About this vendor
Monarch is a San Diego based boutique event planning company creating, designing & planning luxury weddings & events. With great attention to detail, impeccable planning, an established base of vendor contacts and resources, expert creative design and a genuine passion for all things bridal, it is our goal to exceed your greatest expectations and create a wedding that will represent your unique vision & style while telling your individual love story!
Your comfort and confidence is our top priority, leading up to and throughout your special day. Monarch Weddings has established relationships with best-in-class vendors -- from florists to photographers, we match you with the people who will help make your wedding remarkable and keep you organized and within your budget goals.
Monarch Weddings can accommodate a wide range of planning and budgetary needs, as we offer our clients several levels of services, including planning consultations, event design, day-of & month-of wedding coordination, and full-service wedding & event planning. Whichever service best fits your budget and planning needs, we promise to give you the attention and planning expertise you deserve, saving you valuable time and energy so that you can fully enjoy your engagement and have a relaxed, stress-free planning process and wedding day.
At Monarch Weddings, we take care of every detail, ensuring a seamless, worry-free, spectacular event and most importantly give you peace of mind so that you can enjoy your "Special Day" to the fullest!
Share your vision of a dream wedding with us and we'll transform that dream into a reality!
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
- Destination Wedding Planning
Planning
- A la Carte Wedding Planning
- Budgeting
- Day-Of Coordination
- Destination Wedding Planning
- Full Service Wedding Planning
- RSVP Tracking
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Engagement Party
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Bachelor Party
- Bachelorette Party
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
5
out of 5.016 reviews
Keli and her assistant’s professionalism and experience made the day-of our wedding run incredibly smooth. She had a handle on every planned piece of our wedding day and skillfully...
worked around the more spontaneous moments. We were really impressed by her coordination and direction as we transitioned from the ceremony to photos to cocktail hour to more photos to our grand entrance. Keli politely kept everything on schedule while ensuring that we had time to enjoy and celebrate with family and friends! At some point during the afternoon, a button fell off my tuxedo and Keli’s assistant (I believe her name was Alena), sewed my button on before we took the next set of pictures. Incredible!
After the band’s second musical set, Keli asked us if we wanted to move up the cake-cutting and bouquet toss earlier in the night to give people more time to dance and party. This really impressed us because she read the flow of the evening then offered us a way to keep our guests on the partying on the dance floor! After we gave her the go ahead, she communicated with all of the vendors, including photography, videography, the band, and catering. The transition wasn’t even noticeable to our guests and this decision really kept the energy high!
We would recommend Monarch Weddings, particularly for the level of service we received day-of. Thanks Keli!
Keli, owner of Monarch Weddings, was amazing in helping our wedding be the magical day that it was. Her knowledge and experience were what made our day perfect and magical.
Durin...
g our planning, Keli was always professional, accommodating, and insightful something I so appreciated seeing as I live out of state. Keli's knowledge and working relationship with many vendors was so helpful. She went out of her way to help set up meetings with vendors when I came into town, sometimes with little notice. She understood my vision of what I wanted our day to be, and it was executed to perfection. We sprung a few twists to our wedding, and she was on board with them, helping us ensure that they were carried out exactly how we wanted.
Without Keli’s experience our wedding would not have been as perfect as it was. All our guest said it was the BEST wedding they have ever been to. I would 100% recommend Keli and Monarch Weddings, you will be thankful you hired her.
Keli created the most magical wedding for my son and his fiancé. Every detail had her full attention and the entire wedding weekend was perfect because of her expertise . I cannot ...
recommend her highly enough— and so easy to work with!
Still riding our wave of bliss after having a wedding that exceeded all expectations on June 1st, my husband and I can honestly say that hiring Keli Christenson at Monarch Weddings...
as our Wedding Coordinator was the best decision of all and truly the smartest use of money in our wedding budget. I truly cannot imagine going through the planning process without her, nor the thought of what the end result may have been without having Keli’s direction, advice, suggestions and basic stress level management throughout the months leading up to our big day. A consummate professional paying attention to every detail, Keli and her team brought our vision to life with flawless execution. There were so many details and questions to be addressed, many that I had/would never even thought of but luckily didn’t need to worry about because our experienced, masterful coordinator handled it all. Keli was always on top of things and also several steps ahead.
