Josh and his team were absolutely incredible. Josh was always responsive, organized, and professional. He had a ton of insight into rules of thumb for weddings, what would work well and what wouldn't, and event a lot of insight into the venue itself (Carmel Valley Ranch). Not only that but Josh is incredibly warm and fun to work with. Day of, he and his team were organized, adapted seamlessly when unexpected things came up, and they truly helped make our wedding the best day of our lives. At the end, my Mom said he was the best wedding planner she had ever seen. I could not recommend Josh more highly. He is the best. :) read more

Golden Coast Planning was the perfect pick for our wedding. Josh was incredibly friendly, supportive, and willing to throw himself into the fire to help our wedding day run smoothly. He met with us via Zoom over the course of the past year and was always attentive and transparent about any conflicts our original plans had logistically. He always provided solutions that were easy to implement or were low cost. My wife and I are very hands on with how we like to do certain things but Josh made it very easy to let go of the planning on the days leading up to our wedding, allowing us to be fully present. We greatly appreciate the team at Golden Coast Planning and consider Josh a friend after having worked with him!! Do yourselves a favor and book with GCP!!! read more

Golden Coast Planning - Sparrow Valley Retreat (venue) - Wedding Planning Near Me

Josh and his team were so great! From the planning process all the way through the to wedding day, we always felt taken care of and the attention to detail left us assured that everything was going to go smoothly. We could not have asked for a better wedding day and have GCP to thank! read more

Josh helped us over the course of a year put together the wedding of our dreams. He helped us select vendors, weigh whether costs were worth it, and advised us what really mattered on the wedding day. Our wedding at La Playa and Carmel Valley Ranch went seamless and we really thank him for his help! read more

My wife and I recently got married across a 3-day multi-cultural wedding in Carmel Valley and Josh at Golden Coast helped us throughout our 1.5 year planning process. Our wedding weekend turned out beautifully and we, as well as our guests, had an incredible time that we can't stop talking about. We wouldn't have been able to do it without Josh and team. From the start, Josh was a pleasure to deal with - very respectful, kind and always bringing a good attitude to our meetings. Communication was generally strong, although sometimes had to remind him about certain things more than once, which is maybe natural given the heavy detail involved in a 3-day wedding. It helps that he's very well connected in the area, as he was knowledgeable about various vendor options and presented us pricing and pros/cons of each. He was very present and involved on the day of the weddings - directly overseeing setup and strike of rentals, coordinating the days events, and checking in with us very frequently to ensure we were having an ideal experience. read more

Angelina is a queen! She helped make our September 2025 wedding last weekend run so smoothly. We did month of coordination but she met with us almost monthly prior to August to keep us on track. I liked this option because it still allowed me to pick my vendors and not communicate through a middle person. Once it became the week of I was able to transfer almost all logistics to her. She worked so well with all of our vendors too! She was able to communicate seating and guest list changes to our venue and make sure everything was set up correctly. read more

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We had the absolute best experience working with Angelina and Ruby for our wedding at Sparrow Valley Retreat. Angelina was our month-of coordinator, and from the very beginning she was so kind, thoughtful, and attentive. She spent extra time with us leading up to the wedding to make sure we felt confident and calm, and on the day itself she was truly our voice--especially in moments when we felt overwhelmed. She always seemed to know exactly what we wanted, and she made sure every detail happened just the way we had hoped. Ruby joined us on the event day, and we were blown away by how seamlessly she stepped in. Even though we hadn't worked with her before, she was incredibly sweet, caring, and attentive. She went out of her way to make sure everything flowed perfectly and that we felt fully supported throughout the celebration. Angelina and Ruby went above and beyond to ensure our wedding day was everything we dreamed of. We are so grateful for their warmth, professionalism, and genuine care. If you're looking for coordinators who will treat your wedding as if it were their own, we highly recommend working with them. read more

