Look at our picture, it looks beautiful but it doesn't reflect our experience. I'm posting this review to make sure that no other bride goes through the same experience. When we hired Alicia (more than a year before our wedding) we thought we were getting someone experienced. What we failed to realize is that we would end up with someone burnt out (my MIL noticed right away and only met her once) who just wanted to create a cookie cutter wedding. She has her go-to venue in Napa and also claims she has done lots of weddings in the city. But she is not a top planner, at least not in San Francisco. Look at her reviews. If you notice, most of them worked with Jessica. (I didn't get to work with her until the day of and she was confused because she wasn't engaged from the beginning!) Alicia has been doing this for 10 years and only has a handful of good reviews. She gives you a spreadsheet that she makes you fill out as a couple as a "getting to know you." The ironic part is, she hardly reviews it or even cares to go through it with the couple. She skips almost all the meetings to try to book future appointments and leaves you with her assistants, even though you've paid for full planning. She lets her "team" take care of everything but they don't communicate, so you find yourself having to explain things over and over again. She also doesn't take responsibility when things go wrong. Instead, she just pushes the blame to the vendors. She'll also steer you away from your design if she doesn't have the rental items in her back room. She'll tell you that things are unavailable in the Bay Area, until you do a google search yourself and tell her to help you source what you find. I could go on and on, but if you are a bride that wants to enjoy your wedding planning process and day, do yourself a favor and get a real planner who wants to make your wedding dream a reality. When I realized that Alicia K Designs was a huge disaster, I had to re-engage the wedding planner I worked with before moving to California from the East Coast to help me with my ideas and designs. After the wedding I tried to work things out with Alicia but she just ignored me because she had already been paid. read more

Alicia K Designs - Yep the picture looks gorgeous but doesn't tell the whole story. Horrible experience. - Wedding Planning Near Me - Oakland, California

I was married June 2012 at Kunde Estate in Sonoma, CA and we used Alicia K Designs for wedding coordination as she was the preferred coordinator for the venue. Alicia definitely knew the venue well and had a good relationship with both Kunde and our caterer (Park Avenue). This expertise definitely came in handy in working with the venue and vendors. Specifically, Alicia's team handled the lighting for the event well, even despite a completely new setup at Kunde after they renovated/landscaped their hilltop. The entire setup was perfect and the flow was great. Our guests (plus us) had such a great time and it was a wonderful event. My initial consultations with Alicia were great but there were some issues with some of the later follow-ups. She delivered the initial proposal over a month later than was promised and because of this our timing was quite condensed. I responded to everything she sent to me within 24 hours but she was continually delayed in getting back to me. I only mention this because I felt pressed towards the end to approve the proposal even with some minor errors because we had run out of time. Also, she passed off our wedding to her coordinator (Jessica) as we got closer to the event. Although in our contract it stated that Alicia herself would be our key contact leading up to and including the wedding day it was actually Jessica that became our main contact. Jessica was wonderful and very attentive but there were slight issues with timing for the day-of. Not a big deal, but I was frustrated because I was promised Alicia would be on-site including a guarantee the morning of the wedding. The wedding itself was absolutely fantastic - again Jessica did a great job and will continue to develop into an excellent coordinator. I think their team is definitely a solid team to use, I just had some minor issues with feeling passed along but nothing that wouldn't stop me from recommending this team to future brides. read more

Alicia saved our wedding. Our first pick for wedding coordinator didn't work out, and we had one month to go. (Also see my wife's review under her moniker "Conscious F.") The best part about Alicia was that I always had the feeling things were handled. I never had to repeat anything twice, she kept track of every little detail. She knew when to ask me and when to just do things on her own. I didn't have to tell her how to do her job (unlike our first coordinator). She's a true, rare-breed professional. Here is one of these examples: She called me on Wedding Day with 2 hours to go til the ceremony. She told me that the power outlet we had planned to use for the amplifier for the ceremony was not available, unexpectedly. Ours was an outdoor ceremony with the Blue Angels running practice flights and without sound amplification our ceremony would have been inaudible by our guests. It was a key piece. And here is where Alicia truly shone, in one of her many ways: She didn't call me to tell me the problem and have me freak out over it. She already had a solution ready, to rent a generator, she knew whom to call, how to get it there, etc. All she asked was if I would approve the $75 charge. Wow! Speaking of dollars: As the groom, one of my key concerns was that the wedding would not bankrupt us and we stayed within our means. With our previous coordinator the budget slipped by thousands of dollars every couple of weeks. But Alicia didn't need to be told twice to watch cost. For example, it was her idea and effort to ask the couple, that had booked the same venue the next day, to split the cost of the tent we needed to put over the outdoor courtyard of the venue due to possibility for rain and cold. It worked out brilliantly. It is this kind of proactive behavior coupled with a depth of experience and contacts in the industry that distinguish the pro from the amateur. Alicia is a pro with integrity and heart, a gem of her industry. For our 2nd round, after firing our first coordinator, we interviewed several candidates for coordinators. They were surprisingly close in price, but light years apart in their presentation and first impression they made on us. I don't believe this job can be done as a hobby or sideline business, I don't believe it can be done unless the person is very organized, understands financial planning, can leverage technology (we used Google docs and DropBox), knows how to negotiate and brings the right industry experience, contacts and people skills. If you want a wedding where you can focus on what's important to you, then Alicia is a great asset for everything else. Don't shortchange yourself in trying to do things that you're not good at. Let an expert like Alicia help you. Your sanity will thank you for it. read more

