Tealight Events by Carina McLaughlin

We worked with Carina as our semi-​coordinator for our September 2015 wedding with 120 guests. By the time my fiancée and I reached out to a coordinator, we already had our Palm Springs venue picked out, and had pretty much researched all our own vendors. But we knew that we needed someone to help tie it all together, in a style that fit us and wasn’t too over-​the-​top prim and frilly. I spoke to about 4 different planners and am so glad to have found Carina! (She had coordinated a wedding at our same small venue earlier that year, that was featured on Green Wedding Shoes). Of all the planners I spoke to, I jived with Carina the most because she had a personable, sincere demeanor that worked for me and my fiancée, and the bohemian down-​to-​earth wedding we were planning. He and I decided to veer from some standard traditions, and Carina was reassuring and supportive that that was OK, when I would second-​guess decisions to go the non-​traditional route… whether it be emailing save-​the-​dates, or deciding to nix assigned seating altogether (it worked!). She helped a ton with the logistics of the large rental order, since our no-​frills venue didn’t provide any tables/​chairs/​extra lighting. She was prompt in responding to emails and always had her notes ready to go when we scheduled a few calls leading up to the big day, and she was great at the rehearsal and wedding day. As much as I was putting stress on myself leading up to the weekend, I really trusted her to just take over by Friday and I didn’t have to worry about the little things. Probably the only thing that I now wish I did remember to double-​check that day, was that the guest book didn’t make it from the ceremony to the reception, but that is nothing in the grand scheme of getting to enjoy the weekend-​long festivities without stressing because of Carina’s help. That is, after all, what it’s all about! Thanks Carina :)

We had the pleasure of working with Carina as a Day Of Coordinator. The location where we were getting married required a coordinator. Growing up, I never once thought that would be something we would ever need, but now I must say I would always recommend one… And that would always be Carina.
She was so responsive from the very beginning. She had a ton of great ideas. She was straight up with us when we needed her to be… She let us know when things that would cause more grief than good.
If anything went wrong behind the scenes, I sure didn’t know about it. Like I needed anything to make me panic that day. I really appreciated everything she did for us.

Carina and her team were fantastic. They were organized, sweet and super helpful. Although we worked with Carina prior to the wedding, Mia helped us out on the day of because Carina we not available. Everything was great! We could not have pulled it off without them!

Our review is LONG overdue. We hired Carina for her month-​of wedding coordinating services after we had a terrible experience with a previous less than charming wedding planner we hired a year prior to our wedding date. I was disheartened and overwhelmed with our weddings just 2 months out when I found Carina. She assured us we were in a good place and would help tie up the loose ends. She was a complete lifesaver.
We had already booked most of the vendors and such but really needed a point person to coordinate all the details. Carina did a wonderful job picking up where the other planner left off and ran with it. She even caught and corrected potentially disastrous mistakes our previous planner made. Carina was organized, attentive, and such a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend Tealight Events. My only regret is that I wish I found Carina sooner!

Carina was responsive throughout (mostly by email, which is what we wanted and expected), from when we hired her to be our month-​of coordinator to the big day. We felt comfortable with her — she comes across as laid-​back and considerate of what you want your day to be like, but also organized. She worked hard to correct what could have been a big issue (our cake was delivered to the wrong location but came at the last minute; it was the cake vendor’s fault).
The only minor improvement I would suggest is that she give clients a slightly more comprehensive list of suggested vendors — there were only a few makeup artists on that list and none of them worked for me.
Overall, we were very happy with Carina and would recommend her!

Carina did month of coordinating for us at our wedding in May.
I met with several coordinators but knew immediately that Carina would be the person I hired.
She was the perfect combination (for us) of laid back and friendly along with organized and in charge. She help arrange, place and track my rental order, which was a big deal for me since we got married at home. She asked all the right questions to help keep us on track. On the day of she was calm and collected and 100% in charge while still being amiable and friendly to all the guests and vendors. Having the ceremony and reception at home could have been stressful, but I truly never worried about a single thing knowing that I had Carina on my team. Seriously — hire this woman! You won’t regret it. :)

Carina couldn’t have been more perfect for our wedding. She was calm, in control and handled everything with great professionalism and a smile. We were so lucky to work together on my wedding, making me reassured that everything was going to happen correctly and in a timely fashion. I can’t thank her enough for everything she did for us — from transporting all our handmade items and setting them up to coordinating with all of our fantastic vendors to helping us stay calm while lining up for the ceremony. If you have a need for a coordinator, she is the one!

