I was truly on the fence about hiring a wedding planner. Weddings are expensive, and I wondered if…read moreit was an expense we really needed. I work full time, though, and while my daughter and I were ready to take the bull by the horns and be very involved in the planning, I wanted both her and her fiancé to have an exceptional wedding they would remember for the rest of their lives. I interviewed several planners, but something about Mandi immediately resonated with me. I took the leap, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions we made. Mandi started working with us nearly a year in advance and was there every step of the way. She kept us organized, reviewed every detail, and was always just a text, email, or phone call away. She also kept track of vendor contracts, invoices, payments, and deadlines, which took an enormous amount off our plate and made sure nothing was overlooked. Her experience and relationships within the wedding community were invaluable. She knew who to call, how to bring our ideas to life, and connected us with an incredible team of vendors. As the wedding approached and everything kicked into high gear, Mandi made sure nothing fell through the cracks. When it came time to execute everything we had spent so many months planning, Mandi had an exceptional team alongside her. On the wedding day, they were organized, professional, and seemingly everywhere at once, making sure every detail came together exactly as it should. The result was an absolutely spectacular wedding for my daughter and new son in law. The compliments from our guests haven't stopped. They were blown away by the beauty, the attention to detail, and how seamlessly everything came together. But perhaps the greatest gift Mandi gave me was peace of mind. When the wedding day arrived, I didn't have to manage a hundred moving pieces. I got to simply be the mother of the bride, to be present, take it all in, and watch two people I love have the wedding we had all worked so hard to create. That was priceless. If you're on the fence about hiring a planner like I was, hire Mandi. She was worth every penny, and knowing what I know now, I would choose her again without hesitation. Thank you, Mandi, for helping us create a wedding that our daughter, son in law, and entire family will remember forever.

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.

We had the pleasure of working with Coastside Couture for our wedding in Nov of 2022 and we are…read morestill 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!!

Heidi, Sonja and Harley were great to work with for our wedding. We started working with Heidi 9…read moremonths 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.

Sherilyn was great to work with and made our wedding ceremony special. Highly recommendread more

The Stone Chapel was perfect for our private ceremony of 12 guests. Everyone felt comfortable and…read morewe were all very well taken care of by Sherilyn. Her communication with us leading up to our wedding was excellent. She is very well organized, accommodating and professional. Ben our photographer (arranged through Sherilyn) captured our day beautifully, including some outdoor shot in the gazebo that turned out adorable. The price was very reasonable and location was not far from Cannery Row where we had a lovely reservation for dinner at The Chart House. See the owner Jimmy! He helped everything go smoothly for our group. An overall absolutely wonderful day. Would highly recommend. A By-The Sea Wedding!! :) Thank you Sherilyn!

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!

When we first looked at planning our wedding we were overwhelmed. There were so many different…read moreelements to think about from flowers to table linens, dessert, music and more details. We didn't know where to start and to be honest neither of us really enjoy throwing parties or events so we didn't see how any of this could be fun. We figured we would look at hiring a wedding planner. Every Last Detail came highly recommended, so we decided to give her a call and at that moment everything changed and it was for the better. Patty comes with years of experience, and she knows a lot of great vendors and has so much knowledge when it comes to weddings. She was able to help us find our photographer, florist, DJ, and everything else we wanted to create our perfect day. She gave us options of different vendors in our budget that she knew were available on our wedding date, which helped save so much time. She kept us on track with the timeline, which helped reduce a lot of stress, as well as making sure we were on budget and enjoying the entire process along the way. She also offered advice when we asked for it but never made decisions for us and never gave her opinion on any decisions without us asking first. The day of our reception Patty and her assistant Carol made sure neither of us nor any of our family members had to lift a finger and took care of everything. They helped to make sure everything was set up from linens to flowers and the lighting as well and even packed up the gifts and all our belongings into the car at the end of the night making sure nothing was left behind. Their level of detail is impeccable. For example, they seamlessly snuck us away from our guests so we could have our grand entrance introducing us as a married couple for the first time. We had decided to join our cocktail hour and naturally neither of us ate a bite because we were so busy talking to guests as they arrived. Carol very nicely told us that her and Patty had set some food aside for us in the backroom. We were able to sit, eat and have a moment together. But we didn't realize they orchestrated this so we could magically appear when our names were announced for the first time as a married couple. Not only is Patty super detailed, a real expert party planner but she's also a joy to work with. She's professional while also being very down-to-earth and handles stressful events with ease and is easy to talk to. She advocates for her clients to make sure they have the best day and have things exactly as they planned. We really felt like hiring her was the best decision we made. We're extremely grateful to her and cannot recommend her enough!