Alicia is my go-to for events! She is kind, creative, talented and loads of fun to work with! Alicia always knows the best venues for any mood, has a stellar list of vendors AND on top of all that, Alicia and her team take care of absolutely everything so I am able to actually enjoy my own events! I highly recommend Alicia and her team for any wedding or event. read more

Alicia and her crew helped my daughter have the most beautiful wedding possible. She managed to realize what my daughter wanted in a wedding, even tho my daughter lives in Philadelphia. We had a fabulous event. I wholeheartedly recommend Alicia K Designs. Mother of the bride and Father of the bride were relaxed, able to enjoy every bit of this fun weekend! All of our details were covered, and the event moved so smoothly. Wonderful read more

Alicia K Designs - Wedding Planning Near Me - Oakland, California

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We came to Alicia on bended knees, literally. We had to fire our wedding coordinator who wasn't working out and did a mad dash within a week to find a new one. Unbeknownst to us, our timing was impeccable. We were just at the 1 month before the wedding, a package which many wedding coordinators offer, and Alicia was surprisingly available. The second I talked to Alicia, she sounded professional. She wanted to know how far we had come in our planning and what pieces of the puzzle still needed to be placed. We were quite organized, but with a weekend long plan of wedding festivities, we needed her to pick up the missing pieces from our last coordinator and run the show on the day of our wedding. I'll never forget walking through the noisy city one early morning after having had my one minor (albeit private-well, private in the sense toward my future husband) not-wannabe bridezilla meltdowns. Alicia called me and said these magic words, "We need to do whatever it is to make the rest of this planning not be stressful for you." I believe a week later, on another phone call, she uttered the words, "No problem. I'll handle it." I never knew how much I needed to hear those three words, "I'll handle it," until I never heard them from our first coordinator and then consistently heard them from Alicia. Also, I was impressed that she's all over the wedding blogosphere and attends wedding coordinator conferences. I appreciate people who are invested in their job and their industry. It speaks to how invested they will be in your wedding. Once she came on board for that last month, Alicia worked within our remaining coordinator and wedding budgets. She handled the remaining details. She ran our day-before picnic on Angel Island and our rehearsal, and had everything running smoothly on our wedding day. She even helped with some final design decisions, negotiated with another couple to share a most necessary last-minute tenting expense for our reception, brought in an assistant for the day of who I didn't even notice or meet until the end of our reception, and charmed the pants off our visiting family and friends from out of state and out of country. As my now husband said early in our workings with her, "The best coordinators are in the background, almost invisible in their dealings, but getting it all done." That was nowhere near the case with our first coordinator, but with Alicia, she whipped everything into shape in record time with a no-nonsense approach and a professional demeanor that most project managers should take note of for their own jobs. She even caught whooping cough a week before our wedding, but took care of herself so that she'd be in top shape for our day, which she was. Though Alicia may be on the mid-to-higher end of the wedding coordinator price spectrum, she is worth every penny. Do your research when hiring (we didn't the first time and we paid extra on many levels for that), but know that you can look no further if you get a chance to snag Alicia. read more

We got married on Boot Hill at Kunde Family Estate over Labor Day Weekend, and we worked with Alicia and her amazing team for over a year beforehand during the planning process. We decided to work with Alicia because of her inimitable experience with our slightly complicated venue, but also because we loved her personality - she was warm, accessible, upbeat, confident, and had a get-it-done attitude without being pushy. We went with the partial planning package (with a few extra hours allocated to design) and worked closely with Hazel, Alicia, and Amanda (on design & florals). The planning and design process went smoothly. I admittedly had some high expectations when it came to design, wanted to DIY lots of things, and was a tiiiiny bit controlling at times. The team was responsive, proactive, and SUPER patient with me. Their timelines are great and give you plenty of time to get everything done. They presented so many thoughtful & amazing design ideas! They worked really well with our other vendors. When things got stressful as the weekend got closer, Hazel was so sweet and calming with me - she was great about coming up with ideas/solutions, helping me realize when things weren't that important, and was never putting any additional pressure on me. I appreciated all of that so much! But the real magic with Alicia's team came the day of the wedding. Alicia & Hazel were SO ON TOP OF EVERYTHING. They paid attention to every tiniest little detail when it came to logistics and design execution. We had several vendors, a 20 person wedding party, our families... and everyone knew exactly where to be when. Seriously, when does that happen?! Everything went so smoothly because AKD thoroughly planned every detail. And for the very few things that did come up, they handled it with grace - and most importantly, I had no idea they were happening that day. I would HIGHLY recommend Alicia and her all-star team to anyone getting married in the SF/Wine Country area - they are crazy talented, caring, and experienced - you can't go wrong! read more

We worked with Alicia and Jessica for our September 2017 wedding at Chateau St. Jean in Kenwood, and couldn't have been happier with the result. Alicia was always positive, supportive, helpful, and patient with my mother and I as we asked a million questions about how this industry works, and she introduced us to vendors that delivered beautifully. We came to fully appreciate their services until the wedding weekend arrived and everything was perfectly arranged - it demonstrated how much work went on behind the scenes without me ever knowing or worrying about it. I am so thankful for that. The wedding day went off without a hitch and Alicia and Jessica were there every step of the way to help guide me through the whirlwind. I was able to be a guest at my own wedding thanks to their help, and we have heard from dozens of our guests that it was the best wedding they have ever attended. I would wholeheartedly recommend Alicia K Designs to anyone looking for a wedding planning in Northern California. They are such a joy and a talented, well-connected team! read more

