About Us
When it comes to love, real love, we at Porch & Pearls agree wholeheartedly with Carrie Bradshaw: we believe in "ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, 'can’t live without each other' love." Know what shouldn't be "ridiculous, inconvenient, and consuming?" Planning your wedding day. That's where we come in.
With Porch & Pearls, you‘ll have a coordinator who exudes passion, perfectionism, and unparalleled creativity and resourcefulness. We know that a truly magnificent special event begins long before the guests arrive; it begins with masterful planning. Our relentless concentration on details and our seamless delivery from start to finish will keep you on schedule and focused on realizing your most perfect day imaginable. With offerings from full-scale, glamorous galas, to intimate, tender soirees, Porch & Pearls brings exceptional service, experienced etiquette, and customized coordination to each and every couple.
From the smallest detail to the grandest event, Porch & Pearls specializes in weddings and celebrations in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs, but our team is available to travel to the Jersey shore and points elsewhere in Pennsylvania.
Marian Braccia
Porch & Pearls founder, Marian Braccia, is a powerful, intuitive, and creative planner and businesswoman. A native Philadelphian, Marian is no stranger to city living, working, and planning. In fact, she majored in Urban Studies at the University of Pennsylvania before earning her J.D. at Temple Law. Marian‘s passion and enthusiasm for event coordination became too strong to ignore after planning her own dream wedding in 2010. Having practiced law for ten years, Marian brings her negotiation, advocacy, quick thinking, and tactful problem solving skills to every event she handles (and to every toddler meltdown she diffuses!). Marian is the proud mama of three gorgeous kids who are all perfectly polite and well behaved...so long as no one else is around to see it. Though a city girl through and through, Marian‘s other "happy places" include the beach at sunrise, a wooded trail run in the rain, or that one back road gas station in Birmingham, Alabama that had the best pecan pie she‘s ever tasted. When she‘s not in wedding mode or tackling dinnertime/bathtime/storytime/bedtime, Marian‘s probably curled up on the couch with her handsome hubby Brian, sipping white wine, and binge-watching "The Walking Dead" (you totally thought I was gonna say "A Wedding Story," didn‘t you?!).
Services
Day-Of Coordination
For couples who have done all the planning for their wedding, Porch & Pearls offers day-of coordination. But, who are we kidding? It‘s really month-of coordination! After our initial consultation at the time of booking, we‘ll make additional vendor recommendations (if you need them), complete a customized wedding detail plan and day-of itinerary, serve as the point of contact and confirm all vendors prior to your big day. This level of service includes up to 12 hours of wedding day coordination and unlimited emails and phone calls leading up to your event. With a Porch & Pearls coordinator watching over the details of the day, you - and those closest to you - can enjoy every meaningful moment without any of the stress.
Partial Planning
Porch & Pearls‘ partial planning package (pheww! say that three times fast!) includes all of the services of day-of coordination, plus monthly check-ins to ensure you‘re on track with your planning, review and revision of all wedding stationery, and on-site rehearsal attendance and supervision. You still get to do your own planning, but with a little more support and guidance along the way.
Full Planning
With our full-service wedding planning packing, Porch & Pearls will guide you through the entire process, create the overall wedding design, attend vendor meetings, project and manage your budget, maintain the schedule of when vendor payments are due, manage RSVPs, put together favors and out-of-town guests‘ welcome packages, help create the seating chart and floor plan, and of course, we‘ll oversee all rehearsal and day-of staging to make your dream day a reality.
Testimonials
Marian went above and beyond for me. She was with me every step of the way. I knew exactly what I wanted when it came down to the colors of my wedding, the location and my cake flavor. However, I was a novice when it came to wedding etiquette. Marian is not only patient and kind, she is an expert and helped me with every step of the process.
She excels in so many areas, but I really appreciated her help with the invitations. I didn‘t know what to say or how to say it. I didn‘t know what colors to use or how to send the invitations. I gave her the wedding day details and she took over from there. I was very pleased with the final result. Marian even took them to the post office in Philadelphia and had the envelopes hand stamped. The added time and attention made me feel so special! She was always organized and knew exactly what to do. Her personality just makes it works. Your wedding day should be magical and stress free. Marian has a way of putting people at ease.
Marian designed the image my fiancé and I are using on our save the dates and invitations as well as the save the dates themselves! We were very specific with the image we wanted to be included, although we didn't really know how to do it. Marian nailed it & now we can't wait to incorporate it into our wedding in as many ways as possible!
I can not say enough great things about Marian. I enlisted her help for my son's Baptism party and boy did she deliver. She was always attentive, listened to my vision and helped keep me in line with my own ideas. It took such a weight off to know that there was someone there to help make those phone calls to vendors, negotiate better prices for the cake and centerpieces and track down the exact party favors I was eyeing up. She even brought up ideas I hadn't even considered but were so essential to the party going off with out a hitch. I highly, highly recommend her and can't wait to start planning his 1st birthday.
Words can not express how much Marian did to make my wedding day so beautiful. Whether you‘re looking for someone who can make recommendations for vendors, or someone who can create every little detail to make your fairy tale come true, Marian is the one you want planning your special day. She is not only timely, organized, meticulous, thoughtful, and creative, but she will also keep you on track with those details you‘ve decided to take on yourself. Trusting someone to bring to fruition all that you‘re imagining on your wedding day is quite an undertaking. With Marian, you can trust that your vision of your special day will become your reality. Thank you, Marian, for everything you did to make my vision a reality!
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