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Ali Phillips
Ali Phillips Chats Spring Wedding To Do's on ...

So fun to be a part of the Martha Stewart Spring Wedding To Do's article today! Read all the tips here on Martha Stewart Weddings! 

Ali Phillips Chats Spring Wedding To Do's on Martha Stewart
media feature
Ali Phillips
Ali featured on The Estate Blog

I had so much fun writing about my business for The Estate Blog and being asked to contribute as one of their preferred creative partners. I got to answer some fun questions for them about me, my business and my love of the City of Chicago! Here are some excerpts below of that article. You can read the full article on The Estate Blog. 

Ali featured on The Estate Blog
date ideas
Ali Phillips
Valentine's Weekend in Chicago

Get out the heart sweater and chill the champagne, it is Valentine's Weekend!! A chilly weekend is predicted in Chicago and here are my top picks for having a wonderful Valentine's weekend with your loved one!

Valentine's Weekend in Chicago
event space
Ali Phillips
Camp Wedding Retreat at Camp Wandewega

In September, I was honored to be asked to speak by Sarah and Andrea from Cherry Berry Events at Camp Wedding at the Camp Wandewega, located in Wisconsin. This was their inaugural wedding retreat and I was looking forward to meeting some new friends in the wedding industry. I attend a couple of event conferences a year and I was intrigued by the concept of Camp Wedding, with wedding professionals being in a camp environment. 

Camp Wedding Retreat at Camp Wandewega
internship
Ali Phillips
Chicago Wedding Planner Internship Available

Want to learn about the event industry from one of the best wedding planners in Chicago? Ali Phillips of Engaging Events is looking for a great intern for the winter season. Intern should be available one business day a week and available on some weekends. Please send resume, 2 references and cover letter to info@engagingeventsbyali.com. 

Chicago Wedding Planner Internship Available

downtown chicago

Chicago Wedding Cake Bakers at The Special Event Show in Chicago

Chicago Wedding Cake Bakers at The Special Event Show in Chicago

On January 17th, seven hundred event professionals attended The Wedding Event for The Special Event Show in Chicago that I Co-Chaired/Produced with Anthony Gowder of Gowder Designs. We featured all of the company names of the amazing sponsors on the blog last week and today I am sharing the wonderful wedding cakes that were baked by local Chicago wedding cake bakers. We told them we wanted them to do whatever they wanted for the design and to show off their amazing talents and that they did!! Not only were the cakes gorgeous to look at in the cocktail hour but also delicious to eat for dessert. Thank you to the amazing Chicago wedding cake bakers for their participation in the incredible  Wedding Event in Chicago. 

Meet Chelsey Boggs, Engaging Events Intern

Meet Chelsey Boggs, Engaging Events Intern

I am so excited today to introduce Engaging Events By Ali's new intern, Miss Chelsey Boggs, who started working today at the Engaging Events studio. We are so excited to introduce her to Chicago weddings and the Chicago wedding planning world.  Below is a little information about Chelsey in her own words and how found her way to the Engaging Events Team. Welcome Chelsey! 

Pumpkins and your Fall Chicago Wedding

Pumpkins and your Fall Chicago Wedding

It is Halloween week! That exciting time when we get to give out candy to little kids in our neighborhood (we get like 400 trick or treaters) and also carve pumpkins. Pumpkin is a "hot" topic right now. I see just about everywhere ads for pumpkin lattes. At restaurants I see pumpkin soups on the menu and at the grocery store I see lots of mini pumpkins  for your mantle or table. 

Holiday Candle- Ali's Favorite Things

I love the Holidays! And one of my favorite things is taking out the Frasier Fir scented candle from Thymes and listening to the music of the season while I work. I originally posted about this last year but have to include it this year in my favorite finds!

Wedding Planning Application for your iPhone

Wedding Planning Application for your iPhone

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday at 54. He was a visionary, the ultimate creative artist, the man who has forever changed how we expereince computers, phones and music. His quote, "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." As an entrepreneur, this quote means to much to me. Steve, you will be missed and we will carry on and I am sure apple has just scratched the surface of what you have started.

Great Opportunity for Wedding Professionals in Chicago

Since I have a lot of Chicago wedding vendor readers and aspiring wedding planner reading my blog I wanted to let you know of an event that may be of interest to you. My friend Katy Carrier of Carrier & Associates and hosting a great event in Chicago on Monday, October 17th. Law School for Wedding Professionals is a day-long educational workshop covering the legalities of owning, protecting and growing your wedding business.

