Reviews of Erica Irwin Weddings & Events (Event Planner)

Jon Tackabury

What a dream it was to work with Erica. We are truly grateful we found her - she is an amazing planner and person. Hiring her was the best wedding decision we made. She helped us plan our wedding at the Museum of Nature from halfway across the country and we could not have pulled it off without her. We received so many compliments or how well the day was organized, and flowers/decor looked more beautiful than we could have imagined. Throughout the process Erica was communicative, efficient - a true professional. She was our liaison between vendors and made thoughtful suggestions based on our personalities. Her experience in the industry proved to be invaluable. On our wedding day, we were confident knowing everything would run smoothly with Erica in our corner. Her personality and attention to detail are what makes her really excel her work. From being a human bib when you want espresso right before the ceremony, to pinning and taping you into your third dress of the night! Erica, we cannot thank you enough!

Hao Shi

Erica, thank you. We are so happy to have met you. Your calm, creative, and proactive attitude made planning our wedding a complete delight. Thank you for being so receptive in the months leading up to our big day and then being such a superstar the day of. You thought of everything. Our guests told us over and over how much they appreciated you, too! We would recommend Erica in a heartbeat. She will take care of you and make sure all of your dreams come true (and on budget. And on time.) XOX

Warner Chaves

When we decided to hire a wedding planner to make our day as special as it could be, we were confident it was the right decision, but were unprepared for just how amazing a difference it would make. Well that “difference” comes down to one person – Erica Irwin. Her care, professionalism and attention to detail were on full display from day one. She listens. Asking us what “experience” and “atmosphere” we wanted to create with our day, she keyed in to what was truly important for us – whether we were fully aware of it or not! It is often said that the journey to a destination should be enjoyed just as much as the destination itself – well Erica certainly made that journey enjoyable, presenting us with a list of creative options and recommendations for each planning stage. In doing this, she relieved us of the administrative burden and allowed us to focus on the decisions that would ultimately make our day special for ourselves, and even more importantly to us, for our guests. Notably, Erica would channel her vast experience into letting us know whether an “idea” would work or not, or on issues such as the proper timing, order and number of speakers to ensure balance and a continuous energy for our reception. The end result – with Erica’s care, guidance and planning wisdom, our day far exceeded our already high expectations – it was truly an amazing “life event”. Thank you so much for everything Erica – you are the “genuine article” and a veritable “wedding-pro”! It certainly says something when guests and members of the wedding party remark on what a great wedding planner we had! Count Dominy and I as two of your biggest fans, of which there are many :)

Kaitlin Torrance

Erica Irwin is an outstanding wedding planner. She is professional, responsive, and full of life, all of which lead to confidence and trust by her clients. She has excellent relationships with numerous vendors in the area, and her recommendations are sound. She is very flexible, and provides suggestions that are tailored to your budget and taste. My husband and I are both physicians with hectic schedules, and Erica was able to cut through the chaos, and streamline the wedding planning experience. Our wedding was originally planned for October 2020, and due to the pandemic, Erica was instrumental in helping us move the date. The transition from our perspective was seamless, and was coordinated by Erica behind the scenes. Moreover, Erica helped us to re-design a wedding for 100 guests down to a small, intimate, COVID-friendly affair. We would not have been married without her, and we are so grateful for all the assistance that she has provided us. I would highly recommend Erica to anyone in the Ottawa area.

Mikaelan Solange

Erica was awesome to work with and a must-have for wedding planning and day-of co-ordination. She walked us through everything from the beginning and has a lot of knowledge and experience. On the wedding day, she was very calm and handled everything perfectly - multiple table changes, checking the decor, being a phone messenger, and making sure everyone is where they need to be. Thanks to her hard work, everything went smoothly and everybody had an amazing time!

