Janet and her team are beyond exceptional! Super nice and professional, Janet knows weddings,…read moreeverything about them start to finish. We didn't know where to start, we had a venue and a vision, we live out of the area, we needed help! Janet gave us recommendations of vendors, they worked together seamlessly. I didn't even know you could rent pretty chairs to replace the banquet chairs, what a difference that made. We couldn't fit our guests in the room we wanted, Janet suggested we use our cocktail room for the dance floor, dj, etc. Our contact never let us know that was an option. This suggestion was epic! The reception was so amazing, the cocktail room was like a club, so great, there was a filled dance floor all night while in the reception room, others could sit and chat. Janet pointed us in the right direction in so many ways before and during the wedding. Can I just say it was the most beautiful vision of what we had wanted, it was absolutely perfect, our guests are still raving and most importantly, my daughter said it was the wedding of her dreams. Eternally grateful! THANK YOU!

Janet was amazing! I booked a venue that had Sandcastle Events in the contract and I'm so glad she…read morewas not optional! From the first time I met Janet her sense of humor made me feel like I was planning my wedding with a close friend. She was quick in responding to emails and had good suggestions for other vendors and day of ideas to make my wedding easy and fun! Her team day of executed our vision so that I didn't have to stress. If you have a wedding in 2024 don't wait book Janet and her team NOW!

I tell everyone that my wedding was absolutely flawless - but I'm sure that wasn't the case…read more However, I know that IF there were any issues Jessie would have handled them before they even got to me. If I'm correct, and there weren't any issues, it is because Jessie is THAT good at her job! I cannot say enough amazing things about her. Truly, this tiny little space is nowhere near enough room for all the incredible ways that Jessie made my wedding perfect!! She far exceeded our expectations. We hired Jessie as our day of coordinator, but her help begun well before our wedding day. Anytime I needed advice, had a question or needed recommendations she was readily available to walk me through it! We had initially hired another planner and had an awful experience. We ended up firing her and hiring Jessie and I am SO glad that we did. Jessie did way more work as a day of planner than our "full service" planner did. Any issues that came up before the wedding, Jessie was able to solve for us. The day before our wedding one of our vendors called her saying that they forgot to bring our sweetheart table. When Jessie broke the news to me, she was calm and offered a couple of different solutions. The company we ended up getting our table from had mentioned that the table was not available for rent, but they made an exception because of Jessie. That is how well known and respected she is in this industry. Every little detail was perfect. She did an incredible job setting up our decor and coordinating all of our vendors. The rehearsal dinner was smooth, quick and to the point. She somehow managed to keep our entire bridal party + families in line (we had a bridal party of 25). She even made sure that my husband and I were able to eat at the ceremony by literally standing guard and blocking people from bothering us! It has been almost 3 months since our wedding and to this day, my family and friends still rave about Jessie. They all say how incredible she was. She was on top of it, organized & fun. I can't thank her enough for all the hard work and effort she put into our special day! Jessie, I'm just gonna get married every day so I can hang out with you ALL the time!!!

Jessie is an absolute gem of a person and is worth her weight in gold for your special day!…read more Everyone told me I was so calm the week of my wedding and I know it's in part that I trusted Jessie to execute and coordinate with our amazing vendor team. Not only did she seamlessly keep everyone in check and on schedule, but she rolled with the punches and found solutions on the fly. It was an absolute pleasure to meet her and work with her. Thank you so much Jessie!!

