Laura B. Sent on 12/05/2022

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YES! You need Aimée and her team for a Coordinator!

With 10 months to plan a wedding weekend in Santa Cruz, and neither my partner or I being particularly great at planning things, we found Aimée and her team via a recommendation from our venue (The Sequoia Retreat Center). The moment we had an intro video call with her, we knew it was the perfect match! We went with the Coordination Package, which was a great mix between planning and typical day-of-coordination.

We really loved Aimée's unique take on weddings, her time and care towards our specific needs, and the communication we had with her. Aimée is reliable, well organized, has a deep knowledge of weddings and events, and is well connected with local vendors, making it that much less stressful to plan. There was a real focus on sustainability and supporting local business as well, which was so important to us. And, when we were overwhelmed leading up to the wedding, she was able to reel us back in and remind us of what our day was all about.

And when our wedding day/weekend came, it was everything we wanted! Aimée and her teammate Tara did so many things behind the scenes to make our weekend the absolute best at The Sequoia. Would highly recommend Aimée and her team!

Kristen C. Sent on 05/14/2022

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Aimee is a lifesaver

After working with Aimee, I tell EVERY bride to do their research and invest in an incredible wedding planner as the most important purchase! We decided to work with a planner due to having a destination wedding. We specifically chose to work with Aimee for her incredible local connections and ability to understand and highlight what matters most to each couple. We couldn't have foreseen that she would be our calm center for a series of surprises: a global pandemic, and the arrival of our new son! When we decided to postpone our dream wedding by a year, she somehow quietly picked up all the pieces, contracted with the vendors, and let us know it was handled. (Our florist moved abroad, and Aimee even somehow found someone else local to step in and honor her same contract and vision.)

When we decided to move forward with starting a family and let Aimee know there would be a new baby as a guest of honor, she seamlessly secured childcare for us and worked my feeding schedule into our wedding day itinerary.

After two years of planning, when the very first local "bomb cyclone" in 30 years decided to hit Santa Cruz during our wedding, Aimee helped us come up with a beautiful plan B while honoring our original intent. (We got lucky that the storm passed over us, but she was incredible to work with during a big scare!)

Above all, she threw a wedding that many friends said was the best they'd ever attended.

I hope you do not have any unforeseen circumstances affect your wedding, but if you do, your investment with Aimee will pay off 10000000%.

Roxy N. Sent on 10/11/2021

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Ahh- mazing

First and foremost Aimee is absolutely incredible and we have absolutely no doubt our wedding would not have been the best day of our lives without her!

I spent many months poring over every review site I could find to look for wedding coordinators (NOT planners). My fiance and I are high school sweethearts and we had been planning our special day for a long time...and THEN covid hit and we had to postpone our wedding an entire year. I had a strong vision for our wedding and considered myself very organized. From the first meeting with Aimee we were immediately calmed by her professionalism, extensive experience and warm and friendly personality. We also loved learning about her involvement and passion for sustainability in the wedding industry. We hired Aimee and it was 100% THE BEST DECISION WE MADE!

As our coordinator the value Aimee added was invaluable. Our wedding venue was a nice hotel in Santa Cruz but (due to covid) had a TON of lack of communication. Aimee was there every step of the way to help navigate and advise us. The last 4 weeks Aimee completely took over and handled ALL communication with vendors coordinating with our venue. She took all of the communication off our plate and it was the biggest relief so we could spend the weeks leading up spending time together...stress free!

Day of we had a lot of little things that ultimately turned into big things ( covid testing checklist, last minute issues with venue, and helping make sure each item we brought went to the correct place). Aimee’s organization and communication were clear and absolutely essential to everything coming together. We trusted Aimee 100% to help make our wedding day perfect for us and she and her team delivered! We were so thankful she had our back every step of the way.

Throughout the 18 months we worked together Aimee's communication level was great. She held onto our vision and we were so thankful. She also had a ton of great ideas for us to implement like ordering everyone Mcdonalds after the wedding… HUGE HIT!

Aimee was so valuable, experienced and professional. If you are considering booking with Aimee DO NOT HESITATE she is wonderful and has become a lifelong friend.

Annie C. Sent on 10/12/2021

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Fantastic!

So you are starting to plan a wedding and you’re thinking you may not need a wedding coordinator? Please read on to find out why you most definitely do and why that coordinator should be Aimée Newlander of Weddings By Aimée.

As mother of the bride, and retired, I thought I could do it all. But, thankfully, my daughter convinced me otherwise. Now 1 week after the wedding, I can safely say that my daughter and I could not have managed on our own. Aimée’s value to my daughter and me can be measured not only in the success of our event, but in our overall joyful experience. Aimée’s background and Master Timeline tool gave us confidence that our logistics were in good hands, but what made her special to us was her unrelenting support of both the couple’s vision and the collaboration with me as the mom. Priceless.

