Erica is the best coordinator! — An Eventective User from Huntsville, AL

Erica is so very thorough- she responds to all her texts and emails immediately! She is very well known in the community- every wedding vendor we met and was told Erica was our coordinator assured us we were in the best of hands. She will send you numerous timelines to be sure you know exactly what is happening and everything happened on time! And, our wedding guests noticed!!! If there were any mishaps during the wedding, we would not have known about it because Erica just handles it all!

Wonderful Wedding — An Eventective User from Gurley, Alabama

I highly recommend Erica and Helping Hand! Planning a wedding can be so overwhelming but she was able to help us narrow down what was important to my daughter and her fiancé and help us create a perfect wedding for them! She has so many ideas and suggestions to make the day unique and beautiful! Having her and her team there at the reception let us enjoy the day!

10/10 Would Recommend — An Eventective User from Birmingham, AL

Erica is the woman behind all the magic that was our wedding day! She listened to everything we wanted and made sure it happened. We did the "month of/coordinator" package, so we had to book the vendors ourselves and communicate with them until the month of the wedding when Erica took it from there. She was easy to talk to, very communicative, and asked lots of questions to make sure there was no detail that hadn't been covered. We seriously wouldn't have been able to do it without her. She gave us suggestions for vendors and everyone she suggested was top notch and professional. Erica was a God send and she make our day run so smoothly, on time, and without any hiccups that I was aware of (she probably didn't tell us so we did not stress haha). Do yourself a favor and have Erica be your right hand woman...you won't regret it!!!

Bride — An Eventective User from Huntsville, AL

Erica is truly the BEST! She helps make the whole wedding planning process so smooth and easy! She is knowledgeable to answer any questions/worries you have! She makes the day of so easy and relaxing for you so that you get to enjoy your day knowing you're in good hands. I cannot recommend Erica enough! Book her now, you will be so happy you did!

Highly recommend! — An Eventective User from Huntsville, AL

Erica was a godsend! My husband and I are busy people. We knew from the beginning that we would need help. Our goal was that none of our family or friends would have to work at our wedding. I was never the bride that knew exactly what I wanted. I knew I wanted my wedding day to be beautiful but didn’t have a specific vision for it. Erica helped take what little ideas I had and made it absolutely beautiful! She had a wide variety of vendor contacts to help achieve our goals and do it within the budget we wanted. Erica was very organized. We had regular check ins with progressive check lists. I love a check list! I knew exactly what I needed to do throughout all the stages of the planning process. It was very comforting to know that all the details were taken care of. If it wasn’t on my list, I didn’t worry about it! Our wedding day way perfect!! It was very well organized and went so smoothly. We had a very detailed schedule that let everyone know when and where they were supposed to be. While I got to spend the morning focusing on getting hair and makeup done and spending time with my best girls, Erica was ensuring that everything was taken care of. I might have been the most relaxed bride there ever was! The rest of the day went just as smoothly with many compliments from our guests. Hiring Erica was by far the best decision we made in the entire process! Erica saved us a lot of stress and worry and helped ensure that my husband and I still liked each other at the end of the day! I can’t recommend Erica and Helping Hand Parties enough!! If you are on the fence, I’m here to tell you that it is completely worth it! Thank you, Erica, for helping make our wedding day absolutely perfect!!

The best in business — An Eventective User from Guntersville, AL

Erica is top notch!!! I absolutely loved her. I don't know what I would've done without her. All of my other vendors bragged on her and how she had it together. I'm telling you, don't look anywhere else. She is the right one. She is so organized and professional. She will bring all of your wedding dreams to a reality. She has the connections with anyone and anything!!! SHE IS THE BEST!

