Stop everything you are doing now and HIRE CARLY!!! I had the pleasure of working a wedding with Carly and her team at a wedding at The Harper OC in Costa Mesa. As a wedding photographer, it is so incredibly important to work with a wedding planner that gets the couple's vision, is responsive, communicative, and gets it DONE. Carly is all of that and more! She is incredibly thorough and detailed, and above all she is such a positive and fun energy to have on your wedding day. 1000 / 10! read more

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Carly is a super-organized, hyper-efficient, awesome lifesaver. We planned our wedding from across the country, and we had fallen a little behind in the process. Carly swooped in to help us with our month of coordination, and she was an absolute rockstar. Coordinating with all of our vendors (and taking that out of our hands), helping with plans and timelines, and making sure we got everything we needed to be done to have a one-of-a-kind wedding. We weren't available to do rehearsals until the day before, pretty far away from our venue - Carly showed up and got us through it, no problem. On the day of the wedding, I didn't have to worry about or do anything. Carly and her team were on it from before I woke up until after we had left the venue. And, she'll make sure the important stuff gets done. As my wedding went by in a daze, I woke up the next day and realized I had no collection of signing our marriage license, or even where it was. One quick text to Carly, and I discovered she had taken care of it all, and is mailing us everything we need. Throughout the entire process, Carly will be the champion in your corner you didn't know you needed. read more

We got married in Carlsbad, CA this past June, and planned the whole wedding from afar in Boston. We did most everything ourselves; we didn't use a wedding planner and our venue included a day-of coordinator. However, with about 5 months to go, we started to get bogged down in design details: seating chart? Dessert table? Escort cards? I contacted Carly for design-only services and loved her the moment I spoke to her on the phone, but she and Kathryn did so much more for us than wedding design. They were full of clever ideas, incredibly accommodating and flexible, handled fabrication and acquiring/transporting decor, gave us a sense of relief and a much needed dose of lightness and good humor, thought of every last nitty gritty detail, collaborated joyfully with other vendors, were respectful of our budget, and generally felt like supportive friends who you could just trust to take the reins for you. Carly and Kathryn took our chaotic, stressful, and jumbled vision and transformed it into something so complete and beautiful, while completely going above and beyond in every way. If you think event design is something "you can do yourself," trust me when I say that having Carly's team is a value-add that you absolutely cannot put a price on. read more

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Working with Carly was a dream! Our original wedding was to be 6/2020, and this was majorly affected by COVID. We loosely rescheduled several times and Carly kept her cool throughout all the ups and downs. Carly was trustworthy, she delivered on her word and contract, and always did the right thing even though she probably could have asked for more money, not been as accommodating as she was, or made things difficult! When the real date really seemed like it was going to happen, we really got to see Carly in full swing in terms of planning, her vision, and executing a flawless event. She was never pushy, she really listened to what we wanted to prioritize, and we were so so happy with the outcome. We really did not want a cookie cutter wedding in terms of venue or "look" and she allowed us to be our original selves, but optimized for a great wedding! I honestly did not have a concern in the world because I knew Carly would/could handle everything. 10/10 would choose her again in a heartbeat. read more

We hired Carly for a partial planning packing plus design for our wedding in May 2022. From the first time we talked with Carly we knew we wanted to work with her! She is extremely easy to get along with and always laid back and collected regardless of the "wedding emergency," of which we had a few! She kept us on track while we collaboratively planned the wedding. When it came to design she nailed it on her first try, which is especially impressive considering the challenging colors and vague design ideas we gave her. Her attention to detail and strong logistical skills kept showing all the way through the final details in the last month and getting us prepared. And on the day of the wedding, it was on another level. The bride got a foot injury the night before the wedding and Carly helped us through the whole day without a hitch. She was everywhere she needed to be and it was smooth sailing throughout the whole night. It really showed in the details. There was an important item in the ceremony that no one had picked up and we were sure it was lost, but it turned out that Carly had picked it up and put it in the exact correct bag without anyone telling her. From the big things to the little things, Carly went above and beyond and we cannot recommend her enough! read more

From Day 1, Carly helped us set a vision for our wedding and executed on exactly that. Under her Partial Planning package, Carly sourced and communicated with all our vendors during the entire process. Besides weekly meetings with Carly, she always responded to text and emails promptly. When it came time for the day of, we had little to no stress. We just followed the timeline and throughly enjoyed ourselves without getting stuck in the details or the logistics. Carly and her team were in the background making the magic happen. I even managed to get a coffee stain on my dress during the reception and Carly's team made it disappear. Her flowers though Primary Petals were absolutely phenomenal. I have guests that can't stop talking about how gorgeous the entire flower arrangement came out. I really wish I could keep them forever. Overall, Carly made the entire process of designing and experiencing our wedding easy and enjoyable. read more