Golden Coast Planning - Wedding Planning Near Me

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From the jump, Josh was always on top of it whether it came to mapping out the planning via the system that they use m, or answering all the small questions that I thought about at midnight the night before! He is so organized, helpful, personable and you can tell genuinely loves what he does. He helped us with things we never would have thought to ask. On the day of the wedding we had nothing to worry about at all. He and his team were awesome, and we recommend them to everyone we know! You will be so happy you did. read more

I highly discourage you from working with Josh. We hired him for our June 2025 wedding due to overwhelmingly positive reviews at the time, but clearly things have changed in the past year. I am only writing this review because I feel like it is my duty to write one so there is at least an accurate assessment of how this company currently treats clients. I noticed that most of the reviews are 1+ years old and I don't want people to make the same mistake we did. An important note is that the set-up of our client/planner/venue relationship was that the planner would work directly with the venue (this was set for us with the idea that it streamlines things as Golden Coast has worked at the venue several times). Here are some examples of the extreme unprofessionalism and poor management Josh/Golden Coast exhibited: 1) In our last handoff meeting (16 days before the wedding) the coordinator told us everything was on track for the wedding and she was just confused about the valet plan. This was a red flag to my husband, as Josh had worked directly with the venue months before to finalize that plan. Luckily, my husband directly reached out to the venue and found out that they actually were very concerned as there were many missing pieces of information about our wedding (now 14 days away) that Golden Coast had not shared. Why were we told by Golden Coast in the finalization meeting just 2 days earlier that everything was on set/on track? Fortunately, the venue provided us a comprehensive list of missing items directly (with Josh/Golden Coast included in the email). We were obviously very worried and extremely confused as 90+% of these items were things we had discussed/finalized opinions on with Golden Coast long ago. Josh only responded 4 days later after our 4th follow up email that we had been sending to him/his team (mind you our wedding was now in 10 days!!!). Luckily, my husband and I had quickly responded to the venue and populated most of the information within 1 day of receiving (having lost complete faith that Golden Coast even knew the plans we had discussed in our meetings). We then had a call with him where he did not apologize for the lack of response (saying he had been busy), and blamed the venue / tried to pit us against the venue! He constantly plays both sides in an attempt to seem innocent, but it turned out he was also bad-mouthing us (his client) to the venue! What the heck? You hire someone to be in your corner and they not only don't do what you hired them to do, don't respond, and bad-mouth you to the venue. 2) We hired staff for set-up/teardown/decorations/table settings/trash removal directly through Golden Coast (in addition to the coordinator staff we had already hired who are in charge of coordinating all vendors). We found out after our wedding from the venue, that the staff did not do the table settings and the venue manager had to step in and do it right before everyone came in from cocktail hour. I am so thankful for the venue manager's quick thinking and that this debacle was hidden from us on day of, but this demonstrates extreme incompetence on Golden Coast's part. Also, why did we hire staff directly through you if they weren't going to even do the jobs they were contracted to do? 3) Golden Coast was supposed to do the month of hand off where they speak with our vendors and make sure they are on the right page about the venue/plan. We had several vendors reach out to us as they had not been contacted by Golden Coast very late, and I had to follow up with Golden Coast to get them in touch. 4) Golden Coast included in the contract that they would run our rental order and established themselves as the point of contact with the rental company. The night before we were leaving for our wedding, I had a stress dream that we might not have napkins on the rental order. When I woke up, I checked, thinking this would just be the stress of the weekend, and lo and behold there were no napkins! This is crazy as that seems like a pretty basic thing to have on an order (like forks, knives, etc) and Golden Coast were the ones to write the rental order! Not having napkins would have been pretty rough, so I'm glad I happened to have my stress dream. I think that in an effort to expand his operation, Josh/Golden Coast have lost their touch. They clearly prioritize being viewed positively by venues vs their clients (as they already have our money and weddings are not recurring business). If Josh had even been apologetic after the fact, I probably would have tried to move past this, but he has been nothing but excuses, bad mouthing us, bad mouthing the venue. Definitely think twice before hiring him and please note the date of reviews you choose to trust--things have sadly changed. read more

