Shine Events
Address:
Type: Wedding planner
Phone: (480) 359-5192
Price:
Rating: 4.9
Website: https://shineeventsaz.com/
What Time Does Shine Events Open?
Monday: Open 24 hours
Tuesday: Open 24 hours
Wednesday: Open 24 hours
Thursday: Open 24 hours
Friday: Open 24 hours
Saturday: Open 24 hours
Sunday: Open 24 hours
Shine Events Reviews
Courtney Ehrich
Jessica and her team did an INCREDIBLE job planning and executing my daughter’s wedding in Phoenix. Thanks to Shine Events my daughter’s wedding was truly magical. Jessica was amazing to work with; she is professional, reliable and has amazing design ideas. If I could give her 10 stars I would!
Junie Meskey
My daughter Nell Johnstone wrote a (glowing, and totally acurrate) review about our most Amazing Wedding Planner, Jessica Gelder @shineeventsaz.
I’m not sure how I can top Nell’s review. My review is from the Mother of the Bride’s perspective. What I can do is rave about Jessica, her top notch team, and the incredible vendors that she brought together, to create the wedding of my daughter, and her now husband’s DREAM.
When I write that Jessica is a miracle worker, I’m not exaggerating!!! Being a MOB, and trying to pull off a destination wedding, not only in another state, but in the Desert, with no electricity, nor cell service, was a feat of EPIC and VAST proportions!
I always swore no outdoor wedding for my daughter. There are just too many variables that are out of our control. Too much stress!!! Yet, when my daughter came to me with her vision and dream of getting married in Scottsdale, I soon was caught up in her enthusiasm. She then threw a small curve ball…How about in the desert, at Superstition Mountains!!!! I tried to remain calm. How in the world would we able to achieve this “dream”???
I knew we would need to find a creative, quick thinking, and if need be could play therapist! So I went to The Knot website and looked up wedding planners in Scottsdale. After looking through the vast array of planners, I came across Jessica Gelder @shineeventsaz Jess’s website looked very promising. After reaching out to Jess, and receiving a return email, My daughter and I knew we had hit the Wedding Planner “jackpot”!
Whether Nell and I were visiting Scottsdale, on wedding business, or meeting via Zoom, Nell and I always looked at each other and said, “thank goodness for Jess!”!!!
Fifteen months later, the wedding of Nell & Matt, in the desert, at Superstition Mountains, came to fruition, in EPIC fashion. No small feat! Jess only had to figure out how to throw a wedding “off the grid”, and that included, No electricity, No running water, and No cell service. Jess’s determination and her ability to think on the fly, when issues would come up, was nothing short of miraculous. Our huge undertaking in the desert could only have happened, because, Jess, her team members, and all the top notch vendors she brought together, pulled off a Desert Wedding, that far exceeded Nell, Matt, and maybe a few skeptical guest’s imaginations!!!
An example of Jess’s thinking out of the box, more than once, is when Nell said they didn’t want a photo booth, no worries. Jess found an Astronomer, who brought 3 telescopes. Guests were given a magical, and up close view of Saturn’s Rings, the night sky filled with stars galore.
The sneak peek at the wedding photos (Mashaida Co) told the whole story, bride and groom and their giant smiles, guests with stunned looks on their faces, that turned to looks of amazement and joy!!!! The Stunning Wedding in the Desert, was not a mirage…Jessica Gelder @shineeventsaz, and all vendors were and are, quite simply the Best!!!!
Nell Johnstone
Jess is a true gem. Saying she made our dream wedding come to life would be an understatement. We really wanted our wedding to be a once in a lifetime experience for not only ourselves but our guests as well and she blew it out of the water!! Our wedding had a million moving parts (to say the least) – we got married out at the base of Superstition Mountains, where there is no running water, electricity or cell service. She never once seemed stressed and always carried herself with grace and a smile on her face. She helped keep us on schedule and made the entire process so upbeat and fun! I never dreaded a phone call from her because I knew if there was any issue she would take care of it instantly. One of the hotels we had booked for a room block ended up being bought out by a large company and last minute they cancelled all room reservations and not for a single second was I worried about finding a backup because I KNEW Jess could handle it. She resolved the issue and didn’t seem to break a sweat! My family was worried about how unbothered I was by it but I have Jess to thank for making sure I felt no stress.
