Reviews of Pure Event Planning & Design (Event Planner)

Jennifer Balk-Singerhouse

Mary did a fabulous job at my brother and sister-in-laws wedding. So much so that I want to have Mary be my wedding planner/ day of coordinator next year!

jasper meddock

As a videographer and someone who has worked 75+ weddings, I know a good vendor when I see one, and Mary is not just good, she's great. She is not only a consummate professional, but a stellar human being as well. Her attention to detail and loads of experience make her an amazing planner, but it's her ability to make everyone feel comfortable, looked after, and relaxed that I think puts her over the top. She will not only make your wedding day 1000 times easier, but she'll make it more enjoyable as well. Highly recommended.

Mary Cook

Professional, kind, understanding, patient, hardworking. There is no one better than, Mary! A++++++ wedding planner

Madeline Huntwork

Mary is amazing! Such a terrific planner---highly recommended!

Abby Olson

Mary is the best! As a fellow vendor, I have seen Mary in action on multiple occasions. She is so talented & puts her all into every detail that goes into an event. She has such a go-getter attitude which is so refreshing & inspiring! Keep up the amazing work, Mary!

Melody Hall

As a fellow wedding planner, I highly recommend Mary at Pure Event Planning! She is a very kind person and is passionate about what she does. She will do everything in her power to go above and beyond for you, I promise! She is my go to when I need to refer clients elsewhere if I'm already booked. xo, Melody

Matt Stang

Mary was exactly what we needed to plan our wedding! Mixing the viewpoints of different family and even ourselves is difficult and not something we had experience with doing before on such a large scale. Mary helped navigate that challenge in a professional but also personal way. She was available at all times for support both leading up to and on the day of the wedding, and it was the best day of our lives!

Jeannine Marie Photography

As a wedding photographer, I can say that Mary is so great to work with! She's so professional and has great attention to detail!

Kaitlin Wells

I literally can't recommend Mary and her team enough. Mary was so helpful, responsive, and supportive during the entire process from day 1 signing the contract and even following up with us after the wedding to see how we are doing. Planning a wedding during a pandemic is not easy but she kept us updated with changing guidelines and restrictions and still made sure we could get married in the safest way possible. We would have been lost without Mary during our wedding weekend!

K. McKinnon

I would highly recommend Mary and Pure Event Planning to anyone looking to work a helpful, resourceful, attentive and caring Wedding Coordinator. Mary became a huge resource and was amazingly helpful to my fiance and I. During the stress of planning a wedding during Covid and issues with our venue, Mary was a godsend who was level headed, helpful, and very giving of her time. She had great suggestions, lots of resources and other ideas to consider. She was very genuine and exactly the type of person you would want on your side for your big day. Thank you Mary!!!

Allison Stafford

Mary is very friendly and organized. She has great passion for her job and will go above and beyond to make your special day exactly what you want.

claire musech

Can’t stress enough how incredible Mary and her Team are! We had our wedding a few weeks ago and it was an absolute dream. Mary thinks of EVERYTHING and makes the whole planning process and wedding day enjoyable and stress-free. Thank you for all you’re amazing work!!

Anna Courtney

Mary was, hands down, the best decisions we made in planning our wedding. We used Mary for complete event coordination, plus end of the night tear-down. Mary is exceptionally responsive. Mary is always positive and high energy. She is honest and straightforward. She communicates effectively with vendors, provides excellent support for wedding planning questions, and helped take a jumbled Pinterest board and turn it into a wedding I was so proud to invite my friends and family to. She took the stress out of the process at every turn, helped guide me when I was lost, and brought her creativity and experience to every aspect of the wedding. She is everything a wedding planner should be and more. I cannot thank her enough or recommend her highly enough.