Carly designed and planned our Santa Barbara wedding last August. I was planning remotely from San Francisco and wanted to work with a team that 1) Knew Southern California vendors 2) Brought a vision and process to a bring everything in ourselves venue, and 3) Could crack a good real life joke in the haze of wedding planning. I read the previous 1 star review on this page, and have to say, after working with Carly for a full 8 months, I really couldn't disagree more. I found her operation to be exceptionally professional. She was upfront with our budget and costs, and was always willing to go the extra mile for us. She was a great communicator, both with us, our vendors, and our families. We also quickly gravitated to her genuine kindness and great sense of humor. Truly, we dig her. Carly & Nicole transformed our no frills hacienda in Downtown Santa Barbara into a gorgeous, totally charmed space. As far as I know, every guest and vendor had everything they needed at exactly the right times. No one was ever hungry, or too hot, or too cold, or confused with what to do and when, and even the party crashers, who my husband invited to stay for the whole night, somehow understood that it was time to go and sweetly thanked us as they danced out the door (thank you Carly). I left the hacienda in a pedi cab wearing my second dress, holding just my shoes and cellphone without a care in the world. I had no idea what happened with the truckloads of stuff vendors piled into the place, or how long the strike took. I do know that we got every one of our deposits back in full, my wedding dress made it home, and everyone had a magical time. I couldn't put a price on how great it felt to know everything and more importantly, everyone, was considered before hand at our wedding. My husband, our friends, and our families still talk about how awesome Carly and Nicole were, and how lucky we were to have their help and support. You can see all Carly & Nicole did here: https://sharkpig-1.wistia.com/projects/kvpj7kgceb (and of course, she helped us book that vendor too!) read more

Carly and her team did day of coordinating for my wedding in May! She was the BEST! The whole day I was able to relax and enjoy each moment and trust that everything would be done just as I communicated! She is organized, detailed, and on top of it with every little thing. She communicated with each and every vendor-- they all knew exactly where to be and when. I didn't have to worry about anything the entire day. She was so thoughtful with everything she did. After our ceremony while she was gathering all the family member for photos, she set a place in the venue for my husband and I to quickly enjoy a moment together (just the two of us). She had champagne and a snack for us waiting. We were able to sit and reflect on the ceremony, celebrate together, and have a moment before the wedding festivities continued. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. I would have never have thought to do this-- thank you Carly! On top of that, she made every SO beautiful. It was better than I had envisioned. It was the most perfect day, thanks to Carly. We'd 100% recommend Carly and her team to anyone looking for a coordinator. She is fun to work with and is amazing at her job! read more

I was truly disappointed by the services of Carly Rae. My husband and I had already handled the major parts of wedding planning on our own (venue, caterer, florist, hotel, etc.) but we wanted a wedding planner to help us stay on task and on budget and coordinate the day of. Unfortunately we did not get this guidance or help from Carly and ultimately she caused more stress than she alleviated. I'm not going to claim that there weren't some things done right, but there were far too many things not taken care of or done incorrectly which left me feeling that she did not provide the services she promised. These were the most noticeable: 1. Despite numerous inquiries, we did not receive a total estimate for rentals (plates, silverware, glasses, etc.) until a week before the wedding. The final estimate wasn't even complete until two days before the wedding. Carly focused solely on aesthetics before considering our budget and overall gave very little guidance (what we need, how much we need to order, etc.) and instead pushed virtually all of the logistics onto our caterer. 2. A week before the wedding, she accidentally forwarded me an email she had written to a vendor calling me "cheap" for not choosing more expensive flatware. This came after several weeks of Carly pushing expensive design ideas that were outside of our budget. Needless to say this was quite upsetting and I was considering terminating the relationship. When confronted, she did apologize and I gave her a second chance. (In retrospect I shouldn't have.) 3. Despite being provided with full information for the alcohol delivery, she did not take inventory or save the receipt when it arrived. After the wedding we discovered we were overcharged on some items. When asked about this, Carly blamed her staff. 4. Carly did not facilitate the day of schedule as we had discussed, leaving my bridesmaids to pick up the slack with starting the speeches on time and cutting the cake. 5. Carly did not properly communicate with transportation. Due to her miscommunication, the early bus organized specifically for our older guests and children left forty minutes late. There were supposed to be three buses at the end of the night and there were only two that showed up. My husband and I had to deal with this completely on our own at the end of the night. She was nowhere to be found. I hate to cast any negative light on a such a wonderful day in my life, but Carly's lack of professionalism was so egregious that I feel compelled to write this review. Carly is enthusiastic about her design and seems very diligent about updating her Instagram feed, but doesn't seem to have any interest in the less glamorous aspects of wedding planning. read more

