If you're getting married--especially at the Simpson House Inn in Santa Barbara--I highly recommend hiring Ann. Her 25+ years of experience are evident in every detail of her work. She has a remarkable ability to identify areas where you can save money without compromising quality, and she offers thoughtful suggestions to improve your timeline in ways you might never have considered. I am deeply grateful to Ann and her team for ensuring that every aspect of my wedding flowed seamlessly. read more

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We've worked with Ann to organise not one but two weddings! Our original wedding was planned a month or two after COVID kicked off and we worked closely with Ann to get set up for the day. When we made the tough decision to postpone the decision as case numbers rose and cities started locking down, we put everything on ice. She stuck with us through three reschedules of the date (from April 2020 to August 2020 to August 2021 to, finally, August 2022). As we got closer to August 2022, we ended up having to rethink a surprising number of decisions as prices had changed (thanks, inflation), we wanted a renewed ceremony format, and new requirements came in. We actually managed to pull off the wedding in August 2022 and Ann and her team went above and beyond making it such an incredibly wonderful weekend for my wife and I. Our family and friends had a superb time - lots of little details were thought through ahead of time. Ann and her team were onsite for the day itself and worked very hard to make sure everything happened as planned, and dealt with some minor surprises and issues along the way. After the wedding reception wrapped up, her team were onsite late into the evening cleaning up the venue and restoring it to normal. They organised all of the gear we had brought to the event so that the next morning it was easy for us to pick everything up. Ann is flexible and open minded when it came to accommodating some of our zany ideas (my wife had a vision of serving warm cookies for dessert, which we managed to make work!) - but also drew upon her extensive experience planning events to guide us towards decisions that ultimately made everything go a little smoother. I'd wholeheartedly recommend working with Ann again. read more

As a note - I made this account under an alias several years ago, meaning my yelp account name is not the name of the client AJE worked directly with. Hired Ann and her team for full service planning for my wedding. We worked directly with Erin for most of our work. I was extremely unhappy with how things went after all was said and done - and when I tried to hash this out with the business owner directly, she took no accountability. Below are just a few of the issues I encountered - 1. Did not confirm information like final counts, so I ended up paying for 40 extra chairs because they didn't verify. 2. Coordinator consistently was uninformed about basic details about my wedding, like the location and various components of my processional order. 3. Reception venue was unfinished when we arrived and candles were unlit. Hire literally anyone else - I thought that I had spent a significant amount of time on top of a full time job planning this wedding and double checking Ann and team's work, and things were still missed. You may as well plan it yourself if you hire them. I tried to first handle this offline, express my frustrations, and go directly to Ann. I was met with a lack of accountability and blame put back on other vendors and myself. Save yourself the hassle. read more

Leaving this review under my own Yelp account now, as I had previously posted it under an alias profile. I recently saw that this vendor is up for the Santa Barbara Independent's best wedding planner award, and felt COMPELLED TO WARN PEOPLE TO STAY AWAY. Reflecting on working with this vendor over a year after my wedding, I am so disappointed in the services I received and how Ann, the business owner, responded when I tried to share my concerns. I left plenty off of my initial review - including that the coordinator was actually neglecting her duties during my wedding to dance during the reception - and asked Ann for a refund. She told me that the while she wouldn't be refunding the actual fees I had paid her, the coordinator could Venmo me back the tip I had graciously given to her, to which I said yes - please do this. I never received the money back, even after Venmo requesting Ann for the tip directly. She declined the request. So, on top of operating an unprofessional business who doesn't take accountability when customers aren't happy, she is a liar and did not give me money back when she said she would. Below is my original review - Hired Ann and her team for full service planning for my wedding in June 2023. We worked directly with Erin for most of our work. I was extremely unhappy with how things went after all was said and done - and when I tried to hash this out with the business owner directly, she took no accountability. Below are just a few of the issues I encountered - 1. Did not confirm information like final counts, so I ended up paying for 40 extra chairs because they didn't verify. 2. Coordinator consistently was uninformed about basic details about my wedding, like the location and various components of my processional order. 3. Reception venue was unfinished when we arrived and candles were unlit. Hire literally anyone else - I thought that I had spent a significant amount of time on top of a full time job planning this wedding and double checking Ann and team's work, and things were still missed. You may as well plan it yourself if you hire them. I tried to first handle this offline, express my frustrations, and go directly to Ann. I was met with a lack of accountability and blame put back on other vendors and myself. Save yourself the hassle. read more

