I really can’t say enough about Elegant Occassions or JoAnn. She is simply the best. JoAnn handles so many weddings and is in demand, but you would never know if from the personal attention and focus she gives you. She’s more of a trusted family member than wedding planner! We changed directions many times with what we wanted to do , and each time JoAnn had options and had an uncanny ability to translate what we wanted into reality. We ultimately ended up eloping in Napa, and we could not have done it without her. My dress, hair, makeup, resort, photographer,all incredible and all booked because of JoAnn’s magic. Any bride would be lucky to plan her dream day with JoAnn at her side. Highly recommend!
Luxury Weddings • Destination Events • Corporate Experiences
a global authority in luxury celebrations
Elegant Occasions is an international boutique event planning and design firm headquartered in New York, specializing in complex, high-profile celebrations throughout the U.S., Europe, and destinations worldwide, executed with precision, discretion, and ease.
Your Story, Beautifully Told
Every celebration deserves a story — yours.
JoAnn Gregoli and her award-winning team design and produce exceptional weddings and events around the globe. From the first save-the-date to the final toast, every moment is intentional, seamless, and inspired by you. Whether it’s an intimate destination gathering or a grand ballroom wedding, we bring together creative design, flawless logistics, and personalized experiences that define luxury.
A Global Leader in
Event Design & Production
As one of the world’s most recognized event planners, JoAnn Gregoli brings decades of expertise, artistry, and innovation to every event. Her work has been featured in leading publications, and she is the author of The Knot’s Guide to Destination Weddings.
Elegant Occasions is an international boutique event planning and design firm headquartered in New York, with an international presence in Paris and Rome, specializing in complex, high-profile celebrations around the world.
Our Signature Services
Trusted by Icons,
loved by clients
We’ve had the honor of planning events for world-renowned clients, including: George Clooney, Rupert Murdoch, Robin Roberts, Jon Bon Jovi, and President Bill Clinton.
Our approach remains the same for every celebration — dedication, discretion, and distinctive creativity.
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JoAnn was an absolute pleasure to work with. She planned my 50th Birthday party in 2 months and didn’t miss a single detail!
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From the first call I had with JoAnn I knew she was the perfect fit, from that moment on wedding planning went from a taxing process to seamless, enjoyable and fun.
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JoAnn at Elegant Occasions is amazing! It was so great working with her, from our very first meeting we had an instant connection and I knew she understood my vision right away. I was a pretty creative/hands on bride with a million ideas but didn’t know how to carry them out on my own, there were so many things I didn’t know that JoAnn opened… my eyes to. From her knowledge of our venue to her amazing vendor suggestions, to linens, to candybar to horse and carriage and so many other details, she was very helpful along the way! Her vendor suggestions were out of this world, we were absolutely in love with our florist, photographers and videographer. She was always very responsive on emails (I think I e-mailed her 10 times a day at least, haha!) Day of, her and her team did EVERYTHING! I could not have made it through that day without her. There are so many little things/ behind the scenes details and dealing with vendors when it comes to weddings that you don’t think about and she deals with all of it! I truly had my dream fairytale wedding and it wouldn’t have been possible and come together so perfectly without JoAnn. I do not stop hearing from everyone I know that it was the best wedding they have ever been to!
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JoAnn and her team were an absolute pleasure to work with over the year that we planned our wedding. She is incredibly organized and kept us all calm during both very exciting and stressful time! My family and Fiancee looked forward to our meetings with JoAnn as she kept us all on track to making our vision a reality all while being mindful of budget… considerations. The final product on our wedding day was exactly what we wanted and beyond. Everything went seamlessly throughout the wedding weekend thanks to JoAnn and Elegant occasions!! I would highly recommend working with JoAnn to anyone!
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JoAnn was my wedding planner for 2.5 years and I couldn’t have been more thankful to have her. We first brought her on in 2019 right after our engagement and shortly after COVID completely derailed our wedding plans. Not only did JoAnn support us through the difficult time she also acted as our therapist! We went through so many reschedules, cancellations and iterations of our… wedding plans and she helped us through all of it. We ended up having the most amazing wedding at a venue in NJ called Natirar and I couldn’t have pictured a more perfect day. JoAnn and her team got the job done and went above and beyond our expectations. She is well known and respected in the industry and has a lot of great connections with vendors, which was great because when it came time for the big day we were taken care of. At the end of the day, JoAnn is a good person who genuinely cares about her brides, their families and making sure they have a wedding reflective of their love. The wedding industry can be filled with people who try to take advantage of you and not only is she far from this stigma, she protected us from it. We love JoAnn!
