meet us

Mary Ellen Coggins
Jennifer Fulford
Tracey Daniels Hickey
Abby Hicks 
Christina LaFontaine
Amy Miller 
Diana Ryan
Michele Turner 

Mary Ellen Coggins received her bachelor’s degree in middle school education from the University of Georgia. She continued her studies, earning her Master’s in early childhood education and her Specialist degree in Educational Leadership.

Mary Ellen is thrilled to pursue her passion of wedding coordinating and has been working with Consultants Unlimited since 2005. Mary Ellen enjoys every step of the wedding process, especially the relationship that is formed with the bride. She deeply believes that planning a wedding should be fun and exciting, not stressful. She looks forward to devoting herself to the goal of making each bride’s wedding dreams come true.

When not teaching 4th graders or planning weddings, Mary Ellen spends her time with her husband, Jason and their precious daughter, Ella Reese.


Jennifer Fulford
 is a former Interrelated Education Teacher at the Elementary level. She received her bachelor’s degree in Special Education and Masters in Interrelated Education from the University of Georgia. Jennifer is married with two daughters, Mackenzie and Emerson, and one son, Connor.

Jennifer has worked with Consultants Unlimited since 2002 and has coordinated events in Marietta, Duluth, Athens and Watkinsville, as well as in Atlanta. While Jennifer serves as Consultants Unlimited’s “Atlanta” coordinator assisting brides in the metro and surrounding Atlanta areas, she still travels to Athens to coordinate weddings and events on a regular basis.

Jennifer has also enjoyed working as an onsite facility manager to a number of Atlanta event venues. While working in this capacity, Jennifer has overseen birthday, corporate and anniversary parties; charity and holiday events and, of course, weddings.

Tracey Daniels Hickey earned degrees in Psychology and Child and Family Development, as well as a Masters in Child and Family Development from the University of Georgia. Tracey is married and lives in Athens with her daughter Carswell and two dogs. Aside from her love of event planning, Tracey enjoys reading, traveling, community involvement, sports, and most importantly, rooting for the DAWGS with her husband on Saturdays in the fall.

Always one for organization and the love of planning events, after her own wedding, Tracey realized how much she enjoyed the process and wanted to help others prepare for their big day. As a result, she has been working with Consultants Unlimited since 2001. Tracey’s ultimate goal is to assist in every way that she can to create a stress free and fun planning environment for everyone involved.

Abby Hicks has been in the wedding industry for as long as she can remember. She began her career in the industry as early as high school; first, with an Atlanta catering company and then a bridal gown store. Abby is a 1999 UGA graduate with degrees in Management and Marketing.

Throughout college and after graduation she worked for a local Athens catering company in sales and logistics, planning and coordinating weddings and special events for over ten years. After many years of working alongside Consultants Unlimited coordinators, she joined the C.U. team in 2010. She currently works at Hotel Indigo Athens as the Catering Sales Manager and Event Coordinator.

Abby lives in Athens with her husband and 2 beautiful children, Greyson and Sydney.


Christina LaFontaine
 attended the University of Georgia to study vocal performance and has been fortunate enough to remain in Athens since arriving here for school. Event planning has always been one of her passions, especially after her own wedding – ironically, with no coordinator. She has been with Consultants Unlimited since 2002 and has enjoyed every aspect of the profession, including coordinating weddings as well as large events for civic organizations.

Christina is married and resides in Athens with her husband and her son, who was born in 2010. Her love of music and singing has remained and she performs in the area predominately as a jazz vocalist with the Athens A-Train band – performing for weddings and shows at area venues.

Amy Miller is a native Athenian and a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she received her AB in English. She currently serves as shop manager for the Georgia Museum of Art.

Amy joined Consultants Unlimited in 2000. She brought along a wide range of event planning experience, having previously worked for both Mitchell’s Formalwear and the Classic Center. In addition to event coordinating,

Amy is also active in many local civic organizations, including the Athens Area Arts Council and the Town & Gown Players.

Diana Ryan
received an undergraduate degree from The University of Georgia, following a move to the south from Northern California. Like the saying goes, “she wasn’t born here, but she got here as fast as she could.” She began working with Consultants Unlimited in 2006, while also working as the Event Manager for the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia.

Special Events have always been a passion for Diana, who even enjoyed planning dinner parties for her friends in Junior High. She enjoys seeing events through, from the beginning of the planning process to the final presentation. As an event coordinator, Diana can help make sure that everything goes smoothly and according to the client’s wishes. She loves seeing the sparkling smile of a happy bride (and even her mother) at the end of the evening!

While living in Athens, Diana enjoyed volunteering with the Junior League of Athens and the Athens-Clarke County Cancer Auxiliary. She and her husband currently live in South Georgia, where she is working on a Master’s degree in Nursing. In her free time she enjoys reading, playing with their dog, and cooking, but time can always be made for shopping or having friends over for wine or a game of Bunco!

Diana travels back to Athens to coordinate weddings and events and currently serves as Consultant Unlimited’s “Middle Georgia” coordinator assisting brides in Statesboro, Savannah and Georgia’s Golden Isles.

Michele Turner grew up in metro Atlanta and holds theatre degrees from Young Harris College and the University of Georgia. Her early career was spent in Atlanta with the Alliance Theatre Company at the Woodruff Arts Center. While at the Alliance she gained her experience in donor relations and special events.

Michele returned to Athens in 1999 and established Consultants Unlimited, an event consulting, planning, and design group specializing in wedding ceremonies and receptions. During that time she worked at the Georgia Museum of Ar,t as the Special Event Coordinator, and now serves as the Event Designer for the UGA Hotel & Conference Center at the University of Georgia.

Michele feels strongly that all brides should consider hiring a wedding coordinator. Her mantra, “If you do not hire us, for your own sake, hire SOMEONE to handle the logistics of the wedding – especially the “day of” coordination.” If you are not sure whether a coordinator is a necessity for your event, she encourages you to visit the C.U. testimonial page for insight from just a few of our hundreds of happy clients.

Michele is married and lives in Athens with her husband and three dogs.