I got married in 2020, yes during the pandemic. Why? Well my dad's been battling cancer and so has…read moremy husbands step-father. It was the right thing to do because at the end of the year my husbands grandfather passed away, we are so fortunate that he made our wedding. With that said, planning a wedding is stressful. Planning a wedding during a pandemic is next level. Luckily, I had Emily from a sparkling event by my side every step of the way. Emily was literally a God send. From the minute I got engaged (before the pandemic) to planning all the details, Emily was there answering all my questions and handling tough things like discrepancies with vendors and making sure things got done in a timely manner. She was my go to when I was having a breakdown as so many crazy things happened during the planning process that I was going to write a memoir. But when the day came, and I looked all around me, it was worth it. I got to marry my husband knowing that all the blood sweat and tears Emily and I had endured was priceless and I am forever grateful for her support and her let's get it done attitude. I highly recommend a sparkling event for your next event whatever it may be, if they can weather the storm during 2020, they can definitely handle anything.

I was lucky, because my future daughter-in-law hired Mandi for her November wedding in Carmel…read moreValley, CA. Mandi managed the rehearsal dinner that we hosted for our son and his bride. Having a destination event, required that I have a local and experienced person working with me. Mandi was perfect, as she had insight into the bride's preferences, yet worked with me as the host. She managed the venue staff, the photographer, florist, and decorating details. I was able to ship supplies directly to her and she handled all the details. The winery garden dinner for 45 was flawless! Most impressive was the personal service and quick replies during the planning and organizing. She's a kind and generous person who happens to be an amazing professional event planner!

DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY! I was married last summer and did extensive research when looking…read morefor a wedding planner. I originally booked with Taylor Made Events after reading great reviews, and was initially met with a warm welcoming attitude from Taylor. I booked 10 months prior to my wedding for the "month of coordinator" package with the full understanding that Taylor would be my "month of" coordinator only. However, about 3 months prior to our wedding I reached out to her with both an email and a phone call to follow up on our payment and to just go over with her, how I should best organize all my vendor info and scheduling so that when we got to the month of I had everything organized to hand over to her, I also wanted to schedule a time to meet with her when the one month came. I thought and STILL THINK this is an incredibly reasonable request for a bride to make to their wedding planner, even if they are only hired for MONTH OF. When I didn't hear back from her after about a week, I reached out to her again. I ended up emailing and calling her TENS OF DOZENS of times within the 3 month time period before my wedding without hearing back from her the entire time. As you can imagine, we had NO IDEA what to do, or what could have happened to her. We honestly thought something terrible might have happened or that we were scammed and she took our deposit and ran with it. (which is in fact what has NOW happened). Still with no response from her, 6 weeks prior to my wedding I had to make the tough decision to hire another wedding planner, not knowing if I would ever hear from Taylor again. Exactly 30 days prior to my wedding I FINALLY received an email from Taylor as if nothing had happened and with no mention of my MANY emails I had sent to her. She mentioned that she had a close friend pass away and that she had gotten sick. I very understandably and politely told her how sorry I was at her loss but since I had not heard from her in months I had had to hire another planner, not knowing whether or not she would or COULD still be my planner. Of course, I also asked for my deposit back, a reasonable request of someone who completely FAILED to communicate with their client or provide a service. To my SHOCK she did not want to refund my deposit, and firmly argued that she had done nothing wrong in her service to me. After much back and forth she finally agreed that although she believed her behavior was totally acceptable she would in fact return our deposit. I received an email saying she would return the deposit 3 1/2 months ago and we still have not received it. Since then, she has again failed to respond to let us know the status or what is going on, and I will now have to file paperwork in small claims court to sue her for our deposit. I cannot stress enough how terrible of an experience this was in what should be a joy filled time. Especially in dealing with a wedding planner whose SOLE PURPOSE is to lessen the stress on a bride. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU AVOID USING THIS SERVICE AT ALL COSTS!