Carly Rae Weddings & Events are a husband and wife coordinating team. I've never seen two coordinators work together so seamlessly! I was part of a bridal party last weekend in a wedding that they helped put together, and I was thoroughly impressed. I too had a very large bridal party and even larger guest list at my own wedding, so I definitely appreciated how organized and proactive they were to make sure that everything was perfect. I am absolutely saving their contact information so that I can refer them to my friends who are getting married...I know they would enjoy working with them! read more

We had the pleasure of working with Carly and her team for our wedding, and having her on our side made not only the day of more relaxing and enjoyable, but the whole planning process as well. She really cares for the couple and makes that evident through thoughtful letters throughout the wedding process. As someone who could easily be stressed during an extensive planning time, Carly made us feel calm and at ease. Day of, she was awesome. There was not a single point where we felt like stuff was getting out of her control. She is great with vendors, family, and the bridal party. I would recommend Carly's services to anyone I know planning a wedding and be confident in any work she would do. read more

There's a reason you're reading this review. Carly. Is. Awesome. And by awesome I mean capital Awesome. I've been DJing weddings professionally for the last four years and have worked with tons of coordinators. Very few, however, compare to Carly and her team. I've been lucky to work with Carly multiple times now and each time her and her girls kill it. Specifically, their attention to detail is impeccable. Their design work is incomparable. And if you play Bieber or T. Swift they are guaranteed to hit the dance floor. Always helpful. Always friendly. And I always love working with them. Needless to say, my advice to you looking for an event/wedding coordinator/designer/florist/disco ball dancing/artist/friend...hire Carly. You're welcome. read more

I had the pleasure to work with Carly at the mesmerizing Demetria Winery. She ran the show flawlessly; every single detail created and unified the experience where time did not exist. The only thing to live for was to cherish and capture the present moment with family and friends. The staff was professional and fun to work with with. The decor was clever and innovative. Definitely not a cookie cutter wedding! read more

I had the pleasure of attending a wedding that Carly Rae and her team worked on and I have to say I was thoroughly impressed. Every time I turned my head they were on the scene, already on top of things. They found the perfect balance between being up front enough to handle business yet behind the scenes enough to not distract from the bride and groom. The wedding ceremony and reception flowed so smoothly that I never once was distracted by anything. I will definitely be recommending Carly Rae to any of my friends getting married. read more

As a bridesmaid in Xtina L.'s wedding I can validate that her review of Carly Rae's services is on point. She lacked any sort of direction, which resulted in confusion during the reception and with transportation services. Also, I was surprised to see her doing her hair and make-up at the venue. I didn't think it was customary for the wedding coordinator to "get ready" at the venue. read more

I recently went to a wedding for one of my former roommates and closest friends that Carly was coordinating. It was beautiful! I was there as an "unofficial bridesmaid" so was in charge of helping with whatever needed to be done, and Carly was so great at delegating and organizing. It was a huge wedding with tons going on, but it all came together perfectly! I would absolutely recommend Carly as a wedding coordinator - check her out! read more

We hired Carly and team for day of coordination. #1 you need a day of coordinator...no matter how "low-key" you think you're day will be. Hire someone! We did all the planning and vendor hires ourselves. But Carly was a great sounding board. Carly was great about asking about things that I would not have thought of. Leading up to the wedding she did a site walk through with us, came out the day before to lead the rehearsal (which we really needed!), and she and another team member (Nicole who was great!) were onsite - and in the background - the day of....awesome service for just "day-of" coordination. There was some confusion on the schedule of the day. I should have asked more about it before hand, and had to make some last minute adjustments the day off with the photographer...slight stress...but worked out fine. I think it was just some miscommunication on everyone's part. She helped get the table set-ups perfectly with very little guidance - I thought I would be able to do more the day of and was too swamped - Carly picked up the slack! The day goes by waaaay to quickly it was nice knowing that the team was there to take care of things that I couldn't. I woke up to find all our cards, important personal items, and my gorgeous bouquet (which i thought was a goner) were neatly stored in our room. I was able to let loose a bit more knowing she and her team were there! read more

My roommate just had a wedding yesterday, with over 350 people, carnival games, even a petting zoo! Carly did a wonderful job of handling the many many tasks, putting up with tempermental weather, and adding a classy touch to every element of the wedding. She was great at figuring out the best ways to integrate the bride and groom's personalities and style into the big event. She did all of it with poise and with the client's interests in mind. Thanks Carly for a great day! read more

