Engaged Event Management
Service levels: Partial planning
Team size: 5
About Engaged Event Management
Engaged Event Management
I’m Tara, owner and lead manager of Engaged Event Management. I am a naturally-curly, red-headed, music loving, list making guru as a well as a wife to an IT ninja and a momma to two vivacious little girls. On top of my years of experience working as an event manager I also hold a BS in business as well as a professional certification in wedding planning and consulting from Temple University. I have close to 10 years of experience in this wild and crazy wedding industry that I love.
I absolutely love what I do and we are total team players come your wedding day! We go above and beyond for our wedding couples and fellow wedding pros too! My passion for bringing people together and my love of the logistics behind what that entails has been present throughout my entire life. I am ecstatic to have found my niche in event management, and I cannot wait to serve you.
In three words: Confident, Fun, Positive
Services by planning level
| Partial planning | Day-of coordination / wedding management | Elopement / microwedding | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | So you have had a blast so far with all things wedding planning but you are starting to feel a bit overwhelmed with the décor decisions and how exactly you are going ensure your aesthetic is brought together - we got you! Let's engage and we can explain how we can be of assistance! | Our name says it all! We specialize in event management and are completely engaged to your event! We take the stress out of those final details leading up to your wedding day allowing you to kick back and enjoy the last bit of planning and then feel completely relaxed and at ease on the big day! From rehearsal assistance to set up and breakdown and everything in between that happens on your wedding day - we got you! | With micro weddings becoming all the rage and honestly we hope they stay as we just adore them! But just because the wedding guest count isn't in the triple digits doesn't mean there isn't still a boat load of planning and logistics to think about! We are absolutely here help make sure everything is executed exactly the way you have been dreaming! |
| Planning begins | 12 Months out | ||
| Event Styling & Design | |||
| Vendor Selection | |||
| Vendor Management | |||
| Contract Review | |||
| Transportation Coordination | |||
| Venue Visits | |||
| Final Venue Walkthrough | |||
| Timeline Creation & Management | |||
| Onsite Event Management | |||
| Budget Planning | |||
| Rentals & Linens | |||
| Accommodation Coordination | |||
| Venue Recommendations | |||
| Pricing | Starts at $5,800 | Starts at $3,000 | Starts at $3,200 |
Reviews
Write a review5.0 out of 5
19 reviews
- KD
Keith D.
Incredible!
Tara and the Engaged Event team were spectacular! We had a backyard wedding and realized we were in over our heads. Her recommendations, organization, and guidance made the long buildup so much easier to work through, and she absolutely ran with all our ideas and requests, making the crunch time seem easy and the day of go by perfectly. Would absolutely recommend.
Tara Thistlethwaite•Oct 5, 2026Yeah - thank you so much Keith! It was super awesome working with you, Katie and Christine to make this incredible day happen! It was a beautiful day, with beautiful music and amazing people! Thank you for allowing us to be a part of it all! - Tara
- LW
Lindsey W.
Amazing planner and person
I am a floral designer and recently worked on a wedding with Tara. It was such a great experience! Over the last year I watched how warm and professional Tara was with our clients and how instrumental she was in making their wedding day (and the planning process) an incredible, smooth, and fun experience. I would absolutely recommend Tara to couples.
Tara Thistlethwaite•Oct 5, 2026The pleasure was ALL ours Lindsey! The florals from you and the Linden and Leaf Co. team were simply stunning and of course you were a joy to work with as well! Thank you so much and sincerely look forward to working with you again soon as I will certainly keep the referrals coming your way! - Tara
- DB
Dave B.
Best decision we made for our wedding!
