Big City Bride

Chrissy Magliano is just about my favorite human being on this earth! I could write an entire dissertation about how wonderful Chrissy, Christine Cronin, and everyone at Big City Bride are, and it still wouldn't do any of them justice. We started working with Chrissy in 2018, with an intended wedding date of Fall 2020. As you can imagine, things didn't quite go as originally planned. Chrissy guided us through the entire wedding planning process - and then re-planning process as we had to shift the wedding weekend to a year later in 2021 - with more grace, patience, and kindness than we

Claire was absolutely amazing!! She was helpful and available whenever I needed her, I truly felt like my vision just came true because of her she took all my little comments and put it altogether into a magical vision. I can’t say enough good things about this company and especially Claire, I would highly recommend her and her planning abilities!!

"PERFECTION" is the only word that can describe our wedding and our entire experience working with Claire (Weller) Brown and the rest of the BCB team! Claire was quick to reply to our questions and always made herself available to meet or Zoom with us - truly, we don't know how she juggles it all so effortlessly! She understood our vision down to the very last detail and executed it flawlessly, even recommending ideas we never would've thought of that helped make our day even more special.

The selection of vendors BCB recommends is incredible -- everyone is so professional

I was a COVID bride and after repanning my wedding for the third time I decided to hire BCB selecting their petite package. Christine was absolutely unbelieveable. She immediately made me feel taken care of. She provided great guidance, helped with recommendations, finalized all the details allowing me to be completely worry free on my wedding day. I could not be any happier with the work of the entire BCB group - they were absolutely fantastic and the event was completely perfect (and well worth the wait)!

Finding a planner was our number one priority and we found the BEST! It took one meeting for us to know that Claire would pull off the night of our dreams. Our list was simple - great food and drink and a non-stop dance party in the city, but getting there requires so many considerations and decisions and she made it so incredibly easy and fun! We were one of the Covid couples who was just starting to plan a December 30, 2020 wedding when we had to cancel, remain in a holding pattern and then re-schedule all the vendors. Claire was there for every step of the process and even though none of us

Arin Busch was everything we could have hoped for in a wedding planner. She was very responsive, organized, always upbeat and enthusiastic, and we really felt like we were a priority to her and her team at Big City Bride throughout the whole planning process! Words can't describe how thankful we were to have her on our side. We couldn't recommend her and Big City Bride enough!

Working with Chrissy at Big City Bride couldn't have been better! She is an amazing person and amazing at what she does. She is extremely organized, positive, and does this job better than anyone I have ever seen. Hands down. I know my wedding wouldn't have been half as great without her help! Not only did she guide us through every step of the planning process from site visits to vendor bids to budgeting - she really cared about understanding my vision and bringing it to life. At times I swear she knew what i wanted better than I did! She just gets it. And then came the wedding day.

We had a wonderful experience with Johnna from start to finish! We met in an unorthodox way due to COVID and needing to fully reschedule our wedding from 2020 to 2021. Johnna took all of that stress and pressure off of us and I cannot thank her enough for that. I knew from the beginning I could put all of my trust in Johnna but I didn't know just how blessed I was to have her. She was always so punctual, friendly, encouraging, organized, and there to fully support us with any challenge that arose. But best of all is that because I could trust her so easily and place my entire wedding in her

Arin Calamari (Busch) made not one but two of our weddings spectacular. She was personable and energetic and it felt like I had a best friend helping me plan my wedding. Throughout covid, she kept her cool and made quick educated decisions that made me feel in control and comforted in a time when no one knew what was going on. Both of my weddings were nothing shy of perfection because my friends at Big City Bride we're there behind the scenes making every detail shine. I honestly don't know where I would have been throughout all of the chaos without my husband, my mom, and my wedding

From a Mother-of-the-Bride perspective:
Without a doubt, this is the wedding planner to choose for Chicago. Our planner, Arin Busch, was a true delight to work with, so professional, in-control of so much, and on top of the schedule. We could share (aka move) all the worry and stress to her. We had two incredible weddings: the 2020 small Church-only one and the 2021 fun one.
With everything shutting down and looking like all the plans-to-date would be lost, Arin contacted all vendors immediately to move our wedding plans to 2021. Then, she became our superhero, helping organize a second 2020

Johnna Johnna Johnna ! We can't put into words how amazing it was to have Johnna Metcalf on our wedding planning team. She is without a doubt one of the most hard working and compassionate people we have ever met. She was with us every single step of the planning process and was an advocate for us at every single turn. She is extremely detail oriented, organized, and so beyond dedicated to her clients. She truly cares and it shows. She literally flew across the country to meet with us before our big day! She is as genuine as they come and as sweet as can be, but also knows how to get things

Arin and BIG City Bride was the MVP of our daughter's Wedding. Thank you for pivoting with us and making our daughter's outdoor wedding even better than the originally planned BIG CITY wedding. With Arin's creativity, patience, and professionalism we were able to host an amazing Wedding week-end despite the ever changing COVID restrictions. Arin and her staff took care of every detail making the wedding day, the rehearsal, and the brunch the next day seem like a dream. Arin has a magic about her and made everything perfect. We can't thank you enough!

