Profile
Gorgeous, Unique, and Professionally Executed.
A couple is the center of a wedding. We endeavor to make your story shine in every element of your wedding day. Whether it’s in your culture’s traditions, or touches evoking your fandom, we love bringing your imagination to life. Our goal is to create a magical day your family and friends will talk about for years to come. We are LGBTQIA+ friendly.
Map
Loading...
No Records Found
Sorry, no records were found. Please adjust your search criteria and try again.
Maps failed to load
Sorry, unable to load the Maps API.
33 Reviews on “Events By Merida”
I can’t say enough about Merida and her team. From start to finish, she took care of everything, from vendors to making sure it looked gorgeous. She was open-minded about alternative lifestyles and actually helped us understand some things a relative was going through. She answered panicked phone calls and emails in the middle of the night, and she solved problems quickly while heading off others before they happened. Our families are still talking about how beautiful and fun our wedding was, years later!
Merida was amazing! She helped us plan and execute The Greatest Wedding Show on Earth (a circus themed wedding). She pulled together a team of photographers, caterers, bartenders, a DJ, aerialists, magicians, fire hoopers, and a contortionist to make our day amazing. She had great communication and planning skills and we kept saying “Trust in Merida” and she always delivered. We can’t recommend her enough!
Merida was a delight to work with during my wedding planning phase and especially on my wedding day. Her hilarious personality and calm outlook on curveballs made her such a refreshing presence amidst the chaos. The many moving parts to my destination wedding kept growing arms and yet Merida somehow kept me and my wedding committee sane, organized and prepared all the way through to the finish line. She has a knack for sensing when to step in and take charge and when to lead lead by example, a delicate skill I particularly appreciated while working with vendors and family alike. I recommend Merida 100% if you’re looking for a wedding planner who will take the time to truly understand your needs and has the expertise to see your vision through. Thanks for everything Merida! I had a blast on my special day and can’t thank you ENOUGH ♥️
My wife and I are so happy we hired Merida. She was so sweet through the planning process. We just love her to pieces! From getting the right vendors to keeping us sane (and occasionally bringing us wine) during Seating Chart Hell. She was so great. Book her as quickly as you can, she and her team are absolutely worth it!
I planned a block party wedding in seven months. There were so many moving parts to something that would seem so simple. Hiring Merida was such a vital component to pulling this event off. It absolutely made the stress less intense and everyone had such a good time. I highly recommend using Merida and her team!
We reached out to Merida when we were considering having our wedding on the East Coast (we live on the West Coast) and explained we needed a lot of support having this sort of destination wedding on our family’s property back home. Merida responded VERY quick and provided some information on her packages and pricing. We discussed more of what I was looking for and she tailored her package and provided a very reasonable price for the amount of work that was needed. We set up a time to meet via phone and Merida was very easy going but straight to the point. She responds to emails quickly and gets started as soon as you decide you fit well together. Merida helped us realize how our budget would be allocated realistically and made sure we got what we wanted but was upfront if our expectations were over budget. Merida always had a few alternatives to help us get our ideas going but not break the bank. Unfortunately we ended up having to do our wedding on the West Coast, due to family preferences, and we will miss Merida’s support during this time. Even if you think you can plan a wedding on your own, reach out to Merida and hear her ideas, you will realize she can support in things you never even knew you needed!
My wife and I made the best decision when we hired Merida. She’s sensitive to LGBT issues, LOVED our quirky ideas, and she was so positive through the process. Everything was perfect, and our friends and family thought Merida was great throughout the day getting people from place to place while managing vendors. Also, I had to stop my wife from creating a version of Merida’s kit. There’s everything in there!
I can’t say enough good things about Merida. She was so accessible through the process, and communicated well with everyone, from my stickler of an older relative to the rambunctious crew of kids we had running around. She created the perfect wedding for us. We wanted something wildly different and “us” without scaring off relatives. Merida struck a great balance and made sure that we got the things we wanted. It was stunning. We were able to get in our geeky sides without it being kitschy. The whole day was flawless! You need Merida as a part of your team!