Ann Johnson and her whole team helped make my daughter's wedding weekend incredibly special. Ann helped us plan every detail from the welcome party on Friday night to the rehearsal on Saturday to the wedding on Sunday. She had creative suggestions and followed through in coordinating with all the vendors. I don't live in California so planning a wedding from long distance could have been very hard but with Ann and Erin it was easy! She was just a true pleasure to work with and is very, very organized! I highly recommend her for any event!! read more

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Ann Johnson is an amazing wedding planner, I work for Pure Joy Catering and she has worked many beautiful events with us. She is always organized, professional and a team player. If you need a wedding planner i would recommend you hire Ann Johnson Patrick Ward Sr. Event Planner Pure Joy Catering read more

Y'all - these reviews are LYING to you. My husband and I are still recovering from the trauma of ALMOST having Ann plan our wedding, and finally decided we need to share our story with prospective clients. We initially hired Ann and her team for partial planning services (meaning she doesn't find our vendors or do any preliminary work aside from the wedding planning), HOWEVER - she markets her services as being full-planning no matter what package you hire her for, and even told me that the floral vendor I was speaking with was overpriced and she could find me a more affordable vendor when I told her I wanted to work with said vendor during one of our initial calls. Despite this introduction to planning, Ann was completely MIA for the many months prior to our wedding, and it took three follow-ups with her to get a hair and make-up referral for a woman who never responded to my emails to confirm booking or send over a contract. Then, when I tried reaching out to Ann about this woman ghosting us, she tried to make us feel bad by telling us the artist passed away and we were just being inconsiderate and selfish (how were we supposed to know this????). We also had one phone call and email exchange with her associate, Erin, who was extremely unclear and all over the place with taking down our reception preferences, and told us she would send us the notes from our call but never did so. Besides all of their issues with the actual planning - BOTH her and Ann misspelled my husband's name in several emails, and when I brought it up with her in an understandably stern email - she just victimized herself and abruptly told us she was firing us, claiming we were "mistreating them," when all we said was we were disappointed and concerned with how everything was going so far. All this to say, she fired us roughly two months before our wedding date, and it was only after begging and pleading with her that she referred us to a new planner - who was a DREAM to work with and the polar opposite of Ann. On the bright side, Ann had done no real work on our wedding, so there was almost nothing for our new planner to be caught up on. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider everything she did to me and my husband during what is supposed to be the most important time of our lives before deciding to book Ann Johnson. We never had any other issues with any other vendor before, during, or after our wedding apart from her. She is truly a BULLY and a MANIPULATOR and does not care about her clients or doing good work - she just wants to do the bare minimum and will threaten to drop you if you speak out about her poor planning. read more

Ann and Erin helped us plan our wedding and it couldn't have gone any more perfectly. Everything we asked for in terms of what we wanted for the day, they made it happen. It was so easy to work with their team and I always felt so supported and listened to. They have great relationships with a lot of the vendors in the area, I would 100% recommend. They are an amazing group of ladies. read more

My husband and I recently got married in Santa Barbara, and we thank our lucky stars every day that we brought Ann on to help us create the most magical day of our lives! Ann was there by our sides for the entire ride. From picking a caterer, a photographer, linens, flowers, band, she helped us find the best of the best. On top of that, she did it with love and care. Working with Ann and her team, you know that they give everything to make sure that your day is special....and MY GOODNESS WAS IT! We cannot thank Ann and her team enough for everything they did to help us dream up, and get to live out, our perfect wedding! Thank you thank you, a million times thank you! read more