Stephanie Latzke

Overall, I would not recommend Mary/Pure Event Planning. She was great for phone/text/email communication but when it came down to the day of, she was really disappointing! The consultations went great, I thought we were on the same page, and then the day of came and it was like all hell broke loose. She cut corners by not putting out all of our photo booth props (which we spent TWO years accumulating to find the right things and spent decent amount of money on-only to be kept in the tote out of guests reach!). She also didn't put out all of our welcome bags at the reception, instead shoved them in a closet and didn't tell anyone that's where they were in addition to giving my mom attitude because she had to deal with them. She also stuck the rest of the totes in there (for end of night tear down) but didn't tell ANYONE where they were. The result-wasting time, money and goodies in the bag that could have went to my wedding guests. Very disappointing!!! She also wasn't going to put out my shepherd hooks at my ceremony until I told her to put them out and was trying to tell me "that we don't really need them." She also told me that "it is okay if they don't have their boutineers" referring to the fathers, grandfathers and ring bearers not having theirs because they went missing-(missing part not her fault). However, considering the time and money we put into these items (because we made them), was not right of her to try and not make those things a big deal. It made me feel like she didn't even care. At the ceremony, it was my minister that started directing guests to their seats instead of her-which she told me she would be doing, but later found out that she didn't-which is why my minister stepped in. This all happened after my matron of honor flat out asked Mary to seat people and she walked away. That's when the minister stepped in. She also got into an argument with both mothers (step mom of bride and mother of bride) about the order in which the mothers were going to walk down the aisle when both moms were on board with how we wanted it to go. Instead of helping the wedding party line up and get organized she was cracking jokes with one of our other vendors-which frustrated the wedding party. Multiple people in my wedding party and family members felt like she was disrespectful in the way she talked to everyone. She had stipulations on what she would and would not do including end of night tear down, FYI. She also wasn't willing to help haul any flower arrangements, cupcakes, etc. to our reception venue. If it wouldn't have been for one of our friends who stepped in MAJORLY to help with other miscellaneous things during the day, the day of would have been a total mess as Mary proved to not be all that reliable. If I would have known how disappointed I would be, I never would have booked her. Do yourself a favor and find a different day of wedding coordinator.

Aryn DeGrood

Mary was a dream to work with! She is the reason our day went off without a hitch. I would highly recommend her services to all brides looking to enjoy every second of their wedding and not having to worry about a thing.

ECD Admin

Mary is a great Wedding Planner, she is driven and dedicated to making your wedding experience everything you want. She makes your wedding day about you! We would recommended her to anybody planning their big day!

Erin Olsen

As a wedding industry vendor myself I get the opportunity to work with Mary at Pure Event Planning often. It is always a joy to work with Mary as I know everything will run smoothly. Mary works hard to make sure everything is handled on the wedding day so that the couple can enjoy their big day. Highly recommend!

Angie Smith

We are SO beyond glad that we had Mary and her assistant for our big day. At first, the cost seems expensive. However, the amount of stress that was off my shoulders immediately upon hiring her made it all worth it right there. Mary was available for emails and calls anytime I needed her. She helped me through some stressful situations and had ideas for things I was stuck on. TRULY, she went above and beyond to ensure that I was as stress-free as possible the day of our wedding. I know there were many things that happened that I didn't know about because she had my back. THANK YOU! Of course, there were some hiccups and things that didn't go exactly how I wanted, but ultimately they were small potatoes. Some of the flowers in my bouquet were browning before the ceremony and I'm pretty sure she sent her assistant out to find more and replaced them for photos and walking down the aisle! My bouquet was a non-traditional boa style and it totally fell apart before the ceremony. Mary was on it. She put it back together. I do not know what we would have done without her. My day was busy and hectic enough without having to worry about set-up and everything else that Mary and her assistant handled for us. Honestly, her services are priceless and she is just so much fun to work with. Thank you, Mary, for all of your hard work. I know some of my bridal party were being pretty needy and you handled them so well and professionally. You are the best and I HIGHLY recommend you!!!

