Elegant Occasions by JoAnn Gregoli Planner | Reviews

A truly magical evening (and weekend) is the only way to describe my daughter’s wedding. From start to finish, JoAnn made it all happen. Hearing the words “I got it” and then seeing her in action making it all happen was truly remarkable. JoAnn is a true professional and her vendors are creative, knowledgeable, and truly first rate. She’s easy to work with … creative, elegant, service-oriented, listens to clients, works each event vs. handing it over to staffers, and really, not sure when she sleeps. No detail is left untouched. Literally, I had no idea when we hired JoAnn who we just teamed up with. She’s a force and in the best way possible. She is a true professional, a friend, someone I respect, and is now family to us.

We knew we wanted to give our daughter a unique, elegant and modern wedding and she delivered on that plus more. When I walked into the reception at Tavern on the Green, I could not believe how she transformed a beautiful venue into something even more elegant and “old New York” than it already was. It took all of us by surprise. The reception was so elegant from the furniture, tablecloths, tablescapes to the dance floor, lighting and all the special elements she included. She not only delivered exactly what we had talked about and worked on for several months but more than we expected. We didn’t even know we wanted it or needed it until we saw it. Everything was bespoke. From a champagne wall with customized place cards to custom linen napkins to our daughter’s wedding logo on the ice cubes, we were blown away. In my sleep-panic several months but close enough to the wedding, I woke up one morning, called her and said “I do not want to walk into the reception and think ‘I wish I would have …’ “. And, that did not happen, and we were not disappointed. She thought of everything. She truly listens to what the bride and her parents want the wedding to be bringing to life our vision not hers. It was a magical lifetime wedding weekend and one I know I’ll not experience again. And the feedback from all our guests as they described the wedding and full weekend events were magical, elegant, lovely, classic, beautiful, unique. Yes, to all of those.

A couple of additional highlights: Along with the wedding reception, she planned and coordinated our Welcome Party that included a sunset dinner sail with surprise fireworks and talent (for our guests and daughter/son-in-law). We chose this option based on her recommendations and it was such a success. She handled everything that evening including fake run of schedule for our daughter/son-in-law then the real schedule to us plus our special talent at the end of the evening. It was so special and a wonderful beginning to the wedding weekend.

She helped with the rehearsal dinner as well. Also, the day of the wedding, she coordinated hair, makeup, and the most important was a dresser who oversaw steaming all the gowns and fixing any dress problems. I’m so glad she suggested the dresser because right before the wedding, the hem came out of my gown and the dresser fixed it.

JoAnn also helped negotiate special talent for the Welcome Party and wedding reception that included Billy Currington and John Mayer respectively. She found their agents, helped negotiate the contract, and represented us and our commitments (travel, lighting, sounds, etc.) for the management of the two performers. She made it so flawless and took all the worrying away that when the welcome party and wedding reception came, I was able to party and enjoy their performances.

I cannot express enough how truly remarkable JoAnn is with her creative vision, flawless team, the best contacts in the city and impeccable taste. She is such a multi-layered event coordinator that produces the most impossible requests. We love her like family and am so happy she was the one that brought our vision to life. If you want a wedding like no one else, hire JoAnn Gregoli. I promise, you will be so happy you did.

We couldn’t have achieved my dream wedding (and my sister’s dream wedding!) without JoAnn, who has now become an extended member of our family. JoAnn helped navigate new wedding challenges in a COVID world with ease, brought amazing creative ideas and vendors to the table, and made the night of our rehearsal dinner and wedding go flawlessly. Joann is friendly, responsive, efficient, detail oriented, collaborative, and a problem solver- everything you’d want in a planner! My family and I cannot say enough great things about JoAnn, we only wish we had more celebrations to plan together!

