Harjot Dhaliwal, the founder of Sensi Events, started the company after discovering her passion for event planning. She even planned her own destination wedding in Mexico with 275 guests!

We found it impressive that she managed to plan her wedding overseas even before becoming an event planner. For us, this speaks a lot about her passion and vision, which are important factors in event planning.

Since then, she has planned multiple events regardless of the occasion. That’s probably why she offers a wide range of services, which we were happy about.

Furthermore, she plans weddings, birthdays, parties, and even concerts. We believe this speaks about her expertise and flexibility in planning and designing.

Another positive aspect we like is the free consultation because events, especially big ones, can cause a tonne of money. Also, not all event planners give free initial consultations; that’s why we like this complimentary service.

A slight concern is the lack of a portfolio for clients to check. Sensi Events is also a young company with less than five years in the industry.

Moreover, being a new business can push people away looking for high experience levels. That’s why we think an updated portfolio, especially on social media pages, is essential to show the company’s skills.

On a good note, Dhaliwal has shown creativity and professionalism in planning and designing. Despite being new in the industry, clients have complimented her incredible eye for detail.

Additionally, clients complimented her exceptional and personable service. Some even mentioned that she exceeded their expectations – a big plus in our book!

Lastly, Sensi Event caters to clients in Edmonton, Calgary, and Washington, USA. Because of this, you can expect that she has many connections in Canada and the USA that are valuable in destination weddings.

Joy by Joelle is an Edmonton company founded by Joelle Tripp. It specialises in weddings and corporate events across Western Canada.

We were impressed with the stunning and creative wedding elements. Since weddings are expensive one-time events, we believe the details are important when perfectly capturing the occasion’s ambience.

Additionally, people can check past events that the team has organised. The way we see it, portfolios are helpful and highly essential for both client and the event planner.

Moreover, it allows people to see the design skills to get a better look at who they’re hiring. Their social media pages are updated too, and they even have Pinterest so you can add to your wedding board!

Regarding prices, their full-day coordination wedding package starts at $10,500. Meanwhile, the two-hour consultation is $375.

Compared to other event planners in Edmonton, these rates are higher. But cheaper packages are available, and choosing the lead planner instead of Tripp will have more affordable rates.

Despite the slightly higher prices, many clients didn’t mind because of the exceptional service that exceeded their expectations. They also complimented the helpful and graceful approach, even with time constraints.

We were really glad to hear about these qualities because it’s no secret that wedding planning is stressful. Some brides even mentioned that they cried out of stress, but Joy by Joelle’s crew managed their meltdowns.

Our only concern is the limitation because they only accept weddings and corporate events. Unfortunately, those planning other occasions may need to look elsewhere.

River City Events offers full-service event management and rentals. It designs, plans, and offers rental equipment for the convenience of hiring just one company.

It started in 2007 and has been serving Edmonton and its surrounding areas. Over the years, the company has grown and even moved to a large facility with a showroom and easy pick-ups and drop-offs.

It’s worth highlighting that they’ve worked on high-profile events, including the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, the 2020 NHL Playoff Bubble, and the Red Bull Crashed Ice.

Even so, River City Events caters to small and intimate events. And these experiences show the crew’s expertise in managing different kinds of situations.

Additionally, they offer rental equipment perfect for any occasion, from barbecue equipment to tents! They even rent staging equipment for big corporate parties.

The advantage of this is clients won’t have to worry about hiring another company for supplies. It also reduces the number of people they need to communicate with, which can lessen the stress of having an event.

On the downside, we think they can improve customer service because some clients had issues with inaccurate estimates and wrong billing. Although they resolved the situation immediately, it can still be bothersome.

Sadly, we also heard a few issues about delivering the wrong items. Because of this, some clients had to adjust and were quite stressed out about the situation.

Olivia Fata Events was only established in 2018. Despite that, its owner, Olivia Fata, has had over 13 years of event planning experience.

Moreover, Fata has a passion for organisation and planning. In fact, she’s a certified special event manager and a certified wedding planner.

From our point of view, these qualifications can help clients trust her expertise in handling their events, especially weddings. It also means that she has a great eye for detail, in our opinion.

The clients we surveyed agreed with us, too. They appreciated that Fata handled everything, allowing them to have a stress-free wedding.

Additionally, many mentioned her organisational skills. This is an important quality we look for in an event planner, and that’s why we were pleased about this.

Upon checking her portfolio, we were impressed with her consistency and arrangement. In addition, we like the creativity of the set-ups, which we feel captured the couples’ personalities perfectly.

Another worth appreciating is the fair rates. Olivia Fata Events charge a starting rate of $3,500 plus 15% of the booked services. 

Furthermore, there are other packages for those looking for more affordable prices. On top of those, clients get their money’s worth because of the excellent service.

A minor but slightly inconvenient thing is the unavailable contact hours on the website. As a service, we feel that this is one factor that people look for when contacting a company.

Lastly, she only handles weddings. Unfortunately, this limits the people who want to hire her.

Cocktails & Details is a boutique wedding planning service founded by Jenna Fisher. It also offers styling services to help clients realise their dream weddings and events.

It has been in the industry for over ten years and offers full wedding planning services, providing convenience to a happy but otherwise stressful day.

Speaking of services, we appreciate the fair prices starting at $6,900 for the lead planner’s full-service wedding planning. But for those who prefer to hire Fisher, the rate starts at $8,900.

In addition, other packages are available for clients who only want someone to ensure the day runs smoothly. They also handle destination weddings, which can be a pain to arrange, in our opinion.

Another aspect we like is Cocktails & Details accepts planning for other events, like showers, holidays, and birthday parties. Businesses can also hire them for corporate events.

Despite specialising in weddings, we appreciate that they plan for other occasions, too. From our perspective, this allows past wedding clients to employ them again.

It’s worth noting that they have continued to provide an elegant feel in their past events. We think this says a lot about the quality of the vendors they associate with.

As for the quality, the clients we talked with said that Cocktails & Details was outstanding. Many brides appreciated that Fisher and her team were helpful, which lessened their stress levels.

One quality that keeps on popping up is Fisher’s assertiveness. For us, this is a key trait in an event planner because it helps a bunch during mishaps with other vendors.

An issue we found, although minor, is that Cocktails & Details opens later than similar services. Also, we think they can add more people to help when communicating with clients.

We heard Fisher seemed a little too busy during a wedding and reported back a tad later than usual. On the plus side, she handles stress really well, which can be seen through her demeanour and professionalism.