Danielle Jeanotte

BY FAR The Best money we spent!! Mary and her assistant Lexi were beyond what we could've hoped for! From our rehearsal on, we were only the 'Bride & Groom', nobody was allowed to come to us with questions/concerns. We were able to enjoy every moment of our special day. Mary even brought us a couple of beers to relax, hide, & just be together right after the ceremony :) She kept us on schedule all day, but also went with the flow if we wanted to adjust it a bit. She even tied up my bustle for me!! Mary & Lexi set up our decor at the ceremony & reception. Everything turned out more stunning than I had envisioned. They took my DIY boxes of goodies & turned it into Pinterest-worthy set-ups!! We highly recommend Mary & her service to ANY couple getting married! Trust us, they're AMAZING!

Alyson Burggraff

I absolutely loved working with Pure Event planning! Mary is fun and upbeat at meetings/consultations while planning and does a great job suggesting things that might make your day better! She was great about getting back to me within a reasonable time frame, which I think is super important when trying to plan a special event! At my wedding she made sure to come to me before making a decision about how I wanted decorations set up or if the flowers needed to be adjusted. She is well experienced and knows what to expect from a busy wedding day! One thing I liked is she made sure my husband and I took a few moments during the busy day for just ourselves! Most importantly for me at my wedding is Mary took away the stress and made it her job to take on any problems that might happen, which let me enjoy my day from start to finish! I would recommend Pure Event Planning/ Mary to my friends and family for their upcoming events!

Jen Dysterheft

First of all – if you are debating a Day of Coordinator, good lord above you need to do it and hire Mary Carlson with Pure Event Planning & Design! Mary was absolutely phenomenal, professional, and incredibly fun! The new hubby and I are STILL talking about how organized Mary was, both before the wedding in helping us create a timeline, as well as the day of, when she was able to help set up and clean up the decorations, keep everyone on task and on time, took care of all of the vendors, and more importantly, be ready for anything! We were expecting rain all day at our outdoor venue and Mary was amazing at making me feel prepared and ensure everything would be taken care of, inside or out. She was great with communicating with me throughout the day, as well as keeping everything upbeat and fun! Everyone in the bridal party and our families loved her. She was by far an amazing life savor for our day and we could never thank her enough!

Ellie Brown

We LOVED Mary. We initially didn't budget for a coordinator at all and then realized how much work getting everything together would be. She made us feel so comfortable and confident that our day would go off well, and it did. She really brought her A game to our big day. I would recommend her to anyone in the area getting married. Such a joy to work with.

M Reichert Torhorst

Mary is Friendly, Professional and Hard working for each client and vendor she encounters. Highly recommend for all event help!

Joanna Carina

I am a wedding photographer and had the pleasure of working with Mary a few weeks ago for the first time. Mary was so awesome! She coordinated everything so smoothly. There was even a bit of a snafu with the florist using the wrong colors, and Mary wouldn't let it slide for her bride. She contacted the florist and made sure they corrected their mistake so the bride's flowers were perfect. The couple even commented to me later on how happy they were that she went the extra mile for them. Highly recommended!

Lauren Reed

Mary was absolutely incredible on my wedding day. She handled every single detail of our day, so that I could truly enjoy myself. Everything from creating our timeline, to running the rehearsal, to helping with decor planning, to moving flowers, to coordinating the grand March, Mary did it all. I was skeptical about the importance of a day-of-coordinator at first, and now I will recommend Mary to any bride that I see! She is the best of the best!

Bryan - Bryan Jonathan Weddings

Mary at Pure Event Planning & Design is fantastic; she's calm and collected under pressure and awesome to work with. She's one of the good ones.

