Read What Our Clients Have to Say about our Event Planning & Coordination Services
Destination Weddings
"We can't thank you enough for all of your hard work up to and on the day of our wedding. You helped streamline the overwhelming tasks to put together our outside-the-box event! Everything went so well and we hope you enjoyed the day. Thank you so much for orchestrating the happiest day of our lives! i hope you're available in 50 years to help us plan the second happiest! In the meantime, I'm sure you'll be an instrumental part of many more joyous occasions!" ~ Catherine and Basem
"Thank you so much for all your hard work, suggestions (the best!) and patience with my wedding planning. I truly feel so lucky that you were available to help me organize my big day from afar! I can't thank you enough and happily, it's a small world and we will bump into each other again! Thank you!" ~ Christine
“Jennifer (and Barb) were wonderful! My daughter’s wedding was the most elegant, joyful, well-planned affair I’ve ever attended and there’s no way that could have happened without these lovely, attentive ladies. For two days – the rehearsal and the dinner which was opened to all the guests, and then the day of the wedding, when anyone had a question, they just had to turn and find one of these wizards. They made sure everyone and everything was where they needed to be, and amazingly my daughter was able to relax and really enjoy all the fruits of the meticulous planning and execution. We so highly recommend these warm, wonderful planners!” ~ Marci, Mother of the Bride
“Thank you so much, Jennifer, for making our special day perfect! Everything exceeded our expectations and was so wonderful. We know we were very difficult to get motivated, but you worked with us, patiently and kindly. We will miss our planning meetings with you as you had become such an important person in our lives.” ~ Sarah and Steve
“Words cannot express how grateful we are to you for all you did for us. It gave me the opportunity to be a guest at my daughter’s wedding, rather than having to worry about details. That was worth everything. Bill and I talked about it on the way home and there is nothing we would have changed. You and Barb will be forever in our memory. Thank you seems a bit weak…but THANK YOU!!!” ~ Diane, Mother of the Bride
“We worked with Jennifer who was awesome. She understood our vision and made our dreams come true. She worked behind the scenes to ensure everything was perfect. I would very much recommend!”
“There is so much to remember over the past 1 1/2 years as we worked on wedding planning together. Yet, at the same time, we have a very simple, sincere message. We could not have done it without you! From the first phone call to the last week of crazy, frantic preparations, we loved working with you! Your organization, combination of big picture thinking with great attention to detail, and, of course, your warm, engaging, friendly personality, helped keep us on track and made it all work. Simply amazing! We have lots of wedding memories to cherish forever, but the planning process is part of that, too. And we loved it! Thanks again, Barb, for everything and for just being you.” ~ Marc and Jonathan
[As posted on offbeatbride.com]: “ Barb helped us craft the most beautiful, personal, and heartfelt ceremony possible. So many people commented on how our ceremony was unlike any other wedding they had been to, and uniquely us. Jennifer, our wedding planner…pretty much saved my sanity as I was trying to plan a wedding from several states away while working ridiculously long hours. She thought of EVERYTHING and I wouldn’t have gotten to enjoy the day the way I did without her. They are amazing!” ~ Cara and Kit
“We hired Ceremonies and Event Planning of the Finger Lakes to help with our wedding planning needs a little over 2 months before our actual wedding day. We used their “day of” planning services with several hours of advanced planning added in as well. I had been planning the wedding by myself for 9 months prior to that point (so all of my vendors etc had already been booked) but the logistics were getting very complicated. I was living in NYC at the time and planning an Ithaca wedding (which included 200 out-of-town guests staying at 4 different hotels…and we were providing transportation from each hotel to the ceremony, from the ceremony to the reception 15 minutes away, and back to the hotels at the end of the evening). I also had vendors coming in from all over the state of NY, both inside and outside of Ithaca, many of which had never been to either of my venues. I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed and I decided that I needed some official help. I could not have asked for a better teammate than the one I found in Jennifer Lawrence Birnbaum. From the start, Jennifer was very professional and highly efficient, which I really needed. She was also understanding and compassionate during the times when I was feeling stressed, which I also really needed. She kept me focused and she got me organized. She ultimately made me think about things that I had not even considered before working with her, but which ultimately led to a smoother wedding day for me and my wedding party and a better overall experience for my guests. Jennifer is well versed in what goes into successfully hosting a large wedding in Ithaca and she knows what works and what doesn’t. Throughout the months leading up to my wedding Jennifer was more than generous with her time, often exchanging late night phone calls and e-mails with me, and she was extremely responsive. I was pretty stressed at times, but ultimately I took comfort in knowing that Jennifer was there for me and that she would be with me, helping me, on my wedding day. She organized my entire rehearsal, which I was incredibly grateful for, so by the time we were at the chapel on wedding day everyone was completely relaxed and prepared. On my wedding day, I was finally able to relax a little myself and I let Jennifer take over. We had worked out a wedding day timeline for ourselves as well as for each individual vendor and I knew that I was safe in Jennifer’s hands after that. I cannot thank her enough for all of her help in making the most important day of my life such a happy one. I could not have pulled it off half as well without you!!! ~ Jessica
“Thank you for helping us coordinate our wedding. It was quite a production and everything went beautifully thanks to your hard work, attention to detail, and creativity. We really enjoyed working with you and appreciate the organization, planning, and wonderful sense of humor that you brought to everything. Thank you so much for making our day wonderful!” ~ K-T and Jay
“Kevin and I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for all that you did to make our wedding day everything we hoped it would be. We had a wonderful event and greatly appreciate all of the time, patience and professionalism that you & Jennifer put into helping us bring this day to realization ….it was a pleasure working with you. ” ~ Kelli and Kevin
Local Wedding Clients
"Could I have done it without you? Maybe, although doubtful. Would I have wanted to do it without you? Absolutely not! You were wonderful to work with, talk with, be with! Much love and gratitude," ~ Janis.
