Expressionary Events

I have attended many weddings of friends and family all over the world in my day. Some good, some great, some not so smooth. I have seen many professionals in the tourism and hospitality and event management industry perform a variety of services over the years. Recently, as a quest of a wedding Carmen was facilitating, I could not have been more shocked how poorly things went. None have I witnessed working an event ever been as disrespectful, immature and plain daft as Carmen, the owner of Expressionary Events. I watched her buzzing around in a frantic state, eye rolling and talking back to other vendors AND guests in a condescending tone as if her job wasn’t to accommodate ALL needs of the event taking place. The wedding was awkward and ill timed. As she appeared to be executing the timeline, the guests, including myself, seemed confused what was going on. She berated the serving staff and was very loud about it. She was very caustic and unpleasant to hear and watch. I haven’t the slightest how this very young, inexperienced, angry and apparently miserable individual has a business is beyond me. From a guests perspective, the distraction of her childish behavior took away from the overall experience of what was supposed to be one of the happiest times in my friends life. Isn’t this the opposite of what a «wedding coordinator» is for? A guests experience is extremely important as they are making much investments to attend and share in this time all to have an experience be unpleasant because of a sore supposed «wedding coordinator.» Why else have a wedding and expend the resources if not to celebrate and create a wonderful experience to share with others. She is a not worth hiring unless you want your friends to be disappointed about much of their wedding and their guest experience to be remembered for a life time as a not so smooth wedding with the horrible coordinator. What a shame.

My wife and I are very disappointed with the way Carmen handled our wedding. The very first meeting we set up with her at her office in Long Beach, she was a no show. After waiting outside her office for half an hour, she finally returned our call only to tell us that her calendar didn’t sync and we were not on her schedule.
Although she did try to make up for this by offering to do our wedding table numbers for free, Carmen barely kept in touch with us throughout the whole process of planning. We always had to initiate contact with her, otherwise we wouldn’t hear from her at all.
She did contact all of our vendors for us to confirm our wedding date, however she had our photographer arrive at 2 pm for our 5pm wedding. The photographers were not able to take pictures of the bridal party or the groomsmen getting ready in the morning. What a disappointment.
We chose Carmen because the hotel we had our wedding at recommended her and we were told that she was amazing and we believed them. Unfortunately Carmen did not deliver.

What can I say about Carmen… She is one of the sweetest people that you may ever meet in your life time. She truly has a talent for wedding coordinating. She has a special touch with amazing attention to details. She made my wedding come to life. She held my hand through the whole process of the stressful times that I had and set my mind back to clarity. I cannot say enough good things about Carmen because she went over and beyond to make my day truly become the fairy tale that I had always dreamed of. It didn’t matter what time of day I would call or text her she would without fail always respond. Because I decided to give Carmen all of my trust my wedding turned out exactly how I had always envisioned it if not better. Everything was like a breeze on the day of my wedding because I had an angel literally flying around and taking care of everything. I didn’t have to worry about anything. She literally took care of everything from holding my dress for my first look to bringing me a drink to calm my nerves just before walking down to become a Mrs. There was no task that was not complete. She took her time to make sure that my wedding was everything I wanted. I couldn’t be happier that I chose her to be my fairy godsister the day of my wedding. I am lucky to have been so blessed to have had her my wedding coordinator. If I were talking to any of my friends who are deciding to get married I would recommend Carmen and Expressionary Events in a heart beat. She was the best investment that I ever made for my happily ever after.

This review is a bit overdue but what can I say, I’m a procrastinator! That’s why I needed Carmen in the first place. Carmen not only made sure I had a beautiful wedding but she saved me! I purchased a dress long before I hired Carmen and the dress shop ended up ruining my dress just 15 days before the wedding!!! What is a girl to do?! Carmen called one of the vendors and got me an appointment to look at some dresses. I fell in love with an Allure gown and they got it overnighted! Including the alteration I had a new dress within 5 days! Just in time for the wedding.

I cannot begin to express what Carmen and her team contributed to our destination wedding. From our welcome gift bags to my barefoot jeweled sandals to our photography to ceremony site to flowers… and everything in between, I could go on and on… Her attention to detail is second to none and not just for the big things, like ceremony site and photography, but for all of the «little» things that add up to be incredibly important in the end, like being a translator with our vendors (Cabo wedding).
Kevin did our photography, and we absolutely love what what he did for us. He was with us all day and worked tirelessly to make sure he got the perfect shots he was looking for. He’s great with children so all of our 6 (!!) little ring bearers and flower girls allowed themselves to be photographed, and resulted in some beautiful pictures. I could not be happier with ALL of my pictures, my hardest decision will be which to blow up!
I have a very tough time making decisions and Carmen was able to guide me, step-​by-​step through the entire process and made it pain-​free. It was raining on and off on our wedding day (we had an outdoor beach wedding), and Carmen was able to keep me calm and collected, I would have lost my mind without her. Through the entire process their team was upbeat, energetic, supportive and accommodating. Overall, their help was invaluable, and you can really tell the entire team genuinely and thoroughly loves what they do. I love them both and have such beautiful memories of my wedding day. I highly, highly recommend Expressionary Events. Best decision besides deciding to get married :)

Wedding planning can be very stressful, especially if you’re busy going to school and working. I can’t imagine having to have planned my wedding without Carmen’s help. Carmen and her team were very easy to work with, professional, and were there to help us from the beginning till the end. They helped us plan our engagement party (décor, candy bar, entertainment), helped us create custom fabulous invitations (themed, with our colors), and even executed a fun filled bridal shower for our friends and family (without all the planning hassle). They also helped us produce a surprise MUSIC VIDEO that was filmed by the beach, which we got to show our loved ones during our reception on our wedding day. I am not gonna lie and say the «Big Day» isn’t stressful, it is… but Carmen and her team worked very hard to make sure nothing went wrong the day of our wedding. She was very organized and provided us and all the vendors with a detailed timeline/​schedule to keep us on track. And I cannot stress this enough, but in the planning process, she always gave us options and alternatives to help us stay within our budget, while still maintaining the look we were aiming for at our wedding. Carmen also has a great working relationship with other vendors, which also ends up saving you quite a bit of money. My husband and I can be indecisive sometimes, but she was patient with us throughout the whole process. We couldn’t ask for a better wedding planner :) I highly recommend expressionary events! Thanks for making our wedding day a dream come true!

I have had the opportunity to work with Carmen many times over the last couple years. She is amazing.
As a Professional Wedding Officiant I depend on my planners to be organized and have everything ready so that I can perform an amazing ceremony.
I always know that when I work with Carmen everything is going to flow smoothly. Everything that I need in order to make my portion of the event exceptional happens.
If you’re looking for an event planner I recommend Expressionary Events highly.

Want to know how a event coordinator is good? You get a referral from another event coordinator. This is how I was about to connect with Expressionary Events. Carmen and her team are THE BEST out there! They go above and beyond wants normal for an event coordinator and I Loved being with them and working on my special day with Carmen. This girl knows what she’s doing and her smile and personality make the process THAT much easier. She’s on the ball and solves issues and problems before they become issues and problems. If I could get married again I would hire Carmen FIRST so I could pick her brain and use her to her full capabilities. (I hired her for the month of)! Thanks Carmen and team!