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JoAnn was such a pleasure to work with. The moment we met her, we knew that she would make everything perfect for our wedding. She has years of experience, relationships with vendors and has worked on high profile weddings, but is completely down to earth, professional and insightful. She gets to know her clients well, knows what they want and executes their vision. Everything was… beautiful and seamless on our wedding day because of JoAnn. I even recommended her to one of my friends who got married recently. It was another beautiful wedding. I recommend her services without any hesitation.
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We just had an awesome wedding after 2 cancellations due to Covid. JoAnn navigated us through the challenges and we had the best wedding ever. It was unbelievable.
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JoAnn is incredible at what she does. She is a wonderful person to work with because of her positive attitude and beautiful spirit. She has knowledge far beyond her years and openly shares every bit of it. I love working with her and plan to do so for a long time to come! I highly recommend that you look no further than JoAnn Gregoli!
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Keep a consistent line of communication open with JoAnn. She’ll deliver. She was also sensitive to our budget. She also succeeded in working with the wedding venue to negotiate a most favorable rate from a less-than-accommodating caterer. (We were parents of the groom responsible for the rehearsal dinner and welcome party at an overseas destination.)
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JoAnn is an excellent wedding planner! We couldn’t have celebrated our daughter’s international wedding without her valuable help and expertise.
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JoAnn and her team are simply the best. After getting engaged, I promptly started planning my wedding on my own. When I first came to JoAnn I was stressed, confused and overwhelmed. Between working full time and scouring Pinterest for hours on end every day to try and determine my personal vision, I was exhausted and discouraged. I did not know where to start and… I was feeling anything but confident in my planning abilities. I knew I needed professional help, but I didn’t know where or who to turn to. From the first call I had with JoAnn I knew she was the perfect fit, from that moment on wedding planning went from a taxing process to seamless, enjoyable and fun. JoAnn is an incredible professional and person. She makes her clients feel as if they are her only priority, she is honest, hardworking, diligent and trustworthy. JoAnn maintains constant contact with her clients throughout the entire process. Her top priority is to make sure the bride and groom’s wedding day is the best day of their life. And I can say our wedding day far exceeded any expectations I had. I walked into our venue before the reception and I couldn’t help but tear up. It was simply my fairytale brought to life. JoAnn became my lifeline throughout the entire planning process and as I called her our “Mama Planner”. She is a true gem; she is so easy to work with and manages to make what seemed impossible, possible. When planning a wedding plans can change suddenly and of course at the worst times, obstacles are inevitable and things will go wrong, but with a smile on her face JoAnn figures out a solution to every bump in the road no matter the size of the bump. When I arrived at the church the night before my wedding for the rehearsal, I found out the priest wasn’t going to make it to the rehearsal due to an unforeseeable circumstance. JoAnn did not flinch and she calmly announced to my wedding party of 9 bridesmaids and 11 groomsmen that the rehearsal was still going to take place. She stood in front of the church and JoAnn the wedding planner became JoAnn the priest. JoAnn can really do it all. No vision is too large for JoAnn to execute. She was the best decision I made when it came to planning my big day.