Working with Merida was one of the best experiences in my life! She is very passionate about her work, and pays attention to fine detail, in EVERYTHING she does. She is extremely professional and can balance everything from vendors, to making sure everything is executed perfectly for your special day. There is no such thing that can go wrong to her! She has such an open mind and loves to see your vision through. Merida outs her heart and soul into her work, and I believe having her there the day of helped tremulously. If you are looking for a person that can listen, create, and beautifully execute your quirky or alternative ideas, Merida is your woman! 5 Stars!
Merida was amazing! She helped us have the best beach/Star Wars wedding ever! She was so knowledgeable and helpful with every aspect of the wedding, I made my decorations and she was happy to help make sure we got it all done and didn’t forget anything! I am so happy that she helped us, it was amazing to walk into the wedding and see everything looking exactly how I had dreamed it would! I absolutely recommend her for everyone, especially anyone with a wedding that’s a little out of the box! She will help you have your fun dream wedding! I can’t thank her enough!
Working with Merida was amazing! I used to be an event planner and designer and thought I could do it all — but I quickly realized I needed help. Especially for the day of! Luckily Merida and her team of skilled experts understood and carried out our vision (and then some!) with little direction. Anyone who is a planner, meticulous, Virgo, etc. will appreciate it when I say Events by Merida knows how to listen to, coordinate, execute, and transform your ideas and plans into the day of your dreams.
The best part about it? The wedding was three days ago and we are still getting calls from our 80 guests to rave about “the best wedding they’ve ever been to.”
Another plus: besides her having amazing recommendations for vendors within our budget (and an endless emergency kit that would put Hermione’s charmed bag to shame), we had a multicultural, interfaith wedding so needed someone who not only had experience working with diverse clientele, but also is a true advocate for diversity and inclusion in real life. That was very important to us and our loved ones, and Merida fit the bill.
Wow! I just had my wedding last weekend with Merida as my planner! It was absolutely beautiful. I am a little controlling and don’t like other people doing things for me, but Merida laid down the law, and made me relax and enjoy my day, and it was beautiful and gorgeous. Planning a wedding in the backyard is a lot of work, and I truly feel like I barely did any most of the time which was amazing! All of the decor and vendors Merida helped arrange were amazing, and she certainly kept my very large party of 13 groomsman and bridesmaids in line so I did not have to. I highly recommend Merida for a rather stress free, beautiful, and unique wedding!
We hired Merida about two months out from our Philly wedding. Honestly best money spent for the whole wedding. I wish we had her from the get go. She was incredibly organized and helped to facilitate a timeline that allowed us to have a flawlessly executed day. She was the point of contact for all our guest, vendors, buses, etc. It really let our closest family and friends be stress free. We ran early the entire time which is unheard of in my experience as a bridesmaid. She came with a kit including a hangover cure, steamer and all the things you didn’t know you needed!!!! Her assistant was an absolute doll and my entire family/bridal party was so grateful to have these ladies with us for our special day. HIRE MERIDA.
Merida was amazing. As a multiple-time bridesmaid, you’re always slightly unsure as to where you’re supposed to be and what you’re supposed to be doing during the day(s) leading up to the wedding. Not the case with Merida – she ran the show for the groom, the bride, their families, and bridal party. Everyone knew where they were supposed to be at all times, and more importantly, knew that she was the point of contact if anything went wrong. I’ve never been in a wedding where we were not only on time – but early. This gave everyone time to relax and just enjoy the day. Merida also brought a kit of wonders that was super helpful in multiple small “uh oh” scenarios that no one (except her!) anticipated.
Hire her – you won’t be disappointed.
Merida is amazing! My husband Ben and I got married this past September and everything was just as we hoped it would be. Merida has excellent vendor recommendations and is very organized and responsive. She’s also great at managing other humans so that you don’t have to worry about it. Merida has an amazing personality and was joy to work with.
Mother of a bride here. I’m in Philly and the wedding was also in Philly but the bride and groom live in Baltimore. Merida coordinated everything and kept us all on track. She introduced us to several different vendors with whom she often works, and the bride chose people she “clicked with” from there.
We did a lot of our own graphic design online, for the paper products, and Merida was very good about stepping back and giving us free rein to do so.
Wedding day? Merida was the right mix of assertive (much needed, because it’s like herding cats) and helpful and motherly. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or just in need of some guidance, she’s your answer.
