We had the pleasure of working with Coastside Couture for our wedding in Nov of 2022 and we are still reminiscing about the incredible day they helped us create. From the very beginning, their team was dedicated to understanding our vision and bringing it to life in ways that exceeded our expectations. They dug deep to get to know us and our families and words can't do them justice. One of the standout aspects of their amazing work was their recommendation and orchestration(no pun intended) for a band that matched and exceeded our hopes for a lit and epic dance floor. The energy and talent of the band they suggested turned our reception into an unforgettable celebration. Our guests are still talking about how much fun they had dancing the night away. The attention to detail and commitment to excellence from Heidi, Sonja, and Harley were evident in every aspect of our wedding. They managed to seamlessly blend elegance and fun, creating moments that reflected my husband and myself and will be memories we will literally never forget. Also I reflect now on how much stress they removed from our lives and I am eternally grateful. We have no idea all the ways they just allowed us to have fun in the process. We truly believe that our wedding was one of the best day of our lives, and much of that is thanks to the hard work and dedication of this dream team. If you are looking for a wedding planning company that will go above and beyond to make your day as special as possible, we highly recommend Coastside Couture. Their expertise, passion, and personal touch made our wedding day epic and unforgettable. Love them!! read more

Heidi, Sonja and Harley were great to work with for our wedding. We started working with Heidi 9 months before our wedding in Carmel Valley and she immediately started reserving/confirming vendors that we absolutely loved. She is experienced, and really knows the area and the best vendors to work with. She managed to reserve one highly in-demand vendor before we had even finalized our contract with her, anticipating that it would be the best option for us (which it was). That is how forward-thinking and proactive Heidi is - a true godsend for two people with busy schedules and very little time to plan a wedding. Without Heidi, our wedding would be an absolute shadow of the wonderful event that it turned out to be with her at the helm. We recommend Heidi for any event in and around Carmel, particularly for those individuals with tight schedules, busy lives or far reaching visions of what you want out of your event. She really focuses on personalizing your wedding day to reflect the couple's tastes and vision. Heidi and her incredible team will move heaven and earth to make sure that you have the event that you want. We hope that we will have many opportunities to work with Heidi and her team in the future. To Heidi and her team - thank you for everything. read more

Heidi and her team planned and produced our stunning wedding at the Santa Lucia Preserve in September 2021. Not only is she easy to work with, but Heidi took the time to get to know my husband and me and combined all of our unique requests with her extensive industry knowledge to create a masterful wedding day. She did an exceptional job at matching us with the vendors that best suited our vision and it's clear that she takes the time to maintain meaningful relationships with all of the top vendors in the area. She does a great job at managing all of the different personalities and family dynamics that are involved in the wedding planning and she's very kind hearted. Heidi even took the time to talk with me when I got upset about how I was treated at the bridal boutique where I purchased my wedding gown. She did a fanatic job of keeping us updated and in the loop while minimizing the stress we had to deal with. Her team handled every single detail that we asked of them from guest lodging to custom ice cubes. Heidi and her team at Coastside Couture are passionate professionals who are capable of bringing your wedding dreams to life! read more

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First of all the coordinator forgot about our scheduled phone call, which is fine because we eventually got in touch. She was nice at first, but she was straight to the point, which was questions about my budget. Usually I'm OK with this, let's not waste anyones time. But once I told her my budget, made me feel uncomfortable as if my budget was too low, then explains they mainly do high end weddings. I felt this part was a bit insensitive and judgemental. No bride should feel this way. I also spoke to other coordinators who felt my budget was reasonable. To the brides, just be aware if you are on a budget, this is not the wedding planner for you. They don't discuss their prices on their website, which they really should. To the company, no matter what the brides vision and budget is, please don't judge them, this process is already overwhelming as it. Also, i suggest mentioning at least a range for your the cost of your services on your website so no one is surprised. On the positive she recommended other planners who were more fit for my budget. So thank you for that. Good luck ladies (and gents!) read more

Heidi saved our marriage before it even started . If I could give more than 5 stars I would. We had a postponed pandemic wedding and she handled it without a hiccup. read more

I cannot say enough amazing things about Heidi and her team. Our experience with Coastside Couture was truly incredible, and our wedding far exceeded even my wildest dreams! Our wedding was postponed due to Covid, and Heidi helped us navigate the date change flawlessly. Over the course of two years she always made us feel cared about and supported, and like No question or idea was too silly. Heidi pays attention to detail, and nothing was left to chance. Heidi took our vision and executed on it beautifully. She was transparent around budget and always made sure our questions were answered. Heidi always made me feel calm - and handled even stressful situations With the utmost grace. We love Heidi and her team so much and cannot recommend them enough!! read more

