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Top Chicago Wedding Planners

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BURST Event Co is an award-winning team of Chicago Wedding Planners with a combined experience of 30+ years in events.

 

Our diverse backgrounds in event planning, hospitality, wedding & event design, film & TV production & fashion makes us a well-rounded team of logistics experts, design fairies & guest experience specialists.

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Our expert team has been featured in national publications like The Associated Press, NBC News, Wedding Chicks, and Maharani Weddings.

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Because we know that wedding planning overwhelm is stealing joy from engaged couples, there are certain key characteristics we know we need to have to accomplish our mission of getting all engaged couples back to being excited about getting married.

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  1. We are relational. What we do is 90% relationships and 10% wedding planning so we work hard to consistently strengthen our relationships with our customers, our vendor partners and each other.

  2. We are inclusive. Our mission is to get ALL engaged couples back to being excited about getting married. That means we lovingly & equally serve LGBTQ+ couples, BIPOC, interracial couples, any couples of any religion. 

  3. We are creative problem-solvers. Planning a wedding requires creativity in everything from how we design a table to how we allocate a budget to how we manage a dropped cake on the wedding day to how we facilitate the resolution of family conflict.

  4. We advocate. We view ourselves as the bridge between client and vendor, so we are always working to advocate for both parties. Sometimes that looks like calling vendors in to fix gendered language in their marketing or unethical commission practices and sometimes that looks like holding clients accountable to boundaries and deadlines. In order to make these partnerships work well and the planning process to feel as stress-free as possible, we work diligently to advocate for whoever needs a voice.

  5. We have fun. It's wild to us that planning a celebration of love, commitment, and community has developed a reputation of being a drag. Vendors and couples alike are burnt out and we work to bring the fun back to wedding planning through our own work/life balance boundaries and time off policies for our team, planning breaks for our couples, and developing playful relationships with both our vendor partners and clients.

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ALEXIS ALVAREZ

CEO - she/her

Alexis opened BURST after spending 5 years in the hospitality industry and nearly 10 years dreaming of owning her own business. While on maternity leave with her oldest daughter, Lillian, Alexis realized that if she was going to teach her newborn daughter that she can live her dreams and have a family, that she had to do it herself first. So with a 3-month-old baby, between naps and nursing, Alexis launched BURST Event Co. 7 years, another baby, and 100+ weddings later, Alexis is excited to fully step into the role of CEO; shifting her focus to creating new services, allowing BURST Event Co to live our mission of helping ALL couples, regardless of budget, defeat confusion and reclaim the joy that comes with being engaged, and working on our most logistically challenging events.

What was your 1st job? "Scooper" at Oberweis

What's your go to karaoke song? Ice Ice Baby

What's your favorite thing you've seen at a wedding this year? The Tiktok Table Photo Dash

If you won a lifetime supply of one thing, what would you want it to be? New Pillows!

What is something you could teach a class on without any warning? The Relational Complexities of Gilmore Girls 

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BEVERLY

Creative Director - she/her

Beverly joined our team after spending 15 years as a Floral Designer and 4 years WOW-ing our clients with her out of this world floral creations. Bev uses her extraordinary design talent & remarkable way of understanding a couple's vision to support our entire team at being the most creative and unique Planners possible. Bev is known by her clients for her profound and genuine love for the people she works with and her unmatched imagination.

What was your 1st job? Receptionist at a tattoo shop! Fun fact: I got my 1st tattoo at 40!

What's your go to karaoke song? Mr. Brightside

What's your favorite thing you've seen at a wedding this year? Rainbow Cone Ice Cream Truck

If you won a lifetime supply of one thing, what would you want it to be? Weed but don't use that one :)  Coffee yes, let's say that instead

What is something you could teach a class on without any warning? Travel and Gross Manipulation of the 3 Day Weekend for Non-Bursties (bc unlimited PTO)

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CHRISTINA

Managing Director - she/her

Christina joined The Bursties after working as an Event Coordinator at Darby House in Columbus. Her experience working at the venue level brings expertise in the management of vendors & the wedding day. Since joining the Burst team in 2020, Christina has become an expert in keeping clients supported through the ebbs and flows of planning and has now taken on the roll of Managing Director, supporting our entire team in being the most efficient and thorough Planners possible. Christina is known by her clients and our team for her consistency, proactiveness, and detailed meeting agendas.

What was your 1st job? I worked at the boutique attached to the dance studio I attended  

What's your go to karaoke song? Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker lolz

What's your favorite thing you've seen at a wedding this year? Booty pic artist! 

If you won a lifetime supply of one thing, what would you want it to be? Gummy Sharks

What is something you could teach a class on without any warning? Why Shrek 2 is the Superior Film of the Trilogy 

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LIZ

Event Director - she/her

Liz joined our team after moving from a self-proclaimed IG stalker to an intern for our busiest, most sink or swim wedding szn - 2021. And she SWAM you guys! Liz quickly became a highly requested and recommended Wedding Attendant. Our clients immediately fell in love with her infectious laugh, bubbly personality, and ability to become BFFs with an entire wedding party in a matter of moments. Prior to joining our team, Liz spent 6 years as a Flight Attendant for Skywest Airlines, handling wedding-level chaos, only IN THE AIR. Since joining our team full time, Liz has nearly single-handedly managed the relocation and replanning of nearly 30 couples after our former venue partners closed both of their venues simultaneously. Liz is known by her clients for her responsiveness, thorough weekly updates, and the thoughtful time she gives each of her clients.

What was your 1st job? The Stam Greenhouse

What's your go-to karaoke song? You Oughta Know, Alanis Morsiette 

What's your favorite thing you've seen at a wedding this year? Teacup Favors

If you won a lifetime supply of one thing, what would you want it to be? Wine babe

What is something you could teach a class on without any warning? The Royal Family

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ALLY

Event Director - she/her

Before joining our team full time, Ally completed 2 years in our job training program while finishing up her degree at DePaul. She has a bachelors in PR and Advertising with a dual minor in Event Planning and Business. In addition to her internship with our team, she interned with a handful of other Chicago Wedding Planning firms and planned events for her sorority, Alpha Phi, including their biggest philanthropy event, The Red Dress Gala. Ally was then promoted to Junior Event Director in which she quickly mastered wedding execution and has now been promoted to Event Director where she works with our clients from beginning to end in their planning process. 

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Ally clients consistently compliment her responsiveness and excitement over their plans!

What was your 1st job? I worked at an Ice Cream Shop in Oswego called The Dairy Hut

What's your go-to karaoke song? I wanna dance with somebody!  

What's your favorite thing you've seen at a wedding this year? Late night Karaoke!!

If you won a lifetime supply of one thing, what would you want it to be? Starbucks giftcards

What is something you could teach a class on without any warning? Where to get the best food in Chicago!

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KEN

Office Manager - he/him

Ken joined The Burst team after spending 10 years working in project and account management in the logistics + transportation management industry. Ken is a master doer and keeps all of our wheels turning here at BURST. You'll interact with Ken when you initially onboard with us, but most of his work is BTS managing our processes and team.

What was your 1st job? Dairy Queen Blizzard Artist

What's your go-to karaoke song? The Duck Song 

What's your favorite thing you've seen at a wedding this year? People dancing because that's how often I get out.

If you won a lifetime supply of one thing, what would you want it to be? Coffee

What is something you could teach a class on without any warning? Playlist Curation 101

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