Some of the reasons why we loved working with Monarch Weddings…
- Communication throughout process was perfect, timely responses always and excellent follow through.
- Represented us as a couple in a professional, friendly and respectful manner with other vendors and venue coordinators (“a pleasure to work with” was mentioned by all).
- Always had our best interest and vision in mind, never felt as if Keli was pushing own agenda. Frequently offered suggestions that would help us to stay within budget or ideas where we would get “most bang for our buck”.
- Added client benefits resulting from Keli’s strong professional relationships within the industry.
Our wedding day was absolutely perfect. Alena, my designated Bridal Assistant was outstanding, taking care of anything I needed. The confidence that we had in Keli and her team allowed us the ability to truly enjoy our entire wedding day and have the BEST time at our reception as it should be!
My husband and I wish we knew more people getting married soon simply for the opportunity to refer Monarch Weddings! We will happily and without reservation, sing our praises of Keli and her team to any couple planning a wedding, confident that they will receive the same outstanding service and experience.
Keli is the best choice you’ll make! She is so helpful, so nice, super organized and puts her whole heart into everything. She completely turned our wedding vision into the most dr...
eamy and magical night! I could not have been happier with the turnout and the process throughout. We love Keli!!!
Words cannot express the magic Keli created at our wedding! We were married at the Prado in Balboa Park, San Diego in November 2018 and had the most incredible wedding weekend! Ke...
li did such an unbelievable job! Everything was literally perfect. The whole weekend and wedding went seamlessly and flowed so smoothly. She allowed us to be guests at our weeding and have a blast without having to worry about a thing! The ceremony area and ballroom were stunning. I was so overwhelmed by the beauty that I actually cried the moment I walked in. She brought it all together perfectly, precisely - and melted, wowed, every person who stepped in the room. Person after person have told us it was the best wedding experience and most beautiful wedding they have ever been to (3 months later, people are still talking about our wedding). We truly had a blast and wouldn’t change it at all. She wowed everyone (including my husband and he is rarely wowed) She helped give us the most fun and best day of our lives! I truly felt like I was in a fairytale! Not only is she fantastic at her job, but she is an extremely enjoyable person to be around (we actually missed her after the wedding). Hiring Keli/Monarch was the best decision we could have made!- Ivone
We live in Philadelphia, but had our wedding in San Diego so we knew planning would be a challenge. Our very first conversation with Keli put us at ease. We described our vision and she knew exactly what we were looking for and helped to inspire even more. Her organization and attention to detail were exceptional. She did not push us to make choices outside our budget, but rather gave us options. She had a vendor suggestion for every single need from napkins to the band. She was easily able to work with us even though we were in Philly. We had one pre-wedding in person meeting weekend and she had everything expertly ready for us to review.
Her eye for detail made our wedding look like what you see in a magazine! Her ability to effortlessly work with vendors was extraordinary. BUT The cherry on top with Keli was her unbelievable ability to put a room together and make every single guest, from all different backgrounds and ages walk into the room and say HOLY S&%T!!! Let me repeat that, your guests will literally walk into the room, stop and say out loud, HOLY S&%T (I watched them do it!)! Guest after guest told us that they never saw such a beautiful room. Of course it wasn’t just the room. She over delivered by allowing us to have a truly rockin’ fun wedding. We were able to relax and not worry about a thing during the wedding, the weekend of the wedding, and the weeks leading up to the wedding. She was fun and easy to work with, we had a lot of laughs (she kept laughing even though I was a major pain in the butt) and we already miss talking to her and plan to keep in touch! -Michael
Kelli Christenson is a magician. Our granddaughter hired her for their wedding. Due to circumstances, we needed to make 3 changes before finding the perfect venue ( which she found...
for us). Kelli was right there with us all the way, assuring us we would work it out and it would be perfect and indeed it was, in spite of many challenges.