My husband and I just got married yesterday and we could not wait to share our experience with Coastside Couture. Our lead planner was Heidi Hughett and we cannot say enough about just how amazing she is. Heidi is organized, patient (good lord I cannot even count the number of e-mails I sent because well, Type A personality over here) honest, and EXTREMELY responsive to e-mails/calls/texts despite her being a very sought after planner in the area. If you are anything like me, this is huge. The week of our wedding it was forecasting rain and Heidi had everything under control and put our minds at ease, sending us texts and e-mails and calling us to assure us that we would be ok even if it did rain at our outdoor reception venue. Her support staff is amazing as well. Throughout the night Heidi and Katie were checking on my husband and I asking us if we needed a drink, something to eat, etc. When I needed my bag within a few seconds it was brought to me (seems small but I was honestly amazed at how on top of it they were while managing numerous vendors and 150 people). We were on a VERY tight timeline. We had a 3 pm wedding at Carmel by the Sea and a reception in Carmel Valley (17-20 mins away) with the sun setting at 4:56 pm. We REALLY wanted sunset photos but also wanted photos with our entire bridal party without having to do a first look. What seemed totally impossible to some, Heidi made happen. Not only did we not do a first look and get ALL the photos we wanted, not once did we feel rushed. If anything did go wrong, we had no idea and I think that at the end of the night that is what matters. Having someone there who can handle whatever things might go wrong and ensuring that you (the bride and groom) don't even know about it. If you want a wedding planner who knows what they are doing and someone you can trust, Heidi is your girl. read more

Wedding Dream Team If you want to have a wedding in the Carmel/Big Sur area, look no further than Heidi and her team at Coastside Couture. We hired them to plan a complex, outdoor, cliffside wedding in Big Sur on a private property, and they not only made our dream wedding come to life, but they worked with us to create something better than we could have ever imagined. Heidi is both visionary and practical, experienced and well-connected, creative and playful, extremely organized and on top of it, generous and fun - in short, she is just SO good at her job and everything you would want in a wedding planner. For our wedding, she did everything perfectly - from coordinating generators being brought in so that we could play music in a field with no power, to working with me on designing the most gorgeous tables and florals. Everyone on her team brings this same energy, professionalism, sense of joy, and total "get it done" attitudes as well. I miss working with Coastside Couture and am so deeply grateful for all they did for us. I also want to note that they navigated the complexities of the pandemic with us with the utmost optimism, creativity, generosity, grace, and kindness. I really cannot imagine going through the experience of a postponed 2020 wedding, which was held a year later, with any other team. These are your people if you want your Carmel or Big Sur dream wedding!!! Cannot recommend these rockstar women highly enough. read more

WOW! Hiring Coastside Couture was the best decision we made in the wedding planning process (well, second to getting married to the love of my life!) We had a 300+ person wedding in Santa Cruz and Karissa and the Coastside team made the Big Day (and the days leading up to it) so seamless. We used their services for the "month of" coordination and they went above and beyond. From creating a detailed wedding timeline, to coordinating with vendors and setting up the most gorgeous reception, we could NOT have done it without them. We had a lot of crazy ideas to make our large wedding more intimate and personal and they helped us execute them all. The Coastside Couture team is professional, extremely detail-oriented and organized, creative and FUN, We could not recommend them enough! read more

My month-of coordinator was Sonia and I couldn't be happier with the service. I don't know why but when she said "relax", I did - and I wasn't disappointed. She was amazing. We discussed what we were looking for, what we wanted and she made that happen. Even with things crazy the day of the wedding (I was a bit late getting ready) and the wedding party photos before the wedding was a bit crazy (due to the wedding party themselves), she made sure the parts of the day that were important to us happened flawlessly. At the reception, she made sure things went smoothly. She gently reminded me of what time it was and when we needed to do different things (cut the cake, first dance, toasts, etc.). I say gently because I never felt rushed or hurried. Lastly, she packed everything up and made sure all of our items got packed in the car. She offered to set up our hotel room and add a special touch - but, we were staying with our family to spend time with them before we left on our honeymoon. But, I am sure if we had taken her up on her offer, it would've been amazing. Thank you, Sonia, for a beautiful, wonderful, fantastically amazing day! read more

