tjschmookler

The Tropical Occasions team went far and above our expectations and made our wedding even more awesome than we even hope for. I can unequivocally say that Karen and everyone we worked with were professional, competent, and an absolute delight. Everyone knows that planning a wedding is supposed to be stressful. Planning with the TO team, however, made me feel confident and relaxed that every small detail was being looked after. Not only was the planning unbelievably smooth, but the end result was magnificent! My husband and I wanted to plan a wedding in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. We flew down for a short scouting trip and Karen took us on a multi-day tour, talking us through all our many options. She is obviously well-connected in the community and knew all the ins and outs of how to plan a wedding there. (And things are done differently in Costa Rica!) She wasn’t the least bit pushy and instead worked hard to understand our priorities and vision and explained what that would entail. Everywhere we went in Manuel Antonio, every hotel, vendor, and coffee shop owner had heard of TO and raved about what magical, beautiful weddings they put on. We had a blast on the scouting trip! We felt so taken care of that we didn’t hesitate to hire her to help us plan our wedding. Over the 9 months of planning, Karen and crew were meticulous in every detail. We must have emailed back and forth a billion times; she was incredibly patient and answered every question I could think of in a timely manner. She and Aimee worked to understand who we are, what we want, our priorities, and guided us from there. Karen helped coordinate every single detail, from the decor (which turned out *just* like we planned), to the itinerary over multiple days (including timing to-the-minute pick up and drop off times for all our guests spread among several hotels), coordination of all the rentals and vendors, helping us stay in budget, etc. We actually had fun planning our wedding! And that’s no small feat considering that planning a destination wedding could be very difficult. During the wedding week itself, we were blown away by all that TO did for us. Every single thing unfolded without a hitch. That meant that we could just enjoy ourselves without worrying. Nearly ALL of my guests came up to me to rave about how awesome Karen is at her job, as well as to sing the praises of her assistant, Karissa. And they know how to roll with the unexpected, which is essential for wedding time. For example, when my maid of honor lost her speech and was in a panic, Karen was a calm presence helping her look for it (which took quite a while), while also rearranging our “schedule†so that it looked like the new schedule was how it was planned all along. No one had a clue (aside from the MOH’s husband) that anything had gone “wrong.†My maid of honor told me later that she was floored by how amazing Karen had been for her. Our guests told us that our wedding was the most beautiful and fun wedding they’d ever been to. While my husband and I would love to take the credit, much of it goes to Tropical Occasions and the incredible job they did. My husband and I have said to each other a million times, “There’s no way we ever could have done this without Karen†and it’s 100% true. Of all the costs that come with a wedding, their fee is incredibly reasonable, especially when we consider all the time and energy they took with us. Thank you, TO!!