Wedding planning is stressful, especially when it's COVID and planning one wedding turns into a plan, a postponement, another plan, another postponement, and finally a plan C. So do yourself a favor and hire Ann. I am beyond grateful Ann and Erin were by my side through it all. They were always positive, always ready to help, and always professional. BEST MONEY WE SPENT ON ANYTHING WEDDING RELATED! P.S. they can get bronzer stains out of wedding gowns read more

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Ann and her team are artists of organization! Early on, she broke down the process into manageable pieces so it didn't seem so overwhelming. Choosing vendors was so easy - she gave us vetted lists based on our tastes and budget, and everyone we reached out to was sure to comment on how much they enjoy working with Ann and her team. Everything ran flawlessly on the weekend of the wedding. Erin managed the rehearsal party at our home, which included coordinating transportation up to the house for all our guests. The wedding day itself ran perfectly thanks to Ann. In addition to her blazing competence, Ann is so warm, kind and fun. She untangled every knot we tied ourselves in with patience and good cheer, and we are so grateful! read more

As out-of-towners who were planning a destination wedding, Ann was an incredibly reliable resource and made the planning process so much easier. There were some aspects of the wedding day that were not "traditional" and Ann was great working with us to help achieve our vision for the day. She brought a positive energy during our meetings and was professional and communicative throughout the process. Our wedding day went off flawlessly thanks to Ann and her team, and we're so grateful. Highly recommend using AJE if you're planning a wedding in Santa Barbara. read more

I was so happy to work with Ann Johnson this past weekend. Ann is professional, fun, and an amazing wedding planner. She handled everything from start to finish with a huge smile on her face. If you're considering her for your big event and she's available.... BOOK HER right away. It will be the best decision you make for your event. read more

Ann Johnson Events - Ann Johnson is one of the best wedding planners in Santa Barbara - Wedding Planning Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Wow Wow Wow...big shout out and thank you to Ann Johnson and her team at AnnJohnsonEvents.com. Ann was the wedding planner for my daughter's wedding in August 2024. She was simply amazing...from our first meeting (August 2023) right through to the day after the wedding. Ann helped organize and prioritize the planning process. Her recommendations (venue location, caterer, band, flowers, photographer, table settings, transportation, make-up and hair and more...) were all excellent. Without exception the vendors she recommended were fantastic and within our budget. Most importantly, Ann listened to what the bride and groom wanted and helped them realize their vision. The wedding was uniquely them, beautiful and so much fun!!! In the planning and the day of, Ann and her team always remained calm and provided a steady, encouraging and reassuring voice. The wedding was perfect, every detail attended to. I cannot imagine a better wedding and I cannot imagine doing it without Ann's help. Again, thank you Ann and your team for helping my daughter and son-in-law have the wedding of their dreams. You were the best and I highly recommend AnnJohnsonEvents.com. read more

Ann Johnson and her incredible team (Erin and Grace) made our wedding HAPPEN period. From day one they helped me every step of the way and went above and beyond with meeting my needs and extending their experience and connections. They truly felt like a guest not a vender. Every time we met as we got closer to our date I felt a sense of calm, love, and excitement. On our wedding day they were my HEROES. I can't even begin to describe the amount of work they did. Most notably, Ann Johnson and her team have mastered the way to be extremely helpful without being invasive. They are like sneaky magic ninjas always working in the background making your day the best it could possibly be! I am incredibly thankful and grateful for all they did for my husband and I. Ann Johnson is an immediate YES when deciding on your wedding planner! read more

Let me just start out by saying that Ann Johnson should be the very first call made after getting proposed too. She helped us before, during, and after Covid lockdown. She helped us navigate the unprecedented flawlessly. She is attentive, responsive, and reliable. My wife and I have 0 complaints. I can not say enough how thankful we were to have Ann and her team helping us. Erin who is Ann's right hand woman was just as great. Every step of the way Ann was helpful and knowledgeable and made our engagement as stress free as possible (given the timing)! read more

Ann, Hilary, and the team are the absolute best. The day of our wedding and the lead up was executed perfectly. We never felt stressed or under-prepared. In an extremely busy wedding season, Ann handled everything flawlessly. Ann and Hilary are a pleasure to work with and we loved having them as our wedding coordinators. We are ever so grateful for making our wedding day so special. If you're looking for a wedding planner, search no more. Ann Johnson Events is the choice to make! read more