Selecting a wedding planner was the #1 item on our to-do list after heeding all of our married friends' advice. We inquired with planners in Carmel/Big Sur with good online reviews and set up meet and greets. Our first scheduled meeting was with Heidi in the Santa Cruz Coastside Couture office. We clicked so well that we called to hire her before we even got on the freeway. I am a very particular person that likes details, strives for organization, and does not like to procrastinate. I don't work well with salesy people - I need honesty and absolutely no BS. I also needed a planner that could help me plan our wedding from afar - my husband and I live in Redwood City and we got married at Holman Ranch in Carmel Valley. We ultimately selected the Petite wedding package with CC - I still wanted to be involved in the process, but needed someone to tell me whether my ideas were realistic and pull everything together. There was still a lot of work we put in, but that was expected. Heidi recommended all potential venues and vendors; and she and Kayla helped finalize contract details. Heidi and Kayla pointed us to vendors that were within our price range and kept our financial parameters in mind. I think they may have a software program to help with budgeting, but we handled the cost estimates/tracking ourselves. They were always available via email, text, or phone to answer questions. Vendors - I would suggest hiring CC if not for their vendor recommendations/relationships alone. They know all of the vendors in the area, and know which are the best. AND, because of their great relationships, most have a "Heidi discount". I kid you not, I think the amount we saved in vendor discounts pretty much covered Heidi's entire fee. So worth it, and we were SO happy with everyone. I will admit, we initially questioned whether some of the preferred vendors were really "great". She didn't show it, but I'm sure Heidi shook her head at me when I still did my own research of other vendors (sorry, Heidi). But, in the end we trusted her and went with her recommendations - thank goodness we did. And, if any vendor frustrations on my part came up - Heidi took care of it and I didn't have to deal with any conflict. Heidi's personality was exactly what I needed - she helped me relax when I was a mess and she remained a professional from start to finish. She helped us make our wedding about us, and bring our (I really do mean both my husband's and my) dream to life. This included having someone to make fresh donuts for dessert, going with the flow to let our friend make bouquets/boutineers, or another to do the bridal party's hair (which probably stressed her out), be okay with not doing a first look even though it really rushed the timeline, etc. She made it all work so we were happy. Our wedding weekend (rehearsal, wedding, and farewell brunch) went off better than I could have ever dreamed. I never trust that anyone other than myself will get a job done 100%, but Heidi totally GOT IT DONE. She had everything under control and I truly loved having her, Kayla, and Karissa with me on the most important day of my life. Our guests are still commenting on how perfect the wedding was and how the CC team was literally on top of everything. I really feel like I've gained some great friends in the CC girls and among our vendors throughout this process. I'm already trying to figure out what event I can have Heidi plan in the future :) p.s. Important side note to brides when considering planners/packages - keep in mind that these women have lots of events to plan throughout the year. Our wedding was the last one of the season for them, so I had to keep reminding myself that I might not get a split second response because they probably had something more time sensitive come up. I never ever felt ignored or less important, but I think it's realistic for brides to understand this when hiring a wedding planner. And, when my turn came a couple months before our wedding, I truly felt like I was their sole focus (even though the juggling never ends for them). read more

Coastside Couture - Getting it done: headset on, miracle fanny pack in tow, my dress in one hand and my dog in the other! carlie statsky photography - Wedding Planning Near Me - Carmel Valley, California

Karissa planned my wedding at Costanoa in Pescadero about a year ago. Karissa and her staff were amazing. She did everything humanly possible to make sure my wedding went perfect. The only thing she could not control was the weather! Every last detail from the place settings, to organizing my people, to the photographer, and day of coordination went off without a hitch. It would not have happened so smoothly without her. Her services were beyond amazing. She was there for the tiniest detail on the table to double checking the best mans speech. Next time I need a big party planned, you better believe I'm going to call Karissa at the Couture House! read more

Karissa Paxton of Coastside Couture was the wedding planner for our amazing wedding in Carmel Valley, CA in August 2013. And what, you ask, made our wedding so amazing? KARISSA!! I don't think I know enough positive adjectives to describe everything that Karissa is to us. She planned the most amazing wedding experience. I am an admitted control freak, but Karissa was amazing at both listening to/incorporating my ideas and visions but also taking control when she needed to and making the decisions that made our wedding flawless and spectacular. She made me feel so comfortable and relaxed in the weeks leading up to my wedding because I knew she had everything under control! In the beginning when I was overenthusiastic and probably trying to do too much too early, she was always just as enthusiastic as I was and was incredibly supportive. As certain deadlines came up to book different vendors, she made sure we were on top of it and we booked every single one of my/her top vendor choices. Karissa knows ALL of the best vendors in the Carmel/Monterey/Big Sur/ Santa Cruz area. She has amazing relationships with them and gets discounts! yay! Though Karissa is amazing at juggling the details of a wedding and the vendors, she does so much more. She has an amazing eye for design and has exquisite taste. She respected my ideas but edited them and added to them to make them truly classic and beautiful. If not for her, my wedding would have been a mismatched mash-up of Pinterest ideas. Karissa is able to see what you like and turn it in to one, cohesive event that flows so seamlessly. I cannot even count the number of people that told us that our wedding was the best wedding that they had ever attended, or the most beautiful, or the most perfect and fairytale like. I tell them all that I owe it to my amazing wedding planner and new friend, Karissa Paxton. If you want a perfect, swoon-worthy wedding- hire Karissa and the Coastside Couture team!! :) read more

