Allison Weddings

Allison and Lori were the planners for our wedding at Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel. Both were a pleasure to work with throughout the planning process. Most importantly, they coordinated the sequence of events on our wedding day seamlessly. They were recommended to us by our venue, as they are extremely familiar with the property and rules and regulations. Their knowledge and expertise was key to ensure everything ran smoothly and was scheduled appropriately. They were absolutely crucial in coordinating and organizing all of our vendors. I can’t imagine having had to carry that burden on top of everything else that comes along with planning your dream day! I even had several unique requests that they pushed to make happen, without question or hesitation. They’re pros, and I couldn’t have done it without them!
By the time our wedding weekend had arrived, all of the anxiety that comes with planning a wedding completely melted away, and I didn’t have to think twice about, well, anything! After a year of planning it was so wonderful to be completely consumed in every second of a weekend that seemed to last but a moment. Not that anything could have gotten me down on our wedding day, but if anything went wrong, my husband and I did not know about it! We truly did not have to worry about a thing. Since then, my husband and I have spent hours reminiscing about the beautiful events that transpired over our wedding weekend. Thanks to Allison and Lori, it all went off without a hitch.

It’s your wedding day. A magical day full of all of your friends and family. You want it to be perfect and everything to unfold without a hitch, right? I highly recommend handing over this precious day to Allison’s weddings. I was lucky enough to have them plan, coordinate and execute my entire wedding weekend. Not a detail was missed. If you can get them for your wedding day (book early with them to get your date and location) you are one lucky couple. Super responsive, able to communicate the way that works for you, help with budget management, creative and fun ideas to make your wedding unique. Lori & Allison treat your wedding day/​weekend as if it was their own.

When my (now) husband and I decided to get married in Pebble Beach, I interviewed close to 10 wedding/​event planners before booking with Allison. Maybe that was an excessive number, but I knew early on that I would be heavily relying on the chosen wedding planner since we don’t live in California.
What sold me on Allison was not just her friendliness (readily available with most event planners) and her experience (much harder to find), but her ability to listen to what me and my husband wanted. Often, the wedding planning process can run off the rails with different family members and friends offering their 200 000 opinions. Allison and her staff (Lori!!) are experts at reining in family members/​friends that go «off the reservation». They figure out a way to get everyone on the same page… that is, on the same page as the bride/​groom. If you want your dream wedding to be filled with glorious excesses (like a $ 30 flower… seriously), Allison & co. can make that dream come true. If you can do without the excess decorations but want that sleek wedding with fantastic food and music… she can do that too. She has connections to the top wedding vendors in the Pebble Beach/​Monterey/​Carmel area, and you can trust that those vendors won’t do things like… say… not show up on your wedding day. She is extremely organized and will schedule weekly phone calls (more as the big day approaches) with you to make sure that things are getting done and vendors are getting booked.
As for cost — Allison Weddings isn’t the cheapest firm out there… but you get what you pay for. We all know that it is rare for any wedding to not have one issue or another on game day, but the difference between a good wedding planner and a great one is that a great wedding planner will take care of the problem before you’re even made aware of it. As far as I’m concerned, I had a problem-​free wedding and that was worth every penny I spent.
On a sidenote, Allison and her staff come highly recommended by Pebble Beach Resorts and you know they do not mess around when it comes to recommending vendors.

I want to get married at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and was advised they require a wedding consultant. Of the three options, Allison Weddings was one of them. Their website was impressive and they looked great when my sister first emailed them. They sent her info and a sample budget quick. I sent a follow up email asking if I could have my dog at the aquarium. Simple yes or no answer. I also left a voicemail but no one called back. Here’s Lori’s response.
Hi Cindy,
Just wanted to make sure you had a chance to review our menu of fees and services, and to make sure that our entry level of $ 10,000 is something that can fit into your overall budget before we proceed any further. We are raising or fees for 2013 effective June 1^st, so if you believe you are interested in contracting with us, we should plan to meet and finalize that in the next two weeks. Let me know how you’d like to proceed.
Thank you,
Lori
lori hood l wedding consultant
Allison Weddings l p/​f 831.427.3259
712 capitola avenue l capitola ca 95 010
I guess they only care about their fees ad payment. They don’t care to address the original question. Probably better if you meet with them but an answer like this is not cool. I sent a follow up email only to get a more apologetic email and still no answer to my dog question. I had my sister check with the other consultant. She advised we could not have the dog at the aquarium but gave us an alternative solution. It’s very disappointing to see that they won’t even answer a simple question without confirming I have $ 10,000 for them.

Hiring Allison and Lori was the best decision that we made for our wedding. My dad was hesitant to hire a planner at first, thinking that we could do it all ourselves, but after our first consultation with Allison he said there was no way we would do it without her, and boy was he right! Anything that I needed done for the wedding, or any idea that I had, I could just send off an email to Allison and Lori and the job was done and the concepts became real. They are extremely professional, stylish, sensible, and amiable. They also were able to keep it real, letting you know when you have an idea that sounds great but might not work very well… this feedback is so important to avoid hiccups on the big day. The week before my wedding I became so overwhelmed that I needed to rest, so I sent an email to Allison and Lori telling them that I needed to check out of planning, and they allowed me to kick back for the week. After a week of relaxation I showed up on the big day and my wedding came to life in front of me all thanks to their hard work and care. This will be the best money you could possibly spend on your wedding, and they will make your big wedding dreams a reality.