Alicia K Designs - Photo credit: Kreate Photography - Wedding Planning Near Me - Oakland, California

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This is a bit overdue, but SO necessary. Alicia and her team were wonderful to work with. My husband and I met with a few planners, and Alicia was very professional but at the same time you could tell she puts a lot of heart into what she does. Alicia has a few different packages you can choose from. We opted to have her help us from start to finish, with everything from picking the site of our wedding/reception (Kunde Winery - Alicia is a preferred vendor there and Seth Rogen got hitched there as well, its gorgeous!) to actually doing our flower arrangements which were also amazing! We were married in late September 2012, and out of nowhere a few days before our wedding they started calling for a chance of rain. Since our venue had no indoor backup area, we were forced to consider tenting everything at the last minute. Alicia calmed us down and presented our options to us and supported us through every crazy, tense decision. Luckily for us we ended up with a beautiful day and didn't opt to tent anything. Alicia was a huge part of our day. We could not have had a better experience! Also, Alicia was about 7 months pregnant at the time of our wedding, and still ran the show like it was nothing! Working with Alicia K Designs you cannot go wrong! read more

I hired Alicia for the "day of" package for my wedding. She was available to me via email during the wedding planning process putting my mind at ease. I also hired her to do all the flowers. The flowers were so beautiful. I pulled magazine clippings of what I wanted. I even did a rough sketch of the dinner table arrangements. She took all my ideas and brought it to life. My only disappointment was that I wanted peonies and orchids for my own bouquet. The heat wave wilted the peonies so she substituted it with white roses, lilies, and orchids. The bouquet came out really nice. The day of the wedding she had an assistant help her decorate the church and reception. Alicia kept us on the time schedule I had written out. This is valuable since I never had to pay overtime for her or the photographer. Alicia kept giving me a heads up when I was running out of time (because almost everyone had a digital camera and wanted a picture.) I would refer to any bride that just needs that person to execute all your needs without having to yell across the room. Alicia was always there to get things done. I can't stop admiring how beautiful the flowers came out she did an exceptional job. read more

When I first got engaged, I was ecstatic ... then, I started freaking out because I had no idea how I would plan a wedding while working 80-100 hours a week! Of course, the next step was to find someone I could trust this VERY important task with. I ended up interviewing about 8 (maybe more) companies and Alicia K Designs absolutely stood out! Not only does she have the track record of being able to plan absolutely beautiful weddings, but she actually makes the process a lot of fun too! On top of this, she helps keep you aware of your budget!! Thank you Alicia for turning my scrap heap of ideas and tear sheets into an absolutely perfect wedding! Thank you also for allowing me to NOT worry about my wedding plans as I always felt that they were in the best hands. It has been more than a year and many of our friends and family (even the harder to please ones) still comment how they pleasantly surprised they were with such a beautiful wedding that also turned out to be the most "fun" wedding yet! read more

I didn't have a "real" wedding my first time, and now, as an "older" bride, I knew that I needed help. We hired alicia for a few hours in the months before the wedding to help organize and hire folks and then as a day-of-wedding coordinator. I didn't really realize how damn important that day of help was until she showed up and took over. There is NO way I could have gotten married and run a wedding at the same time. We were married at our home, and she rearranged furniture, set up tables, figured out music--and on and on. She kept people happy, took care of flare ups (DVD olayer for kids didn't want to go on) and so on. She is also amazing with flowers. LOVELY! I would recommend a coordinator in general and Alcia specifically. Really, so worth every cent. I would do it the same way all over again. read more

I had the privilege of working with Jessica from Alicia K Designs for nearly a year to plan our fall 2014 wedding (full coordination). Jessica is Alicia's right hand woman and since Alicia was already booked the weekend of my wedding, Jessica took the lead and was there to make sure the whole planning process and execution was seamless. Jessica was an INCREDIBLE wedding coordinator! Jessica is an amazing person to work with - she is organized, knowledgeable, experienced, responsive to all emails and phone calls, patient, helpful, kind, supportive, calming (there's no need to stress with their help!), and very creative! She has all the qualities you'd want in a wedding coordinator. I'd also like to give a shout out to Hazel who assisted Jessica during the day of the wedding and she was equally amazing. On the day of the wedding, both ladies were incredibly helpful, checked in on me at all the right times, made sure everything I wanted was happening, and had a calming presence. Our wedding was absolutely gorgeous (if I say so myself!) and I couldn't have done it without Jessica and Hazel's help. They made my vision a reality - and I'm not certain I even clearly articulated to them what I wanted! But it was like they read my mind and made it happen. I am happy to speak with anyone about Alicia K Design's services and answer any questions - just ask the team to shoot you my contact info! read more