We met Aimée together on Zoom and we were all taken with her warmth, sincerity, and ready smile. She gave me time separately as well so I could learn how to work effectively in the context of BALANCING the perspectives of couple, mom, and coordinator as we moved through the process.

Throughout the planning, Aimée gave us the benefit of her experience: timely communication, responses to our questions, advice and Input when requested, and support when COVID presented unique and significant challenges. She was our ally when we had multiple catering managers at our venue due to COVID and other circumstances. But through it all, she held the couple’s vision for their wedding as the ultimate guidepost for all design decisions, planning approaches, sustainability options, and personal touches.

As the last month before the wedding approached, Aimée wanted us to feel that the hard work of planning and organization was done so we could begin to enjoy the celebration itself. She made sure we felt secure with her taking the reins with our vendors. It was easy to trust that she ‘had our back’.
That was crucial as late challenges with our venue creeped up and Aimée was our advocate in resolving them, representing us in the 3-way conversations she had with the venue and the event rental company.

Despite repetitive and detailed communications, there were some unexpected situations that had to be handled during the day of the wedding. Here’s Aimée’s magic: these were addressed ‘behind the scenes’ and we were blissfully unaware as we and our guests were immersed in the celebration!

Aimée won our trust from the very beginning. And she never let us down. As a matter of fact, she kept us above the fray from start to finish!

Ashley H. Sent on 09/13/2021

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Wonderful experience!

Words can't adequately express the level of appreciation, love and thankfulness we have for Aimee! Our wedding process underwent countless changes and revisions, and through it all Aimee was there with her love and support. Quite simply, there wouldn't have been a wedding for my husband and I without her. The love, passion and care she has for her couples and making sure their vision is realized is truly evident and shines throughout. Her communication is unrivaled and helps to ensure that come wedding day you are able to fully experience and enjoy it. We truly consider Aimee to be a long-lasting friend, and we are beyond thankful for that. We would recommend Aimee to anyone and everyone!

Raynee Sent on 10/02/2019

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The best, amazing, wonderful!

Where do I start. I suppose I'll get the most important part of the review out of the way first: Aimee and Jake are simply AMAZING! I cannot express enough how much we valued having Aimee coordinate our wedding. Above being a warm and friendly person to be around, she worked with us to make our wedding a very personal event, anticipated our guests' needs, and helped us to craft a unique and unforgettable destination wedding weekend. We had so many comments from our guests that it was the best wedding they had ever been to.

Now onto the details. My husband and I are Americans living in the UK. We planned a destination wedding weekend at Mt. Rainier, Washington. Being University professors, we like to think/pretend that we are fairly organized people, but planning a wedding from thousands of miles away brings a whole host of difficulties. However, Aimee really helped us bring all the pieces together. She was there for us from the beginning of our planning, to dancing the night away at our wedding, to eating pizza and roasting smores at the day-after party. One of the things that I most appreciated about Aimee is that she kept us grounded and focused on what was important. It is so, so easy to get carried away with wedding planning, feeling overwhelmed and pressured to have the most Pintrest-worthy event, to think that if you don't make every little detail perfect then you will be harshly judged by the wedding gods. But Aimee always reminded us to focus on what was meaningful, the reason for our event, how we wanted the weekend to FEEL, and how to let little things go because they constituted unnecessary stress.

Aimee also worked with us to build a timeline that worked to not only make our wedding weekend run smoothly, but she developed a plan to help us slow down and enjoy the week leading up to the wedding. For example, we had scheduled in a date night for my husband and I, and another night for us to take our parents out to dinner. As we did a fair amount of DIY, requiring help from our families, it made everything run much more smoothly to have each day planned, with everyone's tasks assigned in advance. All of this really took a lot of stress out the craziness that is inevitable in the days leading up to a wedding, and we actually had so much fun! It was a bonding experience with our families, and it made the wedding so much more than just a single day.

When it came to the actual event, Aimee was professional and kept everyone organized, including our crazy families as well as the vendors. She also brought her partner, Jake, who helped with coordinating the weekend, including working with our vendors in the week leading up to the wedding. By the way, Jake is also AMAZING! He became part of the family that weekend. He was professional while also letting loose when appropriate. Having Aimee and Jake meant that my husband and I got to enjoy ourselves without having to worry about all the coordination. Before walking down the aisle, I danced and sang with my brothers, laughed with my bridesmaids, was ready EARLY, and really felt so full of joy. And this is because I knew Aimee and Jake had everything covered. Their hard work allowed me and my husband to be present in the moment and to enjoy the time we had with our guests.