Photo Serve-Calling All Photographers

My friends, Stevi and Matt Savage started a wonderful new nonprofit called Photo Serve. It is a wonderful organziation bringing together photographers who willingly will volunteer for those in need. They will be traveling to Casas Por Cristos in Acuna, Mexico in September with guest mentor, Mike Colon, and will be building a home for a family in great need. I am so proud of my friends for getting together and starting an organization that shows how we can give back. And what a great way for photographers to document people helping people but also to be able to network and learn from each other. 

Wish Upon a Wedding Call for Volunteers

Wish Upon a Wedding Call for Volunteers

Please join the board of Wish Upon a Wedding Chicago on Tuesday night, July 12th for a Call for Volunteers at 6pm at Room 1520. We need help in many areas to help get the word out about Wish Upon a Wedding! Please RSVP today to chicagovolunteer@wishuponawedding.org.

Wedding at Hotel Palomar

Wedding at Hotel Palomar

I am so excited to share this wedding with you today. I loved working with Laurel and Dave on their wedding at the Hotel Palomar and adored how Laurel wanted to have so many cute and personal touches on the wedding day. One of my favorite parts of the wedding day was the groom's cake by Tipsy Cake and the wonderful red florals by Alexandra at Exquisite Designs. And with Sarah Alair as the photographer, I knew the pictures would be just amazing as you see below.  

Chicago Wedding at Ritz-Carlton Chicago Featured in Get Married Magazine

Chicago Wedding at Ritz-Carlton Chicago Featured in Get Married Magazine

I LOVE Get Married Magazine and TV show and imagine my delight when they featured the wedding of Nicole and Aubrey, whose wedding I planned, at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago.  Special thanks goes out to Becky Hill Photography for the gorgeous images.  Flower Firm also handled the gorgeous flowers, Frost Lightingthe lighting and Peter Hennes Orchestra was the rocking band!

Chicago Magazine Names Ali one of the Top Wedding Planners in Chicago

Chicago Magazine Names Ali one of the Top Wedding Planners in Chicago

Run, don't walk to the newstands and you will see me listed as one of the top wedding consultants in Chicago by Chicago Magazine in their March issue!  What an honor!  I am so excited to report this to everyone!  I was so excited when they called to interview me and am over the moon about being listed in the magazine!

I am on my way to Barnes & Noble to buy up their stock and will scan and post to the blog soon!

Kristin and Jack Petersen

You dream of the picture-perfect wedding day—and Ali made all of our dreams come true. From our very first meeting, we knew Ali “got” us. She understood our vision and how to use the budget to make it a reality. She set us up with dependable and creative vendors, who meshed with our personalities and style. Ali never came across as overbearing or bossy—she’s really a friend and trusted advisor always ready to lend a hand, an opinion, or a worksheet to keep us on track! 

The Knot Best of Weddings 2007

The Knot Magazine recently released their newest magazine, "The Knot Best of Weddings 2007". The magazine features the best of the best wedding vendors in the United States. 
I was flattered to learn that Engaging Events by Ali, Inc. topped that list with the highest score out of all the wedding planners in the Chicago Area! 

One of my favorite wedding cakes

Nicole and Pat's wedding was just beautiful on Friday, June 1st at Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois. I particularly loved her wedding cake which looked so elegant and sweet! Her centerpieces were fabulous too, thanks Suzanne at Anthony G

Licensed to Wed movie premieres July 4th

Premiering on July 4th at a theater near you, Licensed to Wed!

License to Wed follows newly engaged Ben Murphy (John Krasinski) and his fiancée, Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore), in their quest to live happily ever after. The problem is that Sadie’s family church, St. Augustine’s, is run by Reverend Frank (Robin Williams), who won’t bless Ben and Sadie’s union until they pass his patented, "foolproof" marriage-prep course. Consisting of outrageous classes, outlandish homework assignments and some outright invasion of privacy, Reverend Frank’s rigorous curriculum puts Ben and Sadie’s relationship to the test.
 

Jennifer and Stephen

We knew as soon as we met Ali that she was exactly what we were looking for, and in the months that followed our appreciation for her grew only stronger. Every time we met with her we would turn to each other afterwards and say, "What would we ever have done without her?!" The answer, of course, is that both the planning and the wedding itself would have been a lot more stressful and a lot less fun. Ali made everything run smoothly from start to finish and truly exceeded even our highest expectations.