This review is a looooong time coming! My husband and I got married on Catalina Island on February…read more22, 2020...2 weeks before the pandemic started shutting the world down. As we just celebrated our 1 year anniversary, I realized I didn't post a review and wanted to get to it! I believe that the ownership of Avalon Magical Weddings has changed so the negative reviews posted here do not match up to our experience. Our coordinator, Janeth, was AMAZING. My husband proposed on January 10, 2020 and we wanted to elope with just our kids on 02/22/20 (2 is my fav number) and it had to be on Catalina, where we had gone every year to celebrate our anniversary for the past 5 years. Janeth jumped into action, coordinated the flowers, the pastor, location, photography, marriage license and the dinner...mostly all over email! She asked detailed questions, I sent her numerous pics of what I had envisioned and she was patient through it all! We met her in person the day before our wedding, walked through how it would all go, met with the Pastor and had all of our last minute questions answered. The morning of our wedding it POURED! We had no Plan B really, as we were committed to getting married on the beach, but as luck (or some other Devine intervention) would have it, the rain stopped and the sun came out in time for the 3p ceremony! I hadn't seen the flowers or knew what to expect but my bouquet was stunning! Exactly what I wanted! All in all, it was a beautiful day and we were blown away with how great everything turned out. Absolutely zero regrets!

Gosh where do I begin. First of all if you are shopping for a wedding package in Catalina this is…read moreNOT the place to go. Let me repeat that to save you a possible wedding disaster...DO NOT again DO NOT hire Laurie to plan, officiate or have anything to do with your wedding. In her add right now it says the silver package (the one I signed up for) cost $975. I added 2 corsages and 3 boutonniere and had my bouquet upgraded (basically added 6 roses and 3 carnations) my total came up to $1525...thats $550 extra. Now as if that's not ridiculous enough, I asked to add a tulle in my arch and to change the venue from Cabana Beach to Beach platform. I was charged extra $300 for the platform (I guess I understand that) and extra $400 for the tulle (WTF!!!!). Laurie says that I have to pay for the time she spend away from work and her transportation. Then she told me that she did not charge me for the Tulle. Now just how much does she charge per hour, a roundtrip to Catalina express is $72.50 plus the taxi $100...I'm pretty sure she knows a vendor to go to, so should not be more than an hour to pick up a Tulle but I was charged $400 just for that. Then she had the nerve to tell me that I got the tulle for free...Bullshit!!! And the unlimited phone contact is a joke. First of all good luck on trying to contact this lady. If you get a hold of her she is always in a hurry. Then try and talk to her I dare you, thats a joke...one question will take you one hour and a half to get answered 'coz once she start talking you will never have a chance to talk, she can literally talk you to DEATH. She nevers listens to what you want and she will insist that her way is the ONLY way. Now if you want to just show up on your wedding and have no input of whatsoever, like a puppet on Laurie's show, then she will be your gal. The Background music and the ceremony itself is ridiculous. The boombox you will not hear, she does not wear a microphone of some kind so the guest will be surprise when she pronounce you as husband and wife. The wedding is over and none of the guest know that it even took place (sooo sad!!!). The minister (Laurie) dressed inappropriately, I will take a hooker in a heartbeat to officiate our wedding, a clown costume is better. I will post a picture later and you be the judge. She is also the photographer (professional, or at least she calls herself). How can you officiate and take the precious moment of the ceremony? She can't and she did not. No picture of my dad (who is sick by the way) walking me down the aisle. Our first kiss as husband and wife and so forth and so on. And the pictures which by the way she throw 50 extra (making it 150 total) had 102 pictures (no exaggeration here 'coz I counted) of the same pose...me and my husband kiss like picture. I asked to have a family photo as my dad can't be out on the sun for a long time due to chemotheraphy drugs that he is taking but Laurie said that she need to take the photos in order. In the end I have 4 group pictures in which at that point was incomplete guest due to dehydration and we had to pack our stuff from the rented hotel. The icing on the cake is this, not only did she give (paid for already) the garter but when she sent the expedited marriage license registration she sent it $3.00 short. So we had to come to our local county registrar to pay the $3.00 and pick our license ourselves. This whole experience with here was a NIGHTMARE. Do yourself a favor if you want a wedding bliss this is not the place. There is NOTHING MAGICAL in Laurie's business!!! P.S. Laurie don't deserve even a half star but yelp will not allow zero!!!!

We are so grateful to have found Shana to shoot our wedding on Catalina Island. She was so easy to…read morework with and did an excellent job capturing the day. Both Shana and her second photographer were professional, talented and lovely all around. I will be cherishing these photos for decades to come. I highly recommend Shana to anyone in need of a skilled photographer.