I honestly don't know where to begin! To say that Arin Calamari (Now Busch) is a pro at her job, and an absolute joy to work with, is a complete understatement! Due to a postponed wedding thanks to COVID, I had the utmost pleasure of working with Arin for over a year and a half. One could say that getting to chat with Arin often was the silver lining during a challenging year. Throughout the entire experience, she was truly there for me through it all. Not only did she help us choose (based on my personal style and vision) and lock-in all of our vendors from the get-go, but she also helped

A few short sentences on Google does not do justice to what Chrissy and the BCB team gave to my wife and I. We had the perfect wedding plan all ready to go until COVID upended everything. There were so many unknowns and concerns when everything first got shut down and Chrissy worked tirelessly to line up all of our vendors for a new date in 2021 all while providing a sense of calm to both of us. Fast forward a year to the actual wedding date and she executed everything to perfection. The day couldn't have been better. We could enjoy the entire weekend knowing everything would happen just the

While I have not been married or planned a wedding, I have been to several Big City Bride events and they were absolutely, positively spectacular! Susan is incredibly talented and creative. She's also super sweet and polite.

Christine is amazing. I can't say enough about her professionalism. Christine is kind and compassionate, she will make you feel like her only bride. She takes care of every single detail to make your day absolutely magical. In less than 3 days, she was able to put together a positively breathtaking event, because my venue was unable to accommodate. If it wasn't for Christine we wouldn't have made it down the aisle nor been able to celebrate with our loved ones. She is 5 star!! Go with Big City Bride & Christine - you won't regret it!!

Christine was our coordinator and I can't say enough positive things about her! We were one of many couples who had to change plans due to COVID. Christine was instrumental in helping us navigating many unknown variables to make the best informed decisions. When we decided to down size our wedding from 120 to 13, Christine was so supportive and went above and beyond leading up to our wedding day. We had multiple "change of plans" due to the fluid nature of the Chicago COVID restrictions and she took it upon herself early on to assist with communicating and coordinating across our

Claire Weller is a true miracle worker. We had originally been planning an April 2020 wedding in Chicago, which was postponed and replanned multiple times.

We decided to shift directions and get married in our hometown with just Family with a dinner in my parents backyard to allow for social distancing. Without missing a beat, Claire helped us to plan the most amazing micro-wedding. It felt like a true fairytale.

During both the initial planning process and then the re-planning process we were amazed at Claire's creativity, kindness, honesty, problem solving and availability.

Throughout

Arin at Big City Bridal was our "day of" planner and made our wedding day stress free.
From the moment Arin became involved in our wedding she was on top of details and was in constant contact with us. Returned emails and texts promptly. Answered endless questions.
Early in the week prior to the wedding I was able to drop off all of those items that needed to be at the wedding but are a pain to bring in addition to luggage etc---like a big basket of flip flops and sign among other things. Arin arrived at the rehearsal with all of the necessary items and ran the rehearsal for us. Wedding

Claire Weller made it clear from the beginning that she would always be available to my now-husband and I to help every step of the way, and would be incredibly organized & accommodating. Soon after I submitted an inquiry with Big City Bride, Claire reached out and told me she loved all of my ideas and was already full of excitement about helping me map it all out. What started as an introductory phone call sort of turned into a mini therapy session as I told Claire how overwhelmed I had felt since getting engaged about the entire wedding planning process. As someone who has Master's level

It was absolutely wonderful working with Arin at Big City Bride to plan our wedding! My fiancé (now husband) and I had selected a tricky venue for our tent wedding and knew we would need some help bringing our vision to life. I spoke with a number of planners in the Chicago-area but Arin was the FIRST planner that actually made me EXCITED about the wedding planning process! Not only is she fantastic at her job, but she's also extremely personable, positive and so SO much fun to work with. Definitely a breath of fresh air!

From the get-go, BCB was willing to work with us to customize a package

Hiring Big City Bride as my partner in wedding planning was one of the best decisions I've made in my life! I'm the definition of a bride who struggles to give up control... so when I realized I needed help, I went to the best. I had interviewed a handful of companies, but always felt something was missing. From Day 1 of meeting with Kayla at BCB, I instantly felt at ease and clicked with her. Through every stage of a year of planning, Kayla was always there, took initiative, was my cheerleader, my sounding board, a shoulder to cry on when I needed to vent, and the best partner I could

We hired Arin of Big City Bride as our day-of-coordinator. Other than deciding to marry one another, this was the absolute best decision we made for our wedding.

Arin did incredible work (and with such grace, patience, and enthusiasm). She emailed back and forth with the band, caterer, flower vendor, and venue contacts to make the perfect timeline. She made copies of our marriage license, readings, schedule, contracts, and contacts. She handled taking all the wedding sundries (the bathroom baskets, programs, signage) to the venue. She collected our marriage license, gratuity for all the vendors

Extraordinary company, even better people. I trust them completely. Be thankful you found them and enjoy every moment.

If I could give Arin Calamari and Big City Bride 5,672 stars, I would. I cannot say enough about what an incredible experience it was to work with this amazing girl!! I began planning for our wedding on my own, we had a whole year and I thought - "why not? I'm creative!" Little did I know that when it came down to crunch time in the last month that I would need so much help. Arin was quick to call and save the day, and once she had all the details she literally ran the whole of everything with such grace, poise and excellence. Throughout the whole night of our wedding we kept getting asked about