Robert Sepler

Mary Carlson is the absolute best at what she does. Over the last two years, Mary guided my wife and I through planning, postponing (due to COVID), re-planning, and finally executing the wedding of our dreams in the Duluth area. Simply put: Mary made it happen and we would not have been able to do it without her help. As an engaged couple living on the West Coast, we had no idea how to even start organizing and planning a wedding near our families in the Duluth area. When we found Mary, we knew we had found the expert we needed to pull of the wedding we were looking for. Mary intimately knows every wedding vendor and venue in the area. After getting to know our personalities and our vision, she connected us with vendors in the area who she thought would be a great fit. Boy, she nailed it! It's all thanks to Mary that we found our photographer (@Alyssa-Lund Photography), our venue (@The Atrium in Solon Springs), our food (@Midcoast Catering), and our band (@Bluewater Kings). From working with our vendors, it's clear that Mary has a fantastic reputation in the industry and clearly knows what she is doing. We purchased the complete wedding planning package and the cost was well worth it. Over the two years working with Mary, we found her extremely communicative and on top of every detail. We found it easy to schedule time to speak with her and she was quick to answer emails. We live in a different time zone, and Mary was willing and able to accommodate calls at a time that worked for us. Mary took the time to get to know us and asked great questions to get a sense of what kind of wedding we were hoping to have. Where we had uncertainty on how to proceed, Mary was quick to offer a suggestion but never forced anything on us. There were times when we said no to her suggestions, and Mary took it in stride, explained her rationale, and then dove in to make our decisions to make them a reality. On the day of the wedding, Mary was clearly in her element. Every detail was attended to and the entirety of the day went off without a hitch due to her planning, experience, day-of attention to detail, and wonderful personality. In summary: if you're looking to get hitched in the Duluth area, Mary is the person you need on your team to make your dream wedding a reality!

Amelia Schmitz

We hired Mary for our day of coordinator! My 2nd thing after finding a venue was hiring a person to help on the day! Mary went above and beyond our expectations! It was the best money we spent on our special day! Mary was the "go-to" along with her assistant! She started by getting the design of our day going, checking in on me constantly to see if I needed anything, making sure band, florals, food were all in check and stayed until the end of the night to clean up! We were not asked one question about anything the entire day and it went so smooth! Mary and I aligned a couple weeks ahead of time on my vision, timeline, and any questions/concerns I had! She made me feel confident everything would go great and it did! She is a realist, funny, and genuinely awesome to be around! I would 110% recommend hiring Mary :) She is amazing and absolutely worth the investment! If you plan for your big day, why not hire someone to help you run the day? It's your day to enjoy!! Let Mary do her thing!

maria ammerman

If you are looking for a coordinator Mary is the best!! She truly made my wedding amazing from planning a year in advance to the day of! It was so nice to be able to tell people to find Mary if any issues came up and feel 100% comfortable that she would take care of it! She was like a mind reader everything I asked her she smiled and said already done ???? I would hire her a million times again and recommend her to everyone! ❤️

Miranda Swisher

Mary was an amazing wedding coordinator, she always made her self very available to me and as a bride with questions that is ALWAYS a good thing. She made my day go off without a hitch and allowed me to relax and enjoy the day I had been working so hard to create. If you need someone who is easy to get along with, gets your vision and goes to bat for you to help you stay in budget but still have the wedding of your dreams then Mary would be excellent for you. <3 March 28 2015

Hormuz Masani

The founder of Pure Event Planning & Design is motivated, dedicated to her work & extremely passionate about what she does! I wouldn't think twice before hiring her as my wedding planner or event coordinator.

Karen Hayes

Mary was FABULOUS to work with. She helped us plan our perfect day in 6 weeks during a global pandemic. The planning was stress-free and fun! She had a great vision for what we wanted and it could not have gone any better! She also did an absolute amazing job as our officiant. Despite not having met face-to-face, she captured us as a couple and as a family perfectly!

Logan Newman

Mary was a huge help to us on our wedding day. She expertly led the rehearsal so that family, friends, and pastor knew exactly what to do on the big day. Her cheerful presence and wealth of experience made the wedding go off just as we had hoped, and without any stress. She is tactful, calming, encouraging, and a lot of fun to work with.