Engaged & Inspired

Thank goodness our daughter found Allison Silber to plan their wedding at Holman Ranch. Upon reflection when I think about asking her the question of what she did — I realize I should have phrased it what didn’t she do! She had answers and suggestions for everything — literally everything. She responds quickly to emails or phone calls as well. The flow of the wedding was perfect. Every vendor we hired appreciated and commented on her ability to answer all questions. Allison simply handled everything that day. She even offered to pick up our cookies from a vendor (
–another great suggestion from her). Planning a wedding is a crazy time — we’re very happy we hired Allison.

Allison is amazing, very detail and has a great vision for detail. We got married at Holman Ranch on 9÷19÷2015 as well as Allison, she knows this place inside and out, I am sure she know other venues good as well. She is on top of everything, I never had to worry about anything on Friday & Saturday. If there was something missing, I could never tell. She is very professional and will go above and beyond, like go to the grocery store during dinner to pick something up that I wanted.

Allison was essential to our wedding being what my family raved was «the best wedding they had ever been to.» She went with us to all our vendor meetings and introduced us to vendors that were reliable and talented. She is honest, helpful, and creative. She has an amazing eye for beauty and style. We came so close to being rained out on our outdoor venue wedding. She came up with contingencies and answered a lot of our frantic calls. I cannot give her enough praise. We loved our Holman Ranch wedding and loved having Allison coordinate it. I would recommend her to any and everyone who wants a gorgeous & romantic outdoor wedding!

Allison and her team were perfect. We hired her as a month-​of coordinator as I have am an interior designer and my family are a very hands-​on and design oriented bunch. We hired her a year out from our wedding date and planned most of our Carmel Valley event from Honolulu. Even though her official start date was 6 weeks before the wedding she was more than willing to answer my questions on how things would work and logistics. I knew from her blog and portfolio that she would be able to pull-​off whatever I had in mind. She was there when I needed corse correction or an outside opinion.
When it came down to the month-​of she stepped up her game, handling everyone who was involved, letting them know the timeline etc. As expected, I grew nervous about weather and if the details would fall into place as I had imagined for the past year and a half. The results were better than I could have ever imagined. I was able to relax and enjoy my big day having Allison’s calm and confident presence there. More than that, my family and friends relaxed and I have heard nothing except how wonderful the experience was.
I could go on, but the key is to relax and let Allison do her job, she and her team are exceptional at it. My day was seamless.

When I think about my wedding and how it was all possible, I think of Allison. She was the foundation of the entire day and for our dream wedding. I could list the details and all that she did for us throughout our year of planning together, but the list would be endless! All I can say is that Allison is amazing and I truly believe that she was made to be a wedding planner. When I first met Allison I was your typical «just engaged» bride. I had searched Pinterest board after Pinterest board and had no idea how it would all come together. It was Allison who dug deeper and found out what my true vision was for the wedding while keeping me rooted and true to my husband and I with all of our personal touches. Allison was very professional from start to finish. She was the person who introduced me to a dream team of vendors and together they worked harmoniously! When I think back on every email, every phone call, every time Allison went out of her way for a minor detail that meant the world to me, it makes my heart smile. Allison was what made our wedding possible! Thank you, Allison. We are forever grateful for you and all you did for us.
Austin & Ryan Ramones

While I was skeptical on getting Allison as a wedding planner, as I had no idea what it was they did; I can only say she definitely earned her moneys worth!!! My normal day to day life does not run as smooth as what she made one of our most memorable, and what could have become our most stressful day ever. We were both truly able to sit back and really enjoy our wedding, which many people said previously we wouldn’t have been able to.
Allison took care of every detail up until the wedding, taking of everything we asked her to, and more importantly she took care of all the details we didn’t even know about!
The entire wedding day was only about my bride and me. At the end of the day Allison took the time to pack my parents car full of all our gifts and items, and ensure everything was finished on our venue site before we all left (which is something none of us had thought of before, during, or after the event).
She went above and beyond what I would have ever expected.

Allison helped to plan my wedding at Holman Ranch on May 17, 2014. She is an incredibly talented wedding planner! I really appreciated Allison’s personality and style of working with her clients — she was on top of every detail throughout the whole planning process, creating Google Docs with checklists and budget information to make sure we were all on the same page. I also made sure to constantly be in touch with questions and ideas I liked. She even created a Pinterest board just for me with cool design ideas, and cared so much about making sure she had a good understanding of my vision. I think I hired her in September or October, and she worked so hard from the beginning to make sure we had the perfect photographer, hair and makeup artists that were so talented, an awesome band, and delicious food. Allison’s experience with the Carmel area and specifically Holman Ranch (she had her own wedding there!!) gives her a ton of knowledge about the best vendors in the area. She knew little things like table measurements and silverware costs by heart. Wedding guests have repeated again and again that our wedding was so unique, the most beautiful wedding they had ever been to. Allison made my wedding day so special and memorable! I highly recommend her to plan your wedding!

