Wedding Kudos

Dear Rachel,

There aren’t enough words to thank you for all your hard work. You thought of things that Carolyn and I never would have dreamed of and you MADE IT WORK! I started this whole process not even knowing what a wedding planner does and now I am so grateful for your help.

Best regards,

Barbara S.
Mother of the Bride

Dear Rachel and Amanda,

Thank you for making my wedding day dreams come true! Everything looked lovelier than I could have imagined. And I can’t even express how relaxed and taken care of my family and I were.

Warmest regards,
Carolyn S.
2008 Bride

Rachel,

Thank you so much for working with Amy and me with her wedding plans. We appreciate all of your extra effort. Your flowers were lovely!

Sincerely,
Charlotte L.
Mother of the Bride

I would unhesitatingly recommend Rachel McCalla to anyone. She is professional, detailed, diplomatic, firm with vendors, patient with crazy/unusual requests, reassuring, funny, generous with her time, and incredibly knowledgeable about the St. Louis events scene. My husband had a few things he wanted to do differently, e.g., processional order, and she was unfailingly accommodating and kind about those items.

Here are the great things she did for us:

  • Made an extremely detailed schedule of events that we distributed to the wedding party, family, and anyone else who needed it.
  • Negotiated a bigger room for the reception at the same rate when it became clear that the one we’d chosen, with the help and full knowledge of the venue’s event coordinator, was not nearly big enough to accommodate us. This is something I never would have had the nerve to handle on my own.
  • Communicated with a vendor that we literally could not understand, and straightened out the misunderstanding we’d run into.
  • Put together apples-to-apples bids for venues and caterers.
  • Was ready with recommendations for flowers, colors, arrangements, vendors, and whatever else we had questions about.
  • Took me to Floral Row to discuss not only colors and flowers, but how to save money on flowers, and put together a sample bouquet, which was gorgeous and spot-on perfect.
  • Picked up three flowers for me when I decided, kind of late in the game that I wanted to wear one in my hair. I think we ended up using the third one.
  • Suggested having all the bridal party members (we had a total of 14) gather at two central points before going to the church so we wouldn’t worry about someone being late.
  • Provided guidance on all kinds of things we had no knowledge of and didn’t have the time or desire to research, e.g., procession and recession order, how much time to allow for taking formal photos, the meaning behind various flowers, etc.
  • Gave me advance notice if she was going to be unavailable and changed her message on her phone in case we forgot. Whenever I left her a message during one of these times, she always got back to me very quickly.

Heidi D.,
Full Service Wedding Planning, 2007

Rachel and Amanda,

Thank you for planning our gorgeous green wedding. We couldn't have done it without your hard work and great design ideas. Thank you for realizing how important an eco-friendly wedding was to us. Everyone keeps telling us it was the most beautiful wedding they have ever been to. We appreciate all that went into our great day. Thanks so much!

Gail and Barrett Elwyn
Owners, Rethink Renovations, LLC

Full Service Wedding Planning, 2008

Hello Lucky You!

I just wanted to thank your team! You guys were awesome! Everything went incredibly smooth. It was 100% stress free on the wedding party end. I know I am biased, but I thought that was the most beautiful, perfect wedding ever!

Sincerely,
Barb S.
Mother of the Bride

Miscellaneous Kudos

Rachel and Amanda (the dynamic duo),

Wow! I just wanted to take the time to say thank you so much for giving me the chance to work with you two! I had a blast and hope that you won’t forget about me, because I’ll be back! I don’t think that I could have picked a better internship or had as much fun as I did with you.

Best regards,
Kelsey
Intern

I just wanted to write a little note thanking you for the internship opportunity and experience!  I really appreciate it and I learned a lot from you. Not mention I had so much fun.

B.H.
Intern

Green Event Kudos

Dear Rachel and Amanda,

Thank you so much for all your hard work for the Green Home and Renewable Energy Festival. You were a pleasure to work with and we truly could not have done it without you. Our success was very much due to your efforts. Thank you! We look forward to working with you in the future!