Erica with Helping Hands is the best! — An Eventective User from Huntsville, AL

Erica was phenomenal throughout my husband's and I wedding process. Throughout the wedding planning process, she was very responsive to texts, emails, questions we had, etc. She is very detailed oriented, including providing timelines to our families, bridal parties, and vendors, which allowed our wedding to be absolutely perfect. My husband and our families thoroughly enjoyed the day without having to worry about anything thanks to Erica and her team! We seriously could have not gotten through this time without her. Would recommend Erica 1000%!!!

The BEST Wedding Planner — An Eventective User from Alpharetta

Our daughter and new son’s wedding was perfect! That was only possible with the amazing help and guidance of Erica Thimsen of Helping Hand Parties & Wedding. A rating of 5.0 is not high enough for the level of support she provided us! Erica is so professional, kind, thorough and easy to work with. She has a sweet laugh and gentle style, but there was no doubt that she was in control and invested in making sure that the wedding was exactly what we wanted. Planning a wedding is hard enough, but we live in Atlanta and were planning a wedding in Huntsville. Erica listened and really understood our vision, which at times was not very clear to us. She knows everyone in Huntsville, recommended top vendors, and made it possible for us to put together the A team of people who made the vision a reality. She used a planning process that ensured that we discussed and planned every aspect of the wedding, and so that nothing would fall through the cracks. Prior to the wedding she sent checklists every few months, breaking down what needed to be done into manageable chunks. She was always available to answer questions, make wonderful suggestions and help us think through details we didn’t even know we needed to think about. No detail was too small to escape her attention and she was on top of everything. My highest praise for Erica, is that on the weekend of the wedding we were all able to relax, have fun and really enjoy the celebration. We knew Erica was in charge and she would be sure everything was perfect. And it was!

Wedding Planners That Will Make Your Wedding Run Smooth — An Eventective User from Huntsville

I decided to go with the Helping Hand's Month Of Coordination package for my wedding. My husband and I had been engaged for over two years and I had done a good chunk of planning myself and just needed someone to make sure everything flowed and tie up all the loose ends for Wedding Day. From my first meeting with Lynn, I knew she was going to be amazing, especially when she started asking meticulous details I had not even thought of. She handled all the logistics of wedding day and gave recommendations and suggestions on parts I was unsure about. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, she emailed me wedding questionnaires that we would go over in our meetings to make sure each and every detail was discussed. She was prompt in responding back to my many questions over text and email and even sent me updated master timelines for wedding day. She contacted all my vendors leading up to wedding day and coordinated their tasks and arrival times. On wedding day, Lynn made sure everyone involved in the wedding party and family was stress free and enjoyed themselves. She even coordinated setting up a private dinner for my husband and I to enjoy alone, since being able to eat our wedding food was a priority to me. If anything did go wrong on the day of the wedding, I was never aware of it. My bridesmaids and family came up to me during the reception and told me they couldn't believe how smooth the whole day had gone, thanks to Lynn. Now that the wedding is over, if I could tell any bride out there what to make sure they include in their budget, I would stress to them YOU NEED A WEDDING COORDINATOR. No bride on wedding day wants to be running around trying to make decisions on what goes where or when will this vendor show up and point them where to go. Additionally, no bridesmaid wants to be setting up tables and missing out on wedding morning festivities with the bride (I did that for a friend's wedding one time--please don't do that to your friends). Brides deserve to relax and enjoy the day with their family and friends. Do yourself a favor and hire Lynn as your coordinator for your next event. The wedding was two weeks ago, and I am still having conversations with friends on how great the wedding was. DO IT!

