I want to get married at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and was advised they require a wedding…read moreconsultant. Of the three options, Allison Weddings was one of them. Their website was impressive and they looked great when my sister first emailed them. They sent her info and a sample budget quick. I sent a follow up email asking if I could have my dog at the aquarium. Simple yes or no answer. I also left a voicemail but no one called back. Here's Lori's response. Hi Cindy, Just wanted to make sure you had a chance to review our menu of fees and services, and to make sure that our entry level of $10,000 is something that can fit into your overall budget before we proceed any further. We are raising or fees for 2013 effective June 1st, so if you believe you are interested in contracting with us, we should plan to meet and finalize that in the next two weeks. Let me know how you'd like to proceed. Thank you, Lori lori hood l wedding consultant Allison Weddings l p/f 831.427.3259 712 capitola avenue l capitola ca 95010 www.allisonweddings.com I guess they only care about their fees ad payment. They don't care to address the original question. Probably better if you meet with them but an answer like this is not cool. I sent a follow up email only to get a more apologetic email and still no answer to my dog question. I had my sister check with the other consultant. She advised we could not have the dog at the aquarium but gave us an alternative solution. It's very disappointing to see that they won't even answer a simple question without confirming I have $10,000 for them.

It's your wedding day. A magical day full of all of your friends and family. You want it to be…read moreperfect and everything to unfold without a hitch, right? I highly recommend handing over this precious day to Allison's weddings. I was lucky enough to have them plan, coordinate and execute my entire wedding weekend. Not a detail was missed. If you can get them for your wedding day (book early with them to get your date and location) you are one lucky couple. Super responsive, able to communicate the way that works for you, help with budget management, creative and fun ideas to make your wedding unique. Lori & Allison treat your wedding day/weekend as if it was their own.

Want to have a smooth and fantastic wedding? Work with LJ. It's that easy. She'll make sure you…read morecross your T's and dot your I's. She'll coordinate with the venue to make sure everyone is in sync. She'll make sure you day goes off without a hitch. She'll create gorgeous floral arrangements for your table centerpieces. She'll decorate the venue in ways that will leave you and your guests impressed. She'll even help you pick the right vendors. Here's the thing... your special wedding day will have tons of hiccups. It's normal and every event has them. The magic, though, is that LJ will make sure you never know. She'll solve everything behind the scenes before it ever makes it to you and THAT is what you want on your wedding day. Phoebe and I can't recommend LJ enough. She's worth every penny. Thank you LJ!

One of the best decisions we made around my 5/16/15 wedding was finding LJ of Lux & Jasper as our…read morewedding planner/day-of coordinator. Throughout the year plus of planning, she kept us calm, focused and answered every single frantic email and question we had. We're a bit of an uptight group so there were lots : ) LJ was a HUGE help as we sorted out our vision and what we wanted -- and then followed through flawlessly on bringing that vision to life. She has an incredible eye for design and was instrumental in creating a beautiful setting that matched our vision at both the ceremony and the reception. One of my favorite things about LJ is that she always shared her opinion when asked, and when she disagreed or thought another option may be better than the direction we were headed, she'd respectfully share her point of view and get us back on track -- but I always felt like she respected what we wanted and supported it. All the vendors she recommended were AMAZING. She was straightforward with cost and how vendors stacked up against the competition. Even though she had relationships with many people in the industry, I always felt like she had our best interest in mind and represented us incredibly accurately and well. We paid extra for her to serve as point person for several shuttle buses. This was well worth it in that LJ created and delivered the complicated schedule as well as communicated with the drivers on the big day. What a load off! LJ provided a range of suggestions to make sure we understood our options (for example, for the Groom's Cake she suggested everything from an elaborate cake from a local artisanal bakery to Safeway and everything in between!), but when we just wanted her to handle something and not be weighed down by choices, she executed things flawlessly (such as delivering our welcome bags all over the Monterey Peninsula the day before the wedding!). On the day of, we had nothing to worry about -- everything that was within her control turned out flawlessly. She also navigated tricky situations with our on-site venue contact, who was a bit challenging to work with, and did a great job at managing her to make sure we had the day we envisioned. I was constantly impressed by her positive and calming attitude, grounding presence, creative vision and her ability to manage complex and emotionally charged situations. She was patient and understanding when we had last-minute changes and always snapped into action when we needed her to. I would definitely recommend LJ as a wedding planner/day-of coordinator! We couldn't have done it without her!