Merida is fantastic! We hired her a couple of months out from our wedding, when we started reading some awful reviews about our venue. We LOVE our venue, but they were newer and going through some major growing pains. Merida was familiar with the space, and after reading all of her reviews, we knew we needed to call her! After speaking with her, I knew she would be perfect to help us pull everything off, and we were right – our day was PERFECT from start to finish.
Merida juggled all the coordinating with vendors arriving and dropping off, all the setup and timeline execution, and ran interference with tougher family members. She is sweet and funny, but not afraid to step up and let everyone know who’s in charge, and we really needed that! She ran out and picked up a ton of beverages, cups, and ice for our wedding party when we realized that the venue didn’t supply any of those things. She ran around all day making sure every detail was executed how we wanted it, and while she kept me posted on any last minute decisions that needed to be made, she never let on in the slightest if anything bad or stressful was happening! If anything went wrong on our day, we never heard about it.
We had the absolute best day of our lives, and we know we owe that to Merida for taking care of all the details and absorbing all of the stress for us. Thank you, Merida!!!
You can’t go wrong hiring Merida and her team. I was a BM in my friend’s wedding and Merida and her assistent were spectacular. Beautiful job.
Top Marks for a Professional Planner:
Planning a wedding is challenging under the best of circumstances. During a pandemic, it was among the most challenging logistical and emotional hurdles my wife and I have ever encountered. This is why we are endlessly thankful to Merida and her team for all that they did for us. Merida was professional, thorough, responsive, creative, and personable. She helped guide us through some very awkward moments and handled the intricacies of working during a public health crisis with grace. She oversaw everything from our switch of venue, the reduction of our guest list, the procurement of vendors, and the overall flow and details of the day itself. Merida ensured that what we needed was done, full stop.
We are located in northern NJ and Merida’s location did not once impact her ability to meet with vendors or chat with us. She was exactly what we needed and my wife and I believe that she is one of the main reasons our event occurred as planned. We fully recommend her for your event. -Matt and Christina, married 8-28-2020
Merida was absolutely amazing and accommodated any of our unexpected needs throughout the entire process. We tried to do most of the heavy lifting ourselves but once she stepped in it made everything else much more stress free. She even helped us deal with one of our vendors who wasn’t so great in an amazing way. If it wasn’t for her time management skills, the bride and her party would have probably been late but she built a ton of time into the itinerary to compensate for that. She also was well prepared with all the little things you don’t think about like toiletries and heel stoppers. She was just overall such a lifesaver and we were able to fully embrace the day. The venue coordinator and photographer also commented on how great it was to work her. Thanks Merida and Laura!
If a global pandemic isn’t the ultimate test for a wedding planner, I don’t know what is, but Merida was so wonderful and helpful throughout. We couldn’t have gotten through it without her. Our plans were thrown out of the window (original date was May 2020), and she helped us brainstorm through our backup plan. She thought through everything we didn’t think of in terms of the new COVID normal and was a true partner in our wedding. She was our partial wedding planner, but she filled in all the gaps that really brought our wedding together. She always made herself available when we had questions, or she promptly followed up when she was busy. We never felt neglected by her and on the day of, she went above and beyond. For example, on the wedding day the Google document we wanted to use for a group game was corrupted and we could only salvage with screenshots, and Merida stepped in and wrote the questions all out by hand!
We ended up having a microwedding (50 guests) but there was so much to coordinate and stress over that we can say we definitely needed her. Our families praised how organized our wedding was and it was definitely thanks to her. If you don’t think your microwedding needs a planner, you are wrong! Merida is great and she won’t blink at how traditional or how bizarre you want your wedding. She’ll help you make it work.
Words cannot really express the gratitude my wife and I have for Merida. From start to end, Merida was very professional, prompt in communication, and very creative. We’re so happy and grateful having chosen Merida to be our wedding planner. The services Merida provides cannot be matched, hands down.
Merida did an amazing job! We hired her midstream and she jumped in feet first and got us on track, even with COVID hanging over our heads. She was prompt with communicating with us and left no stone unturned. The whole day went off without a hitch and the best part was that we relied heavily on Merida to make that happen and she exceeded our expectations!
It was a beautiful wedding and we can’t thank her enough for helping make that happen!
