The Difference a Planner Makes
There’s a thing that inevitably happens on wedding days. Something’s off—a vendor shows up late, the ceremony runs long, the cocktail hour gets compressed—and someone has to absorb that. It needs to get figured out. Because, stress.
If that someone isn’t a dedicated wedding planner or coordinator, then it’s usually you (the couple getting married).
I photograph weddings, which means I’ve watched this play out more times than I can count. And I’ll say it directly: the lowest-stress days I’ve photographed almost always had a strong planner and/or coordinator behind the scenes.
This isn’t a sales pitch for someone else’s business. It’s just what I’ve observed.
What follows is a list of Connecticut wedding planners I can speak to directly, either because we’ve worked together or because I know their work well enough to recommend it. These are people I’d call if a couple I care about was planning a wedding and needed guidance.
What Does a Wedding Planner Actually Cost in Connecticut?
Before getting to the people: for day-of coordination in Connecticut, you’re generally looking at a starting point around $1000–$2000.
Full planning, which includes everything from vendor sourcing to design, typically runs around 10% of your total wedding budget. At the higher end of the market, that can exceed $10,000.
But when you’re considering if you need a wedding planner, think of this: one popular event planner in Connecticut told me, “…[Your] coordinator is the one who will quite literally save your entire day.”
Six of the Best Wedding Planners in Connecticut
1. Jen Strunk Events
North Stonington, CT | jenstrunk.com
Jen has been doing this for over a decade, which means she’s seen enough weddings to know where the edges are. She specializes in tented, private estate, and historic property events—southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island are her home territory, and it shows. When you work with Jen, you’re not getting someone who has to Google the venue. She knows the vendors.
Her specialty is full planning: building a wedding from the ground up, from vendor team to design board to day-of execution. But she also offers partial planning and day-of coordination (which she calls “event management,” a distinction she’s pretty clear about). She’s put in real thought about what each service actually includes and what it’s designed for.
I’ve worked with Jen’s team on weddings in the southeastern part of the state and what I’ve noticed is the specificity of her process. Nothing feels improvised. Couples who work with her tend to arrive on their wedding day with a clear sense of what’s happening and when—which, from my side of the lens, is its own form of generosity.
She’s also inclusive in how she speaks about her work, which matters. Every couple gets the same level of care and intention, regardless of budget, and that’s woven into how she operates, not just how she markets.
Here’s a Brooklyn, CT wedding that Jen and I worked on together on.
2. DWP Events (Debbie White)
Bozrah, CT | dwpevents.net
Debbie White runs DWP Events out of Bozrah and brings something that not every planner offers: flexibility around control. Some couples want to be deeply involved in the planning process — they want to make the choices, they just need a professional to guide them, catch the things they’d miss, and run the execution. That’s exactly the kind of client Debbie works well with.
She also offers what she calls “oversight” services for couples who are essentially self-planning but want an experienced eye on the process. It’s an honest approach to the market—not everyone needs full planning, and Debbie’s not trying to upsell you past what you actually need.
I’ve found her to be grounded and practical on the days we’ve shared. There’s no theater to how she works. She’s organized, clear, and focused, which on a wedding day is exactly what you want from the person holding the timeline. One couple I worked with even received help from her on choosing their wedding dress.
Debbie explained to me that her approach as a Connecticut wedding planner is to customize the clients’ experience from the beginning. “DWP Events customizes packages to each client. We can tell you that our average client spends X but until we have a conversation about how we can best help you we can’t give you an exact fee.”
3. Pink Olive Events (Carisa Lockery)
Pink Olive Events is a full-service Connecticut wedding planner based in Cheshire. Owner Carisa Lockery and her team offer wedding planning, day-of coordinator service, and also à la carte offerings. They also recently commissioned the Something Borrowed mobile wedding suite. With everything from a hair and makeup area to a kitchen, you’ll definitely want to consider this added service when planning your wedding.
Regarding finding a Connecticut wedding planner, Carisa pointed out to me, “You spend so much money on a wedding, similar to a house or a car. Would you purchase those things without insurance? A planner is assurance that the wedding will go the way YOU want it.”
4. Coll It Entertaining (Colleen Horstmann)
Colleen Horstmann of Coll It Entertaining in Fairfield just plain loves what she does. An event planner in Connecticut, she helps couples all over the state with weddings, life events, and even organizing. As a Connecticut wedding planner, Colleen specializes in providing day-of coordinator services.