All the best,

Joyce Gorrell
The EarthWays Center

and

Erin Noble
Missouri Coalition for the Environment

Craig (www.stlouisgreen.com) and Rachel,

You all throw a great party!

What a great event! I have already this morning had two e-mails and one phone call from contacts made at last night’s event. Helping to build the green business community in this way is creating quite a stir! How can we organically help each other grow if we don’t meet? Thanks for making that happen. I look forward to more events!

How many folks do you think came through last night? I am guessing 1000+

Congratulations and thanks for a great night,

Kellee K. Sikes
Principal, Pioneer Technologies Consulting

Hi Rachel,

Thank you so much again for meeting up with me on Wednesday and walking me through the green wedding process! I had a lot of fun talking to you, and I'm definitely looking forward to getting the word out about the potential for green weddings here in town.

Margaret Bauer
Assistant Editor, St. Louis Magazine

Rachel,

Thanks a million for being the perfect event coordinator ever and helping us launch an amazing fundraiser… and profile raiser for the Chapter and Green Building! I don’t know what we would have done without your expertise and mad skills!

Thanks again,

Emily A.
Executive Director
United States Green Building Council-St. Louis Chapter

Event Kudos

Rachel,

You are awesome! Thank you for all of the support! It is greatly appreciated!!!

Rachelle L'Ecuyer
Community Development Director
City of Maplewood World Headquarters

Rachel has dedicated herself to SCOSAG through thick and thin, and not just with contracted work, but countless pro-bono hours. Last year she managed a good portion of Wall Ball and strictly with pro-bono work. She has been extremely patient through our ups and downs, and continues to work above and beyond her contract. She is our greatest ally.

Without her knowledge, expertise, and sweat Wall Ball would not have developed to what it is today. Hopefully her work is properly acknowledged in the RFT.

Thank you, Rachel.

Carolyn Simon
Executive Director, St. Louis City Open Studio and Gallery

Rachel and Amanda,

All of us at Mustard Seed Theatre are so grateful for your generosity. Our October 5 fundraiser at The Royale was a rousing success. Your contribution helps Mustard Seed Theatre grow and fulfill its mission of creating "engaging professional theatre that explores our relationship with God and our ethical responsibility to the world."

We send our hearty thanks to you for your event planning expertise and your wonderful help on the day of the event.

Sincerely,

Deanna J.
Artistic Director
Mustard Seed Theatre

Rachel and Amanda,

You two rock! Thank you so much for the great layout work, your time and your generosity. You both helped make this event a great success and we are deeply grateful! Such talents!! (Amanda— you were the cutest raffle gal ever!)

Kindest regards,
Karen Klaus
"Smoke on the ROYALE Mountain" Event Organizer

Fashion Week

Rachel,

I just wanted to thank you for participating in Project: Design! this year. You made the event a success and a great way to kick off St. Louis Fashion Week!

Dwight Carter
Rock Uniform Style and PR

Rachel is my favorite partner to work with for execution of successful events. Her professionalism and fine attention to details always ensure fantastic results whether it be a green wedding in the country to a large iconic production the size of Saint Louis Fashion Week. Rachel is sincere and has a work ethic that is superior to none. She is a strong and capable player on any team.

Elizabeth Parker
Director of Marketing
St. Louis Fashion Week

Pridefest 2008

Dear Rachel,

Thank you for the invitation to the Pride event last Friday night. It was a very nice event and I really enjoyed myself. Thank you also for giving me the opportunity to greet everyone in attendance. Your hospitality is very much appreciated. Great Event!

Best wishes,

Gregory F.X. Daly
Collector of Revenue
City of St. Louis

Rachel,

Last weekend was a blast -- it was the best PrideFest weekend I think I've ever attended in 18 years!

Robert Thurman

Rachel,

I just wanted to congratulate you on a successful PrideFest. We were out there on Sunday and had a BLAST.

Ali Siegel
Metromix Marketing & Promotions

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