Planning a wedding is stressful, especially during the covid era. We hired Merida as our day-of coordinator with an à la carte
services where we had help with the planning process. We got engaged on July 2020 and I had no idea where to start but wanted to book our venues and vendors right away since so many weddings were going to be rescheduled for 2021. Merida made it really easy for us to pick our venue and vendors because she knew most of the wedding vendors around Philadelphia. We can’t thank her enough for her recommendations with our vendors because they were all wonderful. She gave us her honest opinions and insight on the vendors we asked about and that really helped with our planning process.
Now for the big day we all nervously waited for. Merida and her assistant came first thing in the morning with her wedding kit that had everything we needed for any emergencies possible. She came fully prepared, even a sewing kit for the wedding dress if it ever ripped. Our ceremony was scheduled to start at 5pm but it was raining intermittently all day. I really wanted the ceremony outside because our venue had a beautiful garden. Merida coordinated with the venue director and our caterer to make adjustments to the ceremony schedule and the seating layout. She was running around everywhere working with everyone to make this ceremony happen outside. I was really worried we had to move it indoors but Merida made it happen. Merida even had the clear umbrellas on standby but thankfully the rain stopped. She was really prepared! Throughout the whole day, we really relied on Merida. She absorbed all our stress and worries so we could enjoy our day. We had a little hiccup with the rain but it all worked out in the end. Thanks to Merida and her assistant Alyssa, our wedding day went so smooth and perfect. We wouldn’t have changed anything on our special day, all thanks to Merida. – Dana and Michael
I can honestly say that the best decision I made during the wedding planning process (aside from saying “yes” during the proposal) was selecting Merida to be our wedding planner. My husband and I knew that we did not want a basic, cookie cutter wedding, but a big, fun party with a little wedding thrown in there and Merida was the perfect partner to make that dream a reality. During our two years of planning, Merida was always available for all questions, happy to discuss any ideas, function as a sounding board when needed and just be a guide through the craziness that can be planning a wedding. When our original caterer and DJ fell through, Merida was right there to provide recommendations for new vendors who would be on board with our vision. She was instrumental in helping us to orchestra the party aka wedding of our dreams!
Though Merida was a superstar leading up to the big day, she really shined on the wedding day! She was there to ensure everyone was on time, had shirts/dresses camera ready, things ran smoothly and just be a calming presence on a hectic day. From our perspective the day went perfectly…if anything did go wrong, Merida made sure we did not know about it and that the day still went on as planned. She far exceeded our expectations…she even let me wipe my sweaty face on her shirt!
Working with Merida was incredibly fun and enjoyable! We would get married every week/month/year, if it meant we got to have Merida along for the ride! Words can not fully convey how thankful we are for Merida and all that she did to make our wedding day the best day ever!
Let me start off by saying, the best decision I made was hiring a wedding planner. More importantly, hiring Merida for full wedding planning. Words cannot describe her kindness, humor, and overall ability to communicate effectively with vendors and securing what we needed for the big day. From keeping me organized, accountable, and on top of everything for the big day, to coming all my appointments and being the best advisor while being mindful of our vision. I can say without a doubt that without her help the wedding wouldn’t have gone so smooth. She stepped in when I wasn’t able to given the field I work in. She took tasks off my plate and executed crisis management off and on throughout the experience. Most of all, she made this one year of planning exciting and helped us enjoy our engagement. Bonus- Best Vendors-because of her network, and top notch expertise and professionalism in the field. Grateful for everything she did for us and our family! Thank you Merida for everything. I cannot thank you enough.
Merida was my champion. She made sure my wedding was the best day of my life (so far!) When the hotel double booked and tried to kick us out of the room we were getting ready in, Merida took care of the problem professionally and discreetly. When I came to her with a very specific aesthetic in mind, she had a stellar team of vendors that made it come true. When I was stressed and anxious, she was there to calm my anxiety. Hiring her was hands down the best decision we made for our wedding. Merida listens to your ideas, respects your budget, was very easy to get ahold of for any question, and does it all with a great sense of humor. If I could get married again I would, and hire Merida because we had so much fun creating the big day.
Having Merida as a wedding planner was a disaster.