On the day of the wedding, rain was forecast for 90% at the hour of the wedding, which was planned for outside. My granddaughter was very disappointed and near tears, believing her day was going to be ruined. Kelli to the rescue. By the time we all got to the venue for pictures, she had the staff move 19 tables that already been set up for the dinner, had set up 180 chairs, the florist had brought the “arch” inside and set it up inside in a beautiful position right in front of full windows overlooking San Diego Bay, and she even went out of her way to contact one of her colleagues to bring a runner for the bride. Everybody was blown away by how beautiful everything was on such short notice and they didn’t have any idea she was responsible. She was always behind the scene making sure everything was workkngEverything went perfectly and all had a great time.
Thanks, Kelli, you are an amazing genius.
More than anyone or anything else, Keli made my wedding day what it was. And it was amazing, from start to finish!
She recommended all of my vendors (all of whom did an incredible...
job) and made sure they were available for my big day. She gave me inspiration for a table honoring my mother who had passed away. Heck, she even found me a newer, better, and still reasonably priced venue when we determined the one I'd chosen wouldn't work!
The day of, we were dismayed to see there was an 80% chance of rain, and indeed it did rain. We'd planned for an outdoor ceremony, and I was pretty upset that that wouldn't be possible... that is, until I saw the set-up Keli had arranged inside. It was gorgeous, it incorporated the circular floral arch we'd decided on, and the guests were shielded from the cold and rain. As I walked down the aisle, I couldn't imagine a more perfect setting.
The final performance element of my wedding was the first dance, and although my husband and I had practiced it, we had not done so with my dress on. I was saddened to find that the bustle I had gotten make the dress too long for me to walk backwards--which was one of the basic steps of our dance! Keli stepped in like the pro she is and created a shorter french bustle with pins in a matter of minutes--and the dance went off (set to the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows") without a hitch.
Several guests told me that it was the best wedding they'd ever been to, and I chalk this up to Keli's meticulous planning. The day of the wedding I received a schedule from Keli that had every photo set and event planned to the minute. On your wedding day, the last thing you want to stress about is not getting everything done on time, or making your guests wait too long while you take pictures. Keli really put my mind at ease, and as a consequence, I had an amazing time at my own wedding with almost no stress--which was totally invaluable.
I am so thankful that I had Keli to plan my wedding. I could not have picked anyone better!
Keli was on top of every little thing. Her assistants and recommendations were amazing and appreciated. Would definitely recommend!
Hiring Keli Christenson to be my Day of Wedding Coordinator was the best wedding decision I made (well, besides marrying my husband). I was a very organized bride, with a clear vis...
ion. By the time I hired Keli, I had most of my vendors booked, and was concerned about the Wedding Day running smoothly. (I got married in a public park and my guests had to walk 3 blocks to the reception). With my small wedding of 34 guests, some felt I did not need a Day of Wedding Coordinator. However, I quickly learned what an asset Keli and her team was.
At our first meeting, I fell in love with Keli. Not only was she highly organized, she was very excited about my wedding. As someone who planned my wedding mostly on my own (my groom didn’t have many opinions) it was so much fun to sit down with Keli and discuss in detail everything I had planned and everything I was hoping for.
Our second meeting, at my reception venue, she continued to show her incredible capabilities. She negotiated with the venue staff on linens, tables, and layout. She challenged prices she knew were exorbitant. She went through every single detail of the reception, ensuring nothing was left out. I left that meeting knowing she was doing everything she could to make my day as special as she could.
Over the few weeks before the wedding, we were emailing daily about the seating chart, timelines, vendors – every last minute detail. Many people kept asking me why I wasn’t stressed – it was because of Keli. She thought of everything before I could and had a plan. She listened to me and my budget carefully. She suggested a fabulous (and reasonably priced) DJ when mine fell through weeks before. She kept on top of many changing details (guest list, bridal party, etc.)
The day of my wedding I awoke with no stress. I enjoyed my morning with my bridesmaids, got ready and was completely relaxed. When Keli arrived, she helped my mom put my dress on (my dress had many, many buttons and she had a crochet hook to help – it was a life saver! She even left it by the bed so my husband could use it to help me out of my dress). Keli made sure everyone had the correct flowers, even pinning the boutonniere on my emotional dad.