Meghan Holmes

Best.Planner.Ever. We can't say enough about the amazing job that Erica did in planning our wedding at the Aviation Museum. She has a great vision to help you throw the best party of your life, is so creative, incredibly organized, hard working, efficient, always easy to reach, quick to respond, and has a wonderful personality to boot. She made our day better than we ever could have imagined. The day went off without a hitch for us because of her commitment to taking care of all the little details ahead of time and effortlessly problem solving any little glitches that came up on the day of. Our guests had a blast and so many even commented to us about how amazing she was. Did we mention she is also one of the nicest people we have ever met!? We couldn't recommend her more highly. We would give her a million stars if google would let us! Thank you so much for making our day the best one of our lives :)

Callie Thiyagarajah

José and I asked for Erica's aid once we realized that our wedding of 150 would turn into 50 with many restrictions in place due to COVID. We felt overwhelmed with all the changes and did not know how to make our special day a memorable one. Little did we know, COVID restriction would continue to sabotage our plans. Thankfully, Erica was able to secure two other venues on short notice to make sure we can keep our wedding date and prevent us from loosing even more money. In fact, with her help we were able to plan our wedding within 10 days at Le Belvedere and it was magical. José and I highly recommend this wedding planner as she will be able to tackle down anything that comes her way. She prioritizes her clients and allowed us to fully enjoy our wedding day as she took care of all the logistics.

Richelle West

We used Erica for our wedding and she was fantastic. We keep recommending her to friends who all share our opinion that Erica is a rockstar.

Ed Schwartz

From the first meeting with Erica, I knew she had the experience and sense of style we were looking for in planning our wedding. Her friendly and enthusiastic personality made our appointments something to look forward to – like meeting up with a friend! We were continually impressed with her organization, ideas and support. She gently guided us to ensure we had essential services booked in plenty of time and always replied to our inquires very quickly. When choosing vendors, she provided many options but was also pleased to work with individuals we suggested. The one time we hit a speed bump, she was quick to help us figure out a new plan. It was also essential to have Erica on the wedding weekend. Both Grant and I were able to celebrate with friends and family worry free as we were so confident in the planning and the work that had already been done. Erica handled all timelines and questions from the vendors. The wedding was gorgeous from start to finish and our only job that day was to enjoy it. We cannot recommend Erica highly enough.

Natalie BP

Where do I begin? Two weeks ago,Erica created the most beautiful wedding for my daughter Sarah and her bestie,Scot! From beginning to end Erica was always there to help! She is simply an amazing wedding planner. Her organizational skills are impeccable which helped us stay on track planning wise and budget wise. She co-ordinated all the wedding vendors and they were all outstanding. When COVID -19 happened the wedding was postponed till the summer of 2021. But then, about 1 month before the original date, S&S decided to go ahead with a smaller ,more intimate wedding and Erica had to quickly finalize all the wedding plans.....and she did it! It was beyond perfect! Sarah’s vision came to life.....the wedding of her dreams! What a beautiful day it was and the whole process was stress free! It was such a delight to work with Erica. Words cannot express how grateful we were to have Erica help our Sarah with her wedding! We were so glad we found her! You are the best of the best ,Erica and we will miss you! Warmest regards, Cathy????

Kylie Secord

Erica was such a wonderful addition to our wedding day. We had no concerns handing everything over to her, and thanks to her talents, the entire weekend went off without a hitch. She was super accessible and communicative throughout the process, and very organized leading up to the weekend and throughout the wedding. She made everyone feel at ease, and showed up to every event with a smile on her face. Our day would not have come together as perfectly without her. Thank you, Erica!

Rebecca B

Hiring Erica was the best decision I made about my wedding (other than choosing a great husband of course!) From our first phone consultation I could tell how passionately she cares about her work, and I was so impressed by how generous she was with her time. Leading up to the wedding day, she truly helped us navigate the strange world of planning during Covid, covering all the things I didn't think of. Having worked in events myself for over a decade, I know how much behind the scenes work goes into a successful event and I was super confident having her on our team. Erica ran our rehearsal the night before, charming the whole family! She is so personable and professional, and was full of really useful tips for everyone from how to hold the bouquets to how to dab your happy tears elegantly without ruining photos lol. On the day her and her assistant Ahmad were excellent ensuring the decor setup looked beautiful and reception service went smoothly. Our wedding was a dream and wouldn't have happened the way it did without her. I cannot recommend her enough!