If you are planning a wedding anywhere in California, you MUST work with Golden Coast Planning! It was a true joy and pleasure to plan together with Josh and benefit from his wealth of knowledge of the wedding industry, vendors, and the Big Sur area. Josh and the Golden Coast Team were fabulous partners in bringing our dream wedding to life in Big Sur. We worked very closely with Josh for 16 months leading up to our 25 person wedding at the Wind and Sea Estate in September of 2023, and he was such an amazing partner in crime who made all of our wishes come true! Aside from being an all around amazing human being who is fun to work with, Josh is very well connected with so many local vendors in the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area where we had our wedding, and he has an extensive wealth of knowledge and experience in the wedding industry. He was able to curate a stunning group of vendors who were familiar with our venue and who would be able to bring our vision to life exactly the way we had hoped at that specific location. Josh was with us every step of the way, from selecting a venue over a year in advance, managing contracts and timelines, helping pick up rentals, and even being there on the day of the wedding himself to make sure our day went off without a hitch. He was such a great mentor and sound board throughout the entire process with every little decision we had to make, always guiding us in the right direction. Planning a wedding is a once in a lifetime event, so we definitely needed Josh's guidance! In addition, having the Golden Coast Team provide day of coordination services to run our welcome party and wedding day was the best decision we ever made. We did not have to think about anything and were truly able to enjoy the moment and watch all of our planning come to life flawlessly. The team was very organized, timely, thoughtful and creative. We felt like celebrities as they were running the show and always making sure we had everything we needed and were in the right places at the right times. Thank you again for the most perfect wedding week and a new found friendship! read more

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If you're looking for a wedding planner, hire Josh & and the Golden Coast Planning team! We can't recommend Golden Coast Planning enough. We are SO THANKFUL for GCP and their incredible support over the last year. They made our entire wedding planning process so smooth, and we truly wouldn't have been able to do it without them. The Golden Coast team put in an immense amount of time and effort before the actual day. They meticulously handled extensive timeline and location layout design, captured vendor details in-depth, never got tired of our continuous changes to the plan, and ensured that every detail was buttoned up. Their coordination with all our vendors was seamless, allowing us to focus on enjoying our special day without any stress. We chose to have our wedding in Big Sur, a place very special to us. Unfortunately, due to a road collapse of Highway 1, we had to move the date. This could have been a huge disaster considering the amount of vendors we had booked, but Josh and the Golden Coast team were incredible. They swiftly found alternative arrangements and managed to reschedule everything that we had planned, so we were able to keep all of our plans and only moved the date out by 2 months. Their flexibility and resourcefulness turned what could have been a major setback into a smooth transition. On the day of our wedding, everything went off without a hitch. From the beautiful setup to the flawless execution of the event, their dedication and professionalism were evident in every aspect. We hardly had to worry about any details during the setup, and instead were able to focus 100% on enjoying the wedding. Even during the event, whenever there was a small request, Josh immediately worked behind the scenes to make it happen. Josh, Angelica, Ruby, Nicki, and the entire team at Golden Coast Planning went above and beyond to make our wedding day unforgettable. Their incredible dedication really came through and made our wedding so special. We are forever grateful for their hard work and HIGHLY recommend Golden Coast Planning to anyone looking to have a beautifully organized and stress-free wedding. THANK YOU Golden Coast Planning, for making our dream wedding a reality! read more

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Josh and the team at Golden Coast Event Planning were everything you could want from a wedding planning team. They were friendly, responsive, organized, affordable, and really went above and beyond to make our day special. Their wedding planning platform made it easy to coordinate with them and stay on track with vendors, budget, and scheduling. On the day, they were great about keeping everything running smoothly while also creating a fun and welcoming atmosphere. I didn't have to think about a thing on my wedding day! Josh really knows the area and gave us great recommendations of local vendors to hire -- helping us find high quality service that fit our budget. Whenever people ask our #1 takeaway from wedding planning, I tell them that hiring Golden Coast Event Planning was the best decision we ever made! read more