Working with Karissa and Liz was a dream. They are fun, helpful, extremely low stress and comforting, connected us with incredible vendors who matched what we were looking for, and went above and beyond any of our expectations (for example, the morning of our wedding Karissa sent her husband to the hardware store for astro turf to cover up a sprinkler head in our ceremony location.). If you are looking for Central Coast wedding planners - look no further. This team is incredible. read more

Okay, so after our wedding, my wife and I are basically ready to move to California and try to become best friends with Karissa. She and her team (Liz was the one we worked with most) were just amazing, from start to finish. First off, they are exceptionally responsive and on top of things, which is not very common for Santa Cruz. Second, they completely got what we were going for, and all of their vendor suggestions were perfect. We literally did not have to talk to a second option for any vendor, and every single one delivered exactly what we had hoped for. Our wedding was absolutely amazing. I could not more highly recommend Karissa, Liz, and the team at Coastside Couture. Our only regret is that we don't get to keep working with them. read more

Love this group of ladies. As a professional in the weddings/events industry it is always nice to have a knowledgeable team to work with. The team at Coastside Couture are so fun to work with and make for a stress-free event. read more

Karissa and her staff are amazing. We were new to the Bay Area so planning a wedding for out of town guests was daunting. They gave us plenty of recommendations and it gave us a chance to have fun and explore the area for the perfect wedding spot. I also did the day of package and it was well worth it. Sonia went above and beyond for my day of and I couldn't have asked for more. She really helped me, my family, and guests not have to worry about anything! I don't know what I would have done without you Sonia! Thank you so much Coastside Couture for making our wedding perfect! read more

When we decided to have our wedding in Big Sur, CA, we thought we should look into hiring a wedding planner, since we live in San Francisco and weren't familiar with any vendors in the Big Sur area. I did a bunch of research and reached out to Coastside Couture. After my first call with Karissa I was sold, but I still had to convince my husband... He quickly realized the importance of a wedding planner as we started to deal with hundreds of tiny wedding details. Such as selecting and hiring vendors (Coastside has a wonderful list of awesome vendors), picking out rentals, coordinating the wedding weekend timeline, and countless communication with our vendors, some of which were not the most responsive. Karissa and her team were always very professional and handled everything and everyone perfectly. She has a wonderful ability of really getting to know the couple and feels more like a friend and mentor than just another wedding vendor. The day of the wedding, Karissa and Sonia outdid themselves and I was stunned when I walked into the reception venue after the ceremony. The transformation they achieved was beyond anything I had imagined and was absolutely beautiful. We received so many compliments throughout the evening about how it was the best wedding our guests had been to, and I think that is all due to the hard work and dedication of our friends at Coastside Couture. They took my vague, eclectic vision and turned it into something beautiful and unforgettable. If you are on the fence about hiring a planner, I would 100% recommend doing it, because it was the best hiring decision we made for our wedding. read more