I really wanted to have a good experience with Rose, but she ultimately let me down in terms of her…read morecommunication, professionalism, and collaborative spirit. Throughout the planning process, she often took 1 to 2 weeks to respond to me, even though our contract stated that communication would be available with a "24 hour response time, usually less." When Rose did reply to me, she failed to fulfill her biggest responsibilities, like proposal reviews, part of what she offered in her partial planning package. Based on lack of communication alone, I should've terminated my contract with Rose to the Occasions sooner than I did. At the time, however, I wanted to give her business the benefit of the doubt. So, I communicated my concerns to her, expressed how excited I was for my wedding and how I wanted to work as a team to help plan it, and, in doing so, I would need her to reply to my emails. Even after articulating my concerns, Rose failed in her communication. But lack of communication wasn't the only major issue I had with Rose to the Occasions. At one point, Rose told me that she'd instructed the florist to change our floral centerpieces from medium to small, as per my request. A few weeks later, when I noticed that the centerpieces had not been changed in my contract with the florist, the florist informed me that Rose hadn't contacted her at all. Eventually, I ended my contract with Rose. Throughout the entire planning process, which I had hoped to be joyous and exciting, I was burdened with the responsibility of trying to get Rose to communicate and perform her responsibilities as outlined in our agreement. I also lost thousands of dollars. Please take heed if Rose responds to this review as, in my experience with her, she tends to lean into defensiveness and combativeness. For example, she might reply that I didn't contact her properly as I sometimes texted her, but of course I had to text her if she was completely unreachable via email and the internal portal. Rose might also complain about the 90-minute drive she took to Santa Barbara to conduct an initial walkthrough. If you are not willing to invest the time it takes to uphold your contract, don't take the booking. Brides, grooms, and to anyone else planning a special day--the choice is yours.

Are you a bride-to-be or have a large event to plan that you want to make sure goes off without a…read morehitch? Call Rose!! I've worked with her on a number of events and weddings and can say that she is beyond professional, organized, and supportive of creating a memorable experience that brides and guests will enjoy. She will guide you through the process, recommend vendors that fit your budget and vibe, and make the whole process as stress-free as possible. 10/10!!

Two months before my wedding I met with Lisa after having a change in venue due to a larger amount…read moreof guests than originally anticipated. I was referred to her by a mutual friend and I couldn't of been happier. With her bubbly personality and attention to detail she brought together each detail I mentioned for my reception. She transformed our venue into a beautiful intimate space we invisioned. In addition to her floral skills, Lisa stepped up where most vendors would not. During our big day, there were multiple changes due to an electrical problem at our venue. Lisa not only drove to multiple locations to save my family and friends from having too, but also provided me with video updates throughout the day to ensure I was a happy bride! Thank you again for helping make our day perfect!!

Lisa & her team did a fabulous job!…read more We enjoyed working with her at a recent wedding as the photographers. The florals were amazing including a stunning ceremony arch and reception decor. We look forward to working again with her soon.

I hired Jamie as my day-of planner a month ago for my wedding at Santa Margarita Ranch and she was…read moreabsolutely incredible! She was so organized and on top of everything that I didn't have to worry about a single thing that entire weekend... and trust me, I'm a total control freak so that's easier said than done! Another thing that I really appreciated about Jamie was that even though I only hired her for the day-of, she was totally accessible for the entire year leading up to the event. We're not from the area so we really relied on her for vendor recommendations and such. I would HIGHLY recommend Jamie and her team to anyone!

If I could give more stars to Jamie and Chris, I definitely would!!…read more I cannot say enough good things about their services. We hired CJN for the entire planning and up to day-of festivities and they rocked! From helping us pick out and hire several individual vendors, to taking care of our champagne at the reception (storing it, chilling it, and serving it (!)), they never let us stress! Things went so smoothly that I am completely convinced that there is no way we could have done it without them! At the end, we almost felt like we had UNDER-paid them, since they went above and beyond what we had expected. We live in the Bay Area and had our wedding on the Central Coast, so you can imagine the stress we would have had without CJN. EVERY minor detail, from each timeline detail, to the type of food we wanted for our rehearsal dinner, was handled by CJN. They never took over to the point that we didn't have a say, they just made sure that every single thing was handpicked by us, and they ran with it. The rehearsal, the planning, the ceremony, and the reception was so seamless that we were utterly elated at the end. And, this may sound silly, but Jamie was so quick to reply, and so detailed in her questions and tasks, that we will miss not working with her any longer and being in constant contact. Maybe we will have a big anniversary party in a few years, just so we can hire her again!

