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Tuscany, Italy
One of the very first decisions, I made as soon as I got engaged was to bring on the talented Jackie Santos as my planner. She was the perfect combination of positive, effervescent energy all while being extremely detailed oriented and highly organized. Having a wedding in Italy was no easy task but Jackie made it not only possible, she made it the wedding of my dreams! Admittedly, I wasn’t the best about meeting deadlines and staying within budget but Jackie was always there to gently and sweetly push me along all while keeping me in line. But not only was she that way to me, she was that way to all my guests, wedding party, and vendors. She maintained a constant communication with my vendors, both domestic and abroad, right from the start. She sent weekly emails discussing details, asking questions, and made sure everyone was on the same page. With destination weddings, you often have to take a leap of faith not having met many of your vendors or even seen your venue, as was the case for our wedding; but having Jackie's open communication and strong relationships with all my vendors, made me feel so really put me at ease with this big decision. She not only helped me with the wedding day but helped to plan my wedding week byarranging activities, accommodations even car rentals. This really helped to make our guests feel comfortable and at home, which truly made it a vacation for everyone. Her positive and kind attitude really set the tone for our week. She worked harmoniously with my vendors to truly craft my perfect wedding day and week. There is no doubt in my mind that my wedding would have not have been the joyous success it was without the help of Jackie Santos. She really turned all my crazy ideas into reality and I can’t say enough about her!
Los Angeles, CA
Haily + Joe:
I am a very organized and decisive bride, I had a specific vision of what I wanted my wedding to be and was not willing to compromise in executing that vision. Going into wedding planning, I knew I needed someone who was just as on top of things as I was and shared the same attention to detail, as I did. Then, I met Jackie, she was energetic, professional, organized, experienced and had a love for wedding planing. When I met my now, husband, I instantly knew he was the one. Needless to say, the day I met jackie, I knew she was the perfect match as my wedding planner. She made the process fun and got me more and more excited as the day came closer. She is well connected in the wedding industry and has a wealth of knowledge and resources to pull from. On the day of my wedding, Jackie handled everything behind the scene. If something went wrong, I never knew about it. My wedding was beautifully executed and it all would not have come together so seamlessly without Jackie by my side. Jackie is the fairy godmother of weddings!"
Los Angeles, CA
Loleena + Tripp:
Jackie and I have been friends for the past 23 years. I've seen her talents transition from organizing junior high school dances to corporate events to her passion of planning weddings. There was no doubt that Jackie would not only be in my wedding, but would also plan my wedding. There were logistical hurdles right away. First, my husband and I were in San Diego and knew we wanted a wedding in Los Angeles. Next, we had the complicated task of combining two cultures, Western and South Asian and two religions, Christianity and Islam, into one wedding. Jackie is not someone who says no or ever thinks negatively. This quality is necessary for a wedding planner and eventually becomes contagious. She was our eyes in Los Angeles when we couldn't be there and helped us think of creative meshes of our cultures.
Working with my cousins and family for cultural guidance, Jackie planned a colorful and joyous mehndi and wedding day for us. She helped interview DJs for the mehndi to find just the right person who understood our blended families. Jackie provided us with lists of vendors for Indian food and then handled all the nitty gritty details after we picked one. She also locked down our venue and worked with them (LA Downtown Hotel) to provide a stage and appropriate amenities.
She negotiated our contracts with our lighting, venue, hotel (the Biltmore) and heater vendors for our wedding day at Cafe Pinot. Jackie effortlessly organized all of our vendors on the day of our wedding, including our nontraditional vendors (friends and family) who were helping out with the center pieces and flowers. When we thought we might want candles at our outdoor reception, Jackie was the one who took care of all the necessary permits. Her knowledge of regulations in Los Angeles is invaluable.
Jackie is practically a member of my family, and I guarantee it will seem like she's a member of yours by the end of your wedding. She has coordinated countless weddings for people I know and everyone has loved and recommended her work. She's the person you want to handle the crisis you will never know happened at your wedding.