The Details Matter — An Eventective User from Billings, Montana

My mom and I decided to hire Erica to help us with all the little details involved in the planning of my wedding day and the days leading up to the wedding. I already had most of my vendors selected for the wedding and a lot of the big picture details worked out, but you don’t know what you don’t know – that is where Erica comes in! We ended up having a destination wedding nestled up in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana. Not only did we have to coordinate with our vendors in a more rural area, we also were dealing with a more rustic venue that came with its own set of challenges and logistics to work out. Erica started coordinating with us several months before the wedding and sent us several check lists to help keep us on task with our vendors, design team, wedding party attire, you name it! Erica even went as far as to find out the typical temperature range for our venue location and time of sunset for that day of the year to make sure her timeline for the day of accounted for those little variables. She also had me fill out several questionnaires to better get to know me and to know how I wanted my wedding to look and feel so she could help bring my vision to life. What I loved about working with Erica was how personalized this whole process felt. In addition to the questionnaires, Erica had several phone meetings with me to review our planning and make sure things were getting accomplished on time. These phone calls helped me connect with Erica but also helped to make sure we were on the same page with design elements. Often during these meetings, she would make suggestions or alterations to timeline. I really loved how she suggested that my grandmas be flower girls (this was so special for them, and they are still talking about it!) and I loved how after our entrance to the reception my husband and I went straight into our fist dance. She also brought up different ceremonial rituals we could add to make our wedding special. A few of those extra’s we ended up adding were the sand ceremony (during our wedding ceremony), the wedding shoe game (during the reception while guests were eating dinner, it was so fun!) and we added the whiskey barrel ceremony after our cake cutting. As far as I know, everything went off perfectly! Erica worked so well with our bridal party and kept our large crew of 20 people on task for photos and line ups. She also worked so well with our already incredible team of florist and decorators. Erica really is like a fairy godmother floating around the wedding venue making sure things happen seamlessly. We had so much fun at our wedding and everything I wanted at our wedding happened. I couldn’t thank Erica more for all she did, she really is incredible at what she does, and I could not think of a better person to recommend for future weddings! Thank you Erica for making our wedding day absolutely perfect to the very last detail!

Hire Erica ASAP! — An Eventective User from Madison, AL

TLDR: HIRE HER IMMEDIATELY. Wow! Where do I begin? First off, if you have the opportunity to work with Erica, DO IT. I thought I could manage a lot of it myself, but opted for partial planning and day-of coordination. Shortly after, I had a job change that took a LOT of my time. Erica stayed on top of what needed to be done and by when, and made sure I didn’t run out of time when planning! Even when I was not the best bride and forgetful, she reminded me to get certain things done to keep us on track. The week of the wedding was insane (as it seems to be that way for everyone) and Erica took so much time to get everything straightened out, keep me upbeat and ready for the big day. The day before the wedding, my grandfather passed away. I include this because the way Erica made me feel has no price tag attached to it. She was genuine and kind, and most of all, understanding of the emotions I was feeling. I was a wreck, and she went so far above and beyond to help turn the day around. She let all the vendors know discreetly and managed literally everything the day of the wedding. I’m fairly sure I ended up forgetting things that we needed for the reception, and somehow everything ended up working out. Hire her. If you’re on the fence about doing partial planning or not, do it. It was worth its weight in WAY less stress throughout the process and know that you will not be disappointed with Erica.

Highly Recommend — An Eventective User from Madison AL

Helping hands was one of our best decisions...they showed up on time and ready to work! They were professional and easy to work with, they were kind and helpful and everyone was so impressed with their work. They took so much stress off of us and we are so glad we hired them! Thanks Erica, your team is fantastic!!

Mother of the Bridge — An Eventective User from Madison

My daughter had done a lot early planning and secured the venue, caterers, a DJ and a photographer. However, there was so much more to be done!!! Lynn was fabulous and very detailed concerning everything from the rehearsal, to decorating the venue, organizing the caterers and delivery times and set-up, keeping everyone one schedule for the photographers, making sure the DJ had the timing of when the songs were to be played during the reception. It was beautiful orchestrated chaos. Everyone that had helped with decorating and attending the wedding were so complimentary on how smooth everything had gone. Lynn was there the whole time to ensure everything was smooth. As Mother of the Bride there was no way we could have had such a wonderful day without her!!