If you are looking for someone who will work with you to craft a wedding that speaks to the uniqueness of you and your partner, I would highly recommend Aimee. She may sometimes tell you that you may want to cut out that little detail that you've been staying awake thinking about for two weeks, but it is for your own good. She will help you focus on the details that matter, and she understands how to create an experience for you and your guests that you won't forget. And Jake will make sure that you don't have to lift a finger on your wedding day!

+3 photos

Sasa J. Sent on 01/24/2019

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Amazing Aimée

We're absolutely speechless
Not only did she capture our vision for our elopement in the best possible way but she made us feel loved and at ease from the very first video call all the way to the ceremony. She matched us perfectly with the vendors she found for us and graciously got everyone on the same page. During the big day she took great command of the day and made sure that everything would unfold just as we had planned. We are super grateful that Aimée made our dream come true and feel that we have also made a friend for life.

It doesn't matter from where you are in the world (we're from Sweden) you should let Aimée take care of you USA wedding.

Molly Sent on 08/27/2021

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Disappointing coordination experience

We want to start by saying that this is a very sad and difficult review to write. We were drawn to Aimée because of her stated focus on mindful, sustainable weddings and hired her to be our day-of wedding coordinator. When we hired her, we were well into our wedding planning process (with a very well-developed vision) and she sold us on her ability to help us execute our vision while ensuring we had the time and space to be fully present on our wedding day. Unfortunately, the service and experience she promised us never came to fruition.

Throughout the planning process, our communications with Aimée were confusing and jumbled. Her emails were long and disorganized, with many typos. Often, when we thought we were on the same page, it later became clear that things had been lost in translation. She told us she was very used to DIY weddings, yet later insisted we hire an extra assistant because of the amount of DIY elements. Due to an unexpected sickness, Aimée understandably missed our one in-person vendor walk-through (she sent her assistant, Jake) but proceeded to follow up with all vendors via email after the walk-through asking the same questions that had already been discussed at length and answered in person. There were multiple instances in which it appeared that information we provided to Aimée never made it to the intended party (caterer, florist, etc.). Our venue had no idea that rental drop-off and set-up was happening Friday morning, something Aimée should have made very clear. All of these hiccups, of course, made us nervous but we chose to trust Aimée, hoping everything would come together on our wedding day.

Unfortunately, the personal, high-touch, detail-oriented service that Aimée promised never materialized. She was far less prepared and organized than we were. Once our wedding began, we never saw Aimée, despite many assurances from her that she would be our go-to person throughout the evening. Many important elements of our decor and vision were forgotten or misused, despite hours of discussion and meticulous prep we’d done to prepare Aimée. Our lovingly handmade photo displays were not displayed until the bride asked where they were; they were then placed in the dark theater that was intended only for dancing. No candles or flowers were placed throughout the garden, on cocktail tables, bar back, etc. until the bride tracked down a team member and asked that they be put out. Our guest favors were placed on a separate table from the sign explaining the favors, rendering them unidentifiable as guest gifts. Many guests expressed confusion about where to sit, where to find the dancing, etc. because of the lack of guidance, and even incorrect instructions, from Aimée’s team. The bridesmaids had to step in at multiple points to help with things Aimée’s team had promised - arranging the bride’s train, assisting with the bride’s makeup post-ceremony, helping VIPs figure out where to sit, etc. The large barn doors in the dancing space were never opened, despite a long conversation about the need for good ventilation for COVID safety. Sadly, the list goes on and on.

To give credit where credit is due, Aimée did help us find our incredible florist, Amy Rawling of Blue Moon Blooms, as well as our caterer, Five Star Catering, and a very kind dog-sitter who watched our fur baby on our wedding day. We’re grateful for the connections she shared with us.

After the wedding, Aimée never reached out to check in. My husband called her multiple times before finally calling her assistant who told Aimée to call us. When we raised our concerns with Aimee, she was, for the most part, defensive, argumentative, and unwilling to take responsibility for the mistakes that were made. She was focused on providing excuses and explanations (wind, too many DIY items, unexpected on-site issues, etc.) for what had gone wrong. She did not demonstrate any curiosity about how she could have delivered a better experience nor any true compassion for the stress we felt on our wedding day. A simple acknowledgment of what went wrong and apology would have gone a long way. We were hopeful that we could have a respectful, honest conversation with Aimée following the wedding and were extremely dismayed to part ways on such a sour note.

It’s worth noting that the bride has worked in event planning for quite a few years and understands better than anyone that last-minute things always come up and require problem-solving, flexibility, competence, and creativity. That's exactly why we hired a day-of coordinator. Unfortunately, for the hefty price we paid and the expectations Aimée set about the service she would provide, the outcome was a deep disappointment. If you are organized, comfortable with event planning, and have a strong vision, we would refer you to someone who is a better listener, a more engaged problem-solver, and more detail-oriented.

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