Alicia was a phenomenal planner and I would absolutely recommend her! She will not disappoint. We hired her as a full service planner for our South Asian wedding (2 events - 1 at a private residence and 1 at SF City Hall). Both were extremely complicated events with high guest counts (200+), multiple event spaces, and tightly scheduled cultural programs. Alicia and her teams executed all of it superbly. First off, Alicia's eye for design is PHENOMENAL.... look at literally anything she's ever worked on. Her taste is elegant, modern, and unique -- she has an exceptional handle on color, patterns, and DIY decor of all types. She was also super receptive to our ideas/suggestions and honest about any reservations :) I can't tell you how happy we were with the end product! The table settings, signage, escort cards...and the list goes on -- she really did an amazing job. In terms of operations, Alicia is super organized and detail oriented...she stayed on top of our vendors to make sure all of necessary details were taken care of. She took care of all of the floor plans, electric needs, transportation, insurance, and venue protocol and other "behind the scenes" work that we simply could not have handled without her. She also sourced great vendors for everything we tasked her with. Finally, she executed all of our wishes wonderfully even though we had multiple parties involved in planning (parents, relatives, etc.). Although it is especially difficult with so many parties, Alicia and her team maintained her cool and took everyone's recommendations into account. One note: in the early months of planning, it felt hard to get her full attention at times...this might be natural for the couple/planner relationship - I can't really say. My husband and I were working full time and also planning another wedding in NJ, so our momentum in the planning process was somewhat cyclical - and it didn't always match up to Alicia's availability. Sometimes she was keeping us in check, and sometimes (we felt) we were keeping her in check. In hindsight, I don't think it affected her execution at all --- I think she knew things would come together in the last few months even when we were getting frantic in the early months. Getting closer to the day, we felt more and more confident about the planning. During the events, she was calm and assuring and her super, over-the-top organization really put our minds at ease. When my hair fell apart an hour before my reception, she was came to the rescue with bobby pins on hand; when I was convinced I would topple down the stairs during our entrance, she was there, advice on hand. She checked in on us constantly and shielded us from any issues that had came up. We're so SO grateful to Alicia, Jessica, Hazel and the rest of the AKD team-- the events were beyond our dreams, and it couldn't have happened without them. read more

My husband and I couldn't be happier about working with Alicia and her team. We used AK Designs for month-of coordination, and some a la carte planning of a large wine tasting excursion the day before the wedding for all our guests. The business is both creative and thoughtful, as well as incredibly efficient and organized. Their attention to detail is incredible, and their knowledge of local vendors and options is truly deeper than even the most organized bride and groom. On our wedding day, Alicia managed all of our vendors' deliveries, payments, setups, pickups, etc. Even though my husband and I were incredibly thorough with the research, planning, and contracting vendors, I cant imagine how the actual day of the wedding would have gone without her. Her ability to move our wedding timeline forward without us or our families/guests feeling pressured was much appreciated. Even for the most organized and thorough bride and groom, I would strongly recommend at least bringing Alicia and her team in for your month-of coordination. read more

Alicia and her team were so instrumental in making sure our wedding went exactly the way we wanted it to! Being that she had planned my sister's wedding, there was no question in my mind when it came to hiring her. She is exceptionally talented and the best at what she does! Thank you to her and her whole team!!! read more

Alicia and her team helped plan our November 4 wedding. Day-of planning and event design: 5 stars Full service planning package: 3 stars Our wedding was gorgeous and very smooth. The day-of coordination was flawless and I didn't have to worry about a thing! I would definitely recommend Alicia for day-of coordination. The planning process was a little disappointing. I was hoping to hire someone that could really take the reigns but I never felt like I could completely trust that Alicia was taking care of all of the details. The communication was haphazard and there were a few times we essentially lost touch. For example, we didn't hear from her for a long period over the summer during which we sent out our wedding invites. I would have hoped a planner would have at least reminded us it was time to complete this important task or helped us find the stationary, but we heard nothing. We also felt very in the dark about budget management, and I began managing the budget myself. To be sure - Alicia had a rough season. It sounds like her business grew more than expected, their truck with supplies was stolen a little before our event, and there were some other unplanned things that came up over the summer. I am sure Alicia is very capable and that things would have been more smooth without these distractions (everything was going great before summer wedding season started). That said, as a client, it's not really an excuse. I hired Alicia to deliver a certain level of service. I would have appreciated earlier communication about what was on their plate and an option for a discount or to go with another planner if they thought they were in over their heads. Orientation should always be toward the client and what's going on in their lives, not necessary toward the service provider. Some positives: When Alicia found out we were upset, she quickly put it into overdrive to help ensure everything worked out. She helped us find a great photographer and a great caterer. She had big task lists that helped remind us of all the little details we as a couple needed to attend to. In the end - it was a big help having her despite certain disappointments. And our wedding turned out to be a great success! read more

Working with Alicia k was an amazing experience! She's truly one of the most experienced full production wedding and event planners out there. Whenever I work with Alicia, I know that the event will go on will go on splendidly without a hitch. Few planners can measure up to this. She has a timely and efficient team. Bravo to the whole team! read more

I've had the pleasure of working with Alicia for several years collaborating on multiple projects. Alicia's attention to detail when designing high profile events, coupled with her design skills and outstanding client engagement seem to come perfectly natural. As a designer and event planner, Alicia is one of the best in our industry and earns my highest recommendation. read more

Alicia and Jessica made our wedding truly wonderful. From the planning, to the design to the actual management of the craziness during the weekend, we could not have been happier. They are a hard-working and determined team and will do anything to make your dreams come to reality. I am glad I chose Alicia to design and plan one of the most important days of my life! 100% recommend this business! read more

Alicia was the best...she did day of coordinating for my wedding and things couldn't have gone better. She was able to gather family for photos, keep the reception timeline moving forward, make sure the dance floor stayed dry and even run out to buy extra mixers when the bar ran out. Our day would not have been the same without her! read more

