I booked pillows and picnics for my engagement and let me say - this was one of the best decisions…read moreI made for my surprise engagement! They were very responsive in their communications and really helped coordinate with my photographer for my surprise engagement. They helped me setup the whole thing on Monastery Beach near Carmel by the Sea inclusive of the the exact colors, style, and location. They were very upfront with pricing, extremely professional, and accommodating. They waited by the setup until we arrived and were there promptly to help clean it up. As the photos show it was absolutely beautiful and my significant other could not be happier (plus she said yes during the proposal). Truly - props to Pillows and Picnics - could not be happier with the outcome - highly recommend for special events, thanks for making my engagement one to remember forever. Thanks so much for everything!

Pillows + picnic exceeded my expectations in every way. They created a magical atmosphere that made…read morethe day even more special. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a luxurious outdoor experience.

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.

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 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!

Victoria was an absolute joy to work with. She made sure that our entire day ran smoothly -- top to…read morebottom. Most importantly, she catered to our specific needs on the day of our wedding and we truly felt like we didn't have to worry about a thing. We're so appreciative of her professionalism, knowledge of local vendors and her motivation to make sure that our wedding day was the absolute best it could be!

Victoria was amazing in helping us execute our recent wedding in Monterey. She was an extremely…read morehelpful partner in planning our destination wedding- she understood our vision, and worked within our budget. She was a great resource as well for connecting us with local vendors who met our desires. We were a bit nervous about executing a wedding as all of our guests would be traveling in and we wanted to make sure they had a great time. Victoria was extremely helpful with all details (large and small) to ensure we were able to deliver that to our guests. The end result was a great ceremony, that was only topped by her execution of the reception - the décor, and layout were exactly as we had envisioned; the food...ah-mazing! Quite a few of our guests informed us that this was the best wedding they had ever attended. We would definitely recommend Victoria, and are waiting for our next excuse to throw a party and have her help us execute it! C&C

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.

We've been together 13 years and finally decided to make it official in 2025. We wanted something…read moreintimate and meaningful, and choosing Weddings in Monterey was the best decision we could have made. Brian guided us through everything--location, flowers, dinner, hotel recommendations--and made the entire process effortless. He was warm, patient, and open to personal touches in the ceremony, including a special bible reading that meant a lot to us. Heidi was incredible. We're two grooms who are not comfortable in front of the camera, yet she made us feel relaxed and confident. Our photos are stunning--both classic and editorial. She captured the emotion and beauty of the day perfectly. What we planned as a simple elopement became a deeply meaningful wedding experience. We are forever grateful to Brian and Heidi for giving us a day we will never forget. Highly, highly recommend.

This review is way over due. We got married 01/01/2024 and it was the best experience. From the…read morebeginning Brian was super commutative and kind. He did an amazing job with the ceremony and included everything we wanted. Heidi did an amazing job with the pictures. We are so glad we chose Heidi and Brian for our elopement we couldn't have asked for a better day. Highly recommend them for your wedding you won't regret it.

I couldn't of asked for such a great wedding. Everything went so smoothly! I am so happy we…read morestumbled onto this gem after a round of golf one day. We met Amber and asked for a brochure.. let's just say we were shocked at the prices! This was the first time we found a package deal within our budget. There were no "hidden fees" and no stress about any extras we needed. Beautiful location, great staff, excellent food, and planning made easy! Amber was a blast to plan a wedding with, banquet manager did a great job the entire night, the cake vendor "idoweddingcakes" was amazing, bartenders and serving staff were on top of it all night. Don't forget DJ storm! He really kept the party going all night, he also kept in touch with me about what's next so I was always prepared, and when I saw him help my aunt carry her food to her table.. it really wrapped up the package of love and care Laguna seca golf ranch venue offers. We can't thank all of them enough for such a beautiful day!

We have had our Staff Christmas Party at this venue for the last 3yrs. Every single time they do…read morenot disappoint. The Staff are very nice, not one of them was rude. We are all about taking care of our Guest BUT during our event they sure took care of us. We will 100% be continuing to come back every year for our Staff Party AND recommend this place to anyone looking for a Nice Venue. Chick-fil-A North Salinas

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.

I've been planning events for my company for about 20+ years, and Linda and her team are by far the…read moreBEST I have ever worked with. The team is sooooo good, that we paid extra for them to go from Carmel all the way to Napa for our recent event; and they still met our budget. I was introduced to Linda through one of the venues we had an event at in Carmel. Linda and her team did such a crazy amazing job, that we asked if she would come out to Napa. And there, she just wrapped up a 450-person, 2-day event for us, and we so many compliments. Even my banquet coordinator in Napa said she would keep Linda at the top of her list. What I love most about Linda is that she is super creative. We provide her with a theme, some ideas of what we are visualizing, and she makes it come to life. We don't have to do any of the thinking; she does it all and we just say yay or nay. Linda and her team truly make our jobs as event planners much easier. Looking forward to working with you for many more years to come.

Illusions was the Vendor that transformed our school gym for Carmel High School Sober Grad 2019…read morelast week. It was the most beautiful rain forest we could have imagined. My ask as committee chair in the beginning was for the kids to not feel like they were in a gym and WOW did they succeed. The staff was helpful, solved a couple snafu's I hadn't thought about and when the seniors and parents walked in, everyone expressed their awe! Thank you Illusions for making this the most special night we could have imagined!