Heidi at Coastside Couture was the planner for our wedding in August 2016 at Gardener Ranch (Carmel Valley, CA). We hired Coastside under the "Petite Planning" option. Simply put, we had the most incredible experience planning our wedding with Heidi and the Coastside team. Now for those interested in the details on what made Heidi & the Coastside ladies so awesome... With the Petite Planning option, Coastside helped us with advice and high-level planning support as we assembled our vendor team (~1.5 years out), helped us really lock down details (e.g., layouts & timeline) 6-8 weeks out from our date, and then basically ran the show the day-of & made all our planning come to life. From the get-go, Heidi worked to thoroughly understand our vision and preferences. Throughout the entire process, we collaborated on a shared Pinterest board to narrow down our aesthetic and got hooked up with their online planning tool. As we continued doing our research and planning, Coastside was there to answer all of our questions both via email and over the phone. Coastside is also extremely well-connected in the wedding community on the Central Coast. This ended up being a HUGE help to us, as we didn't know much about the Monterey wedding vendor scene and have a tendency to want to maximize on all our options. Their vendor recommendations & experience working with so many of the Monterey-area vendors were fantastic to get us started on our research -- both saving us time and giving us the inside scoop that wedding reviews and blogs don't always provide. While assembling our vendor team, every single vendor we spoke to had amazing things to say about Coastside Couture. We got the sense from almost every vendor that we were more attractive clients because our wedding would be a well-thought out Coastside production. During the last few months before our wedding, we worked even more closely with Coastside to get every last one of our details together. Kayla at Coastside was absolutely incredible on this front. Most of our emails to Kayla were replied to with great care within the day. And in our final few check-in calls with Heidi, there was no detail that she hadn't thought about and no request that she didn't promptly document in her records and the detailed timeline she put together for us. On the day of our wedding, Heidi and the Coastside team that day (Katie & Karissa) were absolutely incredible. They kept us on schedule to a T while staying completely invisible themselves. But they also made us as the bride and groom feel totally cared-for and stress-free. The small things they did (like make sure hors d'oeuvres & drinks were brought to us during our post-ceremony photos and help bring leftovers, our belongings, and gifts into our room before the end of the night) made the whole wedding day so much easier for us. At the end of the day, Heidi, Kayla, and the whole Coastside team did an absolutely wonderful job helping us plan our wedding. Heidi listened to our vision for our wedding and helped it become a reality. Our wedding day was executed flawlessly thanks to Coastside working tirelessly behind the scenes. But after our wedding we also felt a tinge of sadness because it marked the end of our time working with Heidi and the Coastside team. Planning a wedding with Coastside was one of the most fun and memorable experiences my then-fiancee and I had ever had. With so much focus on making our wedding the most memorable day of our lives, we hadn't even realized that Heidi, Kayla, and Coastside had also made the wedding planning process the most memorable year-and-a-half in our lives. read more

Coastside Couture is absolutely AMAZING! Words can't even begin to describe how unbelievable Heidi and Kayla are to work with and how spectacular our wedding day was!! We were engaged in October of 2014, and immediately realized we needed help since our demanding jobs were taking over our lives. The minute I got on the phone with Heidi, I knew it was a perfect match! She is amazing! She got us off to a quick start and immediately helped us put together the vision for our special day and streamlined our ideas to make them a reality. The vendors she recommended were outstanding and we booked them quickly. Even though she had many other clients, I always felt like I was the only one as she always made time for me. Kayla was also always there to assist me with anything I needed. With two weeks leading up to the wedding, I was sure I'd be stressed with a million things to do, but Heidi and Kayla immediately calmed me and said, "don't worry, we got this!" And they did...down to every last detail. They ran around all over Carmel, delivering our Welcome Bags and worked with our vendors on timelines etc which allowed me to enjoy all of my out of town guests the entire week in Carmel, without having to worry about anything. My guests commented on how happy they were that they had so much time with us leading up to the wedding and I explained that it was all because of my Wedding Coordinator! Our wedding day was the most amazing and best day of our lives. It was more perfect than we could have ever imagined. Everything ran so smoothly due to Heidi and Kayla...the bridal party even arrived EARLY to the venue, by shuttle! :) The ceremony and the cocktail hour were beautiful and the reception space was beyond words. When we walked into the room, we couldn't believe our eyes...PERFECTION!! And all of it was organized, designed and put together by Heidi and Kayla while I was back at my cottage sipping wine with my bridesmaids all day. As my husband and I sit back and reflect on the entire experience, we wish we could do it all over again. On our wedding day, Heidi always reminded us to take the time to "take it all in." And she was right...everything went by in a blink of an eye, so I am glad we took the time to enjoy every last moment with our friends and family. Thank you to Heidi and Kayla for loving what you do and for making our wedding beyond our wildest dreams! read more

Never in my life have I had the honor of working with a company so organized and attentive. Katie Hillenga was our month of coordinator and she was a rock star! I'd highly recommend Coastside Couture to anyone in need of the best wedding coordinator any bride could ask for. Thank you!!! You guys made our day SO special! read more