After trying to take on wedding planning on our own, my wife and I decided to reach out to Alicia K Designs. My wife had always dreamed of a Sonoma wine country wedding in the fall, and attempting to research this on our own was incredibly frustrating. After one conversation with Alicia and her team, we were off to tour several of Sonoma's best wineries. We ended up at Kundee, thanks in huge part to the relationship Alicia K Designs already had in place with the winery/vineyard. It was obvious that Kundee valued Alicia K Designs as a vendor, as we were treated like royalty and given a few extra "perks" that were completely unexpected. Alicia K Designs even managed to secure "The Ruins" at Kundee for our ceremony, which made our day even more special. Apparently "The Ruins" can only be used so many times each year. From the moment we engaged Alicia K Designs to the final toast at the reception, Alicia and her team made sure that we ENJOYED ourselves. We can not thank Alicia and her team enough and we absolutely recommend her services to anyone out there looking to host a Sonoma wine country wedding. read more

Alicia K Designs - Alicia K Designs helped us secure "The Ruins" at Kundee for our wedding ceremony. Very special - only a few weddings are allowed each year! - Wedding Planning Near Me - Oakland, California

tl;dr pass on alicia for full planning and design, maybe hire her for day of coordination It breaks my heart to write this but am encouraged by my close friends to do so. While I have no idea what another wedding planner is like besides through the stories and experiences of my closest friends, I will strive to write a fair review. Hiring a planner is a luxury, it's expensive, and since it's impossible to assess through a simple phone call..I will share my experiences here in hopes that you (the next bride) will be able to use this information and help you make an informed decision. it was NOT money well spent for me and probably the only thing I would've changed about my wedding. +1 star for Day Of. Clearly the most important day. Alicia and Jessica did a lot of pre-work behind the scenes with logistics and telling vendors where to go, where to park, where they could set up, etc. And much more, but I wasn't involved (thank goodness!) so whatever happened..happened. and for that I am grateful! +1 star for being nice, general positive attitudes from them and a million smiley faces in their emails. this is trivial, but it isnt SO bad interacting with someone that at least has a positive attitude, even if they were extremely unorganized. This star is really for Jessica too, I found her to be more organized and on top of it. Ok now for the not-so-good parts. First, I would like to say that what other yelper Beth F. stated is SPOT ON. I had the same struggles. Frustrations in no particular order: 1. Flowers - my biggest regret was entrusting Alicia with my wedding flowers. Flowers were sparse and frankly, not pretty. I have realistic expectations, and I know that pinterest is for inspiration and style and I wouldnt be receiving the EXACT same thing as my picture. However, every arrangement was SPARSE AS F. frankly, it was embarrassing. Alicia is not a florist, she should stop posing as one and focus on her planning job, especially the day of, instead of trying to make some extra money and charging florist prices. (fyi I asked for other florist options and was ignored. I let it go, but I shouldn't have) 2. Biased - I hired a wedding planner because i thought this person would be on my side, help me negotiate fair prices (how do i know whats fair?!), and give me tips based on what they have seen in the industry. I just didnt get that, I felt like she was much more concerned with maintaining relationships with other vendors than me, her paying client. She is also all about her back room and rentals from there, she was biased in rentals and design based on what she had in her storage. 3. Excel spreadsheets - as mentioned by others, Alicia has you fill out this long (and difficult to use) spreadsheet to "get to know you". I have no idea why we spent any time on it because we constantly had to repeat information that was already in there. (the sad thing is, I dont even think she knows her clients have to repeat themselves). Fonts were all over the place, formatting was inconsistent, they need to fix this for the sake of their future clients. This was earlier on in our process, I gave her a pass because I figured I was really paying for my shortcomings - in design and creativity. man, was i wrong (see flowers). She also has a budget spreadsheet, I stopped using it after week 2 because frankly, her equations get messed up and I was always "under budget" lol 4. Check-ins - I didnt want to keep holding Alicia and team accountable. I feel like thats HER job. I'm in client services, the experience I received would get me a "needs improvement" rating at my job. she liked to use a checklist that made her seem structured, but it's ineffective if she doesn't do any pre-work (i.e. update that checklist). She also didnt like it when I wanted to look at other options, instead she would just keep pushing me towards her original list. not sure if this stems from laziness or truly believing in her original list of vendors. 5. My wedding was off-peak but she was burnt out. Alicia calls herself a hustler, which I believe and respect but even hustlers need a break to recharge. Take a break Alicia - I worry about you! Same theme, I dont feel like she uses her time productively with clients, and I dont think she is client-focused. 6. Attention to detail - Alicia forgot to bring a lounge rental (approx. $850-900). I pointed this out the day of the wedding, but she said I was mistaken. Well I was right, I'm not too annoyed about that but what did frustrate the hell out of me was it took OVER A MONTH to get my refund and even after they said they would send it out a certain week, they didn't deliver. it took a ton of emails and followups and waiting for responses before I finally got my money back. It felt relentless and I wouldnt give up based on principle. tbh, it just left a bad taste in my mouth and likely led to this frank review I still want to thank her for her hard work, it just wasn't my style nor my standards. read more

While we didn't end up using Alicia as our wedding planner (we used someone else who was located close to the wedding venue we chose), we have nothing to say but wonderful words for Alicia. My fiancee and I met with Alicia both over the phone and in person. She was extremely knowledgeable, professional, and friendly. If you've had a chance to check out her website, you'll be immediately impressed with her wedding designs. We would highly recommend Alicia to anyone looking for a wedding planner in the Bay Area! read more

Alicia is FANTASTIC. Having a wedding coordinator for your wedding is key -- and this is said from a bride that works in the industry as a wedding photographer. We hired Alicia for the "month-of" package and couldn't have been happier. Alicia and Yael didn't miss a beat -- from our first meeting to discuss details to the bazillion things that happen on your wedding day. Alicia was really helpful during the design planning stages to offer ideas on where we could add a little something more to take our event to the next level, while being smart with how we budgeted. I cannot recommend Alicia and her team enough. I have worked with many wedding coordinators in my wedding photography business and Alicia gets my vote for being one of the best. read more