Carina from Tealight Weddings & Events was a breath of fresh air and we knew we wanted her to be our wedding coordinator right away. We hired Carina as our month of coordinator and were so happy we did. Because of the venue we chose, it was very important to have a coordinator to bring all of the elements that we’ve arranged together on our special day. She was great with email and phone correspondence throughout the month and during our face to face meetings. The day of the wedding she and her assistant were a pleasure to work with.
Our wedding in October 2013 was a huge success and we thank Carina for making it all run smoothly :)
Thanks,
Maria & Pablo

Carina has the perfect personality to be a wedding coordinator. We planned to interview many wedding coordinators but once we met Carina we didn’t have to look any further. From our first meeting we liked her temperament and loved all of the paperwork and detail she showed us.
We had done most of the leg work in terms of vendors and location. But many of the smaller details we had overlooked. But after meeting with Carina she got us thinking about those things. She was very responsive to emails and phone calls and answered any and all questions that we had.
Leading up to the wedding her help in going over the details and schedule of our wedding day took a lot of the stress away that we hear other people getting married talk about.
The week of the wedding our last meeting with her before the wedding helped us completely map out the day and what things we needed to have for Carina. She also scheduled our vendor arrival for our wedding day as well. Many of our vendors commented to us that our coordinator was very thorough and on top of everything. There were a couple of things that we hadn’t taken care of with the vendors that Carina was able to figure out and solve for us.
Carina also ran our wedding rehearsal. She had already pretty much mapped out everything before the rehearsal so everything ran very smoothly. She also passed out a day of schedule to everyone in our wedding party which detailed when and what time they were expected. Members of our wedding party stated how on top of things Carina was and very helpful in positioning everyone for the wedding.
Day of the wedding there were a lot of moving parts and Carina handled everything perfectly. There were a few issues with vendors in terms of being on time, but Carina handled all of those issues and we knew nothing of them until she told us after the wedding. She did a great job of keeping everything on schedule. Guests have complimented us over and over again how this was best wedding they have been to. And we give a lot of credit for that to Carina and Tealight Weddings and Events.

What can I say about Carina? She is absolutely amazing! Not only is she professional and VERY organized, but she’s also super friendly, easy to get along with, and very laid back.
I had a very large (like 350 guests large) wedding, plus an equally large wedding party of 18! The last thing I wanted to happen on my wedding day was to have our family members be put in a position where they have to deal with all the problems that will inevitably arise at such a large wedding.
In came Carina. I met Carina about a year before my wedding. I immediately fell in love with her and knew I wanted her to be my day-​of wedding coordinator. We didn’t see each other again for about a year, but were occasionally in contact by email. I would ask her some questions, she would check in with me to make sure things were going smoothly, etc.
I saw her again about 2 weeks before the wedding during a walk-​through of the venue. She was so organized and professional, asked all the right questions and made sure I was thinking about all the last minute details that needed to get done. Let’s just say I was a little bit stressed out at this point in time, but she made me feel like everything was under control and that everything would be fine.
Carina was a calming influence throughout the craziness of the last couple weeks leading up to the wedding, and especially on the wedding day itself. She was able to keep all 20 of us (me and the groom and our 18 member wedding party) on time throughout the day (and let me tell you… that is no small feat!) She was very good about keeping my husband and me operating on the timeline we had developed ahead of time, but was also flexible in adjusting things when things got delayed or something unexpected came up (like a family member suddenly deciding to give a toast).
Carina was also there to take care of things when they went wrong on the wedding day. The waiter opened the bottle of Dom we had bought to be opened during the cake cutting. I immediately told Carina, and within 15 minutes, we had a replacement bottle of Dom ready for the cake cutting. Also, a sparkler burned a hole in my dress (conveniently right where the button and the hook for the bustle were). Carina had safety pins and a sewing kit (something that had not crossed any of our minds) and was able to bustle my dress for me, despite the wardrobe malfunction.
All in all, Carina was awesome! If you’re looking for a day-​of wedding coordinator (or even a more full-​time one), look no further than Carina. You won’t regret it!

I’m so glad I found Carina and her wedding guru-​ness when I did. She possesses an addicting calmness that is so necessary for a bride-​to-​be. I’m a self-​proclaimed tomboy. I had NO idea where to start/​what to do, but the minute Carina pulled out her perfectly organized planning book all my fears melted. It’s good to have an intelligent, kind and patient person in your corner! If you’ve found planning to be a crazy task that is overwhelming and scary CALL CARINA!

Carina was an absolute lifesaver! As a more DIY kind of bride, i debated for a long time whether I needed a wedding coordinator and was beginning to struggle dealing with some vendors as the date neared the wedding day. Carina came to the rescue! She was so quick in her response to my inquiry from the beginning, and very flexible with timing and punctual, adjusting easily and without hesitation to my hectic schedule. She has great energy and optimism that I felt reflected my own, and thus we got along great! She showed up to vendor meetings and even spoke up for me to protect my interests when I was so frustrated I felt like giving up. She went out of her way to do services that she wasnt necessarily required to do as well. Carina always makes sure you are okay with whatever may need to happen at the last minute instead of just doing it on her own and later risking upsetting the bride. She very organized and she knows what shes doing, and for the lack of a better way to say this, follows instructions and ur wishes to the T. In the end, it was worth every penny and more to have her as my wedding day coordinator. Everything went so smoothly b/​c of her and I cannot recommend her enough! She was like my other maid of honor =) !!