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We weren’t fully prepared for just how intimate our relationship with JoAnn would turn out to be, and how important that intimacy was to a successful planning process. Picking someone we genuinely liked and trusted was crucial, and JoAnn effectively became a part of our family for the better part of a year (though without any “family drama” that sometimes seeps in and derails a… couple’s vision for their special day). She always listened eagerly and intently, and NEVER “yes’d” us to death just to make her life easier or took the path of least resistance. For us, JoAnn always took the time to fully understand our vision and wasn’t afraid to remind us (gently) when something we were asking for (or neglecting to ask for) missed the mark that SHE took the time to understand so thoroughly. It’s not quite the same as a relationship with a doctor or attorney or therapist – though the amount of trust that’s necessarily placed in your professional’s hands makes the planner selection process as crucial as anything you’ll do for that day / event (other than choosing the right spouse!) More than anything, we appreciated that JoAnn’s focus was always on our vision and our guests’ collective experience rather than on herself, and she never once made us feel as though we were simply being plugged into an assembly line. She totally understood the “once-in-a-lifetime” experience of our day / weekend required a truly customized approach, and brought together the best of our ideas and her experience… Simply put, there were too many variables to consider for us to handle the planning process by ourselves. We had NO idea how many things we didn’t know that we didn’t know! Starting with site and venue selection – especially for a destination wedding and operating within the complexities of a global pandemic – and continuing through making sure our musicians and bands were right for the place and “vibe” we were going for, and carrying on to things as seemingly simple as “save the date” notices, setting up a wedding web site as a constantly updating resource for our guests’ travel and logistics questions, and even making sure food and beverage selections for our rehearsal dinner and wedding reception were complementary and not repetitive – as well as reflective of the local cuisine / culture of the island and a “best foot forward” offering of our resort’s (extraordinary, as it turned out) chef and culinary staff. From our perspective, no detail was too small for JoAnn and her team at Elegant Occasions to bring to our attention, and – in that the task was still occasionally a bit more than our minds and hearts were able to process completely – she always seemed to know exactly when to step in and make editorial calls FOR us, then knocked every single one of those out of the park! We approached our wedding planning through the prism of “hey, at the end of the day this thing is supposed to be for and about us” and still – when all was said and done – every single one of our guests felt as though we’d planned the entire weekend of events for them! We lost count of how many times we saw one of our guests thanking JoAnn for what an amazing time they had, and – given the challenges and expense \associated with attending a destination wedding – there’s probably no greater testament to the necessity for retaining a pro liker her and her team to do the job than of those unsolicited comments of praise they so richly deserved…
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A consummate professional… Detailed, calm and reliable!!! Look no further. We couldn’t have been in better hands. Thank you for who you are and all you did for us.
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The best possible experience. JoAnn was wonderful to work with! She handled everything start to finish and made me feel comfortable. Coming from the event industry I know the importance of a planner and I never doubted JoAnn. She handled everything professionally and with confidence!
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JoAnn was great for our wedding, she was very responsive (within 10 to 15 minutes usually!) for any questions we had during the wedding planning. She never made it seem like any idea we had was not feasible, she always was encouraging and made everything happen that we wanted!
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JoAnn was recommended to me by a family friend who’d also used her and her team. I have to say, I felt a connection with her from our very first meeting. She made me feel like I had a friend helping me, instead of just a wedding planner. Her husband and partner, Frank was even the officiant for my ceremony (and he did a wonderful… job of personalizing it for us). Whenever there were bumps in the road (and believe me, there will be bumps no matter who plans your wedding), she smoothed them over with ease and made all my dreams of the perfect wedding day come to fruition. Even my husband (the skeptic) was amazed at the elegance, charm and beauty that were the elements of our wedding. JoAnn and her vendors created a fantasy wedding for us and now, 6 mths later, people are still talking about it as if it was yesterday. Our wedding was meticulously planned with everything from a very complicated, choreographed dance to a belly dancer team to a viennese hour that would have made your head spin. Every moment was organized by JoAnn and staff and nothing fell through the cracks or fell off the schedule. JoAnn was there for me through each moment of the event – all i had to do was summon her and i had her by my side. Our entire day was one wonderful moment after the other! Oh- and did i mention she also organized all the rehearsal dinner festivities and all the hotel and transport details for our guests? She and her team even assembled the favors and hotel gift bags! She is so much more than a wedding planner – she’s a superhero! PS- many of my family member work in the bridal business and many of my guests were execs in that industry as well… the best part is, i got more compliments from the professionals than anyone!
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I have heard horror stories about weddings, stressed out brides, and bad vendors. My wedding with JoAnn (elegant occasions) was flawless – I would not change a single thing from my wedding and there was absolutely no room to improve – it was already a dream wedding. Not a lot of brides can say that! We were booked a year and a half in advance… for our 10/10/10 wedding. Unknown to us, my venue in Newport, RI was in the process of being sold. JoAnn found out before the public did and was able to find several other locations as a backup. When the original venue was sold and my wedding was cancelled 8 months before hand, JoAnn had the backups ready and I had an even nicer venue than our first choice at the same price. She and her team are amazing! They are professional, they have all the right connections, and very creative. There are tons of stories of her coming to the rescue over the time period we were planning the wedding (too long to type). It was also a relief on me, my husband, and my parents that we did not have to worry about coordinating a thing the day of the wedding. Everything was handled for us and we were able to let loose and have fun. To me, there is no other choice than JoAnn.