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We hired Josh and his team around September for our wedding in November, so he didn't get a ton of time with us beforehand, but we got so much done in that short period of time! He helped us make our very complicated timeline, the floor plan/layout, and helped us stay organized with a checklist and guest list. He asked a lot of questions that we hadn't thought of, and helped recommend vendors. The best part of service was the day of. He showed up the day before to do a walk through of the venue and be present for our rehearsal, so we were off to a great start already. The day of, my hair and makeup team was not the best and ended up putting us behind by about 30 mins. The first time he checked in on me that morning, Josh asked how I was feeling. I said, "I'm feeling behind!". He instantly went into overdrive to get it figured out. We had to wait on the hair and makeup to finish all the bridesmaids so we could get our scheduled "PJ" photos, and I couldn't get into my dress before that. So we got behind, but by the time we reached the ceremony we were back on time! Ceremony started on time and I'm not even sure exactly what Josh and his team did, but they rushed around and got everything back on schedule. My photographer was a bit scattered as far as following our shot list we made. After the ceremony for family photos, Josh ended up stepping in to help call out names for people in the next photos so things could go more quickly. It helped a lot! Throughout the day he made sure to ask questions to the groom or bridesmaids and specifically not me so as not to stress me out as the bride. He brought us drinks and appetizers during our scheduled break as bride and groom, brought me drinks later in the night too, and was overall super helpful! The day ended up running so smoothly and everything turned out absolutely beautiful. We keep saying it was a perfect day, everybody complimented us on the wedding, and we just wish we could do it all again! If you're on the fence about a planner, definitely consider Golden Coast Planning. Josh and his team did an excellent job and the day would have been chaos without them! read more

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When I started planning my wedding, I knew I wanted someone to help me to be as much of a guest at my own wedding as possible. I reached out to Joshua Villegas at Golden Coast Planning and his response was so fast I almost got whiplash. In the end I went with their 'Month of Coordination' package but in reality I got so much more. For MONTHS leading up Josh and his team of stellar professionals both listened and guided me every step of the day. When the big day finally came I was able to sit in hair and make up and watch his team work in a way that I can only describe as elves before Christmas creating what ended up being one of the most beautiful times of not only mine and my husband's life but our guests as well. Golden Coast Planning not only took my vision to fruition but exceeded all expectations. read more

Golden Coast Planning - Wedding Planning Near Me

We hired GCP for month-of planning and Josh was incredible! Far before the month of our wedding, he was giving us feedback and tips when we were booking vendors and guiding us in the right direction which was invaluable as we are from Southern California and were planning our wedding in Big Sur. Planning went so smoothly with Josh's support and we were so excited for our April wedding in Big Sur - until over Easter weekend there was the slip out on Highway 1 going into Big Sur.. We had a meeting with Josh intending to "finalize" all our wedding plans and instead were discussing whether or not the highway would be open to allow us to access our venue. Josh immediately had several backup venue options for us that were beautiful and in the area and he was able to have his contacts hold the date for us until we decided what to do. He was in contact with CalTrans to get the most up to date info on when the road would open up and what that would look like. We were hoping the road would open up and it was not confirmed until about one week before our wedding that the road would not open until May. The week before our wedding there were nights Josh was up after midnight with us replanning our wedding at a different venue. Everyone in my life could not believe how calm my fiancé and I were with the situation, and it truly was because Josh immediately sprung into action figuring out how we could accomplish this. He did all of the heavy lifting and presented our options to us so we could figure out how to make everything work. Our wedding was the best day of our lives and the venue was probably even more amazing than our original! All our guests did not stop talking about how it was the most gorgeous wedding they had been to and how it was insane this was our "second choice" venue. Josh brought fun vibes and made the day stress free, bringing us drinks, and made sure everything went smoothly! What could have been a terrible nightmare (which sadly was for other April brides planning for Big Sur weddings that had to be cancelled) was truly the best and most fun weekend and we are so so so so happy and thankful to Josh and his team who made this happen!! read more