***This is only a review for contract and quotes from Ann, we did not end up picking her as our wedding planner. Since it was very hard to tell the difference between most wedding planners and determine what fit our needs, I thought this review could help future couples navigate what to consider. Ann is probably the most seasoned, experienced wedding planner in Santa Barbara County. She started off in corporate event planning and worked for another wedding planning company before starting her own 12 years ago. We loved that she was able to quickly connect the dots between vendors, pricing and knew her way around the industry. She also has an experienced team and ensures that every event has 2 people on staff for the day no matter how small the wedding. Where we struggled with hiring her was how she structured her packages and agreements. She doesn't offer partial wedding planning on paper, only full-service and month-of, but she said verbally during our call that she treats her clients all equally. The first warning sign for us was when she said "I basically can't do month-of, I'm not programmed that way to not be involved earlier in the planning process." What she talked us through was essentially was partial planning. Then....why do you offer a month-of package? It showed why when she sent us the package outlines as well as the contract for month-of. There was a ton of things she mentioned verbally that were included with month-of, but they were only listed on the full service package. There were also details on the month-of package that weren't in the contract, such as anything to do with rehearsal or event/decor set up. Also, no where in any package or contracts did it reference help with decor, colors, themes, vision-boarding which is pretty standard for full service if not partial. We followed up asking her to clarify how these details show up and are confirmed in the contract as well as asked about discrepancies between what she shared verbally and what was on paper. Her response was that the contracts are just broiler plates and that she provides full service level even for month-of because it's the only way she knows how to operate. This concerned us because there were huge holes in the contract that would have meant she was off the hook if she didn't do that work and could have charged us more later. But also, other reviews said that after signing a month-of contract she was very hands off and not as involved in planning like they expected given what she sold them. It's a bit shocking how vague and loose the contract terms were considering her extensive years of experience in corporate event and wedding planning. You would think her strongest skill would be structuring contracts and terms and pricing. She seems like an excellent match if you're looking for only month-of planning and don't need someone to handle any of your planning/vendors setups or if you're looking for true full service. Also, if either you or your partner have a strong vision for design/decor. There are other planners who have true full service and well-thought out contracts that don't leave both parties with a high level of uncertainty. We also found there's a big distinction between planners who come up corporate event planning and those who grew up wedding planning path with more experience dealing with emotional audiences, personalization, artistic approach, so this might be what influences her being a strong match for couples. read more

If you are planning a wedding in the Santa Barbara area you will not find a better wedding planner than Ann Johnson! She was amazing from our first meeting to the clean up after the wedding. Ann was incredibly organized and gave us great suggestions for all the vendors. She was creative and flexible and was able to work within our budget. Ann was always available for questions. I was able to really enjoy my daughter's wedding because I knew Ann had every detail under control. She's simply terrific at what she does! read more

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Ann and her staff. Our wedding was amazing thanks to them. Ann was simply amazing to work with! She responds quickly and was extremely helpful in finding wonderful vendors for us. Planning was a breeze thanks to her help. On the big day, her team members Sam and Erin were wonderful. They were quick to help make sure everyone was great and when we ran out of some of the alcohol so quickly during the cocktail hour, Erin was quick to get us more! They went above and beyond for us to make sure we did not have to worry about anything during our special day. We could not have asked for a better team. read more

I had the pleasure of working a wedding with Ann and Erin recently and these women are amazing! From their attention to detail to their attitudes, everything was spot on! I highly recommend if you're looking for a fun and flawless day! read more

I've worked alongside Ann Johnson Events twice now, and I can say that each time has been a pleasure and a breeze. Ann and her associates are incredibly professional and capable. Trust a fellow wedding vendor to know. We see so many different weddings, and we know when things aren't running as smoothly. You want coordinators on your side that will get the job done and will make your day perfect and stress-free. Ann Johnson is that person! read more