Hugely positive experience working with Casey. She is truly the best; just wall-to-wall a…read moreprofessional and incredibly helpful. Looking back at our experience with our wedding, we truly would have been lost without Casey. She's so easy to work with, and thought of things we absolutely never would have. I cannot overstate how great our experience was, enormously grateful for everything they did!

We had an AMAZING experience with Wedding Connection. Casey, the owner, was wonderful in every way…read more She is organized, detailed, and prompt. She handled all the key logistics of our wedding preparation when we were stressed in the days leading up to our wedding. The wedding itself was extremely smooth. We had an incredible experience, largely thanks to the behind the scenes work Casey and her team were doing during the event. Rancho Soquel was a stunning and beautiful venue just a few minutes from Soquel and Capitola. We highly recommend Casey and her team for any Santa Cruz area wedding.

Adrienne was SUCH a pleasure to work with throughout my wedding planning process and on the day…read moreitself. I wasn't sure if I wanted a day of coordinator or not as I was very much a DIY bride and wanted to save on cost, but I am so glad I decided to go with Adrienne and Serenity Events Co. I found Adrienne via a Facebook Bay Area Brides group - I had listed an ISO post for a day-of-coordinator and she was the many that responded to my post. I interviewed at least 10 different coordinators and after reviewing how each interview went and their price points, I decided to move forward with Adrienne. I appreciated that her accepted method of payment was via credit card as many had asked to be paid via venmo/zelle. In our first meeting, Adrienne, although based in Santa Cruz area, kindly drove up to us in San Jose to meet at a cafe near our home. We started working on the initial skeleton of our timeline during this meeting and continued to work on the timeline in the months coming up to the wedding. We had planned to go to the venue together a week or two prior to the wedding to meet with one of the coordinators from the venue but unfortunately, I got COVID the day right before the meeting. Adrienne still went in person for us both and familiarized herself with the venue since it was her first time working there. Things I had tasked for Adrienne on the wedding weekend/wedding day included putting out all my centerpieces (as my florist was my aunt, so she needed assistance), putting out all my menu frames, table numbers, votive candles, floating candles in hurricane vases, arranging my welcome table, handling my dessert deliveries throughout the event and setting up the dessert table, managing all 20+ members of my bridal party, all while ensuring the event went according to our planned timeline! Adrienne was so effective in her work and she made it look so easy! I would recommend Adrienne and Serenity Events Co. to any of my friends or family looking for a day of coordinator!

From the owner: Service focused wedding planning and coordination services.read more

It's long overdue, but I wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude to Rebecca and her team for…read morebringing my wedding vision to life one year ago 3.21.24. On the day of my wedding, the reception setup was exactly as I had imagined--floating candles and my favorite flowers, baby's breath, creating a magical forest-inspired atmosphere. There was a small hiccup when my wedding cake arrived--it looked beautiful, but the color palette wasn't quite what I had envisioned unfortunately. However, Rebecca worked her magic with her own dried flowers, and I ended up with a completely new cake that was a much better match for the theme. It feels like it was just yesterday, even though it's been a year. Thank you again for making my dream wedding a reality!

All I have to say is I wouldn't have survived wedding planning or or wedding day without Rebecca…read moreand her team. Rebecca was absolutely amazing helping me plan everything, thinking of things that I never would have thought of, helping me to deal with last-minute stressors, and managing our day perfectly. So many people came up to me to tell me how awesome our wedding planner was, and how well-run everything was at our wedding. We are SO appreciative. She knows all the other vendors in the area, and had fantastic suggestions for who we used. She also knew our venue really well, so helped us iron out all the little details that needed to be figured out. I don't think I realized how much goes into planning a wedding before I planned my own wedding, and there's no way we could have done it without Rebecca! I was really stressed before our wedding with all of the last minute prep, and Rebecca knew exactly what needed to happen and helped me feel so taken care of. The day of the wedding I literally didn't worry about anything because her team was so on top of it, we had a perfect magical day!