My intent was to show up to my wedding, get married, and have the wedding planner worry about…read moreeverything else. This is exactly what happened with Taylor Made Weddings & Events. I got married on 10/17/15. She was extremely responsive to all my questions and concerns. We went with all her recommendations about the food, decorations for the venue, bartender, make up, hair, and other things and all turned out great. A few days after the wedding I had some guests ask me for her information for their own events. I even had a few last minute requests and she came through.

Boy did Brian and his team deliver. I booked Romantic Celebrations for my wife and I celebrating 20…read moreyears together on the 4th of July and though it was a Holiday, Brian felt we were special enough to make an exception and really delivered an unforgettable experience. The room was beautiful and everything they did was the absolute perfect amount, from the flower petals to the lights and the personalized note, etc. My wife was blown away, breathless, stunned, you name it. You could see the level of care and detail Brian and his team put into decorating our room and it left an indelible mark on our Anniversary and for that I'm truly grateful. If you're considering Romantic Celebrations, there is nothing to consider, just book it. Thank you Brian and Co!

It was our first vacation with my boyfriend. He wanted to make it special. He had contacted…read more"Romantic Room Designs" to plan the whole trip for us. The owner of Romantic Room Designs had recommended great hotel, great restaurants and exciting activities (biking along the coast, helicopter ride, private sailing cruise, sunset beach fire) along with the beautiful room setup! I was extremely amazed and almost speechless (but still jumping up & down with big smile on my face!) when my boyfriend showed me all these "surprises"! I felt like the luckiest woman in the world~ When we checked in the hotel, Romantic Room Designs had delivered a gift basket to the hotel room. That was our picnic basket for the bike ride along the coast the next day morning. After the bike ride, my boyfriend took me for a helicopter ride!! One of the most amazing experience in my life, I felt like in the reality TV show! When we came back to the room, the bed was full of rose petals & candles. There were two dozen of roses on the night stand. It is absolutely beautiful & romantic! Next day, my boyfriend took me for a private sailing cruise. Romantic Room Designs prepared a gift basket for us to enjoy on the boat. In the evening, we went to a beautiful beach in Carmel. When I saw the bonfire on the beach and the "I Adore U" words spelled out with rose petals..... my heart was melted. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset & made s'mores which Romantic Room Designs has prepared for us. I felt so special! When I thought no more surprise..... Romantic Room Designs had done another gorgeous room setup. There were strawberry covered with chocolate and bottle of champagne. Life can't be better than this! Romantic Room Designs had done an incredible job! Absolutely two thumbs up~"Romantic Room Designs" offers many different romantic ideas/services. This is an absolutely amazing experience & wonderful memories for my boyfriend and I!! It is indeed the most romantic vacation ever~ THANK YOU ROMANTIC ROOM DESIGNS!

I booked pillows and picnics for my engagement and let me say - this was one of the best decisions…read moreI made for my surprise engagement! They were very responsive in their communications and really helped coordinate with my photographer for my surprise engagement. They helped me setup the whole thing on Monastery Beach near Carmel by the Sea inclusive of the the exact colors, style, and location. They were very upfront with pricing, extremely professional, and accommodating. They waited by the setup until we arrived and were there promptly to help clean it up. As the photos show it was absolutely beautiful and my significant other could not be happier (plus she said yes during the proposal). Truly - props to Pillows and Picnics - could not be happier with the outcome - highly recommend for special events, thanks for making my engagement one to remember forever. Thanks so much for everything!

Pillows + picnic exceeded my expectations in every way. They created a magical atmosphere that made…read morethe day even more special. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a luxurious outdoor experience.

I've been planning events for my company for about 20+ years, and Linda and her team are by far the…read moreBEST I have ever worked with. The team is sooooo good, that we paid extra for them to go from Carmel all the way to Napa for our recent event; and they still met our budget. I was introduced to Linda through one of the venues we had an event at in Carmel. Linda and her team did such a crazy amazing job, that we asked if she would come out to Napa. And there, she just wrapped up a 450-person, 2-day event for us, and we so many compliments. Even my banquet coordinator in Napa said she would keep Linda at the top of her list. What I love most about Linda is that she is super creative. We provide her with a theme, some ideas of what we are visualizing, and she makes it come to life. We don't have to do any of the thinking; she does it all and we just say yay or nay. Linda and her team truly make our jobs as event planners much easier. Looking forward to working with you for many more years to come.