Thea Earl

We decided to choose a wedding planner because my husband and I both travel for work and have 3 busy boys. Let’s just say that we also have GRAND ideas but putting those ideas into a reality is not our forte. We met Erica and knew from the thorough responses we received from our questions she was the one who could make our wedding day a dream come true, and she did just that!! Every detail came into place perfectly and we couldn’t have been happier for how our day transpired!!

Pamela Bowles

Erica was incredible to work with. My husband and I run our own Real Estate team and we knew we were not going to have the time or the resources to plan a wedding. Erica impressed us every step of the way from the moment we hired her until the late hours of our wedding reception. As weeks went by, we never had to worry about anything because Erica was on top of it. We would receive ‘update’ emails from her on a regular basis and met on occasion to finalize important details. The best part was, not only were these meetings incredibly productive but Erica is a ton of fun so it was so nice to discuss all things wedding with her while enjoying her company. When it came to suppliers, her recommendations were a hit. She works with some amazing people in the industry and did all of the shopping around for us. There is so much to plan when it comes to your wedding and it can easily be overwhelming, people asked us constantly how we were managing and how stressed we must be. However, we can honestly say, it was easy. Erica is one of the most efficient, professional, and organized people I have ever had the pleasure to work with. And on top of that, Erica is fabulously fun with impeccable taste. She is everything you could ever want when it comes to planning such a special event! We definitely attribute the success of our wedding to Erica. My closest friends and family still talk about how wonderful the day was. My Mother and bridesmaids truly got to enjoy their day with me and we had such an amazing time together because I had entrusted everything with Erica. There were no duties on my big day – other than getting to the church! It was perfect and my husband has expressed the same sentiment. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you Erica. We couldn't have had such a perfect day without your help! Love, Richelle & Josh

Kimberly Bertens

Erica is amazing and we can’t even imagine what we would have done without her. She made everything so easy for us and all of her vendor recommendations were perfect. She is beyond talented, knowledgeable and was sincerely passionate about making our wedding perfect. We truly felt like she cared deeply about making our day the most special day of our lives and in that she succeeded. Our wedding was beyond anything we could have possibly imagined and all of our guests were blown away with what she created. There are no words to express the gratitude and the appreciation that we have for all of Erica’s hard work. Erica came to us highly recommended by friends and now we highly recommend her to everyone we know.

Lori K

I am the type of person with lots of ideas, but turning those ideas into a reality can be overwhelming on my own. That’s why I always knew that I wanted a professional wedding planner to help make my dreams come true. When I first met Erica I knew she would be the perfect fit. In the 11 months of planning Erica was extremely accommodating and flexible, and if I ever had a question I could just email or text her and she would reply with an answer in no time at all. She also had great recommendations and suggestions for vendors and design options. The real life-saver was her handy spreadsheet that organized all my ideas with timelines and budgets so it was easy to keep track of everything. Suffice to say, our wedding day was perfect and everything turned out better than we could have imagined. We received so many compliments from our guests on how the day was so wonderfully laid out. My husband and I were able to enjoy every second of our wedding day without any worry of something going wrong because we knew we were in great hands. This we owe completely to Erica and her supreme organization and attention to detail. Thank you for the wonderful memories, Erica!

Thea Earl

Erica, thank you. We are so happy to have met you. Your calm, creative, and proactive attitude made planning our wedding a complete delight. Thank you for being so receptive in the months leading up to our big day and then being such a superstar the day of. You thought of everything. Our guests told us over and over how much they appreciated you, too! We would recommend Erica in a heartbeat. She will take care of you and make sure all of your dreams come true (and on budget. And on time.) XOX