I was a bridesmaid in a wedding here and wow, I was blown away by the level of service-- I was…read moreoffered assistance without asking more than once throughout the wedding day, and every staff member I interacted with went above and beyond to help, from the owners to the bed-and-breakfast chef to the dinner servers. The bartenders were also extremely professional and gracious throughout the evening. The venue itself is gorgeous and has multiple areas that are romantic or charming, and the accommodations make for a truly unique experience; I've seen quite a few venues as a former wedding photographer and this was an outstanding experience.

Simply wonderful. Beautiful setting, gorgeously maintained. Rustic yet clearly cared for with love,…read morehard work, and dedication. The grounds are beautiful, whether you just look out from the stately house, or if you wander on some of the trails -- maybe set for a spell on a bench. If you're looking to exhale and then breathe in amazing nature, you have found the place! The room is very comfortable, too. Our bathroom was plenty big and roomy. Loved the big bath (whirlpool, if you like). The 'full breakfast' is fantastic. Jen is a wonderful baker (a breakfast bread pudding one day; mini churros another day), and each morning we had a varied and hearty breakfast that was delicious and well-balanced. The house itself is big and inviting with hip old timey jazz pipedor more modern-day chanteuses gently piped in. Enclosed porch for reading or just relaxing. Our room had a private porch, too. So much here. So many ways to really unwind. Walking around the grounds is inspiring. I ran into Derek a time or two who was relaxed but busy on the many projects that keep him focused here. The whole place looks perfect for a wedding, or a family gathering, or even a business get-away. Or, of course, just a simple, lowkey retreat. Lovely hidden (but easy to find) gem. Can't wait to return.

If you are planning a wedding (honestly any kind of event), LOOK NO FURTHER! Relic Events is…read moreexactly what anyone needs. Lindsey (and her team) was the absolute best wedding planner we could have asked for. Details about our wedding: Fully outdoors, 60+ guests and kids, minimal kitchen space, no reception, no DJ Lindsey is incredibly organized, detail oriented (to the T!!), kind, patient, super chill, extremely thoughtful, and so down to earth - all the things you want and more when you are planning for the best day of your life and the most important one. For someone who works with people who are doing all this for the first time, Lindsey was always patient, so calming, and it set the tone for the entire process. We are extremely grateful to her, it's hard to put into words. From detailed spreadsheets (I'm very type A so this was AWESOME), thoroughly outlined on site maps, to extremely quick and responsive communication, all the way to just being so fun, kind, and grounding...there are so many things about working with Lindsey we can't stop talking about (and so many things she did that was felt but we're definitely done behind the scenes)... but here's just a few: - Vendor suggestions and idea building: She went above and beyond our needs to provide us with suggestions, recommendations, and advice that we both asked for and didn't know we even needed. Our venue was all outdoors and we had to find everything from the ground up. Having her ideas, suggestions, and guidance was beyond helpful and invaluable. Whenever we'd throw ideas, she would have really great suggestions - what about a food truck? what about unassigned seats? etc., she had so many good points and it helped us tremendously. We used a number of her recommendations for different vendors that ended up working out great. Moreover, she was able to give a recommendation for any vendor regardless of the budget we asked her we'd like to target. It's clear that she has so much experience and it was the reason why our day went smoothly. - Extensive support: Lindsey provided us with a call a year before the wedding date, a call six months before, and 5 more calls a month and half before. She was so easy, thorough, and quick to communicate - we could always email her and she'd be there to help us right away. Each video call she reassured us we were on the right track and steered us in the right direction. She helped us stay calm and focused on the important things, especially during the month before the wedding, rather than worrying about the small details to get stuck over. The month and a half before the wedding, Lindsey was included in and took the reins on all emails with vendors. This really helped take the load off of us and let us feel more at ease in the weeks leading up to the wedding date. She made a very detailed map, extremely helpful and thorough spreadsheet of every single thing you need that kept us so organized since the beginning. - Incredible taste and vision: If you have a vision, she's got you. We are convinced she is a mind reader... on top of her extensive experience... guaranteed she will make the wedding of your dreams possible! We were a bit all over the place with our pinterest boards and ideas, but Lindsey somehow with the minimal words we used she executed alllllllll the decorations PERFECTLY, ordered the right linens, etc. etc. and our wedding looked exactly like it was in our minds and even better. She even has really lovely rentable items of her own and it made it SUPER easy. (We had a smores bar, a cake table, bar table, picnic table, buffet table, etc. and she decorated them beautifully!) - A literal fairy: The day of the wedding couldn't have gone smoother with Lindsey handling logistics and direction with all vendors and working tirelessly behind the scenes to set everything up with her assistant and making sure everything is as we dreamed it, as we enjoyed our day free from distractions. She was a bright grounding light and invaluable throughout the whole process and especially the day of. Whenever I saw her throughout the wedding, she always smiling and it never felt like she was stressed (?? somehow!!). As the wedding day ended, we found all of our wedding decor and various things neatly packed away, making it so easy for us to end the day without worry and enjoy our night. We would absolutely recommend Lindsey to anyone looking for a wedding planner in any capacity and really any event! We LOVE HER!!!!

