frequently asked questions

how long have you been a wedding planner?

I started working with my first client in early 2008, and my first wedding was in September 2008.  I have personally planned and executed over 500 weddings since then.  Johnny has worked with me for 6 years, and Thomas joined us 2 years ago, though he has been in the wedding industry for almost a decade. We have lots of awesome Event Assistants as well. We have over 1000 weddings collectively on the team. 

what is your biggest piece of advice for wedding venues?

Customer Service is everything. Bad reviews can make or break a venue. Head them off before they happen!

As a Wedding Planner, one of my clients’ most common pain points and source of complaints is their venue.

Bad communication, perceived “militant rules”, rotating personnel, long wait times for simple responses, there are a plethora of issues. We aim for all of our venues to be 5-star reviewed, and to keep our mutual clients happy from tour to after the event.

how much do your services cost?

We have several options for Venue Management. Our first option is client facing payments. It is simple; we handle all your inquiries, customer service emails, FAQ’s, vendor list, contracting, etc. In exchange, your clients must hire us for wedding planning + coordination services. We have packages that currently range from $5k to $10k+, and your clients will be free to choose the package that works best for them. Should your client decline our services, and go with another wedding coordinator, they will simply pay a $2k “venue manager” fee to use your venue, and utilize our continuing support throughout the process from contract to event. This is paid to us directly. They are then free to hire any other professional coordinator, though we recommend you require they be insured and professional.

Our second option is venue facing payments. After a consultation, we will present you with a monthly management fee + commission structure for booked events. This is essentially a contractor + commission position.

What you handle:

• The booking of the hotel rooms + hotel room management for event cycle

• On-site venue tours for prospective clients (who are pre-qualified through our sales process + cycle)

• All hotel management personnel and services, such as housemen, housekeeping, etc. associated with an event

• Having a clean and well-kept event space, being open to occasional “best practices” advice and recommendations for event success, such as on-site dumpsters, light landscaping improvement, new rules, etc.

• Updating us in a timely manner of any event or hotel rule changes, etc.

What we handle:

• Consulting and recommendations for venue’s website EVENTS page for maximum efficiency and to pre-qualify any and all event leads - sample budget, event fees, buyout info, venue-specific rules and FAQ should all be clearly visible to prospective clients before they inquire and take any of your staff’s valuable time with a guided tour

• Initial inquiry response, date availability confirmation, customer service questions, etc.

• Presentation of full venue fees, room rates, buyout information, and options

• Post-tour follow up questions + efficient phone consultations

• Sending contracts and ensuring deposits are collected (we recommend venues use Honeybook software!)

• If using the client-facing payment option, we handle all logistics, planning, and on-site event coordination, leaving your staff to handle all important hotel logistics and customer service issues during the event

what are your consulting rates?

Courtney is available to train event sales staff, on-site wedding coordinators, catering sales staff, etc. on efficient and effective consultations, sales cycles, wedding client communication, customer service, tours, etc. This is a custom-quoted option, available outside of our venue management options listed above. Investment is generally $10K+, which we believe you will make back in ONE single successful event. She is also available to consult for brand new event venues pre or post-renovation or opening.

are you open for regional event director positions if we have a multi-property management or ownership group?

Absolutely! We are available for multiple properties, and can manage all of yours. If you have properties outside of Southern California, we can discuss logistics and pricing options.

do you require a contract?

Yes, we require a venue management contract that will renew every 12 months. This is so we can ensure we have all the staff we need to continue managing your venue and planning your events with the utmost care and customer service.

what do you require to get started?

• A 3-night mid-week comped visit to your hotel (if applicable- otherwise, a nearby hotel room must be booked), during which your GM, AGM, venue owner, or other manager must set aside one 4-6 hour period to meet with Courtney. We will go over your property’s history, event revenue goals, rules, quirks, etc., as well as the software you use for contracting, if you would like us to take over that part of your sales cycle. We highly recommend you consider using Honeybook, and can show you how it works during this meeting as well. We also suggest you set aside one hour for Courtney to meet with your front desk staff, or whoever might be responsible for providing on site tours to pre-qualified leads. Additional in depth training also available.

• The rest of the visit is spent getting to know your hotel or venue, truly experiencing it, so that we can best sell your property

• A follow-up phone call with a decision maker to go over recommendations, process, EVENTS page website updates to be made, etc.

• A signed venue management contract for a one-year term

• We take over from there!

can i see your event portfolio?

We have handled events with $10k to $2M budgets, and 0 to 450+ guests.

All photos on this website, and the PORTFOLIO are from recent events I have personally planned, styled, and/or coordinated.  AtE's work has also been published on several national wedding blogs such as MARTHA STEWART, BRIDES, JUNEBUG WEDDINGS, WEDDING CHICKS, STYLE ME PRETTY, 100 LAYER CAKE & 100 LAYER CAKE, CARATS AND CAKE, GREEN WEDDING SHOES, BROOKLYN BRIDE, PALM SPRINGS LIFE ONLINE , RUFFLED, INSPIRED BY THIS, the cover of PALM SPRINGS LIFE MAGAZINE & many, many more. You can also see our most recent weddings as they happen on Instagram! I’m @the_weddinggirl

I have also been profiled by several industry publications including AISLE PLANNER and RYAN HORBAN’S BLOG 

Additionally, you can check out our happy client’s reviews on Yelp and Wedding Wire. A great majority of our clients site us as the best money they spent on their wedding.

are you licensed and insured?

There is NO licensing body for Wedding Planners, so you should probably question anyone saying they are a "Licensed Wedding Planner".  Our team is, however, fully insured with a $2m general, $3m aggregate liability policy. We greatly recommend you require all of your vendors to be insured.

where are you based?

We are based in San Diego, but we operate locally in both San Diego and Palm Springs, meaning no travel fees are assessed for either location.  We've done hundreds of weddings in both awesome cities!  My personal goal is to someday relocate to Palm Springs, for at least for part of the year.  San Diego is home, but Palm Springs has my retirement lifestyle, magic hour-loving heart. We certainly feel we can execute a wedding wherever you are willing to take us! Just get us a hotel room and a couple’a plane tickets, and we are there.

do you take commission from the vendors you recommend for our vendor list?

Never have, never will.  Vendor recommendations are based on performance, style, budget, and personality.  This is a good question to ask potential Wedding Planners, it's a shady little industry secret.  If and when I am offered a commission, I always respectfully request that it be passed on to my client in the form of a discount.

do you have experience with same-sex/LGBTQ weddings?

My crew and I are extremely experienced with same-sex weddings.  All of the planning literature we have crafted is inclusive, and we like to challenge heteronormativity and gender roles in the wedding industry on a regular basis.  

As a company, we have a strict rule that we would never recommend a vendor to ANY of our clients that wouldn’t work with ALL of our clients, so we require the venues we manage to LGBTQ-friendly as well.

And like, duh, two of our team members are also proudly queer.

do you do weddings in __________ {insert city or place here}?

We welcome destination weddings and creative celebrations anywhere in the world!!   If you are looking for someone to execute a smooth, memorable, and fun event, while helping you add your own personal style and twist, please consider adding us to your vendor team, no matter where you are getting married.  Destination weddings are not always about finding someone local to direct you to their vendors, it's often about appointing a Manager to your vendor team who can lead the day with confidence and ease, and make you feel like a guest at your own wedding! 

the truth is really simple; i don’t want us to be the cheapest, i want us to be the best.

and we hope you feel the same way about your venue! 

Please feel free to take advantage of my free consultation to see if we are a good fit for each other.  That way, you can more closely examine if the investment or partnership is worthy for your venue.