Merida recommended unqualified vendors; for example, the hairstylist she recommended to do straight-backs and romance curls asked me what straight-backs were during the hair trial. Merida also recommended Nikki Cohen, owner of Mayfaire Moon, to make my dress. Nikki was extremely late for every milestone towards completing the dress and often changed things without consulting me. About two months before the wedding, I discovered that Nikki was making me a skirt and a top instead of a dress. I told Merida that I needed my money back so I could seek another dress. Merida convinced me that she would make sure that Nikki stuck to the plan going forward. The next fitting went well and I thought the problem was resolved. After many delays, I was supposed to pick my dress up a week before the wedding, but it wasn’t ready. I went anyway to see the progress. It was MacGyvered together with VELCRO. Merida again convinced me she would get it fixed. When I picked it up three days before the wedding, the places where there had been velcro were sewn instead, if poorly (corners sticking up). Because it was now too late to replace it, I insisted Nikki fix the worst of it and took the dress. When we arrived at the venue I took my dress out of the garment bag, and a piece of the dress fell off, because it was STILL stuck on with velcro, and the velcro itself wasn’t properly attached.
Merida neglected crucial aspects of our ceremony, including the placement of fire-based heaters and religious ornaments, despite promises that these things were being handled. Misplacing the ornaments made it hard to tell which flowers needed to go to which tables for the reception. The heaters were not only religiously significant, but sitting in the cold was a danger to my partner’s elderly grandfather’s health.
Merida attempted to pull curls out of my hair without consent. Multiple people from the wedding party stopped her. I had explained how hard it was to keep curls in my hair several times, but Merida wanted them to be looser even though it was the complete opposite of what I wanted.
Merida ignored instructions to ask inappropriately dressed guests to change or leave despite earlier promises to do so.
Merida had the venue set up for the cocktail hour outside – in the cold with no heaters – in the area where we needed to be taking pictures. Then, she insisted we take the pictures while people stood around shivering and staring. We had previously discussed that we only wanted to take a few, specific, posed photos, but Merida repeatedly pushed us to take “individual photos with everyone” and didn’t stop until my partner told her ‘no’ multiple times.
Merida resisted when asked to correct the issue with the flowers and ornaments by getting the flowers to the correct tables, but when we insisted that this was religiously very important she told us she would handle it. She asked what to do with the ornaments, and I reminded her that they needed to be placed on the tables also with their matching favors. She said there were enough favors on the tables already (which was impossible, in the case of the largest table, if they were distributed correctly). We found out later the ornaments were never put on the tables. I can’t imagine any reason for refusing to put these on the tables except a complete disdain for our religion.
During the first dance the DJ kept putting on the wrong song and Merida couldn’t be found. Finally my mother-in-law got the DJ to put on the correct song.
During the toasts, the wine for the first toast, which was a separate charge in addition to being culturally important, was never poured.
When it came time to cut the cake, there were people standing up, blocking the view of others sitting in their seats. I asked Merida if she could walk over to the people standing and ask them to be seated. Merida just refused without giving a reason.
There were so many more problems but I can’t fit them all here.
I can’t say enough good things about Merida and her team. A+++ from start to finish! Merida and her assistant Laura made me feel so taken care of on the big day. They knew what I needed before I knew I needed it and kept me sane and calm throughout the whole process. I sent Merida about 100 texts on the day of the wedding. She answered Every. Single. One. I get overwhelmed by the big picture and hyper-focused on small details. She really helped keep me on track and sort out what was important and less important. I didn’t think I needed a wedding planner. We got engaged in February 2022 and bought a house in October 2022. By the time we were moved in (January 2023) I was starting to feel overwhelmed about putting a house together, working full-time and planning a May 2023 wedding all at once. The money we spent on Merida is the smartest $$ we spent on the entire thing! She’s has a sweet nature about her—a calming energy but can be firm when necessary. Merida was recommended to us by friends of ours who got married and used her services. Everything they told us about her was true! She is excellent! I feel like Merida is our very good friend now that we’ve spent countless hours on Zoom calls with her helping us navigate our way to a damn near perfect wedding. She kept us on budget and on schedule and laughing and having fun with her over the months she worked with us. Love Merida! Highly recommend!!
My husband and I’s wedding party walked out to the Golden Girls’ theme song of Thank You For Being a Friend. We find that there is no other way to also express our thoughts around Merida; we truly want to thank her for being a trusted friend throughout this process.