Heidi and her team at Coastside Couture are amazing. My husband and I had our careers in the luxury hospitality business and Heidi is truly one of the best wedding planners we have ever met. If you want someone who is experienced, communicative, honest, organized and capable of executing your vision, hire her. Heidi put together an amazing team of professionals for the bride to choose from while managing the budget. The best part of all is that this team knows how to make things happen and work so well together and were all a pleasure to work with. All of our interactions with Heidi were positive, collaborative and also lots of fun. Most importantly, the bride loved working with her and her team. They knew the venue, the beautiful Gardener Ranch, so well and had the vision to make the most out the property. We had full confidence in Heidi and her team from Coastside but on the day of ... they blew us away. We had high expectation but this team so surpassed them. I have never seen a more competent and hard working group of people who truly enjoy working with each other. We worried about nothing on the day of the wedding and had the best day of our lives. So, call Coastside Couture if you want to enjoy an incredibly special event. There is nothing "cookie cutter" about this fine group of women. read more

We honestly couldn't imagine planning our wedding and getting through the big day without Coastside Couture. We worked with Karissa and her A team. The level of experience, expertise, and innumerable connections within the wedding planning world are priceless. Karissa had the answers to everything and helped us plan a fairytale wedding on a beer budget, like a micro brew... You can tell Coastside Couture has planned countless weddings of every caliber and they help you create the perfect one for you. Karissa and her team are so professional, fun and easy to communicate with. We have never planned an event this big (or fancy) before and Karissa and Kayla were on top of it all. It rained on our big day at Holman Ranch and you would never have known it wasn't part of the plan. They did an incredible job putting together a last minute (like 30 mins before the ceremony started) rain plan for the ceremony that was so beautiful and went so smoothly. Guests had no idea the ceremony wasn't planned to be inside. They do a truly immaculate job. We highly recommend this team and wouldn't want to work with anyone else. read more

My husband and I used Heidi and the Coastside Couture team to help plan our Holman Ranc wedding Carmel Valley this past June. We live in the SF Bay Area so Carmel Valley still felt like a mini-destination wedding for us. Heidi and her team gave us vendor recommendations as well as secured all of our vendor contracts. I never had to worry about overpaying or overspending since Heidi always kept a close eye on our budget. Every vendor Heidi recommended felt like we were building a Dream Team. During our first design meeting, Heidi proved how quickly she understood our vision for the big day. Even with my very involved and opinionated parents and future in-laws, Heidi and her team found a way to really satisfy all of our wishes. After our first meeting, I knew I never had to worry about the details. Heidi and her team are total experts and proved how detail oriented and organized they are throughout the entire process. It is hard to express in words how much I appreciate all of the work Heidi and the entire Coastside Couture team did to make our wedding absolutely perfect. Not only did the entire planning process feel seamless with this team, but any time I felt even a morsel of stress Heidi was quick to calm me down and take the reigns. By the time our wedding day came around, this team of women had become part of our family. I cannot thank them enough for creating and managing such a special day. These women are experts and carry out their work with personality, love, and class every step of the way. read more

Where to start on my love affair with Karissa... She's so much more than the best planner to have by your side during the planning process and on your wedding day - she's an awesome person. Obviously she was amazing in terms of keeping things on schedule and dealing with the vendors / set up, but more than that her positive attitude and presence was so relaxing that we were able to simply enjoy the day and not think about anything else. I also really appreciated how Karissa was able to balance being straight-forward and incredibly nice and helpful. It's a rare skill. Sooo many of our family members came up to us afterwards to say what an all-star Karissa is. Most importantly, throughout the day it just felt like we had a good friend guiding us along. What more could you ask for? read more

Coastside Couture helped to make our wedding perfect! I booked the month of wedding planning with the addition of "design services." The design assistance allowed me to meet with coastside couture on an extra visit, receive recommendations for design elements and linen selection and gave me unlimited access to their extensive list of props. Heidi and Katie were our planners and I can't rave about them enough! These two ladies could run the world. They thought of every detail about our wedding from ceremony processional to lunch coordination the day of the wedding. Our wedding was a perfect day and they helped to make it flow seamlessly. I was so clam and relaxed all day because I knew they were there. To this day, my mom can't stop raving about them. Honestly I was apprehensive about hiring a wedding coordinator, it's additional money. I get it. But trust me when I say it was money well spent! The entire wedding event was only 6.5hrs and we maximized every second of it because of these amazing women! The flow of the day, the organization of the desserts, the facilitation of the bouquet toss. They even saved us money by coordinating our shuttles! I can't recommend Coastside Couture enough! They have extensive experience, amazing relationships with vendors and are just a pleasure to be around. If you want a seamless, well organized, beautiful, low stress wedding, book CC! read more