La Canada, California
Jackie + Sam
Soon after I got engaged, I knew I wanted to hire a wedding planner so I could make sure the planning process was fun without being too stressful. I was actually in the wedding of a close friend who used Jackie Santos as her planner, and I remembered how gorgeous and amazing her wedding had been. After reaching out to my friend, she had nothing but positive things to say about Jackie so I hired her right away, and I’m so glad I did! I myself am a detail oriented person who had lots of my own opinions, and Jackie was so open to hearing my ideas and vision and helping me turn it all into a reality. She was incredibly organized. I was OBSESSED with the giant checklist and excel organizer she sent me early on in the process. She helped me focus on the fun of planning. While I was enjoying the creative parts of the process, shehandled a lot of the logistics like finding quality vendors, keeping in touch with them throughout the process and helping me stay on track with my budget and timing. The vendors she recommended were all amazing and everyone’s upbeat and positive attitudes on my wedding day truly helped me stay in my zen place. There are always things you might do differently when reflecting back on your wedding day, but one thing I definitely would NOT have changed was hiring Jackie Santos as my wedding planner. She truly helped create an amazing day that my husband and I will always remember!
Los Angeles, CA
Jenny + Dane:
I cannot say enough amazing things about Jackie Santos. We hired Jackie about 4 months into our engagement and she basically saved my life! She not only came to our home ready to discuss what we needed to do moving forward, but she also provided a checklist that I found very helpful and daily e-mail reminders that I could not have done without. She was very helpful in finding our amazing vendors and took control of communication to handle all that I couldn’t. She is extremely detail oriented and makes you feel like you are her only client! She was also our day-of coordinator and took away every worry or stress I could have had. Looking back, our special day truly would not have been what it was if it wasn’t for Jackie!
Santa Ana, CA
Tina + Spencer:
Easily the best decision we made in preparing for our wedding was utilizing Jackie Santos as our wedding planner. From day one Jackie made it clear that no detail was too small and she was always available to answer any question we had throughout the entire process. One of the great takeaways we had from our experience with Jackie was her thorough understanding of our vision and budget. This was especially critical for us as our wedding included two very different ceremonies (traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony and a traditional Western wedding). Jackie's expertise in both types of ceremonies was immensely helpful in allowing us to have the wedding of our dreams.
Jackie acted as the perfect liaison between us and our many vendors, especially as we attempted to plan our Southern California wedding from our home in the Bay Area. For every major element (hotel room block, DJ) and small nuance (photobooth, bistro lighting) featured in our big day, Jackie kept our vision at the forefront and was cognizant of our budget when suggesting vendors, all of whom turned out absolutely great! Additionally, Jackie was especially valuable in handling the contract negotiations with our venue, the Bowers Museum (again we just communicated our budget and vision to Jackie and she did the rest). Jackie was also keenly able to separately negotiate several free upgrades with our venue and hotel which we didn't even know were available. There was also a bit of turnover at the Bowers Museum as the venue's event coordinator took a job elsewhere just a couple months ahead of our wedding day. As nervous as we were about transitioning the biggest day of our lives to a new coordinator, Jackie alleviated all of our concerns by getting the new coordinator up to speed quickly on the event. In all honesty, we wouldn't even have known there was a new contact at the venue because Jackie had ensured such a smooth transition!
Our wedding was a full day affair, 12 hours from start to finish with the Vietnamese and Western ceremonies taking place at multiple locations in addition to the reception, and Jackie provided a detailed itinerary for the day's events down to the minute (which was something we didn't know we needed until we realized it as our big day was actually happening!). She was great at corralling our wedding party and guests for the various activities and kept us right on schedule throughout the day. There were so many moving parts during our wedding weekend (rehearsal dinner, Vietnamese tea ceremony, Western wedding ceremony, reception, multiple vendors, multiple locations (not to mention 220 guests) and our entire weekend went off without a hitch and was completely seamless, all thanks to Jackie and her tremendous organizational skills and hospitality. Jackie was instrumental in taking our concept for our multicultural wedding and turning it into the amazing event we'll cherish the rest of our lives. Our big day truly wouldn't have been possible without all her help.