I honestly don't know how to put into words how perfect everything was — but I'll try. From the moment we hired Tara, she became so much more than a planner. She found and vetted every single vendor for us — our venue, catering, DJ, florist, photographer, transportation — and every one was a home run. She has exquisite taste and clearly deep relationships in the industry, because our vendor team was flawless. For the 18 months leading up to our wedding, Tara was our calm in the storm. She met with us in person and hopped on Zoom more times than we can count, and she was incredibly responsive — no question was too small and no stress text went unanswered. She's also just a brilliant thought partner. She'd catch things we never would have thought of, had fantastic ideas that brought such personalized touches to our day (e.g., a bar sign with our cat’s picture for “frozen meow-garitas”) and gently steer us away from decisions we would have regretted (e.g., I was going to make my own wedding cake, lol). Then the day itself: perfection. Genuinely, not a single thing went wrong — or if it did, we never knew about it, because Tara handled it before we could even notice. She makes it look effortless, but we know now just how much orchestration goes into a day like that. Every timeline, every vendor, every tiny detail was coordinated so seamlessly that we got to just be present and enjoy our own wedding.
Tara Thistlethwaite•Oct 5, 2026Well now that the happiness tears have dried from having read this over and over again, thank you so much for such an extraordinary review! Guiding you both through your wedding planning era was an absolute privilege, and I loved every second of it—yes, even talking you out of baking your own wedding cake, ha! Seeing how present and joyful you both were on your wedding day is why I do what I do. You became so much more than clients to me, and I am holding you to staying in touch for years to come. Thank you for trusting Engaged Event Management with your big day! - Tara
- SM
Steve M.
Look No Further
My husband and I got married days ago, and Tara made the entire experience feel smooth and manageable from start to finish. From our first meeting, she was organized, responsive, and genuinely invested in making our day feel like us — sharing in our excitement every step of the way and turning what could've been a stressful to-do list into something joyful. What stood out most was how present she was throughout planning — meeting in person, hopping on Zoom calls, and answering what felt like a hundred emails, always with patience and clear guidance. She helped us find our venue and caterer, choices we never would have discovered on our own and that turned out to be perfect for our day. She also kept shared Google docs tracking every detail and the full day-of schedule, so we always knew where things stood. She coordinated directly with all our vendors and consistently recommended fantastic ones — our DJ, florist, photographer, and even our getaway car were all her suggestions, and every one exceeded our expectations. On the wedding day, all of that work showed. Everything moved seamlessly — vendors on time, transitions natural, logistics never on our minds. We got to be fully present with each other and our guests, because we knew everything was handled. That kind of calm, invisible orchestration takes real skill, and it made our day feel effortless and magical. If you want a planner who communicates every step of the way, keeps you impeccably organized, and delivers a wedding day that runs like clockwork, we can't recommend Tara and Engaged Event Management enough. Thank you, Tara, for giving us a day we'll cherish forever.
Tara Thistlethwaite•Sep 24, 2026Steve, This review completely made my week! Thank you both so much for such thoughtful and kind words. Guiding you through the planning process and helping you find those dream vendors was an absolute joy from day one. Seeing you both able to completely relax, stay present, and soak in every single moment on your wedding day is why I love what I do. Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness together—thank you for trusting me and the Engaged Event Management team with your big day! - Tara
- CM
Campbell M.
The Absolute Best Hands to Be In
Our wedding day was truly everything we could have hoped for, thanks to our incredible wedding planner, Tara. From the very beginning, she made us feel so comfortable, supported, and secure throughout the entire planning process. I always felt like we were in the best hands, and that peace of mind meant so much to me. On the wedding day itself, she executed everything flawlessly. Every detail came together exactly as it should, everything ran smoothly, and she handled every moving piece behind the scenes so that we could actually be present and enjoy the day. I never once felt like I needed to worry about what was happening — I completely trusted her to take care of it. She was organized, calm, thoughtful, and genuinely invested in making our day perfect. Looking back, having someone we trusted so completely was one of the best decisions we made. We are so grateful for everything she did to make our wedding day feel effortless and so incredibly special. We truly cannot recommend her enough!
Tara Thistlethwaite•Sep 23, 2026Campbell! Thank you so much for this incredible review! Working with you both was an absolute joy from start to finish. My biggest goal is always to give my couples total peace of mind so you can actually soak in every single moment of your wedding day, so reading this means the absolute world to me. It was an honor bringing your vision to life, and I wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness together! Congratulations again and again! - Tara
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