We booked Andrea Abel in Fall 2019 for wedding coordination services for our Summer 2020 wedding…read more We met once with her in person for a venue walk-through, then COVID shut things down and we had to reschedule our wedding. Initially, Andrea was good about communicating with us, and assured us she'd be available on our new 2021 date. She said that the services we'd already paid for would just transfer to the new date. However, Andrea kept saying she was waiting on an attorney to help her draft an addendum to our 2020 contract for the new 2021 date. We reached out periodically to check on the availability of the addendum and each time she'd say no update. (In comparison, we had already signed addendums with all of our other wedding vendors within 2 weeks of setting the new date.) Literally 15 months went by and there was no addendum or update from Andrea. Sadly, by the time our rescheduled Summer 2021 wedding date arrived, Andrea had completely stopped responding to **all forms** of communication. We tried all the previous ways of getting in contact with her, including calling her cell, leaving voicemail, texting her, emailing her, and messaging her on her client portal (HoneyBook). Complete radio silence. Andrea ghosted us, took our deposit, and left us without wedding coordination services. Initially we tried to give her the benefit of the doubt; perhaps she had fallen ill with Covid, or some calamity had befallen her, such that she was completely unable to respond to her clients in any way? But we saw she's been posting new updates on her Instagram page, so she's definitely alive and able to communicate! To this date as we write this review, we have had no response from her, not even an apology or excuse for her completely dropping the ball on all forms of communication. Thankfully, we proceeded with our wedding with the help of family and friends. But, given our awful experience with Andrea, we feel compelled to warn others. We are extremely disappointed with the dishonesty and lack of professionalism from Andrea Abel and do not recommend her at all.

Before I signed the contract for our wedding venue, I noticed there was a clause that required an…read moreindependent wedding coordinator. Cue the "looks like we have to spend money on yet another vendor" eye roll. I know, I feel you... but hear me out. Fast forward to now, 60-ish days post wedding day, and I can confidently say that I didn't just need a coordinator, I WANTED a coordinator. More specifically, I wanted Andrea and her team at Events by Abel. Despite the fact that we hired her for day of coordination, this woman went above and beyond, and made sure I was on track and comfortable with my planning progress for OVER A YEAR. During each check-in meeting, and more importantly on the big day itself, Andrea was kind, thoughtful, professional, funny, prepared, and ready to tackle whatever was thrown at her -- and then some. Despite the flaws, our wedding was flawless in my mind, and the bulk of the credit goes to Andrea. I recommend her without reservation.

We can't give Wendy enough praise! We planned our wedding in San Diego all the way from San…read moreAntonio, Texas and Wendy was so open and wonderful to work with, even from miles away. A few weeks prior to our wedding, I got very sick and Wendy began working with my aunt and uncle in San Diego to make sure everything was taken care of while I recovered. I so appreciated her flexibility! We finally met Wendy in person the morning of our wedding as she was setting up our room at Marina Village. She and her staff were so friendly and gave us a lot of great advice. In fact, she saved us a lot of stress by allowing us to hire her cleaning services the day of the wedding! She and her staff showed up at 9:30pm and began cleaning up, slicing the cake for us, and making sure all was clean by the end of our party. What a life saver!! She went above and beyond! Plus, her decorations were fabulous - everyone was raving! From the centerpieces, to the table linens, and spandex chair covers, everything was beautiful. We totally recommend Wendy for your special event needs. We really can't say enough great things about her. Thank you, Wendy and staff!!

So happy we found Wendy for our wedding!! Our linens were beautiful, everything we hoped for. You…read moreget what you pay for, and although Wendy was not the "cheapest", her prices were very reasonable! Wendy met with me twice, I couldn't have asked for a better vendor, she is professional and communicates with you in a VERY timely manner! 5 Stars.

As a former wedding planner I know what it takes to be a great one and Samantha Louise Moments has…read morecompletely blown me away. I now work as a florist and have worked on a few projects and weddings with Samantha Louise and have nothing but good words for her. It is really easy to get lost in the details of the day but Samantha is completely on top of it, responsive and helpful. She also has a great eye for design and is good at leading couples in a cohesive direction. In a world full of Pinterest this skill has now come in hand more than a few times. From a vendors perspective, she is as nice and caring as she is organized. You can see that she puts her heart into everything she does and I think that is what sets her apart. If I could go back in time I would hire have hired her for my own wedding. And from the beginning.

