spreading the word among my friends who are starting to plan their weddings — Swank Events are who you need on your side! THANK YOU Kelli and Kristin!

Absolutely incredible service. This review on Swank EVENTS IS LONG overdue. I cannot express in words how IMPRESSED I was with their services. SWANK EVENTS saved my cousin’s wedding from interior décor disaster, and from unnecessary accumulated debt. The disaster would have been my cousin and I, with expertise in health and not décor, trying to decorate the hall mainly on our own preferences.
We were working on less than a shoe string Budget, when I was graciously referred to Kelli. According to the person who referred me from Hummingbird bridal, another company that is excellent in working with couples and families on do it yourself miniscule wedding budgets, Kelli was who I needed on my wedding planning team. This woman couldn’t have been more right.
The décor budget including cost of real flowers, and everything was 1,000. This may not seem so small if it wasn’t for the fact that the hall we were decorating was a recreation space in the boys and girls club, ultimately used for youth events, and to seat 250 people.
A large kids’ mural covered the wall on the stage where the high table would be seated. The rubber floor, had the blue, green, and red playground markings you would expect in a kids space. The walls were a dark brown brick color. There were red fire doors, and a ramp on the side of the room, with red metal bar as a hand rest. Our color scheme for the wedding was purple and gold.
How were we going to transform the kids room into an elegant space for a wedding? And On the budget we had? As a clincher, when we called in Kelli’s assistance, we had little more than a week and a half left for wedding plans. The entire wedding was planned in three weeks.
Enter Kelli to the Rescue.
She adhered strictly to our budget, dealt masterfully and respectfully with opinionated family members, and soothed the worries of this maid of honor, along with the bride. Kelli was contacted less than two weeks to the wedding. Kelli is reliable, and compassionate. She didn’t berate us for planning a wedding in a short period of time, nor tell us that we should have contacted her earlier. She came to our aid right away, returning our call by the next morning and arranging to meet with us in person earlier than we could have hoped with the short notice.
On the day we met her, she was running late, called to alert us, then arrived when she said she would. Kelli was incredibly professional and hardworking! She stayed longer than she had originally planned, requested to meet us at the site where the wedding would be held, examined every nook and corner that needed to be decorated in detail. We couldn’t have asked for someone more thorough.
She gave us amazing cost saving ideas, and didn’t balk at our budget as other wedding planners had. And don’t worry folks, Kelli gently and wisely persuaded us that, though the colors purple and gold were pretty together, on our budget, we couldn’t compete with the dominant colors in the room already, mainly muddy red paint on metal surfaces, and brown brick walls. She suggested we select red and gold instead, to complement the colors already in the room, and thereby not have to expend money covering up places in the room that clashed with the prior purple and gold scheme. I agonized over trying to cover the rubber floor, and Kelli rightly pointed out that with tables in the room, the floor would barely be noticeable. We also found a solution for covering the kids mural on the wall.
Kelli wasn’t available the day of to help plan the wedding due to prior wedding planning engagements, but she got on the phone and contacted all vendors she knew to help us find out about renting a more appropriate hall space, when we were considering one. She did this over the weekend, on her own time. She was also available by consult over the phone, text, and email all the days up to the wedding, at no extra charge! She went above and beyond the call of duty.
She outlined exactly what we would need to discuss with vendors, like the florist. And she gave us some ingenious décor ideas. Kelli even donated numerous rolls of left over tulle she had to our wedding for us to use! She felt so concerned for our budget, she made the consult fee pretty much negligible. Telling us that she wished she could be there to do more to help with the planning. She also checked in with us AFTER the wedding to find out how everything had went. She cared enough to even ask to see photos.
If there is a more down to earth, kind, compassionate, hard working, talented, culturally competent, efficient, generous, and creative wedding planner in the Boston area, I don’t know of one.
The wedding turned out to be gorgeous. I have Kelli and my florist to thank for that. I highly recommend Kelli’s services, and Swank events in general.
Khalidah, MSc.
Harvard School of Public Health