This has taken longer to write than expected. We have both been challenged to put into words how important Coastside Couture and Karissa were to our wedding. TL;DR version - amazing company. amazing person. highly recommended Longer version - We very early on decided that we didn't want to have friends coordinate any of the "day of" portion of the wedding, our idea was that it was a day of celebration and fun for us and all of our family and friends. That started us on our path to find a wedding planner. What sealed the deal was realizing that neither of us had any idea who to call for table linens. Also, people start asking you "what are your colors" really soon after the engagement. Really soon. To the internet! And yep, it was a random cold email that led us to Coastside Couture. A fast response from them and then a scheduled call to see if it was a good fit. It was instantly like talking to someone we'd known for a long time, laughing, joking and having fun. So we dove in and went with a wedding planner, and it was probably one of the best decisions we made. Karissa was there to answer our questions. She was there when we had no idea what was going on. She was there when we knew exactly what we wanted to do, even if it made no sense. And she would make us think through our nonsense to make sure it was what we wanted. She pointed us to people we never would have found on our own. Vendors who matched both our personality and our aesthetic. Everyone we encountered at Coastside made sure that every detail was paid attention to. And those details were noticed. Maybe not by everyone but by the people that they mattered to, they were noticed and appreciated. I told you this was the long version, but I'll wrap it up. Working with Coastside Couture, working with Karissa...made planning our wedding fun. We had a blast. Seriously, talking to another friend getting married around the same time and he said, "I can't wait until it is over." And I was thinking, "Really? We are having so much fun." The planning was filled with laughter and jokes and of course some chaos, and then more laughter. The wedding itself, couldn't have been more perfect for us. It was exactly what we had envisioned. Except, we ended up having one of our friends coordinating after all. She is the best. (a version of this review was also posted on Wedding Wire, in case it looked familiar. grin) read more

My husband and I cannot say enough good things about Karissa, Heidi, Liz and the whole Coastside team! They completely took the stress out of planning a wedding from across the country, and were extremely enjoyable to work with throughout the entire planning process! Friends and family are still talking about our big day even months later... and it definitely would not have been possible without Coastside Couture. They helped us pick an AMAZING vendor team, were always responsive, and very low stress. We were in amazing hands with them, and did not have to think about a thing the day of - they had everything handled, and the wedding weekend went off without a hitch! We absolutely loved working with them and would hands down recommend them to anyone looking for an awesome wedding planner in the area. read more

Soliciting Karissa from Coastside Couture's help was hands-down the best decision I made for our wedding. We made some tough choices since our budget was on the lower end, but her team really demonstrated their value. read more

First off, Katie was awesome! We hired Coastside Couture for month-of and Katie made it so that the last month (including the big day) was as stress-free as possible. She helped us to get two more vendors that we needed and that were within our budget. The day flowed very seamlessly because Katie was very organized and easy to work with. My wife and I were able to fully enjoy our wedding day. read more

Karissa and her team were superstars. The A+++ wedding we had - and the total lack of stress - was a direct result of their work. From planning, to the actual day of the event, they were thoughtful, helpful, responsive and thorough. On the day of the event when little logistical things would come up (like where do we put these flowers, or how should we set up this table etc etc) Karissa was decisive and totally - TOTALLY- on top of things. She knew when to involve us and knew when to simple say "I'll take care of it - go have a drink". The event came off seamlessly which was a direct result of Coastside. Hire them now!!! read more

Coastide Couture saved my butt! I am not a very organized person, so when wedding planning became very overwhelming for me, my sister asked her friends on Facebook for coordinator recommendations. Someone highly suggested Coastside Couture to us. Aside from being a little unorganized, I'm incredibly shy! Somehow, the wedding gods were watching and they knew that I needed an incredible coordinator...like Karissa! She. Is. AMAZING!!!!! She has an awesome energy, makes you feel like you don't have anything to worry about, is so good at what she does, and it is clear she loves to do it! She even makes a few appearances in my wedding video, it's so special! She made my September wedding at Rancho Don Bosco, in Santa Cruz, play out beautifully. She cleaned my dress, fixed my train (over and over), and fixed an issue that occurred with another vendor. Literally blew my mind, and my husband's. We will be forever grateful for her efforts before and during (and after!) the wedding. Heidi, the other owner, and Karissa are serious pro's at what they do. Book them now!!! read more

