Big City Bride - Chicago, Illinois

Haley W.

The moment I got engaged I immediately knew I wanted Susan to be my wedding planner. She did my older sister’s wedding 10 yrs ago, and I just knew she would be the most perfect person to execute my dream wedding. From the very start, she understood our vision and brought it to life in a way that was even more magical than we imagined. Every detail, from the glamour and elegance to the timeless Old Hollywood charm, was executed flawlessly. Susan’s creativity, dedication, and meticulous planning made the entire process seamless and stress-free. We were able to fully enjoy every moment, knowing we were in the best hands. Our wedding was an absolute dream. Thank you for making our wedding day unforgettable. We are beyond grateful for you and couldn’t have asked for a more talented and wonderful planner!

Andrew B.

My wife and I were extremely pleased with our experience with Big City Bride and will highly recommend them to anyone getting married in the future. We worked with Susan and one of her team members, Alex. Throughout the entire process, Susan and Alex were professional, courteous, and respectful.

We had a VERY tight window that would work for us and all of our families…we basically gave her 1 weekend that would work in an entire year. But she made it happen. Not to mention the wedding was planned in 10 months, and we initially thought would be a sufficient amount of time. In hindsight, it was a tight window. Not to mention life threw my wife and I a lot of curveballs but no matter what changes needed to be made, they accommodated us. Their kindness, compassion, and understanding were greatly appreciated.

And the venue, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), couldn’t have been beat. In fact, without Susan’s relationships in the industry, we aren’t even sure if that would have been a possibility for us.
Standing in that room with my new wife and all of our family and friends really felt like a fairy tale. We got so many AMAZING pictures from the event. Susan and Alex’s attention to detail and communication were fantastic. Throughout the entire wedding weekend, they made sure everything ran smoothly and that we had everything we needed. We even got them to join in on a little dancing at the end of the night.

Jason P.

We cannot say enough wonderful things about Jena and the entire team at Big City Bride. From our very first conversation, it was clear that Jena was not only incredibly talented and professional, but also genuinely passionate about creating beautiful, meaningful celebrations.

Every detail was carefully thought out, every vendor she recommended was incredible, and the entire planning process felt seamless and organized.

Everything was absolutely perfect on the wedding day. We were able to be completely present with our family and friends, knowing that Jena had everything under control. Working with her felt like having a close friend in our corner who genuinely cared about making our day special. Our parents were so impressed with everything Jena did to help us.

Hiring Jena and Big City Bride was the best decision we made. If you’re lucky enough to have Jena as your planner, you are in the very best hands.

Victoria L.

Having Madison as our wedding planner was the BEST decision we made throughout our entire wedding process. She made our wedding everything we wanted and more! We truly had a fairytale wedding day and Madison played SUCH a huge part. From helping find vendors, to the efficient email communications, her perfect advice, and truly handling any of all of my changes/questions/wishes, Madison handled it all with such grace and professionalism. Any stress I ever felt, she ALWAYS had a solution and took the stressful load off of me which was such a gift in itself. I loved how personal it felt to work with her. She was truly invested in my vision and understood it completely. On wedding day, it was amazing to see all of the planning come to life and we cannot thank Madison more. She is so organized and has the biggest attention to detail which made wedding day so smooth, timely, and enjoyable for everyone! Above all, Madison is the sweetest, kindest, more respectful person inside and out. She made our day one we will never forget and we give her our highest recommendation to any bride and groom. THANK YOU MADISON!!! <3

Nick S.

It’s proven surprisingly difficult to write this review, as even the kindest of words and feedback seem to fall short in describing our experience and time with Jena Hansen and the Big City Bride team.

The glowing reviews shared by other newlyweds mirror our experience and sentiment. The Big City Bride team upholds a standard of excellence across all aspects of the planning process, and we felt valued, respected, and prioritized from the onset. It was evident that Jena and the team were extremely thoughtful and considerate with each recommendation or suggestion — quite invaluable for us, as we never had a grand “vision” for our special day – something that most other couples had seemingly figured out well before their own planning processes. I was personally quite skeptical of wedding planners and the broader wedding industry prior to working with Jena and yet now hold entirely different views. The cost for Jena’s time and assistance was worth every cent, and she was masterful in pulling every request, idea, and suggestion into a beautiful and memorable wedding weekend.