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If you are planning a wedding and wondering why you need a planner, I will tell you exactly why. Because the day of the wedding, there are thousand things that can go wrong and I can assure you on that day, you want Joann to be there for you. She helped me plan my dream wedding. From the start, she was very helpful. helped me… find the best vendors. negotiated the prices to what my budget was. and got everything i wanted. she gave extremely helpful suggestions and showed me a lot of things i didn’t even think about. she knows everyone in the business and she is always on your side. she finds the best vendors in your budget and they are all amazing. but she definitely shined on the day of the wedding. everything went as planned and even if it didn’t i never found out and at the end everything was perfect. when i got stressed throughout the day, she gave me hugs, gave me suggestions and fixed the problem. the last three weeks, when everybody was freaking out whether the vendors will come together, she responded to my thousand emails and calmed everyone down. she definitely shines in the event of crisis. and she is always there when you need her. i will recommend her to everyone. she gave me my dream wedding.
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THere are no words to describe how much I loved working with JoAnn Gregoli, owner of Elegant Occasions. I interviewed a number of event planners and instantly knew when I met Joann that she was the right person to help me plan my daughter’s destination wedding. She has a great demeanor and is well liked by all vendors. She listens to what you want and… then helps make it happen. Planning a destination wedding has a great deal of challenges and she helped make the entire process much less overwhelming. It was a pleasure to work with her and I would recommend her without hesitation to anyone.
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My fiance and I thought we could try to plan our wedding on our own, boy were we wrong! When the stress became too much I reached out to JoAnn based on a recommendation. She was amazing every step of the way! She calmed me down when I was super stressed and took care of all the odds and ends that didn’t occur to me.… Dena and Marissa on the day of were ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! They took care of everything and made sure the day and night were perfect.
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I worked with JoAnn Grigoli of Elegant Occasions on both of my daughters’ weddings. The first wedding was in Oct. 2008 and JoAnn was wonderful. She was a great help & wonderful resource in planning a tented wedding on the water in Rumson, NJ and had great vendor recommendations across the board. Her knowledge, experience & overall expertise in all things “wedding” were invaluable. Perhaps… most important of all was JoAnn’s ability to remain calm in the midst of chaos and her talent in working well with both the bride and mother of the bride. She is a terrific multi-tasker (no surprise there as she is the mother of 6!) and always got back to me promptly in countless emails & phone calls over the course of a year of planning. JoAnn was an organized , calming presence on the actual day of the wedding and it was a great relief to me to know that JoAnn was coordinating all the logistics from the bride & bridesmaids getting ready/the photographers & videographers being where they were supposed to be & on time/attending to last minute crises (no iron in the house, brand new stain on mob’s dress)/transportation issues (church was 35 min from reception site)/ and on & on. It was a truly beautiful day/evening and JoAnn was the “ringmaster” while always remaining a pleasure to work with. The second wedding I worked with JoAnn on was in Aug 2010 for my younger daughter . This was a destination wedding in Newport , RI (I live in NJ and the bride in NY). Again , JoAnn brought all her expertise to bear in helping plan the wedding my daughter envisioned & her special knowledge of Newport weddings & local vendors was just invaluable. Her recommendation of Sayles Livingston as our florist was just perfect ! Again , JoAnn was always available and a voice of calm on the day of the actual wedding. She was fun & easy to work with & always full of great suggestions . She gave us great tips on a rehearsal dinner site as well as on a local clambake vendor. JoAnn was crucial both on “big picture” issues as well as on the countless details (including the various timelines) . The wedding itself was another glorious day/evening – and she even took care of sewing a bridesmaid into her dress after a zipper broke!. Perhaps I should even credit JoAnn with the perfect weather (our past family events usually included boots & umbrellas !) Overall,I’d rate JoAnn & Elegant Occasions with at least 5 stars ! I have recommended her without reservation to friends & acquaintances. If you’re looking for an experienced , professional wedding planner who is also easy & fun to work with yet adept at handling all aspects of “crisis management”- JoAnn is the perfect choice !