Two of my friends, who got married in the Bay Area, recommended Alicia K Designs to me. We got married at Calistoga Ranch in June 2014 and I wanted to work with a planner who was well-respected and had a lot of experience working in Napa County. While Alicia's reputation speaks for itself, when we first met her, we immediately felt her warmth and passion, and knew that we wanted to work with her. Alicia and her team were attentive, creative and dedicated. Although I knew that Alicia was extremely busy during last year's wedding season, she was very responsive and never made me feel like I was less of a priority. Our wedding was a phenomenal experience! Though we were moving our guests throughout the large property, we were told by many of our guests how seamless it was and how relaxed and magical the night felt for them. From a practical standpoint, Alicia kept us on budget and helped us with difficult decision making. I feel Alicia and her team stretched every dollar (albeit venues in Napa Valley are increasingly expensive) and we didn't feel like we really had to sacrifice a whole lot. Being able to keep floral, design and most rentals in-house with Alicia also maximizes your budget. On top of that, Alicia's design team is AMAZING. Planning a wedding can be challenging and stressful. Having Alicia and her team be a part of our planning experience was invaluable. Thank you for making it truly wonderful! read more

Alicia and Hazel did an amazing job executing on the beautiful plans they helped us formulate for our wedding. They spent time getting to know us, the things we needed and the additional things that we really wanted. In doing so, they created a weekend of events at the Four Seasons that my husband and I, our family and our friends will always remember for the style, elegance and seemless flow that were the hallmarks of our rehearsal dinner, reception/wedding/dinner, and farewell brunch. Alicia is incredibly organized. She knows what needs to be booked and when, as well as knowing the sequencing that has to be followed to create a fabulous room. She was able to source everything we wanted and did a great job of making sure we kept to the budget we had set at the outset. She also created beautiful save the date cards and invitations that were creative and unique -- they really impressed our guests. One of the things that really impressed me about Alicia was how she problem solved. Two examples: we went crazy with flowers and I was horrified at the thought that they would be discarded at the end of the evening. We wanted to donate them to a hospital or other facility where they could be appreciated by people who could use the lift that flowers bring. Alicia found a facility that would accept a large donation late at night after our reception was done and then organized transport to get them there. The other problem she solved arose from the fact that our rabbi wanted to marry us after sundown. Given our June wedding date, that meant our cocktail hour took place before the wedding, with the dinner to follow. To ensure we didn't have to rent two sets of chairs (one for the ceremony and one for the dinner), Alicia proposed we have a group photo shoot on the terrace to allow for the chairs to be moved from the ceremony room into the dinner room. Problem solved, with a fun interlude for all the guests that also created a beautiful photo memory for my husband and me. I've seen commentary in some of the reviews that Alicia isn't available, and from my experience, that was not at all the case. Yes, she generally isn't able to respond right away on weekends (when she is working her magic for other couples), but I found she was extremely responsive. And again, she was very proactive in keeping us organized and on track. My husband and I could not be happier with Alicia K Designs, and have recommended Alicia and her team without reservation. read more

It's been some time, but as we pass our 5 year wedding anniversary, I started thinking about how beautiful and stress free our wedding was and thought I would look Alicia up to see how she was doing. My original review seems to have fallen off Yelp, but all of the sentiment and the admiration for Alicia and her team remains as strong to this day. If you're looking for an unforgettable wedding that your guests will be talking about for years to come, then alicia is absolutely going to make that happen. Her creativity, resourcefulness and support makes the entire wedding planning process (and wedding itself) stress free and...yes, fun! Thanks again alicia!! read more

First of all I have to say I've done my fair share of catering and weddings in my time and Alicia and her team did an exceptional job bringing in professional local vendors to her event! I've been a sushi chef for 16 plus years and she knew exactly what the bride and groom wanted and worked with me to make their wedding a magical one! Rarely have I seen both the bride and groom cry with appreciation as I did when I catered their wedding! Alicia and her team truly are a grade above the rest! read more

I don't even know where to start with how amazing Jessica was! Jessica whomis part of Alicia's Team, planned my mother's 50th birthday party at my house in the bay area. I called in a panic because although i love my mother, she can be quite difficult and hard to please. With my mother's birthday right around the corner (mid April) I knew i wanted to throw a big party, but just didn't know how or where to begin. When speaking with Jessica she gave us a ton of options with different vendors, themes etc. Oh man, was this one of the best decisions I made! We decided to go with a Tuscany themed party with string lights, candles, Italian music and family style dinner. It was beautifully executed and Jessica made it so easy to kick back and let myself and the guests have a wonderful evening! On the day of, I didn't have to worry about a thing! Jessica was there in the morning to help set up and made sure all vendors knew what was going on and where things went. Working with Jessica was extremely easy and comfortable, comfortable enough that I even had some time to sneak away to pick up some last minute gifts for my mother and get a quick manicure. When I came back to my house, Jessica gave me a detailed breakdown of our schedule, menu and cocktails. I was truly impressed at how little I had to do! I can't give Jessica enough praise! When my mother finally arrived to my house, she was SOO surprised and blown away by how beautiful everything looked! And this is coming from a woman who is a hard as a brick wall! I think I even saw a tear in her eye! I would HIGHLY recommend Jessica and Alicia K Designs for any kind of event you want to plan! They were outstanding!! If I could give more stars I would. Thank you for saving me and planning a spectacular party!! Jessica and Alicia's team were fantastic and professional! Any reasonable person could tell that Alicia K Designs is there to take the stress away and to create a beautiful and fluid event! Thanks again! read more