I hired Heidi/Coastside Couture about a year and a half before our wedding. Unfortunately, I had already signed a few contracts before hiring them, but if I did it again, I would definitely I hire Coastside first. They were really helpful with finding vendors and I wish they had helped me review a few contracts before I signed them. Both Heidi and Kayla helped me a lot throughout my engagement, including coordinating with vendors and staying on top of everything. They also helped brainstorm for details when I didn't already know what I wanted to do. And for the month of the wedding, they helped me with everything: from making our escort card sign, to bringing all of our decorations to the venue, and then doing everything the day of. I definitely recommend using them if you're getting married in the Carmel area. I originally thought I didn't need a planner, but since I don't live in Carmel full time, I realized having planners who are locals and know the vendors and the area really well is very helpful. read more

Karissa and the team at Coastside were everything I expected and so much more! From our first meeting together, she put me at ease, answered all my questions and helped me create a vision for our wedding that was beyond my wildest dreams. I'm not one of those girls who has had her wedding planned in her head since she was a little girl, as a matter of fact, when she asked me what flowers I wanted I didn't know how to answer her. She was detailed oriented, she offered me so many ideas and provided options and, most importantly, she kept me, my husband and the vendors on track and on schedule. Coastside Couture was the best money we've ever spent and I can't say enough good things about Karissa. Her responsiveness was second to none and her joyful spirit and friendly attitude made planning our wedding a breeze. The best part was her idea of having a donut maker on-site for dessert instead of having a traditional wedding cake - again, I wasn't your typical bride. The guests LOVED the donuts and my husband and I were so amazed by how she thought outside the box and helped plan the most perfect wedding. She is everything and more. If you're having doubts about hiring a wedding planner, look no further! This is the place! read more

I've been married now for 5 months and I am still so sad my wedding day is over as it was truly a dream come true. Super emotional even beginning to write this review! From the moment I got engaged I told my fiancé that I had to have Heidi and Karissa be our wedding coordinators and without a doubt it was the best decision we made with our wedding! I don't think 5 stars is enough- they deserve more. We met with them early on in the engagement and told them about our vision and they understood us even if some of our ideas were a little weird/off the Wall! They met us at our venue and immediately knew exactly what we wanted for each space. And the day of.....omg ! They were like the most amazing bad ass wedding ninjas just making it all happen so flawlessly! They organized all of our vendors and timeline and made the day run beyond smooth and efficient. There was not one single moment from the rehearsal day or wedding day that wasn't perfect. My husband and I are beyond blessed to have had heidi and Karissa be a part of our day. We are forever thankful, grateful and blessed that these two women were there for us. read more

To say we could not have pulled off such an amazing wedding without the help of Heidi and her team is an understatement. We only used them as a "day of" coordinator but they went far above and beyond what we had expected. They helped to coordinate the important/tedious details prior to the wedding as well as an entire walk through, and all vendor coordination right before. This alone was helpful but the day of service was a MUST. There was nothing that they did not oversee. From making sure that my new husband and I were feed and refreshed, to keeping an eye on rowdy guests, they had it all covered. From the beginning of the day I was at ease knowing that they were there to trouble shoot and make sure nothing went wrong. She even sewed my moms dress when it ripped during the day! I would absolutely recommend them to anyone and stress how important their services are! Thank you again! You made our day! read more

The ladies of Coastside are so amazing. I found working with Karissa to be so much fun. Not only was she professional, but she's extremely detail orientated and truly listens to you. I worked long hours leading up to my wedding, and trusted her opinion and decisions to help add little last minute details to what we needed to our big day, and to pick up the slack in items I was lacking. She gave great recommendations on how to make every little detail pop and ensure our guests had a great time, while managing excellent relationships with my other vendors. Throughout the wedding day and night, the entire Coastside team was there to help my family and were so supportive in whatever request was asked upon them. Heidi and Karissa are true wedding designers and take your vision and help make it come true. They work diligently and don't stop until every guest and vendor has left and every present has been stashed away. Our day wouldn't have been half as special without the ladies of Coastside and I absolutely appreciate all their help. read more

I was so happy to have Coastside Couture/Lucky U as my planning team for my wedding. My mom and I had done a lot of work leading up to point when they came on board for the month of, but I was so grateful for all that they took over in those last few weeks. I had such piece of mind knowing that every contract was double checked and that they would correspond with all of the vendors from then on out. Additionally there were some final tweaks and adjustments that we were able to make to the decor because of their expertise (even saved some money as a result!). Katie was our day of gal and I couldn't have asked for anyone better!! Not only is she so fun to be around (SO important on that day!) but she pulled off getting the last minute tent that we needed due to rain. She took on a lot in those final days and was always extremely calm and reassuring that it would all work out. It was truly like having a friend taking care of everything which made the entire day so enjoyable! I just wish I had a reason to work with her again! read more