Coastside Couture

st) were just amazing, from start to finish. First off, they are exceptionally responsive and on top of things, which is not very common for Santa Cruz. Second, they completely got what we were going for, and all of their vendor suggestions were perfect. We literally did not have to talk to a second option for any vendor, and every single one delivered exactly what we had hoped for. Our wedding was absolutely amazing. I could not more highly recommend Karissa, Liz, and the team at Coastside Couture. Our only regret is that we don't get to keep working with them.

lived). Working with Karissa and Liz was a dream. We needed a team that was on the ground and could manage my east coast type A with the Santa Cruz laid back mentality since we couldn't be there all the time. They are fun, helpful, extremely low stress and comforting, connected us with incredible vendors who matched what we were looking for and we only had to speak to 1 of each because we loved the recommended ones so much. They went above and beyond any of our expectations, for example, the morning of our wedding Karissa sent her husband to the hardware store for astro turf to cover up a sprinkler head in our ceremony location. This team is incredible. I miss texting Karissa already!

eduled meeting was w/ Heidi, and we clicked so well that we called to hire her before we even got on the road. I'm a lawyer that’s particular, focuses on details, strives for organization, and dislikes procrastination. I don't work well with salesy people - I need honesty and no BS. I also needed a planner that could help me plan our wedding from afar. We selected the Petite pkg - I still wanted to be involved in the process, but needed someone to tell me whether my ideas were realistic and pull everything together. We still did a lot, but that was expected. Heidi recommended all potential venues and vendors; she and Kayla helped finalize contract details. Heidi and Kayla pointed us to vendors that were within our price range and kept our $$ limits in mind. I think they may have software to help with budgeting, but we handled the cost estimates/tracking ourselves. They were always available via email, text, or phone to answer questions. Hire CC if not for their vendor list alone. They know all of the vendors in the area, and know which are the best. AND, because of their great relationships, most have a "Heidi discount". I kid you not, I think the amount we saved in discounts covered Heidi's fee. So worth it, and we were SO happy with everyone. I will admit, we initially questioned whether some of the preferred vendors were really "great". She didn't show it, but I'm sure Heidi shook her head at me when I still did my own research of others (sorry, Heidi). But, in the end we trusted her and went with her recommendations - thank goodness we did. And, if any vendor frustrations on my part came up - Heidi took care of it and I didn't have to deal with any conflict. Heidi's personality was exactly what I needed - she helped me relax when I was a mess and she remained a professional from start to finish. She helped us make our wedding about us, and bring our (I really do mean both my husband's and my) dream to life. This included having someone to make fresh donuts for dessert, going with the flow to let our friend make bouquets/boutineers, or another to do the bridal party's hair (which probably stressed her out), be okay with not doing a 1st look even though it really rushed the timeline, etc. She made it all work so we were happy. Our weekend (rehearsal, wedding, and farewell brunch) went off better than I could have dreamed. I never trust that anyone other than myself will get a job done 100%, but Heidi GOT IT DONE. She had everything under control and I loved having her, Kayla, and Karissa with me on the most important day of my life. Our guests are still saying how perfect it all was and how the CC team was on top of everything. RE: the negative comment below and a note to brides considering planners/packages - keep in mind that these women have lots of events to plan throughout the year. Our wedding was the last of the season, so I had to remind myself that I might not get a split second response b/c they probably had something more time sensitive come up. I never ever felt ignored or less important, but I think it's realistic for brides to understand this when hiring a wedding planner. And, when my turn came a couple months before our wedding, I truly felt like I was their sole focus (even though the juggling never ends for them).

the Big Sur area. I did a bunch of research and reached out to Coastside Couture. After my first call with Karissa I was sold, but I still had to convince my husband... He quickly realized the importance of a wedding planner as we started to deal with hundreds of tiny wedding details. Such as selecting and hiring vendors (Coastside has a wonderful list of awesome vendors), picking out rentals, coordinating the wedding weekend timeline, and countless communications with our vendors, some of which were not the most responsive. Karissa and her team were always very professional and handled everything and everyone perfectly. She has a wonderful ability of really getting to know the couple and feels more like a friend and mentor than just another wedding vendor. The day of the wedding, Karissa and Sonia outdid themselves and I was stunned when I walked into the reception venue after the ceremony. The transformation they achieved was beyond anything I had imagined and was absolutely beautiful. We received so many compliments throughout the evening about how it was the best wedding our guests had been to, and I think that is all due to the hard work and dedication of our friends at Coastside Couture. They took my vague, eclectic vision and turned it into something beautiful and unforgettable. If you are on the fence about hiring a planner, I would 100% recommend doing it, because it was the best hiring decision we made for our wedding.