My ceremony was perfect. I was thrilled how it unfolded perfectly. I cried off all of my makeup, and Keli fixed my makeup and wouldn’t let me take photos until I was ready (I am so grateful for this!). We got to cocktail hour and enjoyed our time with our guests while Keli set up our reception. When we made our grand entrance, I was surprised with how incredibly beautiful everything was! Even my husband (who does not notice details) could not stop talking about how pretty the cake table was! (In the planning process, I had explained to Keli that I didn’t have much of a budget for décor. She took the little I had purchased and transformed it into something I never dreamed of!).
The reception went exactly as planned, from the dinner to the speeches to cake. When we had our sendoff at the end of the night, Keli had packed our car with all of our personal belongings and made sure we were ready to go.
Everyone kept telling me how amazing my wedding coordinator was. She made the day perfect, and was beyond kind and helpful. You need to hire Keli, I promise you will not be disappointed. It will be the best money you spent for your wedding. Trust me!
Five stars are not enough! Keli was INCREDIBLE! I had big plans for a beautiful Gatsby-themed wedding and Keli exceeded my wildest expectations while keeping me on budget. I would ...
recommend Monarch Weddings to any bride-to-be.
Every detail and plan was perfectly executed. My breath was literally taken away when I walked into the ceremony ballroom and took it all in for the first time--the floral arrangements and candles, and all the smiling faces of our family and friends... And from there, the cocktail foyer and Reception ballroom which amazed me even more.
Every person in attendance said it was the best wedding they had ever been to, and I would have to agree, even if I'm biased. From the band to the decor to the smooth flow and timing of everything. I didn't have to think or worry about a single thing all day.
I am so thankful for Keli and her meticulous eye for perfection, as well as her dedication to ensuring the day was everything I could have dreamed of and more. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
WOW! Keli Christenson is simply the BEST! We could not have picked a better wedding planner for our big day. From the moment we sat down to meet Keli, we knew without a doubt in ou...
r mind that we had to have her. She is the warmest and sweetest (not to mention most beautiful!) person and you instantly know that she is going to take care of you. She is such a great listener and feeds off of your vision and ideas to turn your dreams into a reality. She has a gift of pleasing everyone involved in the planning (bride, groom, parents, etc) and makes everyone feel so comfortable about the process and plans. Her organization is one that is unmatched: a binder for every couple, color coordinated excel sheets and emails, timelines, etc. She truly thinks of EVERYTHING! She has planned so many beautiful weddings and has worked with the best of the best and provides you with the options of THEE best vendors out there. She gives about 5-8 recommendations for each type of vendor, allowing you to research them by style, price point, etc. She doesn't try to push one vendor on you over another because she knows every bride and groom will have a different style and different budget. We ended up with the absolute BEST team of vendors and it is clear that every single person we met with ADORES Keli and thinks so highly of her work and talent. It felt so good to know that we were in such good hands based on what we heard from everyone we spoke with. Keli has a very high reputation in this business and there is a reason! My mom and I absolutely cherished our days we got to spend with Keli. We had so many great laughs and the positive energy she exudes is contagious. It feels like hanging out with one of your girlfriends talking about your fairytale wedding... except she actually turns your fairytale into reality! The day of our wedding, I have never felt so relaxed and at ease on what I know can probably be a very stressful and hectic day. I knew that Keli had absolutely everything taken care of and she even makes time to come visit the bridal party to say hi and hang out! Aside from the ceremony,reception and everything in between being completely beyond what we imagined, it was Keli who made the night so enjoyable for us. She could not have been more cool, calm and collected, which really allowed us to just sit back and enjoy EVERY single second. The saddest part about our wedding being over was not being able to work with Keli anymore! Luckily, she is now a lifelong friend and we still stay in touch and I know we always will! Thank you Keli, from the bottom of our hearts, for making our wedding MAGICAL! You are the BEST and we love you!
Love, Trish & Brad
I recently got married at the Grand Del Mar in Del Mar, California. It was a “destination” wedding for my fiancé and I because we both live in Dallas, Texas. I had the privilege o...
f having Keli Christenson as my wedding coordinator. Keli is not your typical wedding coordinator. She truly is exceptional at planning every aspect of a wedding. I was so blessed and grateful to have had her as my wedding coordinator. I can’t imagine how my wedding would have turned out without having her because truly everything was impeccable! I have always heard stories about something not going according to plan at a wedding; I must be one of the lucky few where nothing went wrong. My wedding was flawless and this is attributed to the outstanding job that Keli did.