It’s important that we briefly acknowledge Jena’s patience and grace as well. My wife and I happened to be working through one of the more difficult periods in our lives while attempting to balance the demands of work, wedding planning, and settling into a new and unfamiliar city. We found a generous amount of patience and flexibility with Jena as our wedding planner, yet unexpectedly found the support and empathy of a new friend that was able to relate on a personal level to the recent developments in our lives.

For those still undecided on a need to hire a wedding planner or Big City Bride specifically, please seriously consider reaching out, if even for a brief introductory call. It’ll be well worth your time.

Thanks, again, Jena!

Julie D.

As a wedding photographer, it is really important to work with a great planner so the day goes smoothly for not only the couple but all the vendors involved. I jump for joy every time I see that I am working with Big City Bride on a wedding. I have worked with Johnna multiple times and have the BEST experience. Not only does she handle every detail and pivot with grace, she is fun to work with! Couples love working with her, vendors love working with her, and the weddings always go off without a hitch. I could not recommend Johnna or the Big City Bride team more.

Jennifer R.

Madison is an absolutely phenomenal wedding planner. There's no way we could have pulled off our wedding to this level without her expertise. Her organizational skills are top-notch, and she connected us with the best vendors in the business. She always gave us amazing advice, helping us make decisions that we’ll cherish forever. What truly sets Madison apart is her ability to handle any situation that comes her way, always staying calm and composed. On the big day, she effortlessly juggled countless tasks, and everything went so smoothly thanks to her meticulous planning and execution. We couldn’t have asked for a better planner!

Alaina D.

Oh my goodness! I am so thankful I found Big City Brides which then lead me to our AMAZING wedding planner/designer Claire Weller! Hiring BCB was the best decision I made hands down! Claire went above and beyond for us every step of the way. She was very flexible with meeting times and working around my professional job as well as my Chicago Bulls cheerleading schedule. Although I didn’t always make decision right away or get things done on our to-do list right away, Claire was always there to help me stay on track and really helped me take it one step at a time and provided that avenue to allow me to balance the wedding to-do’s with my busy schedule! (Lord only knows what she went through to keep my options open as I took time to make decisions). Claire truly made the process of planning easy, fun and enjoyable! Her/BCBs network in the industry is one that is unmatched!

At the beginning Claire sat down with me and really drilled down to what my vision and dream was for the wedding, she really took the time to understand what I wanted and made sure to bring that to life! She also had the most amazing suggestions along the way that ended up being some of our favorite details! In addition she understood our budget and really helped us align the budget and the dream.

Another thing about Claire is that we started our journey a week before she got married herself. A few months later she found out she was expecting her sweet baby boy! This may have been the most exciting year for Claire’s personal life and let me tell ya, she never skipped a beat on planning our wedding! Claire was always on top of everything but in preparation for Claire’s baby BCB/Claire introduced us to Jena Hanson.

Jena Hansen was just wonderful to work with as well!!! With Claire & Jena I truly felt like I was in the BEST hands heading into the last few months til our big day! We went over wedding day details such as gifts I wanted to give out, paper goods, DIY items, seating chart/cards, tips, champagne glasses & cake cutter, and so much more. Jena made sure anything going to the venues she collected from me prior and anything I needed for the hotel she triple checked I had completed it and packed it. She really helped me make sure that I didn’t miss a thing that I wanted to have/do on my wedding day.

Now the day of, let me tell you how relieving and exciting it was to see Jena and Claire the morning of at the hotel while we were getting our make-up and hair done. They were present, excited and on top of their game! They were SO AMAZING from beginning to end!

Another “day of” detail to mention is that since we started the day at the renaissance hotel, then had our ceremony at St. Josaphat and lastly our reception at Morgan Manufacturing BCB recommended a third helper for part of the day so that Claire could be with me/bridesmaids, Jena could be with Drew(Groom)/Groomsmen and the third could be at Morgan Manufacturing in the morning for set up and at the Church prior to the wedding party arriving to help keep things running smoothly. I understood the purpose/need for another helper on the day of and immediately agreed. Came to find out on the big day that the third BCB personnel was Susan Cordogan, owner of BCB herself!

Needless to say when you are a Big City Bride you are in the BEST hands! People always say “Wow Alaina you were so in the moment, calm and happy on your wedding day” and I always let them know that its because of BCB! I seriously floated through the entire day and took in every moment! Drew and I cannot thank BCB enough! When we think about our wedding we are in disbelief of how amazing/perfect the entire day was.