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Honestly don’t know how we could have gotten through our big day without JoAnn! We had a large wedding, a lot of moving pieces and 3 wardrobe changes (way too ambitious)! There was a lot to keep track of, and timing was EVERYTHING. She kept everything on the ball, coordinated more than I could ask for, made sure we were happy & fed, and most… importantly kept me sane. I didn’t have to worry about a thing! Our day went perfectly thanks to JoAnn <3
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I honestly don’t think there is another wedding planner as good as JoAnn Gregoli! Her expertise is amazing – the wedding was enchanting and magical and everything we wished for and more. Her team of experts is second to none. She is friendly, loving, outgoing, caring and professional. I highly recommend her! She anticipates everything and anything and responds quickly. We never worried for a… moment; we were confident in her abilities and she made our dreams come true.
Perfection, the event was flawless. Despite a catering hiccup, Joann assured us all will be well. It was breathtaking and exceeded our expectations.
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5/5. The BEST! We feel so lucky to have had JoAnn as our wedding planner. From the very beginning of our 20-month planning journey, she was incredibly responsive, professional, and reassuring. No matter how big or small the question, she always answered promptly and thoroughly, which made the entire process so much less stressful. Her experience really showed when it came to site visits, handling… vendors, and dealing with unexpected challenges. She anticipated issues before they even came up and took care of everything behind the scenes so we could focus on enjoying the experience. On the wedding weekend itself, she was absolutely phenomenal — calm, organized, and always ten steps ahead. We truly couldn’t have imagined our wedding without her. Our family and friends kept commenting on how seamless and beautiful everything felt, and we know that’s all thanks to her and her team. If you’re looking for someone who is not only talented and detail-oriented but also kind, patient, and an absolute joy to work with, look no further. Hiring JoAnn was one of the best decisions we made.
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I have so much respect and high regard for JoAnn at Elegant Occasions. She provides high communication and will work after hours and weekends, which many planners will not provide this level of service. She helped me plan a wedding in the pandemic within 90 days! Most of my friends thought I was crazy, but working with JoAnn made this so enjoyable and doable. I… was able to lean back and really enjoy the journey because of JoAnn. Every vision I had, she provided from the photos, to sky lanterns, champagne coupe waterfall, exquisite menu, and intentionally quality time with my groom on the wedding day. Her wealth of contacts provided me the BEST vendors from the photographer, to the band, and the invitations. JoAnn has a gift from God to create a magical and dreamy wedding. Brennan and myself could not be more than pleased and hands down my wedding was beyond my wildest dreams.
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JoAnn was my wedding planner for 2.5 years and I couldn’t have been more thankful to have her. We first brought her on in 2019 right after our engagement and shortly after COVID completely derailed our wedding plans. Not only did JoAnn support us through the difficult time she also acted as our therapist! We went through so many reschedules, cancellations and iterations of our… wedding plans and she helped us through all of it. We ended up having the most amazing wedding at a venue in NJ called Natirar and I couldn’t have pictured a more perfect day. JoAnn and her team got the job done and went above and beyond our expectations. She is well known and respected in the industry and has a lot of great connections with vendors, which was great because when it came time for the big day we were taken care of. At the end of the day, JoAnn is a good person who genuinely cares about her brides, their families and making sure they have a wedding reflective of their love. The wedding industry can be filled with people who try to take advantage of you and not only is she far from this stigma, she protected us from it! Highly recommend!
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We couldn’t have achieved my dream wedding (and my sister’s dream wedding!) without JoAnn, who has now become an extended member of our family. JoAnn helped navigate new wedding challenges in a COVID world with ease, brought amazing creative ideas and vendors to the table, and made the night of our rehearsal dinner and wedding go flawlessly. Joann is friendly, responsive, efficient, detail oriented, collaborative,… and a problem solver- everything you’d want in a planner! My family and I cannot say enough great things about JoAnn, we only wish we had more celebrations to plan together!
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We contacted JoAnn with 2 months to go before the wedding, we still needed some vendors (Video, favors, transportation and accommodations for out of town guests) so many things we needed help with. Joann stepped right up and took care of all the details. She added items we did not even think about, and they added such a wonderful touch to the reception. Everything went… smoothly, her team was a pleasure to work with and took care of all the details. Everything fell into place, my daughter and I did not have anything to worry about that day. JoAnn helped to bring all the details together and made it such an amazing day we can't thank her enough !!
Brands who trust us with their events
Let’s Create Your Celebration
Whether you’re dreaming of a sunset wedding in Capri or a black-tie gala in Manhattan, we’ll bring your vision to life with grace and precision.
Call: (973) 800-7164
Email: joann.elegantoccasions@gmail.com