Samantha Louise Moments is amazing…read more I'm a wedding photographer in SD and I asked Sam to help me coordinate a wedding inspiration shoot. She was so quick about emailing me and was incredibly helpful with finding other vendors to work on the shoot with me. Sam has a wonderful personality and a great level of professionalism. She's always dressed appropriately with a smile on her face. I was so thankful to work with Sam for my shoot because she was truly so amazing. As organized and creative Sam is, I highly recommend her to brides-to-be!

Melanie did a fantastic job keeping things organized and running smoothly on our wedding day!!…read more10/10. She nailed it. I was definitely in the "i'm not like a regular bride, I'm a cool bride" category ( we might actually be more difficult, sometimes being too chill is actually harder ) BUT Melanie kept the important things super organized and made sure I had plenty of say in every decision. I didn't know how much I needed a Melanie, but now that the wedding is over I can say with confidence my wedding would have been a hot mess without her and there's NO WAY I could have enjoyed my day had she not been there. I got to soak up every moment of wedding day bliss instead of worrying about operational stuff. I had multiple dance performances planned and she made sure everyone was ready! Including me!! She was on time for every apt, she was professional, and she was patient. Highly recommended!!!

Melanie was the best wedding planner! She walked us through every step and handled all our vendors…read more We couldn't have done it without her. She made planning our wedding day a breeze!

I've waited four years to write this because I needed to capture what really mattered. I needed to…read moredo it justice. Time has only made it clearer. Leila was the single best decision I made for my wedding, and not because she executed what I asked for, but because she understood what I meant. I never had to translate myself to her. She met me exactly where I was and elevated every idea without diluting any of it. My wedding was at the Safari Park, and I knew from the start what I didn't want: nothing theme-heavy, nothing literal, nothing that screamed like a "safari wedding" (aside from the giraffes grazing nearby). I wanted references that lived in texture, restraint, and atmosphere, not in props (understated elegance). Without me having to spell that out, Leila designed custom invitation suites with white-on-white embossed leopard print (who would even think of that?! Brilliant!!) It wasn't a pattern you could see across the room; it was something you discovered in your hands. It was a whisper you felt more than noticed, and that single choice set the tone for everything that followed. She understood the difference between symbolism and gimmick in a way I didn't have to defend or justify. The design choices carried through to the wedding itself, especially with the greenery. I came in wanting statement hanging installations of foliage. Many planners would have just told me it wasn't possible or promised it without checking. Instead, Leila pulled the venue blueprints and electrical wiring maps to see what the building could safely support. When we realized true overhead installs weren't feasible in that space, she didn't take it as a shutdown. She took it as a creative constraint. Her solution was to custom-build an elongated U-shaped head table wrapped in a canopy frame from which Edison bulbs and greenery were suspended. It was structural, intentional, and stunning. It gave me the presence and intimacy I imagined, but in a way that was more surprising and honestly even more beautiful than my original idea. Guests still talk about that installation without fully realizing the engineering and restraint behind it. And then there's the part of wedding planning people rarely talk about: how much of your energy gets consumed by other people's questions, expectations, emotions, and logistics. I was very clear that I did not want to be the point of contact before, during, or after my wedding. I didn't want texts asking about parking, schedule, seating, weather, gifts, hotel information, etc etc. I didn't want my brain pulled in a hundred directions when I was trying to be present for something that will only happen once. Leila took all of it out of my hands. She absorbed the noise. She protected my headspace. She let me experience my own wedding instead of managing it. I didn't fully appreciate how rare that is until I saw how many brides were overwhelmed on their own wedding days, running interference while I got to be in the moment. Leila is not just a planner or a designer. She is someone who listens beneath the surface and translates nuance into decisions. She can look at a space and see both meaning and math. She doesn't just make things beautiful; she makes them make sense. She respects budget, time, emotion, and architecture. She catches details before they become problems and turns constraints into the most memorable parts of the experience. Working with her felt effortless because she was doing the hard work where I didn't have to see it. If you want a wedding that looks like a template, there are plenty of planners for that. If you want a wedding that looks like you (refined, intentional, and layered in ways most people can't articulate but everyone can feel) you hire Leila. I trusted her completely, and I would again without hesitation If I could, I would hire Leila to project manage my life.

Leila from Brilliant Event Design is truly an amazing wedding planner, there was not a moment that…read morewe doubted her or thought it could have been better in another way. Leila has a good taste and did a fantastic job helping us design the venue. She also took care of contacting all the reliable vendors, plan all the logistics, help us pick linen, table cloths and etc., and everything else! We love how Leila is a reliable planner, she does everything on a timely manner. she always responses right away and she is VERY detail oriented. If it weren't for her our wedding wouldn't turn out as beautiful as it did. We would highly recommend Leila to be your wedding planner, we felt so lucky to have met her. Because of Leila, our wedding day became our favorite day. Thank you Leila!