Annie Docking

Chris and I can’t thank you enough for all you did for us to help make our special day the most memorable day of our lives. You’re help through the planning phase was a lifesaver, even to this type A control freak! At first, I was worried about working with a planner but you were fantastic and helped to make the entire experience an enjoyable one. I really appreciated your suggestions as well as you letting me micro manage the whole thing. Your flexibility was fantastic along with your recommendations. I also appreciated all the ways you helped us to spend our money wisely. It’s easy to get excited and go overboard when dreaming of your wedding but you kept us in check and helped to pick what best fit our budget. The result was truly the wedding of our dreams! I especially appreciated your help on the night of the rehearsal. Who would have thought after seeing so many weddings on movies and TV that I had no idea how they actually go! Having you as our Wedding Planner was worth every penny! My Mom and I got to enjoy every moment leading up to the wedding without worry! On the wedding day, Chris and I were also able relax and enjoy our guests knowing you had everything under control and would let us know where to be and when. Thank you! I will definitely be recommending you to anyone getting married that I come across! Sincerely, Lori and Chris Needham

Marg Torrance

I am so grateful to have had the help and guidance of Erica and her assistant, Ahmad, in planning and organizing the most wonderful wedding last month. Erica is incredibly experienced and organized and has a wealth of knowledge, advice and contacts in the city to help make an overwhelming planning process easy and stress-free. She has great ideas for special little touches that I never would have thought of. She was also able to point out potential challenges so we could prepare and avoid them in advance. And having Ahmad with us the day of our wedding, guiding us through, ensuring we were in the right place at the right time, making us sure all the “i”’s were dotted and “t”s were crossed, was absolutely heaven-sent. He was even there with his handy emergency kit including lash adhesive for a quick touch up when needed in a pinch! We were able to relax and enjoy the entire day and evening knowing we were in good hands. Big thank you to them both!

Hughie Doyle

Erica is a very organized wedding planner; she knew all the right questions to ask to make sure the day went off without a hitch. (No pun intended.) Her wedding day planning efforts were instrumental in allowing us enjoy our day without having to worry about the little details.

Heather Sullivan

After spending a couple weeks scanning Pinterest and researching Ottawa wedding vendors, I was feeling overwhelmed by the wedding world and knew it was time to hire a planner. We met with a couple different planners in Ottawa, but my husband and I agreed that Erica was the right choice. She was the most professional and helped narrow down what kind of wedding would suit us and how we could achieve it with the most value-for-money. Erica arranged all of our site visits to potential venues and prepared a comparative analysis of the costs associated with each one to inform our choice. She provided recommendations about wedding vendors and served as the main point of contact with the vendors throughout the lead-up to the wedding, so we were able to avoid much of the back-and-forth communication required to make our arrangements. Erica maintains great relationships with local vendors, which ensured that our questions and requests were promptly addressed. During the final days leading up to the wedding and the wedding itself, Erica was invaluable. She guided our families efficiently through the rehearsal, dealt with last minute changes to the seating and meals, and arranged the setup of our wedding venue. On the day of the wedding, both we and our families were able to enjoy ourselves and focus on our guests. Erica made sure that all events happened on schedule, oversaw room transitions, and dealt with questions from vendors. Our parents adored Erica and congratulated us on our wise choice to hire her – she got a special mention in more than one wedding speech! We would enthusiastically recommend Erica to anyone seeking an Ottawa wedding planner. Thank you, Katie Lundy and David Bryce

Cathy Rodgers

Best wedding planner on earth. We would have drowned without her????

sonia beauchemin

Being an event planner myself, I knew planning my wedding would be a big job but I never imagined the scope of ideas and options out there. One word – Pinterest. I knew immediately that I would need a professional to guide me on this journey. Erica came highly recommended by a family friend and after our initial meeting both my fiancé and I were aghast by her professionalism, her knowledge of the industry as a whole, her client awareness and her impeccable taste. From the first moment, it became obvious that Erica had her finger on the pulse of the latest industry trends and was easily able to identify which would work with our vision. We were able to trust Erica implicitly which offered us piece of mind. We knew she would make sure that all deadlines were met and that nothing would fall between the cracks. It was absolutely the best decision we made. Erica thought of everything! She covered every detail, she didn’t let anything slide, and she worked efficiently and in an extremely organized fashion. As we got closer to the date, she communicated with me every step of the way to make sure I was at ease and ensuring that I knew everything was on track. It was said that we had brought in the most wedding ‘stuff’ that the Chateau Laurier planner had ever seen. Erica coordinated all these materials and vendors and had it all set up beautifully ahead of schedule. She made the planning of my wedding and he actual day an undeniable dream come true. We are so proud of our wedding and the job that she did. We received numerous compliments about Erica’s work and the attention to detail that was paid. I salute Erica in all her glory and think you would be crazy not to hire her!