Shana Cassidy did an amazing job photographing our wedding on Catalina Island, we got married in…read moreMarch 2016 on a hill overlooking Avalon and Shana was a great partner throughout the entire process. She was prompt to respond prior to, during and after our wedding, she has a great eye for photo shots and knows the Island inside and out being a local. Shana helped recommend our officiant (Anni Marshall- the major of Avalon), where to stay on Catalina, specifics on the ceremony and where to get great wedding shots on the island. She even drove us around in her personal golf cart to get us to different locations. She was very professional, helpful, and made our big day feel special- would highly recommend her as a wedding photographer! From a brides perspective, she was calm and collected which is super important, had great tips on lighting and flattering poses, and was extremely flexible with where we could take the pictures and what types of shots we wanted. And we absolutely LOVE our pictures, and get compliments on them all the time! A great mix of journalistic style, creative and traditional shots. Her prices were very reasonable and she had a very quick turnaround time on getting us our photos electronically. She was able to get us some of our best photos in a couple days, so we could print them out for a family reception that weekend. Shana is the best!

Julie is awesome! She is so friendly and professional. My wife and I eloped and made our plans at…read morethe last minute, and Julie was so helpful and totally able to accommodate us, with a beautiful ceremony overlooking amazing Catalina Harbor. I would definitely recommend being married by Julie if you're doing it in Catalina.

Julie Glass is completely unprofessional and was horrible to me and my family on our wedding day…read more First, she did things like barging into the room where I was getting dressed because she wanted to keep her things in there. She just opened the door and walked in without even knocking. She also was consistently hard to get a hold of during the planning process and had overall poor communication. We spoke to her for months ahead of time about our ceremony needs and she simply replied that she could provide those things without ever mentioning an extra cost. Then, the week before the wedding she tells us she will charge us $12/chair- an outrageous price by any standard. Thankfully we got them for free from the wonderful people at the metropole hotel. Then, 10 minutes after marrying us, during our champagne toast, she tells my mom that she is also charging for the hideous pedestals she brought for our flowers, a small folding table, and the unity candle- all of them also at an outrageous mark-up. It added $170 to her pay. She demanded to be paid in a very rude way. After being paid outside of our reception and being denied entry, she told my husband and I to wait for her in our suite because she needed a signature from us. She then made us wait for 20 minutes while she went to her office and printed a copy of our contract, and made up on-the-spot an invoice using an obvious template. Then, she came to our suite and went off on me on MY WEDDING DAY about my mother and her displeasure with the additional costs. Told me that if my mom brought it up one more time, to present her with this copy of the contract and invoice we had never seen before. In the end we were 45 minutes late for our own reception. She was phony, unpleasant, and her lack of communication created stress for us on the most important day of our lives. If you value your special day, DO NOT hire Julie. If I could have, I would not have given her a single star.

We can't say enough about Chris, we just loved him. He is all that you require and expect, of…read morecourse: Courteous, responsive & professional. But he is also all those things you HOPE for: stylish, refined and sophisticated, with a calming voice and flawless delivery. We eloped, planning a simple living room ceremony with just a half dozen guests. This was to be the final event of a three week cruise through the Panama canal. Unexpectedly, we arrived in LA just as the Palisades fire was gaining speed, a very destabilizing event. Everyone involved was understandably stressed, but we kept our wits about us in no small part due to Chris' unflappable commitment. He never wavered, not even for a second, from his task and he made our little elopement an event to remember. He arrived ready to take us through the "paperwork" part, confidently and professionally, then seamlessly switching over to our ceremony in front of the living room fireplace, while fires outside pretty much raged all around us. We were so lucky to have found him and would recommend him wholeheartedly, whether your event be grand or modest, Chris will shine for sure and take the best care of you both! - Amy & Bryce Weber, wed Jan 11, 2025

I'm so lucky he was available on our wedding date! It was so easy to work with him! Always…read moreresponsive! Took care of the wedding licenses, the service was eloquent and perfect. You could tell that he had a lot of experience and took his role seriously. I loved working with him to edit the wedding script, too! He was the first one on the boat, and I got there way early! I didn't recognize him and was just about to ask the crew to remove him when my bride said, "Did you know that officiant guy is here?" He was very patient with me during this frantic state - always giving me gentle reminders that we needed to sign the marriage license and, of course, pay him! Would highly recommend Chris!

Forever and after licenses really helped my husband and I be able to afford an officiant for our…read morewedding due to our financial situation caused by the pandemic! They work with you at the best of their abilities to make sure your wedding is within your budget still and helped me and my husband enjoy our special day

From the owner: Confidential Marriage License, Notary Public, Jail Marriages, Officiant Services, Same Day…read moreMarriage, Birth Certificate Translations, Spanish to English, English to Spanish, Mobile Notary, Traveling Notary, Entertainment, High Profile, Bookkeeping, Men's Jail Traveling Notary, Women's Jail Traveling Notary, Loan Signing, Recording, Transcribing, Estate Planning Signing

I truly appreciate that Andy and his mother were at our venue on time. We were extremely satisfied…read morewith the services provided. Thank you for the wonderful Spanish ceremony.

We had an amazing experience with our wedding officiant, Andy. From the very beginning, he was…read moreincredibly communicative and always available to answer any questions we had, which made the entire planning process feel so much easier and less overwhelming. He made both my husband and me feel comfortable and confident every step of the way. On the day of the ceremony, everything flowed so smoothly! Andy created such a calm and welcoming atmosphere that helped us truly relax and enjoy the moment. The ceremony felt effortless, meaningful, and perfectly guided, and we're so grateful for his professionalism, kindness, and the care he put into making our day so special.