Kristin Garuba Events is a life saver! Even though it was pouring rain all morning the day of our…read morewedding she made everything work out perfectly. Everything was setup so beautifully it exceeded our expectations. And not only did she ensure our wedding day was spectacular she also met with us several times prior to the big day, went to multiple dress fittings with me and can tie the perfect bow :) THANK YOU Kristin Garuba Events for making our wedding so special! We could not have done it without you!

Talofa! Kumusta! Mahalo Kristin for EVERYTHING!! We are truly blessed to have you plan the Renewing…read moreof our Wedding Vows (23 Years)!! You are part of the "Aiga" and every detail of our Island Style Theme was on point!!! Highly recommend this Awesome Kristin lady. She kept our timeline on schedule and our 200 plus friends/families were All blessed. THANK YOU Kristin!! Appreciate ya!!

We knew the moment that we met Suzanne that she was the Wedding Coordinator for us!! First, she did…read moreher homework and was so well prepared for the first call we had. She reviewed all of the initial information I sent to her, was able to speak to very specific details and already had suggestions and thoughts for our special day. When we did meet for the first time, her positive energy, professionalism and knowledge was OUTSTANDING!! She has amazing experience and it showed in every detail that she made come to life for 'our day'! She took away our stress and made the wedding planning a pleasure! If you want someone to seriously 'get it down' Suzanne is your woman! She will make your dream a reality! Coldon her assistant was fantastic too! Thank you Suzanne for all of your hard work and effort! We had the most amazing day!

I could NOT have had the incredible, unique wedding that I had without Christina of Infinity…read moreWeddings. Our wedding was on 6/12/16 - ceremony was at Paradise Point Resort (where our room block was) and the cocktail hour and reception were at BRICK SD in Liberty Station. I live in Los Angeles, so planning a wedding for 150+ people in San Diego (basically a destination wedding) was overwhelming and intense. Christina connected me with amazing vendors, good people who are running passionate businesses (it was important to me to support local and passionate vendors that I fit with), her knowledge was next-level incredible, and her approach and energy was beyond positive. She went the extra mile in everything, not to mention she supported me emotionally and kept me calm and on-task. I was able to fully put my trust in her, her expertise, and her awareness of what was best for me and the wedding I was hoping to create. Her positivity and general enthusiastic approach to life kept me smiling the entire time. Wedding planning is intense and stressful for a non-professional like me, and finding Christina was a dream. There really aren't words for the value of this connection. I have full trust in Infinity Weddings; anyone Christina would work with is no-doubt amazing as well! Thank you so much, Infinity!

Hiring Sam was one of the best decisions we made. I HIGHLY recommend all Brides hire a day of…read morecoordinator. It made the day so much more enjoyable, and definitely reduced my stress levels. It's worth every penny! We had several vendors.. Caterers, Florist, Cake baker,etc.., and it was great to NOT be the go to person for all of these people on the day of Sam knew how to line up everything for our wedding and I trusted her Completely. SAM was always communicating with me through emails or text message and made should everything was taking care of for our wedding. Sam will always be a part of our lives forever.

I decided to do the day of the wedding planning and coordinating package with Sam and attempt to do…read moreeverything else myself. Sam was an absolutely darling though and she did not allow me to be completely alone in this endeavor! Starting from a month before our wedding she would constantly check in with me and try to keep me on task. She met with me several times before hand and even met with me and the venue team on site to do a walk through. The rehearsal went smooth, even though it was just before one of the stormiest days of the year so far! She was very adaptable and we formulated a plan B really quickly for in case it rained (which it did), she helped talk me through practical decisions that needed to be made, she gave me insight on things to consider that I wouldn't have thought of alone and her loving caring presence will definitely be your stable rock in a storm that is wedding planning as it was for me. The day of our wedding was chaotic. It was stormy, some things went wrong but I was honestly never the wiser. I was able to fully enjoy and be present at my wedding and not worry because Sam had it all covered. She took care of way more than I could have ever expected or done on my own and even though I tried to tip as generously as I could, it didn't feel like enough. I gave her so much to do and she handled it with grace and ease, she was never worried or stressed no matter how much of a mess or how unprepared I was. She even took photos which was exceedingly valuable especially since the photographer left early. So it was nice to have some beautiful photos to post while we were waiting for the photos to be processed. She always reminded me to not get stressed myself and it just an amazingly calming presence. You will not regret going with Sam as your spirit guide to your wedding, I completely adore her and thank my lucky stars that I had her.