Malibu, CA
Westlake Village, CA
Kamille + Kelly
The easiest decision when planning our wedding was choosing Jackie as our wedding planner. She has such a knack for planning events, staying organized, and communicating with everyone. From the very first day, Jackie already had all the wedding planning essentials ready for us: a notebook with organized tabs and key events, magazines, thank you cards, and all the little things to ease us into the planning process. She was very helpful in laying out a detailed timeline with milestones for us to stay on track. If it wasn't for her organization and experience, we wouldn't have been prepared for all the big events and little details that go into planning a wedding. It was very helpful to have someone with you that you trust to talk with the vendors and make sure you are getting the right deals that highlight your perfect wedding while also staying within your budget. She always made herself available especially when dealing with vendors. We were even able to take a few months off from wedding planning since we were ahead of schedule and had so many of the details planned out early. The biggest dollar item was choosing the venue and Jackie was always willing to give us her opinion and advice on each one we visited while also being considerate to what we wanted. The best part was the day of the wedding. Jackie had everything in order, everything was where it needed to be, and nothing happened without Jackie being on top of it. She made sure all the vendors arrived on time, were set up, and taken care of throughout the day. She made sure all of our signs and decorations were set up where they needed to be and all of our guests were attended to. We didn't have to worry or even think about any of the details on the day of the wedding because we knew Jackie had it all covered. We can't say enough about all the work she put in and how well everything turned out. Our family members even noticed her hard work and kept telling us how great she was!
Garden Grove, CA
Julie + Jack:
Having Jackie coordinate our wedding was one of the easiest and best decisions we could’ve possibly made. My husband and I had a traditional Vietnamese wedding with some modern twists added in. It was all very intimidating; our parents wanted things done a certain way, we wanted to do things our own way, and it seemed like everyone had an idea of how our wedding should turn out.
Right from the beginning Jackie was incredibly supportive. She came to our first meeting prepared and organized with budgets, colors palettes, examples and timelines from other weddings she had coordinated to give us a rough idea of costs and flow of a day. From there, she gave us great suggestions on how incorporate the Vietnamese customs into our modern taste. And every step of the way, she was quick to give us reassurances that we were making the right choices, but also knew when to tell us when we were going a little overboard.
Jackie is a fantastic communicator and worked well with all our vendors and ensured everyone was on the same page. I can’t count how many times she went to see our florist or went out to the venue to talk with them about some details. Even when we were the ones lagging in getting things done, she went the extra mile and took the initiative to ensure we had our ducks in a row.
It’s a stressful time and there are so many details to consider when planning a wedding with over 350 guests! But Jackie’s got it down! I always recommend her to EVERYONE whenever the situation arises. You’d be good hands and love every bit of your beautiful day.
Yorba Linda, CA
Nicole + Kyle
My wedding was just over two months ago. I think the reason it has taken me so long to sing Jackie's praises is that I am confident that there is nothing I can write that will live up to everything that Jackie was and will forever mean to me and my husband.
I am an event manager by trade. In fact - I am the Assistant Director of Event Planning at a luxury brand hotel. I handle events and conferences with thousands of attendees on a daily basis. And - I've been doing this for almost 10 years. There wasn't even a second that I thought I'd want to plan my wedding on my own. I knew I'd want and need the help. And thank goodness I had that foresight.
I was engaged on October 12, 2017. I hired Jackie on October 17, 2017. And thank goodness for that!! We ended up with a year of planning with Jackie - we got married on October 27, 2018.
The biggest compliment that I can give Jackie is one that was given to me over and over again. I had close friends, family, coworkers, distant relatives - you name it - all tell me independently that I looked so calm and relaxed the week of our wedding and on our wedding day. Each time I was told (which I honestly think had to be at least 30 times), my response was the same - "that's because we have Jackie". Jackie made the entire process stress-free. Was I never stressed or overwhelmed? No, certainly not. But any time I felt a glimmer of anxiety, I texted/called/emailed Jackie and she instantly addressed whatever was on my mind. She kept us on track - reminded us what was needed now, and what could wait. She told me to do things that I would have never remembered to do or even thought to do.
Even when things didn't go as planned (which happens ladies, no matter how much you try to prevent it) - Jackie fixed them without me even knowing a problem had happened. In one example - on our rehearsal day, our shuttle buses were delayed to the point where we'd be very late to our rehearsal at the venue. Instead of stressing me or my family out, Jackie calmly pulled me aside, explained the situation, and then told me she already had 7 uber vehicles on the way. Jackie didn't miss a beat, and we didn't miss our rehearsal.
Jackie and her sweet family will always be a part of our family. I'd get married to my husband again and again, but not without Jackie.
Forever Grateful,
Nicole Strenk
VENDOR HIGHLIGHTS:
Photography: Koman Photography
Videography: Scenemotion Films
Venue: Nixon Library
Catering: White House Catering
Hair & Makeup: Design Visage
Wedding Dress: The Dresser Bridal
Band: De Bois Entertainment “Karizma Band”
Cake: Simply Sweet Cakery
Calligraphy: The Pen Crafted Project
Floral Design: Sky Event Productions