We once had a quick conversation about different wedding services. Colleen gave me this gem:
While family and friends can be incredibly helpful, a dedicated coordinator allows for an impartial party to be a sounding board to the couple and ultimately take stress away from family and friends. Many venues provide a day-of coordinator and while they are helpful in overseeing the items taking place there, they are typically out of touch with the overall picture of the entire day. This can cause things to be piecemeal. As your wedding coordinator, I know your vendors, your timeline and your vision inside and out, which results in a seamless and organized day.
Colleen Horstmann of Coll It Entertaining
Here’s a Christmas tree farm wedding that Colleen and I worked together on.
5. One for the Books Events (Evan Chestnutt)
A true professional Connecticut wedding planner is Evan Chestnutt of One for the Books Events. “My hope is that couples never feel like they have to start from scratch when it comes to planning their wedding, that’s where a planner can really make a difference!”
Evan is willing and capable to handle anything with her event planner company, from consulting to complete management of your event. For her, it’s all about establishing and maintaining relationships. She wants couples to feel “that their vision will be brought to life” on their wedding day.
One of Evan’s main goals as a wedding planner and day-of coordinator is to keep you and your loved ones free of having to “manage” the day. “Nothing is better than you and all of your guests sharing a care-free, joyful day.” Having seen her in action, I can definitely vouch.
Here’s an Old Wethersfield wedding that I had the pleasure of working with Evan on.
6. Compass Event Planning (Nicole Parsons)
Nicole Parsons started Compass Event Planning in 2020—which, as she’ll tell you herself, was spectacularly timed. She’d been working in television production for nearly 20 years before making the shift, doing wedding coordination on the side first, then launching the business fully. Shortly after, an established luxury planner in Fairfield County took her under her wing. That mentorship shaped how she thinks about the work at the high end of the market.
Her origin story has a detail I keep coming back to. She got married in 2011 during Hurricane Irene. Highways shut down. The ceremony had to move up four to five hours with almost no notice. She had a venue coordinator. No wedding planner. She navigated it without one—and decided afterward that she wouldn’t let that happen to another couple. That’s not a branding origin story, that’s a reason.
Nicole doesn’t call what she offers “day-of coordination.” It’s wedding management, and she’s direct about why: the name “day-of” is misleading. Her involvement typically begins eight weeks before the wedding. In that window she finalizes timelines, reviews every vendor contract, becomes the point of contact for the entire vendor team.
I worked with Nicole on a wedding in Hartford Connecticut. During the family portraits immediately following the ceremony (outdoor, hot, large family, long list of names) she stepped in without being asked. She took the name list and called people alongside me. She was handing out water. That’s not in anyone’s contract. It’s what someone does when they’re working for the couple, not for the room.
She also maintains vendor relationships across every category and uses them intentionally. She describes it as matchmaking. If you’re searching for a wedding photographer, for example, she’ll help you whether you want someone who’s editorial or more cinematic. She also has a great eye for wedding art.
In some cases, her relationships result in better pricing or added services from vendors who trust that her events run well. That kind of thing compounds over time.
One more thing she said that stuck with me: she gets sad at the end of every wedding. Not because something went wrong, but because something went right and now it’s over. She still hears from many of her couples years later, when they’re pregnant, when they buy a house. She doesn’t entirely let those relationships go.
You may recognize Nicole from this conversation about the need for a wedding planner or wedding day-of coordinator. She’s the kind of person you want running your day.
A Note from Me
When I’m photographing a wedding, I’m focused on the light, the composition, the story unfolding in front of me. What I’m not doing—and can’t do while also making the art you’re hiring me for—is tracking down the florist, absorbing a timeline delay, or quietly rerouting family members who’ve wandered off between ceremony and portraits.
That’s not a gap in my service. It’s a reality of what the job is.
A good coordinator and a photographer who works well together create something that’s hard to describe until you’ve experienced it on your day: a kind of invisible infrastructure that makes everything feel effortless, even when it isn’t. The day flows and you’re present for it. The images show that.
If you’ve found your way to this post from one of these planners, welcome. If you’re just starting to build your vendor team, feel free to reach out. I’m happy to talk through what makes a wedding day work, from whatever angle you need.
About the Photographer
Terrence Irving is a Connecticut wedding photographer who specializes in artistically-engineered, cinematic wedding photography for bold couples. He photographs weddings throughout Connecticut, New England, and beyond.