Patty and Carol are the real deal. - If you are debating on getting a wedding planner then you most…read morelikely need one. I am so grateful that Patty was recommended to me, I have no idea what I would have done without her. If you have no experience planning a wedding, then Patty is a great option. She will go above and beyond. She helped me with EVERYTHING. We had so many phone calls about planning, venders, timelines, you name it. We got married at the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa, Patty got our marriage insurance (didn't know that was a thing) and every detail was done to my exact wishes; our rooms, a get-ready room, timeline. She helped me find and book my venders; makeup, hair, live music. She knew about the area restrictions and completely managed all my venders. She made the best timelines I have ever seen in my life, had everything to a tee with wiggle room in case things did not go according to plan (which they rarely do). She even helped my officiant (who was our best friend) with his ceremony timeline and speech. Patty took care of everything, even when I had vender drama, she took care of it without me having to deal with it at all. And she even ran to our room when our ring bearer forget our rings! Day of, Patty has her assistant Carol which is more than a bonus. Both Patty and Carol are adored by me and my family. Truly were like my own family, even helped me put my shoes on. There are no perfect words to describe how truly grateful I am for having them at my wedding. Best decision I have ever made. 10/10 would hire them again.

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.

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!!

My now-husband and I initially wanted to do a simple elopement with just the two of us and had no…read moreidea how to make that happen. We literally googled elopements in Monterey and found Brian and Heidi. We ended up doing a small ceremony with just our immediate families present with Brian and Heidi as our officiant and photographer. Brian helped us with our logistics and was so easy to work with and truly helpful. He was extremely thorough and made sure we were prepared for the big day. Heidi and her assistant were so fun to work with. Neither myself nor my husband love being in front of the camera but her direction and sense of humor helped us feel comfortable and we ended up with some truly amazing photos. In the end we are so happy with our choice to go with Weddings in Monterey and with the way our ceremony turned out. Thank you, Brian and Heidi!

Brian and Heidi were marvelous to work with, and made our wedding day seamless and stress-free. We…read morecould not have been happier with their services and expertise during the entire process from planning to execution.

Thank you Oscar & the entire team at Oscar by Oscar, for making our wedding day an absolute dream…read morecome true. From the very beginning, your professionalism, organization, and dedication gave us confidence that we were in the best hands. Oscar, you did an incredible job keeping our timeline running smoothly and ensuring every detail of the day came together seamlessly. The vision you brought to our reception was breathtaking, and seeing everything come to life exceeded anything we could have imagined. Every detail reflected the care, creativity, and passion you put into your work. We are especially grateful for all the behind-the-scenes effort you put into coordinating with our vendors and organizing every aspect of the day. Because of you, we were able to relax be present & truly enjoy every moment with our family and friends What makes your service even more special is that you were not only our planner and coordinator but you also captured some of the most incredible videos of us throughout the entire day. Being able to relive those moments through your lens is such a priceless gift & you managed to capture so many genuine memories that Alexis & I will cherish forever. What sets you apart is not only your talent but the genuine care you have for your couples. You made us feel valued, supported, and celebrated throughout the entire process. Your passion for what you do shines through in every detail, and it is clear why Oscar by Oscar has such an outstanding reputation. Thank you for helping create memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. Your vision, dedication, creativity, and passion truly make you the best of the best. We are forever grateful for everything you did to make our wedding day so special and will never forget the incredible role you played in one of the most important days of our lives