I'm a vendor, and recently had the pleasure of working with Carly and her team on a wedding at The Elysian in Los Angeles. Carly was together -- I mean, ducks in a row, organized, and best of all: Happy. On the Day Of, she was so cheerful and chill, but quick to respond to anything any of us needed. It's so rare to find that magical combination of detail-orientation and sincere joy to be doing the work. Thank you Carly Rae Weddings for being impeccable from start to finish!! read more

Working with Carly Rae and her team in the wedding world over the past 4 years has been a total blast for me and my staff. At Dart we are so focused on logistics as well as music so it is crucial that we have a planner that understands us and can work well with flow and timing. Her style and professionalism is on point as well as her positive demeanor. We need more planners in the industry like her! read more

Where do I even begin....Well, my husband and I are in the fine art/commercial world so every aspect of our wedding was extremely important to us. We talked to many different wedding planners but as soon as I talked to Carly, we both knew she was the one for us. She was calming, sweet, bright and someone I would not just want as a wedding planner but as a friend. After that, everything just fell into place. Our meetings were just fun collaborative get-togethers. She heard me with everything we wanted which was A LOT and met us on our level every time. She knew we wanted our wedding to be a "production experience" and took the challenge head on. Carly and her team did everything when we became busy and made of our special day EPIC. Carly is not just a typical event planner, she is also an incredible visionary. Thank you so much Carly + team! read more

I'm so thrilled and pleased with how pleasant my dear friends wedding was! I had the privilege to a part of the big day and everything went perfectly! Carly Did a wonderful job ensuring that everything was perfect and catered directly to the requests of the bride and groom! She worked beautifully well with the very large bridal party from parents to friends to family and children... she knew what she was doing and who she was doing it for: the happy couple! My only regret is that I didn't know about her for my wedding! I will always remember how perfect she made this day for my sweet friends! Thank you Carly! I hope I get the joy of attending another one of your flawless weddings! read more

I was so glad to have found Carly, she lifted a huge weight off my shoulder as being my Day of Coordinator. I would communicate with her through email, and I would get a response from her right away! My fiance and I did not have a rehearsal and we had a pretty big wedding party, but she still managed to pull things off on the actual day, with just me emailing her the program and timeline. She did a wonderful job making sure everything was set up accordingly for the ceremony and reception, showed up early at our first consultation meeting, and one of the SWEETEST person i have met. Thank you Carly so much for helping mine and my now husband's wedding run smooth!! read more

I was in a wedding recently that Carly and her team coordinated and it was absolutely beautiful! Her work was awesome but the heart behind it was even more beautiful. We met her and her husband at the rehearsal dinner and instantly could tell how passionate they were about not just doing a job but really making sure that the bride and groom LOVED their special day. They spent hours with the couple getting to know them on a very personal level, In fact they even talked about how they made a life long friend! They were very sweet and very personable but also got the job done, well. On the big day, there were difficult situations that occurred and curveballs that were thrown their way that were handled with grace and very professionally. Every time something came up I barely had time to process how I would handle it before it was already taken care of. And the best part is that the bride and groom were oblivious to all of the hiccups thrown their way, which resulted in peace on their big day. I was in the wedding party and I felt very well taken care of and the direction we were given were simple and easy to follow. I would definitely recommend Carly Rae to everyone! read more

As the father of the bride I had a variety of different meetings with Carly Rae and Billy, even inviting them to my home for dinner. They are consumate professionals and handled every aspect of my daughters wedding with calmness and clarity....even walking me back from the edge of the cliff a couple of times. Their depth of caring for everyone and their desire to serve the ENTIRE wedding party was evident to everyone with a pulse. I would highly recommend this company....especially to those of you who are rookies in the wedding arena. God Bless you Carly and Billy, I see great things in your future! read more

Carly is as good as it gets. She is very good at reading the different personalities of brides and knowing how best to serve and work with them. Carly was my month of coordinator and she took care of absolutely every single detail and task on the day of, from setting up decorations to making sure everything was nicely packed away at the end of the night. She also coordinated the vendor drop off and pick up time and took the load off me when I got an unexpected call from a vendor on the day of (and my reaction was not very kind when I got this call!) She was calm throughout our wedding and orchestrated a straightforward, organized, flawless event. You don't want anyone else planning your wedding. My only regret is that I didn't hire her as a full on planner!!!! She made sure we ate dinner and appetizers and had drinks whenever we needed. We will never forget Carly for making our day so special and smooth. read more

