“My husband and I had a wonderful experience working with Erika O’Brien for three events for our son and future daughter-in-law’s wedding weekend in St. Petersburg. Our relationship with Erika was somewhat unique in that we are the “in-laws” and needed her help in planning and coordinating the rehearsal dinner, the welcome party, and the newlywed brunch following the wedding. Matthew and Megan had a separate contract with Erika for the never ending list of wedding related details. Although the two contracts were separate, they worked in harmony to ensure the details and planning were well coordinated. Since we were not that familiar with St. Petersburg as we live in northwest Florida, her advice and help was invaluable! Ten months before the wedding we met with Erika in St. Pete to check out hotels for the guest room block and visited various restaurants and met with venue coordinators for the welcome party and the brunch. It was a busy 3 days but with Erika’s excellent pre-planning and her being by our side to ask all the right questions, that trip was the beginning of a successful and fun relationship. In those few days we chose Sea Salt for the outdoor rehearsal dinner (28 guests-a wonderful restaurant, outstanding food and so accommodating), the Birchwood Hotel ballroom for the welcome party (100 guests-coordinators and food were the BEST- our friends still talk about how great all the appetizers and food stations were and the fun party atmosphere), and the Birchwood Canopy for the brunch (excellent food, drink and VIEWS). We used the Hilton Bayfront and the Hampton Inn as the preferred hotels; both good choices and easy walking distance to each event. Erika’s help made all these decisions so easy and with confidence. Given my countless phone calls, emails and texts Erika always responded within hours and had a “smile” in her voice. Her communication skills are the best! No question or request went unanswered. For example, two weeks before the big weekend my husband suggested we have a photographer for the welcome party. This was not an easy “ask” given the short notice on a busy May weekend and for only 2-3 hours. Unfortunately the wedding day photographer was not available so thinking outside the box was key. After several days without any luck, Erika made a fantastic suggestion. Her husband, Hunter, has experience with event photography and he was the perfect choice for what we wanted. Everyone loved his fun and casual style while making lasting memories. This is just one example of Erika’s invaluable guidance and help. I can confidently say that Erika was our right hand, go-to person during all those months. She continued to work with us and our event coordinators and fine tune our decisions on just about everything-food choices (which I changed frequently!), decor, table arrangements, guest counts, etc. Each time I went to St. Pete, we met and went through a few more details and visited with the venue coordinators to make sure we had all the details “just right”. Erika was even by my side helping put together my overflowing welcome tote bags and delivering them to the front desks. She has a calming influence when things can become stressful, as they certainly can and do with wedding planning. I truly believe that you will not be disappointed if you choose to contract with Erika. My husband and I started this journey with Erika as our weekend event planner but ended up with a great and trusted friend who I highly recommend!”