Best Wedding Planner Ever — An Eventective User from MADISON, AL

Working with Erica was a joy throughout the entire process. Like everyone else, we were nervous but excited, and clueless about where to find the vendors we wanted. Her list of connections in the industry is huge and she guided us every step of the way to ensure our big day was perfect. When that day arrived, she was there with us to bring calm to all the chaos. From our first meeting over coffee to waving us goodbye as we rode away from the reception, she was there to lend a Helping Hand. We can’t say enough good things about Erica and would highly recommend to anyone.

Bride's Mom — An Eventective User from Guntersville, AL

Helping Hand Parties was a pleasure to work with for my daughter’s wedding. We worked with Lynn who made my daughter’s vision, her passion! We don’t live in Alabama, so the vendor recommendations and assistance locally were crucial to the overall success of the event. Lynn met us several times at the venue, skyped to review ideas/concepts, and sent timelines in advance to ensure the day would have no hitches. She provided helpers to pack things up at the end of the evening which allowed the bride and groom (and the parents) to leave the venue after a wonderful day … with no worries. Hire this team and relax!

Our Best Wedding Planning Decision — An Eventective User from Huntsville, AL

Hands down, Erica was THE BEST decision we made for our wedding. From day one, she was professional, very organized, and delightful to be around. We were clueless about how to tackle all of these little details and still be successful at our full time jobs! She provided us with a list of to-do’s every step of the way. From providing vendor recommendations to coordinating between them, she took a weight off of us through the entire process. Having her at our vendor meetings really helped keep everyone on the same page! She took the initiative to reach out when it was time for a meeting or my attention was needed on a certain item. We had several changes to our rentals (my fault!) along the way and, as a full coordination wedding, she shielded me from the headache of these revisions and coordinated them. (THANK YOU, ERICA!) Even when our makeup artist cancelled a month before the wedding, Erica made sure we had another exceptional vendor booked before the end of that day. As we neared the big day, Erica created a play by play timeline for the wedding weekend down to the 10 minute increment for our wedding party, families, and vendors. Her knowledge, communication skills, and professional connections in Huntsville were invaluable to making sure everything was coordinated correctly and appear effortless! Lynn joined Erica a month out before our wedding as our event’s second coordinator. Lynn is so sweet and helpful! She helped with several items to ensure that extra coordinating the day of went even smoother. Erica ensured that our expectations were communicated clearly and made sure to tell us when something wasn’t reasonable. She was amazing to work with and I loved the opportunity to get to know her! Erica is one of the kindest people and genuinely cared about making our day special. I am so glad we hired Helping Hand for full coordination! Our wedding day was everything I thought it would be and so much more. Helping Hand gave us our DREAM WEDDING!

Fantastic planner who thought of everything. — An Eventective User from Huntsville, AL

I received many compliments on being the most relaxed bride they’ve ever seen from my guests, and it is all a great credit to Erica. Her attention to details is reflected in the precise timeline she provided us and our wedding was executed flawlessly as a result of her directing skills and regular communication with all our vendors. She gave us fantastic vendor suggestions, and her experience was extremely helpful to our decision making in all aspects for the wedding. She kept us on track in our 6-month planning with regular meetings around our hectic work and travel schedules. The day of the wedding, I woke up knowing I’m in good hands and simply sat back and enjoyed my getting ready time with my bridesmaids, our ceremony, and our time with guests at the reception. At the end of the evening, we also left knowing she has everything covered and just relax and unwind for the rest of the night.

Rhonda — An Eventective User from DECATUR, AL

As a mother I always wanted to give our daughter the wedding of her dreams and Helping Hand Parties & Weddings did just that. Erica was phenomenal, From our very first meeting to the last. She was so knowledgeable with event planning offering ideas and suggestions in all our planning stages. Her detailed planning was spot on. From contacting and organizing timelines for all vendors to timelines for our daughter's wedding day. She was always available to answer any questions or concerns I had. Erica succeeded in making our daughter's wedding a beautiful dream come true! ~~Rhonda