JoAnn was my wedding planner for 2.5 years and I couldn’t have been more thankful to have her. We first brought her on in 2019 right after our engagement and shortly after COVID completely derailed our wedding plans. Not only did JoAnn support us through the difficult time she also acted as our therapist! We went through so many reschedules, cancellations and iterations of our wedding plans and she helped us through all of it. We ended up having the most amazing wedding at a venue in NJ called Natirar and I couldn’t have pictured a more perfect day. JoAnn and her team got the job done and went above and beyond our expectations. She is well known and respected in the industry and has a lot of great connections with vendors, which was great because when it came time for the big day we were taken care of. At the end of the day, JoAnn is a good person who genuinely cares about her brides, their families and making sure they have a wedding reflective of their love. The wedding industry can be filled with people who try to take advantage of you and not only is she far from this stigma, she protected us from it! Highly recommend!

I have so much respect and high regard for JoAnn at Elegant Occasions. She provides high communication and will work after hours and weekends, which many planners will not provide this level of service. She helped me plan a wedding in the pandemic within 90 days! Most of my friends thought I was crazy, but working with JoAnn made this so enjoyable and doable. I was able to lean back and really enjoy the journey because of JoAnn. Every vision I had, she provided from the photos, to sky lanterns, champagne coupe waterfall, exquisite menu, and intentionally quality time with my groom on the wedding day. Her wealth of contacts provided me the BEST vendors from the photographer, to the band, and the invitations. JoAnn has a gift from God to create a magical and dreamy wedding. Brennan and myself could not be more than pleased and hands down my wedding was beyond my wildest dreams.

We contacted JoAnn with 2 months to go before the wedding, we still needed some vendors (Video, favors, transportation and accommodations for out of town guests) so many things we needed help with. Joann stepped right up and took care of all the details. She added items we did not even think about, and they added such a wonderful touch to the reception. Everything went smoothly, her team was a pleasure to work with and took care of all the details. Everything fell into place, my daughter and I did not have anything to worry about that day. JoAnn helped to bring all the details together and made it such an amazing day we can't thank her enough!!

JoAnn is absolutely incredible. She planned the wedding of our dreams - from vendors, to timelines, to little and thoughtful details- everything was absolutely beautiful and perfect. We had a small wedding day in 2020 due to covid after having to pivot plans and JoAnn was truly a Godsend. I don’t know what we would’ve done without her reassurance, expertise, and wisdom. The wedding and dinner was perfect - better than we could’ve dreamed. A year later we had a 1 year anniversary party which JoAnn also planned, and it was BEYOND. Everything was so easy, because of JoAnn! She made the entire experience so special and memorable. We will forever be grateful.

JoAnn and her team are simply the best. After getting engaged, I promptly started planning my wedding on my own. When I first came to JoAnn I was stressed, confused and overwhelmed. Between working full time and scouring Pinterest for hours on end every day to try and determine my personal vision, I was exhausted and discouraged. I did not know where to start and I was feeling anything but confident in my planning abilities. I knew I needed professional help, but I didn’t know where or who to turn to. From the first call I had with JoAnn I knew she was the perfect fit, from that moment on wedding planning went from a taxing process to seamless, enjoyable and fun. JoAnn is an incredible professional and person. She makes her clients feel as if they are her only priority, she is honest, hardworking, diligent and trustworthy. JoAnn maintains constant contact with her clients throughout the entire process. Her top priority is to make sure the bride and groom’s wedding day is the best day of their life. And I can say our wedding day far exceeded any expectations I had. I walked into our venue before the reception and I couldn’t help but tear up. It was simply my fairytale brought to life.

JoAnn became my lifeline throughout the entire planning process and as I called her our “Mama Planner”. She is a true gem; she is so easy to work with and manages to make what seemed impossible, possible.

When planning a wedding plans can change suddenly and of course at the worst times, obstacles are inevitable and things will go wrong, but with a smile on her face JoAnn figures out a solution to every bump in the road no matter the size of the bump. When I arrived at the church the night before my wedding for the rehearsal, I found out the priest wasn’t going to make it to the rehearsal due to an unforeseeable circumstance. JoAnn did not flinch and she calmly announced to my wedding party of 9 bridesmaids and 11 groomsmen that the rehearsal was still going to take place. She stood in front of the church and JoAnn the wedding planner became JoAnn the priest. JoAnn can really do it all. No vision is too large for JoAnn to execute. She was the best decision I made when it came to planning my big day.