In 2008, my sister worked with Alicia K Designs for her wedding flowers. When I started planning my wedding in 2012, Alicia is the first person I contacted and I did not consider working with anyone else. Based on my sister's wonderful experience, I knew we could not go wrong. It was great to see how much the business has grown over the last 5 years - after working with the team again, I am not surprised. In terms of design, we worked closely with Rhonda at Alicia K Designs for our flowers. Throughout the planning process Rhonda helped solidify our vision and put significant time and energy in making sure we were happy with our selections and that we were comfortable with the associated costs. Her deep knowledge led to great ideas that were then incorporated into our design. Rhonda even went to the reception site to see the space and make sure the arrangements we were planning fit the space nicely and would not look too large / too small. In terms of communication, Rhonda was extremely responsive throughout the entire planning process. We never once had to follow-up and were always at ease knowing that things were being taken care of by the team. The sample centerpiece that Rhonda showed us a few weeks before the wedding was magnificent and far more abundant than we had envisioned. After the visit, we could not wait to see the flowers on our actual wedding day. The end result was simply stunning - each arrangement was above and beyond what we had imagined and when we first saw everything, we were in awe. Our vision was brought to life so beautifully. The flowers were very fresh and abundant and pulled the simple design together so nicely. Our family and friends enjoyed taking the flowers home at the end of the night and continue to comment on how beautiful the arrangements were and how much they enjoyed having them in their homes. We simply could not have had a better experience - everything was perfect! read more

Where to start? We had a designer who did not do coordination so she recommended we call AKD. We did, and I am SO SO SO pleased we did. Jessica was our month of coordinator and really I would have been lost without her. The one piece of advice I have given to a few folks is hire a coordinator, it will be the best thing you do. If it is not in your budget buy a smaller cake, or ditch the chargers whatever it takes make it happen! Jessica was organized, professional, friendly, and so on top of everything. My family members and bridesmaids could not believe I was so mellow and calm leading up to the wedding. They kept asking what they could do to help and I just continued to tell them, "uh well, I can't think of anything, Jessica pretty much has it all covered". The day of the wedding was such a dream, my girls and my parents and I just lounged, had room service, did some yoga, TOOK A NAP. Seriously, it was so stress free I took a nap while my mom was getting her hair done! I say all of this because Jessica had everything covered like a boss. One of my guests who is perhaps more critical than most, said to me a week later, "There was not one stone unturned", again I credit Jessica and AKD. Go with them you will be so pleased!!!! read more

Alicia and her team are incredible to work with! We have used her event management and production services for multiple corporate events and are never disappointed. She knows the best vendors to work with, all of which have been very professional when coming to our building. Alicia does a great job managing within a range of budgets and surprising us with what she can do! Her ideas for decor, lighting and entertainment makes our events shine! Thank you Alicia and team! read more

Alicia planned my graduation party from law school with 150 people. She was amazing start to finish, and always made sure I was happy and comfortable with whatever decision we were making. She leaves no stone unturned. Her design aesthetic is what makes her unique and is what will make your event stand out and memorable to all. Couldn't recommend enough!!!! THANK YOU ALICIA & TEAM! read more

I can't say enough good things about Alicia and her wonderful team. My daughter and son-in-law selected Alicia K Designs to coordinate their recent wedding. They had a vision of what they wanted but needed someone to bring it to fruition, stay on budget and make it stress-free; basically what every bride and groom wants. Alicia and her team delivered every step of the way. Alicia is a great listener and communicator, as well as being very responsive and pro-active. She is also a delight to be around; even under stress, she radiates calm and good cheer. The day of the catering tasting she was obviously feeling under the weather, turned out she had bronchitis, but her levels of energy and attention were seemingly unaffected. She is also a stickler for details. As an example, the day before the wedding each member of the wedding party was handed a print out of the "day of" schedule, including make-up/hair times, photo sessions, etc. She had also tracked the sun to make sure the chairs were set up so most guests would be in the shade. Her two assistants were always available and helpful; even going above and beyond in handling one last minute minor snafu. I will always appreciate their thoughtfulness and care. All the flowers and decorations were done by Alicia K Designs and they were gorgeous. My daughter had wanted the bridesmaid's bouquets to be similar in style but distinctly different. They couldn't have been lovelier. Alicia was instrumental in selecting the venue and the vendors. The venue was beautiful and met all our specifications. The caterer (Park Ave. Catering) and photographer (Sylvie Gil) were exemplary. They were all professional yet personable. While we have only seen a few of the wedding photos so far, they and the engagement photos Sylvie did are stunning. I will write reviews for the vendors elsewhere. read more

I hired Alicia for my wedding this summer and everything from food, decor, florals and experience was top notch! Alicia truly gives her whole self into each of her clients and it was a dream to work with her. I didn't have to take care of a single thing and it was all made possible by Alicia, her team of vendors, and team~ Thank you so much for making our day unforgettable!! read more

Many of my friends have been getting married lately, so I have been going to a lot of weddings. But there was one wedding that stands out from all the rest, and all because of AK Designs. I have never seen such a beautiful wedding. Everything just was just amazing. The decor, design, the entire ambiance was just breath taking. I would reccomend AK Designs to ANYONE. Alicia and her team work so hard to make sure that your big day goes just the way YOU want it to, and it is much apprecaited by not only the bride and groom, but the entire wedding party!!! read more