Bryan is an absolute rockstar! If you're looking for an officiant in Southern California, he is the…read moreone. He spent a full hour interviewing my fiancé and me to truly get to know us, and it showed... our ceremony was beautifully personalized and perfectly executed. He arrived on time, was extremely professional, and went above and beyond on our wedding day. He even came to the bridal suite to check on me and make sure I was doing okay. When we experienced some technical difficulties right before the ceremony, Bryan checked on me twice, reassured me, and made sure I stayed calm. He is genuinely the sweetest, and choosing him as our officiant was one of the best decisions we made. Highly recommend!

Bryan was amazing, he brought such an energetic let's go do this thing type of vibe. We're so…read moregrateful for his ability to share our love story, through meaningful storytelling that brings our family and friends through the journey of our love. Cheer to you Bryan for a memorable ceremony, that we can look back for many years to come.

THEY FORGOT TO SEND AN OFFICIANT ON MY WEDDING DAY AND STILL HAVE THE AUDACITY TO ASK FOR PAYMENT!…read more After officiant not showing up, I called them and they stop answering calls and went radio silence. I strongly suggest to look elsewhere as this company is extremely unreliable and whoever contacted me was extremely rude. They literally harassed me on my wedding day and called me non stop to collect payment after forgetting to send officiant. Funny enough they said mistakes happen and offered me $50 discount!!! Dealing with this company was like a joke. STAY AWAY!

I was quoted a price of $600. I paid $100 upfront. I was not given a detailed explanation of…read morecharges. I ended up paying over $1600. The worst part, I paid $51 back in August for certified copies of the marriage license. Last two weeks I've been calling asking where the license marriage license is. All of a sudden, they said the groom didn't sign something. Spoke to my son-in-law everything was signed. All of a sudden they refunded me the $51. If I had not called, they would've kept the money. And some of the charges like excess mileage and they need to give you a detailed quote because I told him exactly where the wedding was gonna be and no one said there'd be mileage charge. There'd be this charge and that charge it was ridiculous. $600 wedding $1600

We had our wedding at Rio Hondo by Wedgewood Weddings last weekend and it was sooo dreamy…read more We had looked at two other Wedgewood locations before we decided on this venue. The reason we decided on this location was close distance from where most of our guests lived, the VIEW, and the staff! We chose the premium package which was very customizable! Joanne was our coordinator and she held our hands and walked us through every step of the planning and execution. She was cheerful, fun and sensitive to every details. Joanne made the planning so much more manageable. On the wedding day, she was the truly the star from setting our welcoming table to fixing my dress, she was running everywhere to ensure everything went well! And it did! We love Joanne and already miss her! Other notable highlights, our cake vendor was Whisk'd Away and our experience with them was delightful. The tasters were huge and packaged so beautifully. We could do smaller cake and dessert table or do one whole cake. We opted for the whole cake, but looking back, the dessert table could have provided more variety. The team catered to our preferences to the tee! We got many compliments from our guests about how delicious the cake was! FYI additional design and flowers are extra charge. Our floral arrangements were done by Little Blue Hummingbird and they were also so accommodating to my preferences. Annie was super nice and she even added extra flowers at no charge! I also loved bringing our sweetheart table flowers home to enjoy its beauty for more days! They also provided the petals for our flower girls. FYI The vases and draping were additional charge. Our DJ Scott did a great job too! My friends were commenting on how efficient he was and transitioned seamlessly from one section to the other. Our banquet captain and the rest of the staff were also wonderful! We would recommend Rio Hondo by Wedgewood to anyone in a heartbeat!

Thank you, Wedgewood Weddings Rio Hondo, for making my dream wedding come to life! We planned our…read morewedding in just six months, and not once did it feel stressful. One of the things we loved most was that it was truly a one-stop venue. Having so many services included made the planning process easy and enjoyable. A special thank you to our wedding coordinator, Liz Zamudio, who went above and beyond every step of the way. No matter what we needed, she took care of it. Everything was so well organized that we were able to relax and fully enjoy our special day. We received countless compliments on how beautiful the venue was, and our guests absolutely loved the food. We chose the buffet option, which included Panko Parmesan Chicken, Oven-Roasted Salmon, and Carved Roast Beef, served with Garlic Smashed Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables. Everything was delicious! Our package also included the cake through Whisk'd Away. We chose a small cake accompanied by a dessert display, and both were absolutely amazing. Our guests couldn't stop talking about how delicious everything was. The floral arrangements by Annie from Little Blue Hummingbird were stunning and brought our vision to life perfectly. And finally, a huge shoutout to our DJ, Scott! He knew exactly how to keep the energy up all night long. The dance floor was never empty, and the vibes were incredible from start to finish. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding day. Thank you to the entire Wedgewood Weddings Rio Hondo team for creating memories we'll cherish forever! -Robles Wedding (6/12/26)