To start, this review is extremely overdue (2 years)!! Lindsey was the absolute best person to have…read morehandle our wedding. I cannot imagine getting through the day without her expertise, calm energy, and ability to troubleshoot and guide us through both the planning and the day-of. Working with her is an absolute pleasure and her knowledge of the industry and vendors made everything so much smoother. She made the day so much less stressful and let us concentrate on actually enjoying everything and spend time with loved ones. Hopefully, it's a credit to how great she is that my wife and I were horrified that we realized we had not given her a review after the wedding!! Cannot recommend Lindsey more!!

We worked with Amazae from the moment we knew we wanted to get married (before we got engaged,…read moretechnically. Ha). Both of us are extremely busy re: our jobs and knew that we wouldn't be able to dedicate enough time to truly planning an event of this scale. If you're on the fence, go with Amazae. My husband, before we hired Amazae, was on the fence of whether or not we needed planning services. I told him that if we did not hire someone that there would be no wedding. By the time we had finished our venue search, he knew that I was totally right re: the amount of help you get by leveraging someone else's expertise. You do this once (hopefully) in your life. Amazae does this all the time. Amazae knew all the ins and outs of every venue that we could possibly think of in the Bay Area, Carmel, and Napa. They were able to tell us who was beer and wine only, who had a 10pm end time because of noise ordinances, and who required you to use certain caterers that were $x per head. This will save you SO much time and save you visits to random places that don't meet your requirements. Vendor sourcing - they are super good at this re: figuring out (or making you figure out what you like) who matches your style for every vendor, then finding one that fits in your budget. Most importantly, they will make sure everyone shows up (join any wedding FB group and read some horror stories). They will help you with all of the contracting and the collection of COIs, etc. Again, this would have been IMPOSSIBLE for myself and my now husband. We literally do not have the hours in the day to do this. This team is on top of everything - they will chase you down if they need to for answers for pieces of your event. They can make anything happen - from the weirdest requests to the most mundane. They are so professional, and they really make your wedding super personal. Amazae designed and executed a beautiful event from beginning to end that felt so authentic to us. Day of, they were there to take care of everything, and it was truly a flawless day. We could not asked for a better planner re: Crystal, Kaila, and the rest of the team. We put full trust in them re: the design of this event and the day of. Example: I honestly did not know what florals were going to be there, but they were so stunning. The strength of the Amazae team is in their ability to bring you and your personality into an event that is mostly structured a certain way. They also make your day as stress-free as possible. I cannot say enough positive things about this team and their ability to make your wedding great. If you're down to hand things off to someone else, I would say hand it off to them. It will be better than what you could have come up with yourself.