Dear Ann, How can I thank you for helping to make Haley and Ben's wedding so perfect? I can't believe there were no glitches what so ever. That would not have happened without you, Erin and Hilary. Everything went so smoothly! Also, we loved all the venders that you were instrumental in us choosing. Patrick was incredible, Spark made the evening sparkle and Field to Table made the most amazing food any of us have ever had at any wedding. We are so very happy we chose Whispering Ranch and you! It was a beautiful perfect day and night. Thank you! Thank You! Pam read more

We recently used Ann Johnson for our Santa Barbara wedding...and didn't have the experience others seem to have had. Overall - she was ok in some areas of our wedding experience, disappointing in others. In sum: pros - nice, friendly personality, easy to talk to etc. She's well liked in Santa Barbara among venues (they seem to refer her)/other wedding related professionals (and knowledgeable about the area). She provided good recommendations for additional venues (I.e., restaurants for a rehearsal dinner when asked) and acted as a resource when we had questions. She / her assistant nicely set up our ceremony and reception venue for the actual day and responded favorably for a couple extra requests for the day of (ensuring certain people had special meals for their dietary needs etc.). Cons: when we had our initial conversation with Ann, we explained that both my now husband and I had busy full-time jobs and needed an overall wedding coordinator to take the general lead - to identify everything that needed to be done and track all items with follow-up etc. (we were coming from out of town and had 3 venues in total between the rehearsal dinner location, ceremony & reception site). That was not what we got. :( Ann was largely uninvolved in the months / weeks leading up to our wedding, except to develop the 'day of' timeline and minor coordination. The bulk of the detailed planning (numerous to-do lists, tracking, follow-up) were completely left to us. To say it was a stressful time would be an understatement. Ann served as a resource if we had a question or needed advice etc., but the day to day heavy lifting of planning an out of town wedding was all left to us (and my very organized bridesmaids that stepped in to serve as wedding coordinators etc.). Thankfully others helped to identify things we needed to do with advanced timelines (get our marriage license, set up a food tasting at our venue etc.) because we didn't get any advice from Ann for those things. (I would've thought those are basic items a wedding coordinator would help identify at a minimum if not be involved with for arranging/execution). But we didn't get either. My main source of information was a Knot notebook and online wedding sites. She was not involved with any part of the logistics for our out of town guests/us (which was a lot to manage), bridal party - bridesmaids or groomsmen, day of hair/make-up etc.. We learned a lot of tough lessons as well that I would've appreciated an experienced wedding planner to prevent (telling us to order/print rehearsal dinner invitations when we're doing our normal invitations etc. We ended up having to send out an Evite etc.., to develop a hair/make-up schedule for the bridal party (our wedding morning was pure chaos with the whole bridal party getting ready in our suite and Ann/assistant not in our sites). As a side note, we already had found our venues so she didn't have to help with any of that. In sum, if you are comfortable doing the bulk of the planning / logistics and want a SB based planner for more of a "day of" coordinator she may be a good option (though she wasn't involved in the morning / getting ready / ensuring our party was on time and trouble shooting issues that arose etc.). Creating a 'day of' timeline on paper is easy...ensuring it's executed properly is a whole different story. If you're looking for someone who would do more than day of, I'd recommend someone else. read more