Carina and I worked a wedding together last week in downtown LA and it was a beautiful wedding. I’ve been a wedding MC/​DJ for ten years and it was one of the classiest designed receptions I’ve seen. I highly recommend the drapes that she uses for the room. That adds A LOT and makes the room look elegant. The entire wedding was very classy. She made sure everything was on point with timing and we moved things along. In the end, great wedding and party. Cheers to Tealight Weddings and Events.

Carina at Tealight Weddings was our wedding planner/​coordinator for our Palm Springs wedding last fall and was absolutely fabulous. We wanted someone who we could use as a week-​of coordinator, and also potentially add on services during the planning stage if things got too crazy, and Carina was really flexible and reasonably-​priced. She was very easy to deal with — friendly and professional, with great ideas and helpful tips but also very willing to listen to what was most important to us. And she really did a wonderful job making sure our rehearsal and wedding went off smoothly, working with our other vendors, managing guests and the wedding party, making last minute adjustments when it rained the day before, handling little odds and ends that we’d run out of time to do, etc. We never had to worry about any of the timing or logistics on the day of, which was exactly what we’d hoped! We highly recommend her!

If you think you should coordinate your own event to save money — STOP right there. Don’t do it! If you want your wedding day to be smooth and stress free, you will hire Carina and Tealight Weddings & Events to take care of you. Carina is amazing!
We had started to look for a «Day of» coordinator about 6 weeks before the wedding. When we met with Carina, we knew we didn’t have to look any further. There were so many things left to do and think about, that I just couldn’t imagine how they would get done. And as soon we met her, she asked the right questions, discussed structure and important aspects of the event that we would have never thought of and would have certainly fallen through the cracks. Then, as she described what she would do for us as our DOC, I was finally able to breathe.
Among other things, she will handle all of the details you won’t want to take care of during your wedding, like making sure your family members and guests are where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there (so they won’t bother you!). We were able to just enjoy our big event, because we knew that whatever details needed to be handled, Carina would take care of them. She’s kind, caring, amazingly organized and a total professional.
So if having a Wedding Day Coordinator isn’t part of your budget, it really should be – I can absolutely say, Carina is worth it! We don’t know how we could have made it through the day without her. Thank you, Carina, it was perfect.

It was a delight to have Carina with Tealight Weddings and Events coordinate our wedding. We met Carina 6 months or so prior to our wedding. Initially, I was just along for the ride being a supportive fiancé. I had been hearing this «BUZZ PHRASE» about this is «her day» so the best thing I could do is be a good co-​pilot.
My then fiancé told me she found a wedding coordinator online and we would be meeting with her over the weekend.
Sounded fair to me as I didn’t have any high expectations. It’s a wedding I thought, how hard could it be to plan a party with cake and flowers?!
Well when we met with Carina, she pretty much took us from start to finish of what to expect from her and the enemy — «family»! LOL. All jokes aside, she gave us a realistic expectation of what to expect and assured us she would do everything in her power to make our wedding day go smoothly. Carina was professional and seemed to know her stuff. I was impressed!
Prior to meeting her I had no idea of all the things that went into making that day come together. I knew before our meeting was over that I had no interest in meeting with another coordinator. Carina was the one! I told my fiancé, «I LIKE HER!» and if she was fine with it I felt no need to look any further.
Well 5 or 6 months later, we are at rehearsal and the wedding is just 3 days away. Carina walked the entire wedding party through the order of service and it was just flawless. Everyone liked Carina and we heard rave reviews of how she did a wonderful job. I knew she would do an awesome job but it means even more when your family and friends mention your coordinator after the wedding dust has cleared the air…
So Carina, thank you for helping our day be the «magical» day that it was! We love you!
We will utilize Tea Light Weddings and Events for our Black Diamond Party with MonaVie :)
Thanks again Carina.

Any couple who has Carina from Tealight Events as their coordinator has gained a priceless peace of mind. I naively had planned to coordinate my own wedding until my venue required that we hire a DOC. After reading rave reviews on Carina we scheduled a meeting. Five minutes into the conversation my fiancé was sold — she was experienced and good natured with fair pricing for our modest budget. For the day of the wedding she was amazing to watch — she had confident command of the schedule without being overbearing and to my delight, my simi complicated centerpieces came off perfect in her care along with all the other details. The venue Catering Director, guests and wedding party alike had wonderful things to say about her as well. We can’t image choosing anyone else, we can’t wait for another excuse to work with her again!