JoAnn was a visionary, she created magic from a barn that was just a horse training center. She was caring, compassionate, and listened to all my desires, and made it happen.
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.
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.
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.
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.
JoAnn was a visionary, she created magic from a barn that was just a horse training center. She was caring, compassionate, and listened to all my desires, and made it happen.
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.
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.
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.
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!
JoAnn was an absolute pleasure to work with. She planned my 50th Birthday party in 2 months and didn’t miss a single detail!
Where do I even begin. For my entire engagement the most common question I received was, ‘how are you handling the stress of planning your wedding?’. I can honestly say that thanks to Joann I experienced absolutely none of it. It was an incredible joy to let Joann and her team do what they do best and walk into my absolute dream of a wedding… completely surprised. Everything was planned down to the very last detail and from our first conversation she understood exactly what I wanted (and didn’t want). On the day of the wedding Joann and Anna made things so easy for me I don’t even believe it. Everything was taken care of and every vendor Joann vouched for delivered tenfold. We were able to give our family and friends the experience of a lifetime all while having the absolute best day of our lives with no added stress. I can truly say I feel like I’ve gained a friend through this in Joann and I will look back on our wedding as the most magical day of our lives. – Abi
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.
Joann is an incredible planner. She does not only bring to the table her amazing experience but she puts her heart into what she does. It is such a pleasure to work with you will not regret having her on your wedding team 🙂
I cannot say enough good things about JoAnn and her team at Elegant Occasions!! I knew she was amazing after she planned by sister’s wedding earlier this year; however, for our destination wedding in Bermuda (October 8, 2016) JoAnn went above and beyond. JoAnn truly became a part of our family during the planning process, traveling with us on site visits and negotiating with the… hotel and vendors on our behalf. Not only is she a true professional in this business with the best contacts, but she will work tirelessly to create wedding of your dreams. If you are planning a destination wedding, there is hands down no one better than JoAnn. JoAnn and her team handled all of the logistics for the 4 days of our destination wedding weekend and the entire event was a huge success!! She anticipated every detail and was always there to listen to me and my mom every step of the way and guide us in the best direction. She is patient, knowledgeable, and truly cares about and loves her clients. JoAnn and Elegant Occasions are full-service wedding planners, from concept and design to execution. I can’t thank her enough for planning and being a part of our perfect destination wedding!!
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!
JoAnn is an excellent wedding planner! We couldn’t have celebrated our daughter’s international wedding without her valuable help and expertise.
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.
A consummate professional who worked tirelessly despite 4 inches of rain. JoAnn remained calm and made the possible happen without ever wavering. She remained calm, cool and collected
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.
JoAnn was absolutely wonderful. My wedding was perfect and it was all because of her. The vendors she suggested were great. She was able to get great prices and the quality of all the vendors was magnificient! She was always available. She had wonderful suggestions and was able to execute my vision. I had the wedding I always dreamed of and it was because of… JoAnn and her staff. JoAnn was also great at handling all of the stress that comes with having a wedding. When you get JoAnn as a planner, you are not only getting a planner, you are getting a friend. I would absolutely recommend her as a planner.
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 !
We are from NJ and we decided to have a destination wedding in France. We researched a few wedding planners. We interviewed some from France and others from around Europe. We then got into contact with JoAnn and immediately connected over the phone. She understood our vision. It felt right. She made the entire planning process as stress free as possible. When we hit obstacles,… she was there to solve the problems, and more importantly, made us feel like everything will be okay. The day of our events, we were able to be present in the moment and enjoy our company because she was there. She made it all happen and coordinated EVERYTHING. JoAnn allowed us to experience our wedding day as genuinely and present as possible. We are forever thankful for her!
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. Everything fell into place and 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 !!
JoAnn planned my wedding for about 105 guests and made me feel like my husband and I were celebrity clients.
JoAnn was an integral part of our daughter’s out of country wedding! She was available for us and professional through out the journey making this day so special. Would would recommend JoAnn to anyone!
Absolutely Best Planner Ever!! Wedding was Perfect and Everything that I imagined it to be. On the wedding day I was 100% stress free. My wedding was in great hands!!!
Perfection, the event was flawless. Despite a catering hiccup, Joann assured us all will be well. It was breathtaking and exceeded our expectations.
JoAnn Gregoli of Elegant Occasions is amazing! After interviewing many planners, my husband and I picked JoAnn because of her warm and personal approach. JoAnn is extremely organized, very experienced with destination weddings, and has great vendor recommendations. She guided us in everything from picking our destination wedding location to perfecting the last moments of our wedding day. JoAnn can plan any type of event… (corporate, private, birthdays, showers) in the U.S or abroad. If you want a personal, hands-on planner with years of experience, she is perfect!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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 !!







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