When we first hired Jess our vision for the wedding was kind of all over the place and she helped tailor it down to the most beautiful and magical weekend. The relationships she has with all her vendors helped us get exactly what we wanted! I cannot say enough positive things about the team she created – photographers, stationary, DJ, live music, chefs, floral and rentals. I don’t think there’s another planner out there who could have pulled this off. We also asked her to plan our rehearsal dinner and wowww… everyone’s jaw dropped when they saw the beautiful scene she had set.
If you’re in the market for a planner look no further! I cannot recommend Jess and her team enough. If I could give her higher than a five star review I would!
Robert Schwartz
We had our wedding at the fabulous Omni in Scottsdale. When we booked the event, they told us that we needed a wedding planner to have our event at the Omni. In the beginning, we were a bit reluctant because we thought we could handle it ourselves. It wasn’t but more than a few sessions in with Jessica when we realized she was going to be invaluable to us in the planning and preparation of our wedding. Our wedding was not a normal wedding and even though that was the case, Jessica took it in stride and was able to accommodate all our quirky asks and made sure that on our wedding day everything was in place and executed the way we wanted/hoped it would. Without a doubt, our wedding would have been a debacle without her. For the 100 things we knew she did, there was undoubtedly another 100 things she did that we didn’t know. Our wedding day was amazing, and it would not have been without Jessica and Shine Events. We highly recommend her if you want your wedding to be as great as ours was!
Hayley Parker
If you were like me, recently engaged and thinking “how the heck do I start planning”, the first and only thing I would recommend is to hire Jess with Shine Events! From our first phone call all the way through to the end of the wedding day, Jess made sure our big day ran smoothly (and it did, without a hitch!). She was so kind, organized & helpful throughout the whole process – I truly could not have done it without her.
Jenny Cho
We decided to go with a wedding planner once we found our venue and photographer since besides those two items we had NO idea where to even begin.
– She facilitated all the communication between vendors so we didn’t have to which made our lives easier since we only had to communicate with one person at all times.
– She also helped us find vendors that we wanted. For example, our florist and rentals vendors. Everything turned out amazing so highly trust anyone Jess recommends.
– She made sure she was always available and I was able to e-mail and text her whenever I had questions. She even took a Zoom meeting once in her car when her child was at practice! That’s dedication.
– She was a lifesaver leading up to the wedding. I was so stressed, but she handled everything and answered all my questions. Especially on the day of. She made sure we followed the schedule and was able to be firm to get everyone moving along, which I know can be difficult.
On top of that she was super easy to talk to and we really connected with her right away. I would highly highly recommend going with Jessica as your wedding planner if you’re looking. I would pick her all over again!
Brittany L Neil
Jessica and Lauren are ABSOLUTLEY WONDERFUL!! Seriously, stop looking, you have come to the right place. I interviewed multiple planners and Jessica and I clicked immediately. I am naturally a Type A personality and could tell that she understood me immediately. She has a wealth of knowledge, experience, and great recommendations!! She referred us to our photographer, DJ, and videographer. We started chatting a little less than a year before the wedding and she helped guide me through all necessary steps. She stayed current with our vendor selections and updates to our plans. She helped us to make decisions we had not thought of and prepared us for what the day would look like. Anytime I called/texted she was incredibly responsive and we usually chatted for at least an hour (sorry Jess lol), as if we had been friends our entire lives. Jessica made suggestions, that were much appreciated, and listened attentively as I described my ideas. She was also open to a little fun during the rehearsal (my dad and I put on blow-up dinosaur costumes to walk down the aisle) and helped us execute that without many people knowing. On the morning of our wedding she said checked in with us frequently to ensure we had what we needed and to put us at ease with how everything was coming along. You could tell she was in her element! She was as calm, cool, and collected as she was during our first phone call. She made sure all other vendors were moving along, and reminded them of time limitations where appropriate. She worked diligently to ensure our vision came to life and that all the on the same page. She handed us off to the photographer for the first look, and then met us at the second picture location about 30 mins later with a glass of water (she knows what you need before you do). We were able to grab a few sweet pictures there and later that night! She made sure the day was seamless, fun, and filled with love. Both Jessica and Lauren are meticulous and created the wedding of our dreams! I only wish we had another event to work with Jessica and Lauren! We are so THANKFUL and HONORED to have had them there with us on our special day. We don’t know what we would have done without them!