Heather MacLean

I came to Erica in a fit of exhaustion. The covid regulations were changing everyday, and I couldn't keep up. There was no hesitation from Erica to jump in and literally save me. She is so organized, just one of the loveliest people to work with and will do whatever she can to make your wedding day the most fun and least stressful day. She was always there and ready for an email, phone call or text message. She helped make decisions that would create a seamless wedding day, and I felt so supported with her years of experience and connection to some of the best vendors in Ottawa! Other than saying yes to my new husband, saying yes to Erica was one of the easiest (and best) decisions I've ever made! Your wedding day should be fun, full of love and only good vibes. Hiring Erica will guarantee that :)

Christina Skoblikowskyj

Our decision to work with a wedding planner was made after spending way too much time on the phone (in Vancouver) trying to pick a date and venue for our wedding in Ottawa. We chose Erica because she was just as excited for our wedding as we were. She understood my type A personality and my need to keep everything organized. Whenever I had a question or problem, she had already thought of it, sorted it out or taken care of it. Erica helped me so much, planning our long distance wedding. We spent a lot of time on the phone comparing lists. During the months leading up to our big day, people would ask me how the planning was going. I was happy to say it was easy and everything was going well. She knew what we needed, kept us on budget, reminded us about deadlines, and helped us connect with people who could make our day run smoothly. With Erica’s help, our wedding was everything we wanted it to be, and more. I was so relaxed on our big day and so pleased to be able to spend uninterrupted time with my family and friends who had traveled from all over the country to celebrate our day with us Thanks Erica. We couldn't have done it without you. I am forever grateful for all you did in making our wedding the best day of our lives! Kylie and Scott

Christina Santos

We knew we wanted a wedding planner and we met with five different ones before we decided on Erica. She gave us the impression of someone that was professional, trustworthy and experienced and our first impression was confirmed during the following months of planning. It’s easy to underestimate the usefulness of a Wedding Planner but we sure learned there’s a lot of moving pieces to planning a wedding exactly how you want it! Erica helped us organize the full vision we had of the whole wedding day. It’s not just the church, not just the venue, not just the decor. It’s having someone that knows end to end how the day is supposed to go and can execute it as planned while you celebrate! Warner & Carley

Jen Leppard

We chose Erica's month of wedding services for a ceremony and reception in Ottawa while we were living in San Francisco. We are so pleased with her thorough approach and expertise. She took the time to really understand the vision that we wanted for our event. The day of, she pulled everything together and executed a smooth event. Everything was spot on from the set-up to the event flow to a graceful transition of venues. We were able to trust her and not worry about the most special day of our lives.

Amber Kirkwood

How do I even start to explain how amazing Erica was as our wedding planner? Without a doubt, hiring Erica was the best decision we made! From the first time I spoke to her on the phone asking her question after question (before we even hired her), to the day of the wedding, Erica was professional, efficient, and organized. Her advice, advocacy and counselling were priceless, as we ironed out detail after detail. We initially had some challenges with our venue, but when Erica took over she dealt with all of this and shielded us from all the anxiety surrounding it. She had excellent vendor recommendations, and everyone that she suggested ended up feeling like we were working with the sort of people you would choose to be friends with. When the wedding was over it was bittersweet. We will both miss our chats and pep talks with Erica! We can not recommend Erica enough! She took the visions we had, and made our day perfectly us.