My now husband, Matt and I decided very early on, that one of our top priorities was to hire a wedding coordinator/planner. We had ZERO idea how to plan a wedding and NO CLUE what it would entail, so why not hire someone who had planned several, if not hundreds of events? We also decided very early on, that we didn't want to be stressed out on the day of our wedding, dealing with everything a wedding day entails. Well, SHOCKER. Santa Barbara is a bank buster, especially when it comes to weddings, and we started to feel a little discouraged--until we found Ann Johnson Events. Ann's pricing is very reasonable and she is wealth of knowledge when it comes to everything wedding here in town. She was extremely patient with us--so patient, in fact, that she waited for over a year, for us to finally commit to a venue and a date. Ann was always available via email and text (I'm sure by phone too, but does anyone actually call people these days?). I will say that if you are expecting someone to hold your hand and remind you to stay on top of things, Ann may or may not be the planner for you-I didn't really need her to do that for me-so that wasn't an issue for me. She let me go about things at my own pace, and I would just send her contracts as I booked/signed them. And she would answer questions as I asked them or give me referrals if I needed them. About a month before our wedding, she sat down with us, to go over our wedding day timeline, and that was pretty painless. Ann was there at our rehearsal, and was AWESOME in getting some of the groomsmen in line (ha!) and she was great with our ring bearer. On the day of our wedding, Ann and Hilary made sure everything was set up beautifully and they made sure the day ran smoothly and on time. Everything went as we had discussed. My husband was even able to pull off a surprise flamenco performance, with Ann's help-which made our wedding reception so special for us and our guests. Our wedding day was amazing-the only thing we were bummed about, was not having some of the food and some of the dessert boxed up for us to have a little late night snack, but I guess we didn't really mention that as something we might've wanted (Ann did have the cake top boxed up for us to take home though). In the end, if you're the type of bride (or couple) that wants to do things on your own, but with a little bit of help, guidance, or input, then Ann and her team are PERFECT (again, I can't really speak for someone who wants or needs full service planning, but I'm positive Ann and her team are incredibly capable). Ann already knew most of our vendors and had worked with them prior, so that made things easier. She also took care of all the final payments, tips, the card box, etc...It was JUST SO NICE to be able to enjoy our day and be in the moment--we had NONE of the horror stories you so often hear about-if something went wrong, we sure didn't know about it. THANK YOU so much Ann for helping us create one of our most favorite days, Matt and I truly appreciate all the hard work you and Hilary put into making our day so special. If you're still on the fence about hiring a planner or coordinator, GET OFF and CALL ANN JOHNSON EVENTS! BEST DECISION EVER! read more

Ann found my son and his bride a gorgeous private oceanfront estate venue in Hope Ranch in Santa Barbara (after their first two private estate venues booked directly had both cancelled on them) within only a couple months left before the wedding. Not only did she find them the dream location in short notice, but she responded quickly with compassion and efficiency! Thank you also to her assistant Hillary who did an amazing job with coordination, patience and organization. Thank you so much for the perfect wedding day! read more

Ann Johnson Events - Wedding Planning Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Ann and Hillary were amazing with helping us know what we needed to figure out for our wedding at the Montecito Country Club in May 2015. They knew the venue inside and out and helped us have an amazing wedding day! They took care of all of the little and big details the day of so we could just focus on getting ready and getting married. I can't imagine what our day would have been like without them. read more

We hired Ann Johnson Events for our July wedding at Ventura Botanical Gardens. Ann and Hilary went above and beyond to make our wedding day seamless, and they set up the ceremony and reception areas beautifully! Ann was communicative and a helpful resource throughout the planning process as well. read more

If we could give a 6th star believe me we would. She was so good that you'd think it was her wedding ;) Thank you Annie ,you definitely are sincere friendly yet very professional. read more

We hired Ann for our recent wedding, and we could not be happier with how she helped us plan the perfect wedding. From choosing a venue, to dealing with rentals, and working with our other vendors, she was a true professional, and I could not have had the wedding of my dreams without her! She also introduced us to our wonderful wedding photographer, who captured our day flawlessly. Ann was always available via text, call, or email to discuss even the tiniest of details. And on the day of the wedding, she and her assistant Sogand were completely organized and on top of everything. The two of them handled every detail, so my husband and I could enjoy the moment with our friends and family. Thank you for everything Ann! We couldn't have done it without you!! read more

We just had our wedding at the University Club of Santa Barbara (Riviera Mansion). Our wedding dreams came true with the help of Hilary MacDonald of Ann Johnson Events! She is passionate about her craft and loves the decorative aspects of a wedding event. She helped subdue the anxieties of wedding planning by communicating with our vendors, going above and beyond to make our day personalized, and making sure the timeline went accordingly. I had full trust in her taste and follow-through. My family and friends loved the event and we attribute the flawless day to Hilary, her assistant, and the staff at the Riviera Mansion. Thank you!! read more