BriLo31
So to begin we had hired jessica back in 2019 for our 2020 wedding in Phoenix. We had interviewed many wedding planners and in the end felt jessica would be the best help us plan our special day. She was very attentive, had great suggestions, lots of contacts and experience, which is what we needed since we live in another country (Canada).
Fast forward and everyone knows the pandemic hit. Now trying to plan an out of country wedding during the pandemic was not an easy task but lots of communication and follow ups from jessica made us feel that we could pull this off. Unfortunately when the time came the pandemic was full on and this wasn’t going to happen. Jessica helped with all the negotiations with the resort and aided in anything we needed during this difficult time. We were able to rebook for 2021 hoping the pandemic would be done in a year. Jessica stayed in touch the entire time. I’m sure this was the longest time between hire and a wedding she’s ever had.
In the end the pandemic wasn’t slowing down and us being from another country, the realization was settling that this wasn’t going to happen with 95% of our guests flying international to attend. We have to say during these tough times and Negotiations trying to cancel. Fighting to get our deposits back. Jessica was instrumental in talking to vendors, keeping our hopes up and doing everything in her power to help. I’m happy to finally say in the end, even though we didn’t officially have the wedding we were able to retrieve a large portion of our deposits back. Jessica even offered some back which was very appreciated. She went above and beyond for us and I would recommend her for anyone needing a wedding planned in Phoenix. She was with us during the hard times and I wished we were able to use her for the good. I encourage anyone that needs assistance to hire her as she never left our side for over 2 years when we were stressing if we would ever have this wedding or get any of our money back afterwards.
Jessica thank you for everything you have done to help us during this roller coaster ride.
Much love,
Brian and Kelli
Lexi Lambert
Jessica was the reason I stayed sane during my (COVID) wedding planning! Our wedding was scheduled for 10/10/2020 (originally at Arizona Biltmore, then ultimately at Mountain Shadows) and there were MANY conversations about the best route to take. We had many changes due to COVID; venue and even our florist 30 days out. Jessica always offered sound, logic advice and was able to get a florists to step in at the last moment. She was very resourceful and has a network of trades that she’s worked with to help make the planning process stress-free. If I had one critique it was that day-of communication was not what I had anticipated. At moments there were time, the bridal party was unsure of exactly where to be leading up to the ceremony. While Jessica diligently planned a timeline for the day-of, she was the only planner there. It may have been helpful to have the maid-of-honor/ best man have her contact info for further coordination and questions the day-of. Ultimately, I appreciated everything that Jessica did to help me plan and coordinate for the day of our wedding. She went above and beyond in the planning of what would have otherwise been pure chaos! Would definitely recommend her to brides in the Phoenix area!
Anna Bussert
Jessica is THE most amazing and I wish the first thing we did when we got engaged was hire her. Instead, we chose a venue that claimed to help with day of planning (in addition to many other things). Long story short, the venue lacked any attention to detail, treated us like just a number, couldn’t keep track of things we’d already discussed, turned over event staff regularly, and kept getting details of our wedding wrong (wedding date, last names, style preferences, etc.). We met with a few wedding planners and after speaking with Jessica, she was the obvious choice. She went above and beyond to work with us to ensure our wedding day and the days leading up were stress free, happy, and unforgettable (in the best way). She is extremely organized, has impeccable attention to detail, is easy to talk to, was firm with our venue (who was unfortunately also our florist) when she needed to be, provided her professional expertise when we got tired of making choices, and it truly felt like we had a friend and ally during every step of the process. I don’t want to imagine what our day would have turned out like without her help and luckily I won’t have to. Do yourself a favor and hire Jessica!