Kristi is amazing. When I started the process of finding a coordinator, I wasn't really sure what…read moreto go off of since I didn't have any initial references, nor had I ever hired a vendor before. I contacted a few, and and soon as Kristi and I started exchanging emails, my (now) wife and I fell in love, and knew she was so perfect for our big day. She knows everyone in Arroyo Grande where we were getting married, and since we weren't really familiar with the area, it was such a blessing to have her. Communications with her are such a breeze. She gets back to you so quickly, she's always a phone call, text, or email away - something she promised us from the beginning and she always stayed true to that. Even from our initial email she was already giving us advice and suggestions to use. She knew exactly what she was doing and such a pro. Anytime we had an issue or question in our wedding process, she was right there to lead us in the right direction. The day of the wedding was such a breeze thanks to her. She's really on top of your schedule and great at keeping things on track. You never once have to worry about anything! She was always one step ahead and always asking questions for things we didn't even realize we would have to consider down the road. We truly had our dream wedding thanks to her. When we first got engaged our friends kept saying, find a good coordinator and it makes all the difference. I can confidently say Kristi fits that exact description. I highly recommend her as your wedding coordinator.

Cynthia and her team did an amazing job coordinating our daughter's recent wedding. From the…read morebeginning, Cynthia was easy to work with, exhibited excellent communication skills, and offered thoughtful suggestions. Throughout the months of wedding planning, rehearsal dinner set-up, wedding ceremony and dinner were all executed flawlessly. We are truly grateful to Cynthia and her team and sincerely recommend Special events to any wedding couple.

Can't really give her a 1, because we were not able to use her…read more We know nothing about her, so we contacted her to ask about her service, as well as placed to have the ceremony, etc. She emailed us back with "Let me know exactly what you want and I will give you a quote!" Well, we are not from the area and don't know "exactly what we want" so we gave her an idea, along with the fact that we really are not sure yet. Her reply, again very short and almost rude, was "I do not to any consulting. I can do your service for $295." She added that "I have done over 1000 weddings." Well, with responses like that, she wasn't going to have 1001 be ours. We needed a little bit of assistance in where is good, etc. We got more assistance from a receptionist at a hotel than we did from Andrea - and we were wanting to hire Andrea to do our wedding. Alternatively, we contacted Sandy White, an officiant new to the area. She drove from Los Osos to Pismo to meet with us, gave us advice on the area, and her rate is one third of what Andrea charges. We are not married yet, so we will review her after the ceremony. But definitely don't need "services" like Andrea is providing.

We were walking our dog past this location (golf course and tent on the beach) and thought the…read morePismo Beach Golf Course would be a perfect place for our wedding! However, many of our out-of-town friends weren't up for a destination wedding on a Monday, so when we realized we didn't have enough people to fill the tent (we expected 50-75 guests), Colleen was still able to help us. She put us in touch with the Pismo State Beach people and we ended up having our reception on a sand dune next to the golf course. We actually took a bunch of wedding photos on the golf course itself, and then Colleen helped us re-locate our wedding across the parking lot on the outdoor patio at Fin's restaurant. It was really lovely and nothing we would have ever figured out how to do on our own. Colleen coordinated our chair set up for the ceremony on the sand dune and was an awesome, completely dependable and calm on-site coordinator for our reception. I had a ton of questions before our big day, and Colleen was always so patient and friendly and helpful.

While at The Village, be sure to cross the Arroya Grande Swinging Bridge to get to the Santa…read moreManuela Schoolhouse, which is to the left and nearby the park and residential. It swings so watch your step!

What a beautifully built bridge! We had fun crossing the swinging bridge, not at all dangerous,…read moreextremely well built! What a cool find in the small, sleepy town, well worth it when passing through the area!