“Ceremonies and Events did everything we had asked and more. I hired Barb to do our ceremony, and she delivered exactly what we asked for. I had no idea how to plan the procession, recession, music, candle lighting, timing, etc. She did it all and it was great. Jennifer was our day of coordinator with a little of advanced planning. By the time I hired them I had almost everything figured out and they helped put the final pieces in place. Jennifer did our day of excel sheets, with timelines, who was bringing what, etc. She reminded me about little things like coffee and tea, things that I would have never thought of on my own! I did contact almost all of the vendors on my own, mostly because I had everyone booked up already. She helped a lot with suggestions and advice about who to talk to. On the day of Jennifer was running around and making sure everything went smoothly. I was certainly disappointed with several of my vendors, so I am by no means easy to please. But Barb and Jennifer did exactly what we had agreed upon, and they did it well. Jennifer helped out beyond what was expected with her vendor recommendations during the final planning process. So if you are a bride that is trying to do everything herself, and needs just a little help in the right areas, I think Ceremonies and Event Planning of the Finger Lakes is perfect for you!” ~ Lisa
“Wow! The big day is here at last! Thank you for your patience, grace, and good humor in the midst of what was a very fluid and often chaotic situation. I am very grateful to you.” ~ Sarah
“We are incredibly happy with how everything went! All of our vendor choices worked out really well and we very likely wouldn’t have known about them without you. Jennifer did a phenomenal job of keeping things going. The night of the event, we were able to sit back and enjoy all of our family and friends. It was a wonderful to have everything go the way we imagined it, while also being able to enjoy the event as though we were guests ourselves. We’re very happy that we met you, and that you and Jennifer coordinated our wedding! ~ Lisa and Justin
Bill and I want to extend our sincere appreciation for all you did to help make our daughter’s wedding so special. Leslie said, “My wedding day was just as I imagined – I would not have changed anything!” If I had not met you we never would have had the most wonderful caterer and bar service, nor would we have had such a great florist. The timeline was so helpful the day of the wedding and I had peace of mind with all the contact information at my disposal. I think the best part of meeting and working with you, Barbara, was that you were so accessible. If you were unable to talk, you would get back to me as soon as possible. You were always there to listen to my concerns, give advice when asked, and if you were concerned about an idea, you would tell me. Thank you. I will miss you.” ~ Carol, Mother of the Bride
“Before I started working with Barb at Ceremonies and Events of the Finger Lakes, I was planning a wedding for 150 guests by myself. The details were overwhelming and I was losing sleep worrying about forgetting something important. Once Barb and I met, she started organizing everything into timetables, lists and spreadsheets. Tasks began to fall into place neatly and I was able to relax. I feel so relieved that Barb is so thoughtful and creative in helping me get all my ducks in a row before The Big Day.” ~ Corinne
Other Events
“The party was a wild success, and was a perfect reflection of my personal and professional style. Thanks to Ceremonies and Events for your attention to detail, even to those details that were completely off my radar screen. Your recommendations for caterers, entertainers, and all other suppliers were completely spot-on. Thanks, too, for your “day of” supervision of the event, which made set up much less stressful. I am normally an anxious hostess; a characteristic which is painfully obvious to all. But with Ceremonies and Events on my side, I felt so proud of the quality of the gathering, and relaxed enough to enjoy the party, myself. Many kudos to you both!” ~ Carol Bushberg of Carol Bushberg Real Estate
“Our 50th anniversary was bigger in every way than our original wedding and Barbara and Jennifer made it work beautifully. We contacted Ceremonies and Events when we realized we needed help and this pair really did the job. We outlined what we had in mind – a full weekend of events. They did the legwork and presented us with options for venues and vendors. We made some choices and they did the rest, handling negotiations and execution all along the way. They even set up a comparative chocolate tasting so we could pick the local artisanal supplier that suited us best. They helpfully suggested possibilities we hadn’t considered. Our Fri. hospitality, Saturday ceremony and luncheon, family reunion picnic and Sunday brunch were all superbly done. Barb and Jennifer even custom blended trail mix for our guests’ welcome bags! As our working relationship developed, I discovered I could relax. I no longer woke a 3 a.m. with details racing around in my head. These ladies were taking care of the details! Each site was beautiful, all the food was delicious and attractively displayed and the entertainers they recommended were superb. The mood was right throughout! ~ Toni
“Jennifer worked with us for 2 years plus to arrange a graduation weekend in Ithaca for our Cornell grad son, our family and friends. She was creative, professional, detail oriented, and responsive. She found our house for the long weekend after our search of bed and breakfasts and other homes was not fruitful, and also located the perfect caterer and bartender for our party for 50. She told me where to go for flowers after meeting with them herself and sending a photo of a sample arrangement!, She also showed me where to purchase added food items for meals at home other than the party, and recommended someone to lead a private wine tour on one of the other weekend days. We think she is fabulous!” ~ Kim
“I wanted to drop you a note to let you know how much we appreciated your efforts in making Bob’s 60th a wonderful celebration! I couldn’t have done it all without your help. From the decorations, the wonderful band and every small detail, you didn’t miss a beat with knowing just what the party needed. I asked many people what they thought and I received comments of ” Best Band Ever” and “Great Time.” Again, thank-you so much!” ~ Yolanda
“Barb managed the planning of our event with aplomb — she was organized, had an eye for detail, followed through on everything and was always calm and cheerful. Her work was crucial to the success of the event. We’re definitely engaging Barb to collaborate with us on next fundraiser!” ~ Connie Bruce and Diana Riesman, founders, Ithaca Motion Picture Project.