Amazing! I or I should say «we» just threw my sister a surprise 50^th Birthday party and I can not say enough about Kelli and her incredible event planning skills. To begin, she is so kind and so nice which made her just a pleasure to coordinate with. And if you are looking for someone to take your event to the next level, this is the woman to hire. She added personal touches to our party that made it so much fun and her incredible organizational skills made the event process so relaxing that you could enjoy all of the fun planning a party can be! And on the occasion, a vendor is less that negotiable, Kelli steps right in and all is back on track. I can’t say enough about her and will be sure to call her for our next event.

Kelli, the woman behind Swank Events, may be the hardest working woman in the state. As a wedding planner, you have to be negotiator, project manager, accountant, expert in photography, florals, cakes, etiquette, sometimes a therapist… the list goes on. Kelli manages to do all that for her clients in addition to having a day job. It’s baffling, really!
When I got engaged, I knew I needed a planner. I had a vague idea of how much went into planning a wedding and I simply didn’t have time. With only 9 months to plan my wedding, I found Swank Events on Unilocal and contacted them. After glowing references from past clients, Kelli and I met and I hired her on the spot. She really listens to what you want from your wedding day. She never forgot the things I told her in that initial meeting — she had our «theme» in mind with every vendor recommendation.
9 months of working with someone to put together the most important day of your life is very hard to put into a succinct review. It’s difficult to know where to start! Kelli did all the legwork on venues in and around Boston, putting together SUPER helpful portfolios for each with pros and cons, costs, etc. She came with us on all the tours and asked the questions I had no idea were important to have answers to. When we fell in love with the beautiful rooftop room at the Taj in downtown Boston, Kelli somehow worked her magic to make it affordable for us (seriously, I still don’t know how she did it.)
Kelli knows lots of local vendors and can find and recommend ones that fit your style and sensibility. She’s pretty opinionated when it comes to certain vendors, but also respectful of your choices (I had my heart set on a photographer that was slightly out of our budget range but Kelli knew it was important to me and made it work.) She’s also excited to find new vendors — when we didn’t want a cake, she went out and found us a great place for mini whoopee pies.
Kelli is super responsive — I have over 500 emails/​texts/​calls from her from the past year. She’s also passionate about her work and it shows in everything she does. On top of all that, she’s just a good person! Our «meetings» often took place in my apartment– which was so convenient with my schedule– over a glass of wine. I don’t think there is anything Kelli wouldn’t do to make her clients happy on their big day. I would recommend Swank Events to every bride; whether you need full service planning (like myself) or something more a la carte. She has options to work with every budget and her assistance, guidance and inspiration were worth 10 times her fees.
Simply put, my husband and I have Kelli to thank for a beautiful, stress-​free wedding day. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

Kelli, the wonderful lady behind Swank Events was our wedding planner and not only made our lives so much easier and less stressful, but also wowed us and our guests beyond belief.
In the beginning of the wedding planning process I was stressed out ²⁴⁄₇ and was Groomzilla, if there ever was such a thing. But Kelli was able to find vendors for us to work with within our budget with our style in mind. She found the most amazing band, she found vendors who are not just great at their craft and what they do but were really awesome to work with. From her constant contact via email and cell phone, to the visiting me at work to help plan secret surprises for my wife to be, to finding all these neat little details that we would of never thought of like the mismatched argyle socks for the groomsmen, Kelli is the best. Our wedding was so wonderful that people keep telling us today that it was the best wedding they ever went to, and its all Kelli’s fault. She made our wedding the most beautiful wonderful experience in our lives. In fact, everyone loved what she did for our wedding, our friends hired her to do their wedding as well.
If you are looking for someone who can get to know and understand you, find and meet your needs, and still save a few surprises for the big night, then Swank Events is the way to go. Modern, Hip & Elegant. We loved working with her so much that we are proud to have her back for our upcoming baby shower!