Planning a wedding during a pandemic is hard, even a micro-wedding. You don't want to be cake…read moretasting or menu tasting, so you rely on experts. That's why we decided to hire an event planner for our daughter's wedding in January 2021. Even though it was a small backyard wedding, we wanted it to be memorable and elegant. We interviewed 3 different event planners, and got 3 rough quotes, all around the same ballpark. Amazae's quote, however, was the most detailed, breaking down a high & low range for each item (food, florals, rentals, photography, etc.) It was an easy choice to contract with them. Crystal came onsite for our first meeting, and I really didn't have a lot for her to go on. My daughter isn't the Pinterest type, so I just told Crystal the wedding colors and showed her pictures of the wedding gown and bridesmaid gowns. The rest of the planning was all done via zoom, emails, and a few phone calls. We worked mostly with Caitlin, who is an amazing planner. Each step along the way, she gave us several options to choose from. For example, she provided a list of 4 photographers, their quote for the day, their profile, their gallery, etc. Once all of our choices were made, she put together a design deck that gave us a preview of the entire wedding. It was more gorgeous than I envisioned. On the day of the wedding, Lisa came out to set everything up. She even picked up the florals and wedding cake to save us the delivery fees. It was a little hectic when I met her, and I probably spent 5 minutes with her showing her where everything was before we left for the church ceremony. And when we came back, she was driving off, leaving behind a magical transformation of yard. Everyone was stunned. The catering crew then took over and prepared a "Top Chef" level meal. And when they left, my kitchen was as clean as when they arrived. My husband commented, "Whatever we paid for this wedding, it was worth every penny." Haha. True. NOTE: the photos on this review are from my phone. The professional photos are not available yet.

We still can't get over how perfect our 7/3 reception went. Thanks to the team, it was truly the…read morebest night of our lives, and our hard-to-impress guests were also wowed by everything. From planning to execution, we appreciate how smooth everything was from beginning to end. The food, from cocktail hour to the dinner buffet, was delicious and we received so many compliments about it all night when we talked to each table. The service all around was amazing and our guests loved how friendly all staff were. Sales staff were very friendly and knowledgeable. We were appreciative of how responsive and flexible they were. Day-of coordinators were ELITE in executing our vision day-of and putting everything together so beautifully. Their coordination helped us relax and enjoy our day knowing that we had a strong team helping us out behind the scenes. We will forever be grateful for the experience we had at Carmel Fields!

Attended a wedding at this venue and enjoyed every moment of it. From the outside to the main…read morelobby, it was all gorgeous. However, the standout moment came after the wedding ended. We planned to head back to our hotel around 10pm, only to discover a flat tire on our car. We attempted to change it, but the hills/slope of the area made it difficult to keep the car lifted. Staff member Ash (and 2 other gentlemen, not sure if they worked there) literally saved the day. Ash helped us out by providing her jack and assisted with removal of the flat tire with the spare. She then ensured the wheel was safe to drive and informed us of both the nearest gas station for air and mechanic for a repair. I can't thank her enough for turning a terrible moment to an amazing memory.

Wow, where to begin? Desiree was our wedding MVP! She handled florals, signage, and decor, making…read moreher our one-stop-shop. Her expertise made everything seamless, stress-free, and stunning. Trusting her with this huge part of our wedding was the best decision we made! Thanks to Desiree's expertise, we landed on a relaxed, tropical vibe within our specific budget, and she nailed it for our beach wedding. From her mood board creations in the planning phases to the execution on our wedding day, she blew us away and made our wedding day even more perfect than we ever imagined. Desiree and her team were a joy to work with--brides, hire her and thank me later!

We had such a wonderful experience working with Desiree for all of our party rental needs for our…read morewedding! From the clear communication, to the awesome customized rental preview on their website, the entire process was seamless! Our wedding guests were very impressed with everything, especially the beautiful cocktail glasses and elegant cutlery! 10/10 would recommend!