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Working with Josh and the rest of the Golden Coast Planning team was nothing short of a dream. My husband and I spent almost 2 years planning our wedding, nearly a year and half with GCP's support. Josh was attentive, kind, and extremely knowledgeable about all the wedding offerings in the Monterey County area. Despite our wedding being an exceptionally nuanced affair (hiring Mariachi and a low rider for a traditional Indian Baraat, two ceremonies, etc.), GCP helped us from start to finish. Our wedding was held last March, during the worst rains in Monterey in decades and the GCP team made sure everything went on smoothly and beautifully. Thank you, GCP Team and especially Josh, for helping make the wedding of our dreams happen. read more

We had the pleasure of working with Josh and Golden Coast Planning throughout most of 2020 and 2021. As you can imagine, it was a pretty crazy time to be planning a wedding. Despite what was happening in the world around us, Josh managed to keep us on track and guide us through this chaotic time. Set aside the pandemic, wedding planning is very hard, and what I appreciated most about Josh was he was not only good at managing all of the different vendors, contracts, and timelines of all the various tasks we needed to complete, but he also knew how to manage us and set expectations with regular check-ins to see how we were pacing. One thing you want in a wedding planner is someone who knows the industry really well, which Josh does. Any contract we received Josh knew how what to look for and what to ask about. For any vendors we were researching he told us why we should consider one over the other. These are the types of things I wouldn't know how to approach, but Josh was just a great partner throughout all of it. Finally, and probably most importantly, Josh is just a positive, calm guy. When things weren't going our way or we were stressed about certain things, Josh just kept a cool head and would reassure us that everything was going to be fine. And it was. In the end, our wedding was incredible. Everything went super smoothly and all of our vendors were top-notch (many of whom Josh recommended to us). If you're looking for a wedding planner that will keep you on track, tell you all the non-obvious insider info you need to know when making decisions, and otherwise just keeping you calm during a very stressful time in your life, go with Josh and Golden Coast Planning. read more

Golden Coast Planning was essential for making sure that we got different wedding details set on time, suggesting and coordinating with vendors, and making sure the day of went perfectly! Josh and his team (shout outs to Adilene and Ambrosia!) were incredibly friendly and chill. We simultaneously felt that nothing was forgotten and that nothing was rushed. They were so thorough and took so much work off our hands. For example, after we discussed some themes/inspiration photos early in the planning process, we didn't even have to remember/think about what our decor looked like until we arrived at the wedding (to find that it was exactly what we wanted)! read more

Hiring Josh and his team was absolutely the best decision we made for our wedding. He was responsive, friendly, organized, and accommodating. I truly wasn't stressed one bit on the day of the wedding, because Josh assured me he had everything handled. We ended up having a terrible sandstorm during the ceremony but the team made it work without a hiccup. We also had someone bail on picking up our wedding cake (which was an hour away) and Josh's team got it for us. As soon as we got home that night, we both agreed there was no way we could ever thank Josh enough for how amazing he made our day. We were so thankful to have them there, and would definitely hire them again in a heartbeat. read more

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We absolutely recommend GCP for your wedding! Like many couples, we were hit with some hard decisions with wedding planning once COVID hit. GCP worked tirelessly with us to make our dream come true in a safe and fun way. Every step of the way they were there to hold our hands! And on our wedding day, we felt so reassured and supported. Even when out of sight, they were working behind the scenes to make the day run smoothly. They made our dream a reality and constantly reassured us when nerves were high by being flexible, realistic, and easy to get ahold of at any time. Our plan started months ahead of time with phone calls, video chats, and they even made it all the way out to our venue for a tour with us months ahead of time. These guys will make your wedding day the BEST DAY EVER! Thank you so much Samantha and Josh! read more