I don’t have very many reviews on Unilocal,.but this experience warranted me going through the painful password remembrance process so I can rave about how life saving Allison was for my destination wedding.
I can’t tell you enough how wonderful Allison was for me throughout my whole process. My wedding was a bit trickier as we were doing a destination wedding in a practically uninhabited town in Tuscany. There are so many factors to put in there, so a full service wedding planner was a must. After searching through numerous wedding websites and interviewing several promising planners, I happily decided on Allison, who had tons of experience, was extremely easy to communicate and work with, and was luckily within our budget.
It was the best decision I ever made!
Allison guided me from start to finish. She was there from the beginning, advising us on what to expect from the whole process, helping us realistically sort out costs and refine our budget. She brought in a amazing florist (Yasmin @ Floral Theory) and together they helped me flesh out our vision for the event. She worked with our busy schedules and made time on the weekends and set up meetings with venues and vendors. She also worked closely with us to narrow down and find what we were looking for on every front: from the event space to the photographer to the cake to invitations, she was there, ready with an enthusiastic smile and some gentle wisdom. She introduced us to competent and professional vendors who (like herself) made everything look and run like perfection. She was always a calming and bright influence on any situation, and because of her attention to detail and masterful planning, our complicated event ran smoothly and my husband and I were able to enjoy one of the best days of our lives!
On a side note, my wedding was featured in a well known destination wedding magazine! :D Thanks to all of her help and planning she did for my day!

This is actually my very first review on Unilocal,but I wanted to write this in order to let everyone know how unprofessional and inconsiderate Allison can be…
Let me start by explaining my situation, I am teaching my very first SDC K-​2^nd grade classroom this year while getting my masters in special education and planning a wedding. With so much on my plate right now, I finally decided that it would be smart for me to hire a wedding planner. I looked online when I finally decided on Allison.
I emailed Allison and after a skype meeting, my fiancé and I thought that Allison would be able to help design and coordinate our wedding that is scheduled for this summer. I was really excited to finally get some help so I wouldn’t be so overwhelmed. I had even made a deal with my fiancé to work summer school to help pay for the wedding planner. I had explained to Allison how busy I am with everything going on and it seemed like she wanted to help alleviate some of my stresses with the wedding planning. Allison and I agreed on her fees and she sent over a contract.
I signed and mailed the contract to her that very next day. Unfortunately for my fiancé and I, that same week we found out that our venue had caught on fire, the Tavern at Lark Creek. They had to cancel all weddings scheduled through the end of July (mine was scheduled for July 12^th).
If you are reading this review as a bride to be, you understand that this kind of news can be extremely devastating. With only a few months away from my wedding, I had no venue. I was frantic and didn’t know what I was going to do. I was fearing the worst, what if i couldn’t find a venue in time for that date?
I emailed Allison right away and explained to her what had happened. I asked her if she wouldn’t mind holding off cashing the check until I secured another venue. She seemed very understanding and said, «Oh no! Yes I definitely will. Let me know if you need any help finding a spot.» I was really impressed on how understanding she was, which made me feel like I had made a good choice in picking her to be my wedding planner.
After emailing and visiting several venues, my fiancé and I were finally able to secure a venue. I was thinking this entire time that Allison was ok with waiting for us to find another venue. I emailed Allison about the great news and her response was, «I’m so sorry but I hadn’t heard from you and I ended up booking that date. I have ripped up your check and contract. I’m glad you found another venue!»
I could not believe it. If she had someone else who was interested in that same date, why wouldn’t she email to let me know first? Why would she lead me to believe that she was ok with waiting? How can someone say that they are ok with waiting but then turns around and books another client? I know I personally wouldn’t ever do this to anyone. I am extremely hurt by this and wanted to share my story with anyone who may be considering hiring Allison as their wedding planner. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Allison was our month-​of-​coordinator in September 2012 at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur. I don’t think we would have gotten married if it weren’t for Allison! She really pulled it all together for us. She met with us a month before the wedding to go over our plan, and she followed up with all our vendors to ensure that everything was where it needed to be when the time came. She paid attention to all the details to make sure that everything went smoothly, and she handled every issue that (inevitably) came up.
I had a wonderful time and was able to enjoy the day knowing that Allison was taking care of everything for us!
It was my husband’s idea to hire a month-​of-​planner, and hiring Allison was one of the best decisions for our wedding!