We hired Alicia and her team to plan our 2014 wedding in CA. I would NOT recommend them! What should have been the most exciting event of our lives to plan turned out to be the most painful year due to Alicia and her team's complete incompetence. When we confronted Alicia about the numerous issues and disappointments, she was completely unprofessional. Don't be fooled by their glossy, professional photos on her site and social media channels, which disguise real issues in the planning and execution of events. Steer clear unless you want a miserable planning experience. Here are just some highlights: * They gave us the most expensive vendors when we asked for things and inflated prices. For example, we wanted to upgrade the chairs for our wedding. I asked them for an estimate and they emailed me that the minimum would be $1,500. So I reached out to vendors in the area and found and secured a vendor that did the chairs for $900. Isn't this what I hired a planner to do? Yet I was doing it on my own. When I went to Alicia and her team with the details, Alicia tasked me with going back to the vendor and checking certain details - instead of taking over at the point. When I confronted her about how misleading she was about the cost, she claimed she didn't say $1,500. I had the email evidence and yet she denied it * They have strong relationships with a set number of vendors and prize their vendors more than they do their clients. For example, our vendor gave us permission to get married outside, which was something they said might be possible but didn't guarantee when we booked the venue. When Alicia found out I got permission, she FLIPPED. She demanded that she be able to contact the vendor and understand why they allowed it. We sent her so many emails requesting she NOT do that and jeopardize our chances. As it turned out, we got married outside, with no issue, which was our dream. But Alicia was so willing to squash our dream which was shocking. Also, when I would ask for certain details, like little tags on the napkins, they would quote me insane amounts to do it (I ended up buying the items on etsy but I had to research all the ideas and buy all the items on my own. These were the little details that made our wedding unique and I did them all on my own). Some of their vendors were also just ok and when they sent vendor options the details were scant. I ended up doing a ton of research on my own and a whole excel sheet with what I was getting from different photographers and found my own * They called me the wrong name several times the entire year we were planning the wedding - goes to show how little they cared to remember and know their clients. They even copied me on emails related to another bride * They completely lacked attention to detail. When we had planning calls with Jessica she would ask us about decisions we had already made or vendors we had already hired. The calls served to catch her up as she had no idea what was going on instead of her keeping us in check. We basically felt WE were planning the wedding. She sent me documents laced with misspelled words, typos, and timelines that were outdated based on discussions. I had to edit them and send them back to her and ask her to please double check the details, run spellcheck, and proof them. And her wedding day timelines were poorly constructed - my husband basically thought through the day and sent her the timeline of events that worked best based on where guests were staying, pick up locations, etc. * They did an ok job on the design. But some of their design elements were misleading and some they didn't execute. For example, they had an image of life sized tree stump with framed photographs. It ended up being three small pieces of round wood on a table with a photo frame on it. The design and price also included roses be scattered in the aisle - which was not executed on the day of. We paid for this and never received acknowledgement that they didn't do this or got the money back even though they didn't execute this detail * They were terribly disorganized and hard to get a hold of. I felt like I was constantly chasing them Above are just the highlights - we experienced many other issues. One positive - Amanda the florist was fantastic. So was organized, professional, and her designs were stellar. I loved working with her. The wedding turned out nicely but we put a hell of a lot of work into it, had to manage everything extremely closely, and fought tooth and nail all year for the wedding we wanted and felt the planning that we had hired Alicia and her team for and paid a lot of money for was largely absent, read more

I am so glad my photographer recommend Alicia K Designs to me! I used them for wedding coordination '3 weeks before' the wedding, as well as 'day of' coordination. They were worth every penny. Especially the coordinator assigned to my wedding- Jessica Harrington. She was a superstar. Patient, kind, and fun. She really helped keep me sane in the 3 weeks leading up to our wedding. To be honest- I initially thought I could handle all of the wedding planning by myself. Our wedding was at the Hakone Estate and Gardens in Saratoga. I had everything under control- site, catering, rentals, decor, photographer, music, cake- they were all set up and arranged. UNTIL 2 months to the wedding we got a call that our caterer was going out of business. The caterer was handling the food, wait staff, and rentals. Unable to find a replacement caterer to handle what my previous caterer was with only 5 weeks to go- I had to find individual vendors that would . My 4 wedding vendors doubled to 8. I was stressed and scrambling in a panic trying to organize everything. With all these new vendors, I would need help- that is where Alicia K Designs and Jessica came to my rescue. They dealt with all of the contracts, correspondence, walk thru details, issues, and day of everything. With Jessica in charge, I was able to finally relax and get excited about getting married. Day of- I just showed up and enjoyed every moment of my wedding. Even with a huge downpour of surprise rain that lasted until an hour until our wedding- Jessica adapted all of our plans to fit the weather. She moved our outdoor wedding all indoors and made it look easy. (Which was no easy feat!) I really can't thank Jessica and Alicia K Designs enough. Without them our wedding would have been a disaster- but because of them it was perfect. read more

I had the absolute pleasure of working with the best coordinator/designer in California on my wedding. Alicia Falango was a dream come true for the proverbial nightmare that planning your wedding can be. With a wealth of travel experience Alicia is able to conjure up design feaures that can truly take you to another time and place. Her ability to manage people, solve problems and conjure up dream settings under stressful deadlines is truly amazing...and she does it all with a even-mannered, bubbly personality that puts everyone from the vendors to the sometimes crazy bride at ease. I would recommend Alicia and AK Designs to anyone that wants a stress free, fun atmosphere on their most special day. read more