ged in October of 2014, and immediately realized we needed help since our demanding jobs were taking over our lives. The minute I got on the phone with Heidi, I knew it was a perfect match! She is amazing! She got us off to a quick start and immediately helped us put together the vision for our special day and streamlined our ideas to make them a reality. The vendors she recommended were outstanding and we booked them quickly. Even though she had many other clients, I always felt like I was the only one as she always made time for me. Kayla was also always there to assist me with anything I needed. With two weeks leading up to the wedding, I was sure I'd be stressed with a million things to do, but Heidi and Kayla immediately calmed me and said, "don't worry, we got this!" And they did...down to every last detail. They ran around all over Carmel, delivering our Welcome Bags and worked with our vendors on timelines etc which allowed me to enjoy all of my out of town guests the entire week in Carmel, without having to worry about anything. My guests commented on how happy they were that they had so much time with us leading up to the wedding and I explained that it was all because of my Wedding Coordinator! Our wedding day was the most amazing and best day of our lives. It was more perfect than we could have ever imagined. Everything ran so smoothly due to Heidi and Kayla...the bridal party even arrived EARLY to the venue, by shuttle! :) The ceremony and the cocktail hour were beautiful and the reception space was beyond words. When we walked into the room, we couldn't believe our eyes...PERFECTION!! And all of it was organized, designed and put together by Heidi and Kayla while I was back at my cottage sipping wine with my bridesmaids all day. As my husband and I sit back and reflect on the entire experience, we wish we could do it all over again. On our wedding day, Heidi always reminded us to take the time to "take it all in." And she was right...everything went by in a blink of an eye, so I am glad we took the time to enjoy every last moment with our friends and family. Thank you to Heidi and Kayla for loving what you do and for making our wedding beyond our wildest dreams!

because of all the work I put into it - but, I was not disappointed. She allowed me to relax the weeks leading up to the wedding and the day of which gave me the opportunity to enjoy the day. Even through the craziness of me being late on the wedding day and trying to corral my wedding party and family for pics before the ceremony, she stayed calm and that made me calm. We discussed with Sonia what was important to us and she made that happened. We are so grateful that she was there. She even packed all our things into the car after the reception - and made sure nothing was left behind. Thanks Sonia for a wonderful, beautiful, fantastically amazing day!!!

ia was our wedding planner and there is no way our wedding would have turned out as perfect as it did without her. I literally did not stress about one thing that entire day, because she had everything organized and executed beautifully. They are a bit expensive but worth every single bit. I can't recommend Sonia and Coastside enough. Their standards are high, ensuring your event is absolutely flawless.

rst because she was a bit more expensive than other wedding coordinators we had interviewed, but it was clear very quickly that we made the right decision. Living in NYC and planning a wedding in CA came with a lot of challenges, but at the end of the day, Heidi and I walked through every detail of the wedding to make sure she could execute what I had envisioned. She did a PHENOMENAL job! We were in contact a month before to make sure she was aware of all the vendors I had selected. She did a great job of rounding up all the vendors, providing them with a timeline so that they knew exactly what was happening and when, and did it in a way that was very collaborative. She had done a few touchup tasks for me like taking care of putting together our favors and escort cards, which was a great help. The day before, I was able to hand off everything to her that I needed to and the day-of she executed everything perfectly. The day of the wedding, I did not think about whether things were taken care of once because I was confident she would take care of it! I didn't wear a watch - but knew that she would let me know if I needed to be somewhere. The best thing is that I was worry-free and able to be in the moment and enjoy my wedding and the people there. There is no question that we chose the right planner. Heidi was professional, timely, coordinated, organized, and such a pleasure to work with.

s you have two people to assist you. they make sure it gets done or have it in her kit.