Kris and Lezlie were an absolute dream to work with while planning my small October wedding at…read moreBernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley. From our first email interaction, I knew I was in good hands and I was absolutely delighted with the final result. Kris is an excellent listener and really took the time to understand and adopt my vision for the day. Lezlie is a true floral artist and created the most beautiful bouquet and table-scape I have ever seen. I am so grateful for everything that these amazing ladies did to make my wedding so beautiful and I highly recommend them for your wedding or event! They are simply the best!

When we got engaged, all my husband and I knew was that we wanted to have a wedding that felt like…read more"us," but we had no idea how to put that into words, let alone make the vision come to life. We knew we could plan a wedding on our own if we really had to, but that we'd be blind to the things that would make it a "wow" wedding and to be honest, we really wanted to enjoy being engaged and not have to worry about planning every single detail. We had several consultation calls with different planners, but Kaitlin stood out from the get-go as someone who is experienced, professional, and most importantly, has a skill for really listening and understanding what was important to us. Kaitlin took small pieces of what we said was important to us and made our vision come to life. We wanted a wedding that felt like an experience for our guests. We wanted them to feel relaxed, have great food and drinks, and be delighted by small surprises at every turn. Kaitlin had incredible ideas for unique vendors to bring in, from a live guitarist who fit our vibe perfectly to our own coffee truck service. She also knew how to respectfully encourage us to consider color choices or other decor that she knew would make the event feel more timeless and well-rounded. The entire weekend of our wedding, Kaitlin and our vendors were perfectly in sync. I never felt stressed over details or timing at any given point. They were attentive, caring, and incredible detail-oriented. My husband and I had the best year planning our wedding with Kaitlin. We're so grateful that our vision came to life and we'll be forever reminiscing on our perfect day. If you are looking for a planner who will be a partner with you in creating the wedding of your dreams, cares deeply about you and your loved ones, and can create an experience that wows your guests, look no further than Kaitlin!

If you're on the fence about hiring a wedding planner, let me save you some time--do it, and make…read moresure it's Kate! My husband and I came to her with nothing but a venue and a vague idea of what we wanted our autumn beach wedding to look like, and she took that and turned it into one of the most magical days of our lives. From the very beginning, Kate was an absolute dream to work with. She is incredibly knowledgeable about all the local vendors and made the entire design process easy and fun. My husband and I were pretty clueless when it came to wedding planning, but Kate knew the answers to everything--even the things we didn't know we didn't know! Her expertise gave us confidence every step of the way. Kate is also beyond organized. She handled everything--from RSVPs and seating charts to coordinating vendor cleanup--so that on the day of the wedding, we didn't have to worry about a single thing. She ran the entire show behind the scenes, allowing us to be fully present and soak in every moment of our special day. And let's talk about Kate's personality--she was the calming force we didn't even know we needed. As the wedding day got closer and stress levels started rising, she remained completely unflappable. No matter what unexpected twists came up, Kate handled them with confidence and ease. She was also incredibly thoughtful, truly taking the time to get to know us as a couple, which made our wedding feel even more personal and special. Looking back, my husband and I both agree that hiring Kate was, without a doubt, the most important investment we made in our wedding. If you want a wedding planner who is knowledgeable, organized, and an absolute joy to work with, Kate is the one. I would recommend her to absolutely anyone!

Very friendly service. There was an issue with my original order but Luke reached out with another…read moreoption and offered a partial refund for the mishap. Have recommended to friends and family!