Background: We were originally planning a wedding in Yosemite and had to find a new location 2 weeks before because of the Rim fire.
. It’s safe to say I was at the point of nervous breakdown because we weren’t using a coordinator outside of the on-​site Yosemite contact and we had two weeks to re-​plan a ‘destination’ wedding. EEEK!
Allison was our savior. I emailed her on a Sunday and she immediately called me back. She was great about prioritizing and coming up with a game plan even before we signed contracts. Over the span of 2 days she called 80+ venues to see about availability — which was limited considering we wanted to get married at an outdoor venue close to SF in September.
Allison ended up finding us the perfect venue — Costanoa in Pescadero — that wasn’t exactly my original vision but still amazingly beautiful. Even better — she negotiated down rates so that we didn’t break the budget, set up a seating plan, and found me a hairstylist.
I ended up being able to use my original photographer, florist, and baker, but Allison called around for hotel deals, a videographer, heater rental, and a hair stylist. We had a short turnaround, so I ended up finding a shuttle company.
Overall, the biggest bummer was that she was already booked the day of and had to use one of her consultants. Wish she could have been there the day of. I’m sure my whole family would have given her hugs and thanked her profusely.
THANK YOU Allison. You saved our wedding day and we are forever grateful.

Allison was our coordinator for our October 2012 wedding at Holman Ranch. Allison did a WONDERFUL job. Most importantly, for me, my parents were HAPPY and so impressed with how efficient she was and how smoothly EVERYTHING went. She was so efficient the day-​of, that I never really noticed her — in a good way way of course! Allison helped to make our wedding day perfect.
At Holman Ranch, each event of the wedding (ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing) is in a different location which could be a coordination nightmare, but everything each event ran smoothly and transitioned on-​time. Allison was great at directing the vendors on what I wanted in terms of setup and feel. She also did a great job with the strike. Everything was completely organized and ready for us to leave on Sunday, which was a huge help because we had lots of little details and extra things we bought for the wedding vs. rented.

Allison was an amazing coordinator!
I was working with her for a few months prior, and as I was working with a very limited budget. I wanted to create exactly what I wanted in a DIY backyard wedding, she pulled it off brilliantly!
Day of she handled things I didn’t even know I would have to worry about, as can happen with a backyard wedding. She even suggested great photographers who we LOVED!
There were of course problems that we ran into, but she always had an idea to solve it and it was done so that in the end, I couldn’t really say anything went wrong.
Needless to say, she was exactly what kept me together that day with everything going on, and did a fantastic job. Our wedding even ended up getting featured in numerous places which I completely attribute to her creativeness.
Thank you so MUCH!

Boy, this is a tough review to write. Allison came highly recommended by a few sources + and so we booked her for ‘month of’ coordination for our Holman Ranch wedding. I was excited because she was a Holman bride herself — and so I knew that she’d know the layout + some of our vendors, etc.
A disclaimer — I was a highly detailed, hands-​on bride — with a background in design + hospitality. This meant that I was looking to hire production services as opposed to ‘ideation’ services. I believed that was what I was hiring as all design services are listed as ‘piece-​miel’ offerings in her cost breakdown.
Pre-​wedding
I was happy to note that she emailed vendors the detailed timeline that I composed. However, there wasn’t much guidance or assistance provided beyond this.
— Vendors continued to contact me directly with details that, had introductions been properly made, I’m confident that Allison should have been answering directly
— Her fee does not include coordinating the rehearsal. For that, you need to pay extra … which I didn’t know in advance, because there was no official Statement of Work (shame on me) and because it was not mentioned to me until I asked
— Not much ‘reaching out’ on her end to see if I needed help with anything in the weeks leading up to the wedding. Most communication was initiated by me
During-​wedding
I thought that given the aforementioned issues — Allison’s ‘sweet spot’ would really be on the day of. She assured me that I didn’t need to make an itemized list of what-​goes-​where because she was confident that it’d be easy.
— I found + introduced myself to her on the day of
— I had to provide some troubleshooting help when partitions for the bathrooms didn’t arrive … while getting my make-​up done … on my wedding day
— Major décor items never made it out. Some did eventually, after a bridesmaid or two noticed things missing
— I identified my 90 year old vegan grandfather (who was seated next to me) in advance of the wedding. Tell me why I had to ask a server for a special plate for him when his food never came…
— Her demeanor wasn’t congenial, or sweet or happy. I’m not sure I saw her smile. And, I definitely didn’t hear a «Congrats on being married!» even though she was the first person we saw after our recessional
Post-​wedding
No follow up. No «what could I have done better?»
All told, I hope that Engaged & Inspired works to evolve as a business. I certainly enjoyed reading the blog during my planning. I was sad and disappointed with the service that I received. And, felt that the coordination added to rather than detracted from my stress on the day of. Thank heavens for my other vendors because they all (even the dive bar) knocked it out of the park!

Allison was our day of coordinator. She was absolutely amazing and went above and beyond to make our wedding day perfect. Prior to the wedding, she was completely on top of making sure everything would run smoothly, she was readily available to help at all times and her communication with us was outstanding. On the day of, she showed up early, was calm, organized and proved that she is naturally fantastic at making wedding details look SO beautiful!!! She also seemed to magically make sure we stuck to our timeline and I never once felt rushed or like we were even on a timeline… it was great! The whole day was seamlessly executed and I can’t say enough great things about Allison. I’d hire her again and again and HIGHLY recommend her. She has a very positive attitude and contagious enthusiasm that shows she really loves what she does.