Kaitlyn

Here is the honest test of a wedding planner, from behind the DJ booth: when something slips - and something always slips - do you find out from the planner, or do you find out from the confused look on the maid of honor's face? With Kaitlyn, we find out from Kaitlyn. Usually about ten minutes before it matters.

That sounds like a small thing. It is not a small thing. A DJ who knows the toasts are running long can stretch a dinner set instead of dead-airing the room. A DJ who finds out late is already behind. Working alongside a coordinator who communicates in real time is the difference between a reception that flows and a reception that lurches.

Kaitlyn has been planning weddings in North Florida for more than five years under her company, A Lavish Event. She is based in Middleburg and works throughout Jacksonville, the surrounding counties, and out toward the coast.

What she actually handles

A Lavish Event is not a one-package operation. Kaitlyn scales what she does to what a couple actually needs, which matters if you are somewhere between "we have this handled" and "please take the wheel."

Pricing depends on scope and date, and it is hers to quote - reach out to her directly and she will walk you through which tier fits.

Why we recommend her

We do not keep a long list of planners we hand out. Recommending someone means putting our name next to theirs, and a bad coordinator does not just make our night harder - it makes a couple's whole day worse.

Kaitlyn is on the short list for three reasons. She builds the timeline early and actually sends it to the vendor team instead of holding it in her own head. She stays calm out loud, which sounds soft but is the single most contagious thing at a wedding - a nervous coordinator makes a nervous room. And she treats vendors like teammates rather than staff, which is the reason the people she books tend to keep working with her.

Do you need a planner if you already have a DJ?

Fair question, and we will answer it against our own interest: a good DJ can carry a simple reception without a coordinator. We do it regularly.

What a DJ cannot do is be in two places at once. We are behind the booth. We cannot chase down a late florist, re-pin a boutonniere, find the marriage license, or tell the caterer that dinner is sliding fifteen minutes. On a wedding with multiple vendors, a ceremony and reception in different spaces, or a guest count past about a hundred, a coordinator stops being a luxury and starts being the reason the day holds together.

If your day is bigger than a DJ can quarterback alone, Kaitlyn is who we would call.