Coastside Couture

The ladies of Coastside are so amazing. I found working with Karissa to be so much fun. Not only was she professional, but she’s extremely detail orientated and truly listens to you. I worked long hours leading up to my wedding, and trusted her opinion and decisions to help add little last minute details to what we needed to our big day, and to pick up the slack in items I was lacking. She gave great recommendations on how to make every little detail pop and ensure our guests had a great time, while managing excellent relationships with my other vendors. Throughout the wedding day and night, the entire Coastside team was there to help my family and were so supportive in whatever request was asked upon them. Heidi and Karissa are true wedding designers and take your vision and help make it come true. They work diligently and don’t stop until every guest and vendor has left and every present has been stashed away. Our day wouldn’t have been half as special without the ladies of Coastside and I absolutely appreciate all their help.

Coastside Couture is absolutely AMAZING! Words can’t even begin to describe how unbelievable Heidi and Kayla are to work with and how spectacular our wedding day was! We were engaged 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!

Karissa and her team were superstars. The A+++ wedding we had — and the total lack of stress — was a direct result of their work. From planning, to the actual day of the event, they were thoughtful, helpful, responsive and thorough. On the day of the event when little logistical things would come up (like where do we put these flowers, or how should we set up this table etc etc) Karissa was decisive and totally — TOTALLY– on top of things. She knew when to involve us and knew when to simple say «I’ll take care of it — go have a drink». The event came off seamlessly which was a direct result of Coastside. Hire them now!!!

When we decided to have our wedding in Big Sur, CA, we thought we should look into hiring a wedding planner, since we live in San Francisco and weren’t familiar with any vendors in 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 communication 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.

Selecting a wedding planner was the #1 item on our to-​do list after heeding all of our married friends’ advice. We inquired with planners in Carmel/​Big Sur with good online reviews and set up meet and greets. Our first scheduled meeting was with Heidi in the Santa Cruz Coastside Couture office. We clicked so well that we called to hire her before we even got on the freeway.
I am a very particular person that likes details, strives for organization, and does not like to procrastinate. I don’t work well with salesy people — I need honesty and absolutely no BS. I also needed a planner that could help me plan our wedding from afar — my husband and I live in Redwood City and we got married at Holman Ranch in Carmel Valley.
We ultimately selected the Petite wedding package with CC — I still wanted to be involved in the process, but needed someone to tell me whether my ideas were realistic and pull everything together. There was still a lot of work we put in, but that was expected. Heidi recommended all potential venues and vendors; and she and Kayla helped finalize contract details. Heidi and Kayla pointed us to vendors that were within our price range and kept our financial parameters in mind. I think they may have a software program to help with budgeting, but we handled the cost estimates/​tracking ourselves. They were always available via email, text, or phone to answer questions.
Vendors — I would suggest hiring CC if not for their vendor recommendations/​relationships 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 vendor discounts pretty much covered Heidi’s entire 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 other vendors (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 first look even though it really rushed the timeline, etc. She made it all work so we were happy.
Our wedding weekend (rehearsal, wedding, and farewell brunch) went off better than I could have ever dreamed. I never trust that anyone other than myself will get a job done 100%, but Heidi totally GOT IT DONE. She had everything under control and I truly loved having her, Kayla, and Karissa with me on the most important day of my life. Our guests are still commenting on how perfect the wedding was and how the CC team was literally on top of everything.
I really feel like I’ve gained some great friends in the CC girls and among our vendors throughout this process. I’m already trying to figure out what event I can have Heidi plan in the future :)
p. s. Important side note to brides when considering planners/​packages — keep in mind that these women have lots of events to plan throughout the year. Our wedding was the last one of the season for them, so I had to keep reminding myself that I might not get a split second response because 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).

My month-​of coordinator was Sonia and I couldn’t be happier with the service. I don’t know why but when she said «relax», I did — and I wasn’t disappointed. She was amazing. We discussed what we were looking for, what we wanted and she made that happen. Even with things crazy the day of the wedding (I was a bit late getting ready) and the wedding party photos before the wedding was a bit crazy (due to the wedding party themselves), she made sure the parts of the day that were important to us happened flawlessly.
At the reception, she made sure things went smoothly. She gently reminded me of what time it was and when we needed to do different things (cut the cake, first dance, toasts, etc.). I say gently because I never felt rushed or hurried.
Lastly, she packed everything up and made sure all of our items got packed in the car. She offered to set up our hotel room and add a special touch — but, we were staying with our family to spend time with them before we left on our honeymoon. But, I am sure if we had taken her up on her offer, it would’ve been amazing.
Thank you, Sonia, for a beautiful, wonderful, fantastically amazing day!

Karissa and her staff are amazing. We were new to the Bay Area so planning a wedding for out of town guests was daunting. They gave us plenty of recommendations and it gave us a chance to have fun and explore the area for the perfect wedding spot.
I also did the day of package and it was well worth it.
Sonia went above and beyond for my day of and I couldn’t have asked for more. She really helped me, my family, and guests not have to worry about anything!
I don’t know what I would have done without you Sonia!
Thank you so much Coastside Couture for making our wedding perfect!

Karissa Paxton of Coastside Couture was the wedding planner for our amazing wedding in Carmel Valley, CA in August 2013. And what, you ask, made our wedding so amazing? KARISSA! I don’t think I know enough positive adjectives to describe everything that Karissa is to us. She planned the most amazing wedding experience.
I am an admitted control freak, but Karissa was amazing at both listening to/​incorporating my ideas and visions but also taking control when she needed to and making the decisions that made our wedding flawless and spectacular. She made me feel so comfortable and relaxed in the weeks leading up to my wedding because I knew she had everything under control!
In the beginning when I was overenthusiastic and probably trying to do too much too early, she was always just as enthusiastic as I was and was incredibly supportive. As certain deadlines came up to book different vendors, she made sure we were on top of it and we booked every single one of my/​her top vendor choices. Karissa knows ALL of the best vendors in the Carmel/​Monterey/​Big Sur/​Santa Cruz area. She has amazing relationships with them and gets discounts! yay!
Though Karissa is amazing at juggling the details of a wedding and the vendors, she does so much more. She has an amazing eye for design and has exquisite taste. She respected my ideas but edited them and added to them to make them truly classic and beautiful. If not for her, my wedding would have been a mismatched mash-​up of Pinterest ideas. Karissa is able to see what you like and turn it in to one, cohesive event that flows so seamlessly.
I cannot even count the number of people that told us that our wedding was the best wedding that they had ever attended, or the most beautiful, or the most perfect and fairytale like. I tell them all that I owe it to my amazing wedding planner and new friend, Karissa Paxton.
If you want a perfect, swoon-​worthy wedding– hire Karissa and the Coastside Couture team! :)

Soliciting Karissa from Coastside Couture’s help was hands-​down the best decision I made for our wedding. We made some tough choices since our budget was on the lower end, but her team really demonstrated their value.

Karissa planned my wedding at Costanoa in Pescadero about a year ago. Karissa and her staff were amazing. She did everything humanly possible to make sure my wedding went perfect. The only thing she could not control was the weather!
Every last detail from the place settings, to organizing my people, to the photographer, and day of coordination went off without a hitch. It would not have happened so smoothly without her. Her services were beyond amazing. She was there for the tiniest detail on the table to double checking the best mans speech.
Next time I need a big party planned, you better believe I’m going to call Karissa at the Couture House!