Keli compiled ideas for the style of wedding that I wanted and she had the vision and expertise to execute it in a way that I could never do on my own. The reception was extraordinary! All of my guests asked who was responsible for the décor and how I found the amazing band. They raved about the florals. All of those components were suggestions made by Keli. She meticulously shopped each detail to a T. She took it upon herself to find the perfect linen and design of chair and table to compliment the style of my wedding. At the presentation of the mock-up, she incorporated some other ideas and it took the room from beautiful to WOW! Her work brought my mom and I to tears. We were so impressed with her ability to pick up on the style of wedding that I wanted and take it to a new level.
Planning a wedding can be overwhelming and stressful especially trying to plan it from another state, however, I never felt overwhelmed or stressed. Keli’s level of detail and knowledge made the planning process fun and exciting! She is highly respected in the wedding industry and has a great relationship with all of the vendors. This was very important to me as I would have been at a lost with attempting to evaluate what vendors were reliable and at the top of their game, yet also in the price range that I was looking to stay in. Keli did an amazing job with getting discounts from many of the vendors that she has a relationship with and negotiating lower prices which I was so grateful for. I followed Keli’s guidance on all of the vendors and they were all spectacular! I wouldn’t have changed any of them.
Keli is such a delight to work with! She is professional, kind and committed. She is a visionary. I can’t thank her enough for producing a stunning and seamless wedding. Our guests could not stop complimenting the design and ease of the night. Everyone had a blast and was on the dance floor till the very last song. My wedding was beautiful and effortless. If you want to have your wedding come together with ease and style, I strongly recommend Keli Christenson with Monarch weddings. Thank you for everything, Keli!
We cannot say enough amazing things about Keli. She truly did make our wedding everything we thought it could be, and way more. Keli went above and beyond through the whole proce...
ss. Keli is very detailed, organized, in tune with her clients, and has an amazing vision. I have already recommended Keli to very close friends, and I will continue to do so every time we get the chance. Thank you, Keli!!
Keli was referred to me by a close friend who is a photographer who sees dozens of San Diego weddings every year - so I already I knew I would be working with one of the best in th...
e biz…but WOW did Keli surpass my expectations!!!
Keli is closely networked with many different vendors in San Diego. She will never push you into using any single one but ensures the right fit to meet your style and budget. Because we had Keli and such amazing vendors to work with I truly enjoyed the wedding planning process!
The week of my wedding is where Keli truly became my savior. There was forecasted rain and we had an outdoor ceremony/cocktail hour at Scripps Forum. We went through multiple back up plans as forecasts changed but as family came into town I felt 100% confident having Keli make the final decisions and determine the best course of action day of. She took all of my stress away and allowed me to enjoy every moment of my wedding weekend. The layout she designed had never been done before at Scripps and given the morning of rain showers was absolute perfection. So many guests commented “This is plan B?” And five months later we still are routinely told “That was the best wedding i’ve ever been to!’
Start to finish working with Keli was phenomenal. Professional, detail oriented, organized, budget concise, amazing style and FUN!
https://www.theknot.com/real-weddings/an-elegant-classic-seaside-wedding-at-scripps-seaside-forum-in-la-jolla-california-album?location=-117.160317,32.675792&page=1
http://www.borrowedandblue.com/san-diego/weddings/suzanne-christopher
Keli was an amazing planner for our wedding. We had a specific vision for our wedding and she helped to make it even more. She helped find us the best vendors who could bring tog...
ether our vision, while also finding the best deals with vendors. She was very hands on with all of the details of the wedding. Her bridal assistant was also amazing the day of, making sure my every need was taken care of the entire time. I did not stress one bit the day of, thanks to her. Every one of our guest continues to express to us how it was the best wedding they've ever been to, and I am so thankful Keli made that happen.
Contact
San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, Palm Springs
Monarch Weddings's photos