We immediately hit it off in the interview process and the one thing that truly differentiated her and sold us is that she would help us execute on our unique vision and not some Events By Merida cookie-cutter experience; and boy did she absolutely deliver!
We got her for the entire package (full vendor recommendations all the way to day-of execution) and we could not be happier with her partnership throughout the process. Probably one of the best things about her is that she took the time to TRULY understand us as a couple, our idiosyncracies, what we wanted out of our wedding, and our goals and took the necessary time to vet vendors that she thought we’d fit with. Did it sometimes take longer than my impatience wanted – no doubt… but in the end, she was right about everything. She helped us evaluate between two venues, and picked out candidates for DJ and photographer (among other vendors we didn’t care as much about that we just went with our preferred partners for flowers and transportation). We connected with both the DJ and photographer IMMEDIATELY and they were the best partners throughout our experience. We only had to interview one other person in each catgory before picking them; Merida TRULY understood us as a couple and found the EXACT RIGHT people for us.
There are a lot of other positives to note but to keep this review a manageable length, I’ll end to say that her day-of execution was flawless, she kept our vendors in line, stuck to our timeline, and ensured me and my husband, and our friends and family, were all properly taken care of.
Not 100% of every touchpoint was always positive, as no one is perfect; sometimes we had to ask for things more than once. In the end of the day, however, we hired someone who became a friend, who understood how quirky we are, and how to find people who perfectly executed on our vision where we got a LOT of people saying it was the most fun, most personalized, etc. wedding they’ve ever been to; we owe a lot of that to Merida!
Merida is awesome! As a vendor, we have had a great commraderie working with her. She’s a wonderful event planner. She puts people at ease with her fun personality and humor. Her clients and vendors enjoy working with her because they know she is on top of every detail. She is funny and keeps a wonderful light energy going when things can start getting tense during crunch time. We would work with her for every event if we could and we recommend her to all clients!
I don’t think words can really describe how amazing Merida and her team are. From the initial phone call looking for planners, Merida’s personality and get it done mentality had us sold! She took the vision we had and not only executed it, but let us enjoy our day – worry-free. Merida is a true professional and well respected in this industry. All our vendors shared that our wedding was so relaxed from getting ready to every event on our timeline. Thank you for such an amazing day. We are grateful to have your guidance and advice professionally and as a friend on our big day!
Merida saved my husband’s sanity. This is barely an exaggeration, I don’t know how we could have crawled across the finish line without her.
When my husband suggested we hire a wedding planner, I was a bit dubious – he’s already so great at planning things and it seemed like an unnecessary expense. How wrong I was.
Merida is truly exceptional. Her knowledge of all the vagaries a wedding can present saved us endless headaches. She’s always ready with a simple explanation or a hilarious anecdote whenever a bugbear rears its ugly head.
Merida cares about your event. I can’t explain how gratifying and relieving it is to see her get irritated with a vendor on your behalf and set her jaw as she fixes the problem for you.
Merida will video chat with you periodically for status updates. She will reliably suggest alternatives if a plan isn’t coming together. She will go to a venue with you to ask and answer the jargon-filled questions with an ease that can only come from experience. There’s no room for hesitation and you won’t wonder if you’re being exploited with Merida at your side.
Merida is cool. She helped me figure out a side surprise to spring on my husband and she did it gladly. If you – like me – feel like you’re constantly in over your head with this sort of thing, you’ll be happy to know she can provide a starting point so you can get your bearings.
Merida and her assistants do not mess around when it’s go-time. You will be kept on schedule gently but firmly, you will have access to the kit of everything-and-anything-you-might need. You will have a no-BS advocate who knows when to make a call for you to minimize your stress and when to consult you.
Merida is compassionate. Part of the reason my husband picked her is because she’s LGBTQ-friendly. When you’re queer, it can feel like you’re always walking on eggshells and ready to flinch at any point just trying to live your life with dignity and happiness; my husband knew this event would be an enormous undertaking and knew he would likely face more misery if he braved it alone.
Merida was a lifeline. She is sensitive, well-connected, and fiercely dedicated. She made our wedding feel every bit as magical and joyful as we deserved, and we can never thank her enough.
Merida is worth it. Do yourself a favor and hire her. You won’t regret it.