Oscar and team were impeccable! They executed my vision for a "Under the Tuscan Sun" themed 40th…read morebirthday dinner flawlessly. Absolutely everything I could have imagined and much more. They literally turned my backyard into a picturesque Italian Villa. No detail was missed, and every step of the planning process, from vision boards, budgets, rental selections and personal touches were methodical and just a breeze. Oscar was very receptive to every idea, tentative, responsive and extremely professional. We loved him so much, he's literally like family now (on speed dial) and ready to plan our next event in October; our first baby shower! Thank you Oscar for your personable touch and exquisite demeanor.

I am still waiting on my photos to come back but I have a few to share! Let me just say this...if…read moreyou are thinking about Hiring Diane...DO...if you need a wedding planner hire Diane!!!! She is ABSOLUTE MAGIC!!!!! I live in los angeles so don't have the ability to know the vendors in Big Sur and she handled EVERYTHING!!!! Her recommendations were top notch and everyone gave us the wedding of our dreams! Truly we were all blown away and all of our guests said it was the best wedding they had ever been to! I will upload more photos as I get them! I don't have photos yet of the reception but it was everything!!! The food, the dj, the flowers, the drinks, the ceremony...all of it. She is an angel...a magical angel! Super reasonable, super attentive, super helpful! She only wanted us to have exactly what we wanted. I cannot recommend her more highly!!!!

I had almost the exact same experience as Olivia below. Our wedding was 1 week before Olivia's and…read morewe had almost an identical experience. I hate to leave a negative review as I knew Diane was dealing with some personal stuff, however, this is not the person you want ghosting you for months leading up to the event or cutting ties with you a week before the event. Also, I heard from an assistant of hers who said she would be taking over (we never knew Diane had an assistant) however when we emailed this assistant back, they never responded. We tried reaching out to Diane several times and eventually took matters in our own hands and organized our day assuming Diane would be nowhere to be found. Then 1 week before our wedding when everything was set, she began emailing our vendors (photographer, flowers, videographer, officiant, hair and makeup) and communicating a completely different timeline and old information that was wrong!?! She had not read our emails we copied her on for months and caused so much unnecessary headaches the week before our wedding bc we had to go back to each vendor and explain that Diane's information was old and dated and to stick with the timeline we had communicated. This is. Not what you want to be doing last minute. In the end, we all agreed to part ways. Our wedding turned out exactly as we wanted minus the Loss of the $750 for Paion that she suggested and minus the headaches and drama leading up to the event. I can say that she gave us a list of vendors which we paid for, however we did hours of our own research to find hair and makeup & photographer and deserts. The only vendors we used from her were our catering company, Catering Monterey- phenomenal btw - officiant, Soaring Starkey- HIGHLY RECOMMEND, and Big Sur flowers, they were pretty good and made a gorgeous bouquet but had some issues delivering the flowers to us the morning of and left them at Glen oaks reception instead of the house which was frustrating bc we were on a timeline and the reception is not close to the house. The worst part about this experience is that not only did things get so contested and we agreed to part ways 1 week before the event, she also listened to my vision and then booked us for Paion Estates which after talking to my photographer, Lynn Lewis (HIGHLY RECOMMEND) we realized that my vision would not happen at Paion. So we lost our $750 deposit for that location in order to take the wedding photos on the Rocky cliffs (north of glenoaks) which is all I explained I wanted from the beginning and showed very detailed images of my vision. Lynn Lewis, our photographer ended up putting together the day of timeline and making all our dreams for our elopement come true. her services include vendor referrals and timeline management. I'd you're having a small wedding, skip the coordinator all together and just go with Lynn. Lynn was the photographer we found on our own. I'd be happy to talk to any future bride about my experience. Drop me a message and I'll email you. Diane was a nice person and in the beginning I thought this would be great, but as time passed it was clear she's had other things going on and was not 100% committed or at least she wasn't with Olivia and myself.

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.