Katherine Cole

We were a bit skeptical about needing a wedding planner for a small outdoor wedding in a friend’s back yard…..little did we know that Erica would transform our daughter’s plan into an absolutely magical, joy-filled, stress-free experience. Erica, with her down to earth charm and incredible eye for detail became like a member of the family! We could not have had so much fun and enjoyment on this spectacular day without her! She’s a true professional and an absolute delight to work with! Thank you Erica for everything!

Brent Robert Homan

Annemarie and Eddie: We just wanted to take a few moments to say thank you to Erica who of course helped to plan our wedding this year. She received glowing recommendations from one of our friends so we thought we would take our chances and hire her without even looking for anyone else. It was not a mistake. Everytime we met Erica she reflected openness while at the same time providing valuable feedback even when she did not agree with our approach. This made us feel confident that she was not just some "sales" person interested in agreeing with you at all costs. I cannot tell you how important it is to be able to strike that balance between being open to our vision while interjecting when necessary. She was always diplomatic and is obviously very use to dealing with all kinds of personalities. Even my husband who frankly, was not initially thrilled with the idea of a wedding planner had to acquiesce to the fact that I was right on this one. He couldn't stop saying how thankful he was that she was there and how we never could have made it without her assistance. At the end of day, we found a person we both genuinely liked who matched her affability with great skill. Bravo! Annemarie and Eddie.

Erin Misra

My experience with Erica for our wedding was absolutely amazing everything was perfect. I cannot thank you enough ????

Olivia Kwik

My wife Alice and I had our wedding just under a year ago, and we can't thank Erica enough for being there for us throughout the entire process. We didn't make it easy for her. For starters, neither of us had attended a wedding before. We were also living in different cities at the time (I was in Kingston and Alice in Calgary). As an added bonus, we approached her in May wanting to hold our wedding in October – a timeline that could not have been tighter. Erica stepped up to the challenge and became a constant pillar of support for us throughout one of the most exciting yet nerve-wracking times of our lives. From our first Skype meeting, I could tell that Erica was knowledgeable, diligent, and had the contacts and resources to make our wedding day special despite a tight timeline. She patiently dealt with our one-thousand-and-one questions about weddings, helped us prioritize what needed to be done, and established a clear timeline for the coming months, which really made us feel heard and reassured. Choosing and coordinating the activities of all the wedding vendors was definitely one of the most daunting tasks, but Erica was so effective in helping us negotiate with all parties and guiding us through decisions that we ended up with everything we wanted. As for the wedding day itself – other than the excitement and jitters that come with any wedding day – we had zero worries about the logistics. Everything ran smoothly, on-time, and the way we expected, but only Erica really knows what went on behind the scenes!! As a person, Erica was absolutely wonderful to work with. She frequently checked-in on our progress with regular emails, and we always knew what was happening on her end. She was never over-bearing with decisions, always made sure we felt heard, and delivered a wedding that was personalized and memorable to me and Alice. We 100% credit Erica for helping us create a beautiful wedding that we and our friends and family can revisit with fondness. We definitely recommend Erica to anyone needing a wedding planner because, in a nut-shell, no matter what challenges you throw at her, she will overcome them and get you to the finish line excited and smiling. 10/10!

David Bryce

Thank you for being by our side for over a year, because of you our wedding day will forever be one of the best days of our lives. You're awesome!!!

Allison Carey

Erica was a joy to work with for our Montebello, Quebec wedding. She is extremely detail oriented, knowledgeable and very easy to work with. She is the utmost professional and responded so quickly to any questions that I had. We were so thankful we chose her to help us organize this important day and it made the wedding so much more relaxed for the two of us. I would highly recommend her to anyone needing a wedding planner.

Elizabeth Nguyen

There is no way to fully capture how wonderful Erica is. She puts herself into her work and it shows with the relationship she has with her network of vendors, the beautiful weddings she curates and the connections she makes with her clients. Erica is personable and fun, yet truthful and honest. Her preparedness and ability to read minds are borderline ninja-level and she could easily be branded a super hero, because it better captures the magnitude of her skills and impact on the lives she touches. Everyone needs an Erica ❤