I cannot say enough about Carly. I got married on April 14th in LA. I had no idea a wedding coordinator would literally make or break my big day. I was clueless. She not only coordinated with the florist, the DJ, the caterer, cake delivery, and the church but she was present at the rehearsal, held my bouquet when necessary, took my veil off when it was dragging (without my noticing) brought my personal items to the reception venue from the church, made sure no one got too drunk (and was ready to get an Uber if anyone did) She was so amazing! I felt like I had a sister that had my back the entire day! A message to any bride planning a wedding, HIRE CARLY! She will make your day flawless! If I could give her 10 stars I would. She is kind, attentive, patient and by the end of the night, you'll want to have a drink with her. Seriously! Look no further. She's the best! read more

I was in a wedding this last weekend that Carly Rae coordinated and it was amazing! It was a huge wedding party of over 24 people just including bridesmaids, groomsmen, the flower girls/ring bearer and everything went off without a hitch. On top of trying to take care of us, there was a wedding right before ours in the same location and with VERY LITTLE time, Carly and her team had the place transformed into exactly what the Bride and Groom wanted. Coming from the world of coordinating events, it takes a lot to chorale that many people and to keep us on schedule but on top of ALL that everything looked impeccable. I was super impressed with her style and ability to communicate to each of us what needed to happen so that the Bride and Groom's day was flawless. WELL DONE CARLY RAE! I'd recommend you to anyone. read more

My wife and I hired Carly Rae as our day of person for our wedding in June and her and the staff did an amazing job. They helped us so we could actually truly enjoy our wedding day which was so huge! I recommend them highly. read more

CRW was on the preferred vendor list for SmogShoppe, the venue for my wedding this past Saturday (12-15-18). When I called Carly I initially sought out a day-of coordinator but the shortest amount of time they offer is one month. The more Carly detailed the month-of coordinator responsibilities the more I realized I needed one, especially during the holidays! I worked with Kat from the CRW team and she was fantastic. She swiftly responded to my emails, answered by endless questions, and helped relieve my wedding planning/general anxiety! I appreciated having her handle the nitty gritty details (rentals, timeline, vendor coordination, etc.) so I can focus on the more creative aspects of my wedding. I'm pretty detail-oriented and organized and Kat and I worked well together on that front! The day of the wedding went smoothly and beautifully thanks to Kat and her assistant. I didn't have to think about who is queuing up the next playlist or who is going to set up my wedding decor. Friends and family raved about the wedding and Kat/CRW were a big reason for that. Thank you for being a part of one of the best days of my life! I'd definitely recommend CRW to any future bride! read more

Carly Rae Weddings has an amazing team! They recently planned my sister's wedding. They not only take care of every detail so that your event runs smoothly, they also have such an incredible eye for design, making everything look so beautiful and unique. Carly is such a gem to work with, communicating throughout the whole planning process and making sure everything runs perfectly with no stress. We were able to enjoy the wedding without a second thought. We just loved working with them. read more

When choosing a wedding planner, I wanted someone that would understand my specific style. After meeting, Carly I knew she would be perfect to help me plan my perfect wedding. Our visions & requests were pretty extravagant considering we had a 400+ guest list, 20+ bridal party, carnival games etc. We needed a lot of help, & Carly really helped us in organizing the millions of details. The day of was incredible. My husband & I received so many compliments on how smooth our wedding went, & that is all because of Carly & her team. They worked out the schedule, the communicating between vendors etc. I didn't have to worry about set up, or tear down. She took care of it all! Most of all, Carly made sure I did not worry. I found out she even got rid of a tarantula that was near the reception area! Carly Rae Weddings & Events was the full package. I look back on my wedding day & am so incredibly blessed in how fabulous the day was. My wedding was in September & I am still receiving compliments :) Thanks Carly! read more

I can't begin to tell you what an amazing job Carly and her husband Billy did at my daughters wedding. Not only leading up to the wedding (handling everything) calming our nerves and assuring us that everything would be beautiful, (and it was!) to the day of the event which they had so much to do in such little time and they made it beautiful!! These two had to accomodate 300 guests and a very very large wedding party including two young flower girls and a young ring bearer, making sure they were where they were supposed to be at all times and they ran it like a swiss watch and always had a smile on their face and a calming voice. They were there until the end asking and wanting to help with anything. Love these two, they are wonderful to work with and great people. I was the mother of the bride and a perfect day was what I needed, and perfect it was! I Highly recommend them. I have two more daughters and I will be using her services again when that time comes for sure. read more

While the wedding looked amazing and the bride and groom seemed happy, Carly was not warm in her tone or looks toward my children who were in the wedding. At points she was kind of rude, too. I did not get the impression that she was kid friendly, so if you want an amazing wedding that embraces children, Carly is probably not the wedding planner/coordinator for you. read more