Josh and his team were 100% integral in making our wedding go off without a hitch. We hired them about 6 months out from our wedding day, and they jumped in seamlessly to help us get to the finish line. They were our partners every step along the way - from calls to discuss logistics and make sure we were thinking about everything, to setting up our layout, and even spending hours at our venue measuring to make sure we could fit everything in the way we envisioned. We went into our wedding day feeling totally confident leaving the day in their trusted hands, and it was beyond anything we could imagine because of them. They truly did it all - getting last minute space heaters when it was colder than expected, picking up my dress train so it didn't get dirty, pivoting on-the-spot wherever needed to ensure everything went off without a hitch, all while staying true to our vision for the day. While most of their work happened behind-the-scenes, our families (who got to meet Josh at our rehearsal and saw him and his team at work on our wedding day) commented on how great the team was - communicative, calm, and on top of it. We can't say enough great things about the Golden Coast team! read more

It was a pleasure to work with Josh and his team for our big day. Josh was invested in ensuring our vision came to life, but most importantly that we could enjoy our wedding day and trust that we were in good hands. Without Golden Coast we wouldn't have been able to enjoy one of the most important days of our lives. In about 5 months Josh was able to help us plan the most incredible weekend, we could've dreamed up all while helping us navigate covid restrictions, a passing the family, and on top of it all planning a destination wedding in Carmel, CA. They remembered all the little details, but most importantly ensure the entire vibe and flow of our wedding weekend was the best. Thank you Josh, you're on of a kind and a pleasure to work with, thanks for going above and beyond. read more

Golden Coast Planning, the heroes that helped make our wedding a dream come true in the middle of a pandemic. We first hired Golden Coast Planning back in 2019 for our wedding in 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Josh and his team quickly mobilized to help us postpone the wedding to 2021. They worked closely with our vendors and were able to keep all our original vendor list for our 1 year postponed wedding. During the chaos and uncertainty of 2020-21, Josh personally took over the planning of our wedding with continued support from his team. Together, we were able to have the wedding we had dreamed of with 100% vaccination rate. We had a multicultural wedding including a Chinese tea ceremony, Persian sofreh ceremony, and a western ceremony. On the day of the wedding, Josh and Ambrosia worked tirelessly to help make everything go seamlessly. Ambrosia was a STAR as her positive and fun energy radiate and got everyone into party mode! We can't thank Josh and his team at Golden Coast Planning enough for making our special day an awe-some (in the true sense of the word) day! read more

Golden Coast Planning - Wedding Planning Near Me

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My fiancee and I have been working with Jackie Stiphout planning our wedding and I cannot sing her praises enough. She is simply a joy to work with and incredibly helpful. She has vast amounts of expertise in all things wedding event related and is incredibly creative, helping us make something truly genuine and unique for our day. She has thorough insights and amazing vendor recommendations (to fit all sorts of budgets). She's also highly organized, super supportive with consistent communication and a sweet personality to boot! I feel like I'm getting to plan our special day with my best friend. Simply can't thank her enough for all the incredible support she's given us to create an unforgettable experience for our wedding. read more

As a professional wedding makeup artist who works with many vendors and as a future bride to be, I can vouch that Josh at golden coast is absolutely wonderful! I can't say enough about how great my experience was working with his company to plan my big day. We have been planning our destination wedding since last June and then of course covid hit before my original wedding date. Josh helped me to stay calm and weather the storm. He is a kind soul with an eagerness to please. You should definitely hire golden coast planning for your big day! read more

Wow, where do I even start. First off, Josh is the hardest working, most genuine person and working with him was so fun. I couldn't have pulled off my dream wedding without his guidance and support along the way. He is also backed by the most helpful, gracious team who made my vision come to life day of. I didn't have to worry about a thing but enjoying my day! That alone meant so much. You NEED this team and their expertise if you're getting married in the Carmel/Monterey area! read more

Josh and their team truly are the best! They really are the dream team and we couldn't be happier. They helped our magical weekend wedding dreams come true. They were always patient, responsive, and so hard working. I am a professional event planner and absolutely recommend them without hesitation! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! read more