If you are planning to get married in Carmel, Big Sur or really anywhere in Monterey County you are…read moredoing yourself a massive disservice not hiring Mariah! She is simply the best and we could not have had our wedding planning and day-of run so smoothly without her expert guidance. My wife has been friends with Mariah since middle school, and she knew she wanted Mariah to be involved in our wedding planning when we chose to get married in Carmel. Originally we hired Mariah as our month-of coordinator, but it quickly became apparent that we needed her expert help navigating everything about a year out. She soon became our official planner, and it was the best decision we made! She is incredibly organized, highly communicative and has a profound attention to detail. She really does think of everything! Given that she grew up in Big Sur she has tremendous knowledge of the local vendors, venues and just all around logistics of the central coast. Mariah is also a very calming person and worked just as much as a therapist for us as she did our planner. Even though she's juggling so much, you would never know. On our actual wedding day everything ran so seamlessly and she never seemed stressed or frazzled. I only wish I approached the planning process in the same manner. Hire Mariah for all your wedding coordination needs and you will be in the best hands!!

Our favorite part about working with Mariah is her genuine and unwavering commitment to supporting…read morethe local community around Big Sur. This is undoubtedly the biggest advantage of working with her, as she has spent years cultivating authentic personal and business relationships with so many small business owners and vendors in the area. I share this detail not only to highlight how this will streamline your planning process but to assure you that your celebration will organically be infused with the down-to-earth, warm quality that draws so many of us to Big Sur--a feeling that can easily get lost in the pursuit of a Pinterest-perfect event. When I struggled to find local hair and makeup artists who had the experience and tools to accommodate me as a Black bride, Mariah didn't hesitate to connect me with contacts from her network so I could find a perfect match (Rhonda Johnson Bridal Makeup and Hair). When I was struggling to find a gluten-free cutting cake for our reception, she sent me the information for several local, family-owned gluten-free businesses (Nece's GF). When we were curious about working with a calligrapher, she connected us with her family friend Anna Bouchard. When we were exploring local options for a farewell brunch following the wedding, she personally introduced us to the owners of Alta Bakery and Cafe in Monterey. And the list goes on! She made sure that Mike, the owner of Big Sur Bakery, could meet with us during one of our scheduled in-person consults to discuss any questions or concerns we had ahead of our event. We got to learn more about the history of the restaurant or share what it meant to our relationship. She ordered us a copy of the restaurant's published cookbook to use as our guestbook; it is such a unique artifact that is both beautiful and functional (every time we open the book to use new recipes, we are greeted with all of the sweet notes from our loved ones). I know it's typical for people to warn couples that something WILL go wrong on their wedding day to manage their expectations, but we truly cannot think of a single thing that didn't go to plan during our celebration, thanks to the stellar coordinating done by Mariah. Our day was stress-free, joy-filled, and EASY. Beyond that, it was incredibly aesthetically gorgeous because all of the vendors were able to show up and bring their absolute best service due to all the coordination with Mariah behind the scenes. It was really important to us that we could trust that our vendors would create a vision of Big Sur that captured all of the elements things we love most about the environment without us having to be prescriptive or overly particular about how everything came together. The result completely exceeded our expectations and felt so authentic to us as a couple. Other notes: I live with both type 1 diabetes and celiac disease and Mariah went above and beyond to make sure that our food/drink menu could offer me options I'd be excited about. She built a wedding day timeline that explicitly called out structured meal times, which helped ensure that I ate three square meals and had stable blood sugars all day (she was always aware of where my purse with my diabetes supplies was throughout our event). Her coordination is inclusive, proactive, and kind-hearted. Like most 2020 wedding couples, we navigated multiple postponements, tying the knot a full two years past the initial date we scheduled with Mariah. She was incredibly communicative and transparent with us throughout this time and she operated with so much integrity, always honoring our original contract and giving us flexible options to customize her service hours, as we wanted to add additional consulting hours to our day-of-coordination package in the last few months leading up to the wedding. She was always responsive and articulated clear action items and points for follow-up each time we checked in. We never had to worry about loose ends or missing details since Mariah was so proactive and communicative about each step of the coordination process. She really did go above and beyond to make our day absolutely perfect.