Weddings by Cortney Helaine

an incredible weight off my chest to know that my planner was so organized and knowledgeable. We love you Cortney!

ay ran seamlessly and we couldn’t recommend her more!

e created a gorgeous, dreamy day that was better than we imagined. We met in person 5+ times throughout planning, had countless phone calls, text messages and emails. She was more than just a planner she truly became a friend and throughout the pandemic she was basically a therapist! She is extremely organized and was able to help planning in every way possible but here are a few: 1) Taking my ideas, looking at my inspiration photos and making them come to life. She understood what I was looking for and not only made it happen on our wedding day but added to my vision and elevated it. 2) Making recommendations when I needed them. There are endless decisions to make when planning a wedding and sometimes I just wanted her expertise and advice on what to do and she always had an answer. 3) When I had an urgent concern about a vendor she immediately took action and came up with a variety of options for us to remedy the situation. 4) She knows Orange County inside and out - she has relationships with tons of vendors, knew the details of every part of our venue and how the event should operate the first time we visited. She makes things happen, I can't even think of the million things she handled for me and everything she did without me even knowing to make the day go smooth. She made the experience smooth for me and my husband, our families, the bridal parties and the guests. She also provides wedding planning software/website that was EXTREMELY helpful and made sure I stuck to my budget. I can't recommend her enough! If this says anything about our relationship there were multiple emails where I almost signed off, thank you, love you!! She is the BEST!

he was nothing but awesome. For starters, she is truly a kind person who knows literally all things wedding. My now husband and I are both resident physicians and looking back it’s so hilarious to think how lost we would have been if it weren’t for her knowledge. She made my life 1000x easier and addresses and fixes problems that you didn’t even know or think you would have in a wedding. She always responded to us quickly and I know she saved us hours and hours of time by how helpful she was coordinating things for us. I must have changed my mind a hundred times regarding the decor or design of our wedding, and she immediately rolled with the punches and did everything possible to make all of that happen. We had multiple vendor meetings together in person despite being in a pandemic and she always brought her a-game to those. We never knew what questions to ask the vendors, but honestly, we didn’t have to! Cortney literally runs the show and gets all the hard talking done so you don’t have to. My parents, my bridesmaids, and even guests of the wedding kept commenting on how efficient she was at addressing and fixing all the little things that naturally happen during the day of the wedding. For example, the evening before our wedding rehearsal she asked me if I had a coat for the next day since it was going to be chilly. I told her I hadn’t and literally right after the rehearsal, I received text messages from her at the mall with pictures of coats that she thought would look good with my dress. She really went above and beyond for us because at her core you can tell she really cares. She and her team will always hold a special place in our heart and we can’t thank her enough for helping make our wedding as beautiful as it was seamless. Seriously a perfect day.

r. But Cortney- if you do ever change careers either of us will hire you to work on our teams in a heartbeat 😉 you are the best.

ased the a la carte package for the design help from her which was completely worth the money. She knows her stuff and always made me feel like I was her only client. The design package was really worth it to get the extra attention earlier on in the planning process. She knew exactly who I needed to talk to and when to keep me on track and not waste anytime. My wedding was unfortunately cancelled due to covid but Cortney was someone who always stayed on top of any city restrictions, guidelines and was a great person to talk through what to do when having to cancel everything. I am so glad I had someone to talk to with her knowledge throughout the whole process. I hope to work with her down the road!!

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t and I couldn't have been more right. I was on a budget and some places told me $7,000 was the lowest amount. I was freaking out, then I contacted Cortney Helaine weddings. After speaking with Cortney on the phone I found out she fit into my budget, got a better understanding on everything and I hung up feeling so much better. I got to speak with her on the phone multiple times and any questions I had, even if they were dumb or irrelevant, she answered. Cortney told me Baylee was my assigned coordinator for my big day but Cortney was there as well and an intern named Sophia. I had an amazing wedding day because of these three women. Anything that came up, they handled. While getting ready I was so ready to go and had butterflies, I hadn't even realized my videographer was late. When I did and asked, they had already solved the problem. They got ahold of every videographer in the area to make sure someone was there when I walked down the aisle. Someone cut into our pie (we had pie instead of cake) before we did and they were ready to get us another pie. I found the whole thing funny and we still ate our pie but that just shows how dedicated they are. I was happy the whole day and I know it's because they were there helping take care of the little things. They personally helped my matron of honor with her son while she went to grab things from the bridal suite and when I heard that, I knew I picked the right people to help me with my big day.

nts so that we could our meet deadlines before I left. When I asked for advice, she always gave me her honest opinion, and never let me spend too much for something. I really appreciated that! After getting to know her for ~1 year, she genuinely had our best interests at heart and went out of her way to ensuring we were happy with our decisions. She really took care of us! She coordinated with all the vendors so I never had to do much of anything, except saying "yes" or "no" to questions! And, all of the vendors we met always complimented on how great and professional Cortney is, and that she really knows her stuff! She had planned weddings at Casa Romantica a million times so I trusted her 100%. Lastly, on the day of the wedding, she and her crew made sure we were punctual with our schedule, which allowed Mike and I to really enjoy our wedding! We have absolutely NOTHING to worry about, because Cortney and her team took care of everything. We apparently had last-minute family wedding crashers that I didn't even know about until AFTER the wedding. This was because Cortney took care of it! And created a separate table for them last minute! And she also made sure Mike and I ATE at the wedding. At the end of the night, she took care of bringing all of our decorations and belongings back to our place. She also helped in distributing all of our tips. Our wedding truly felt magical, and many of our guests still say how much fun they had. So thank you Cortney for making sure our day was special, without ANY of the worries. We LOVE her!

worked so, so hard for us. She was so kind, patient, and always available. Our wedding went off without a hitch and that was in HUGE part to Nicole. She made us feel special and was always working on something (my husband says like a duck, totally calm on the surface but always going a million miles an hour to make sure everything was perfect). I would hire them again in a heartbeat. Worth every penny!

y nice! I would text or email her with questions or comments, and she would usually get back to me within 24 hours :) Cortney Helaine had beautiful table numbers that we were able to rent directly from them. Nicole went with us to venue walk throughs and to the rental place to help pick out our tables and decor! The wedding itself went off without a hitch. There are so many small things that you stress about as a bride...little details that you pictured in your head but may not have been able to convey...I was able to sit back and relax on wedding day thanks to Nicole and her assistant! They did such a beautiful job. The timing and flow of everything was perfect. They made sure we were happy down to the very last minute. They even went into the bridal suite and organzied our belongings and gifts and loaded up our car for us at the end of the night! I highly recommend using Weddings by Cortney Helaine for any coordination/planning needs! Thank you Nicole, we are forever grateful to you <3

(& my wonderful husband). We initially met Nicole when we were doing venue shopping, she showed us a few places and we just clicked. When we started to interview other wedding coordinators, no one compared to Nicole, it was meant to be! I wasn’t the type of girl that always knew what my wedding wanted to look like and was ready with a vision. Nicole was so patient and so supportive. When I had to meet with the florist, which we met with like 4 in one day, she was there for all the meetings. Wedding people speak another language and it can be very intimating during the meetings but she was there – always there! Both my husband and I relied on her for different things. I would text her my ideas and she was always responsive and was honest if I should move forward or it wasn’t worth it, which I absolutely loved about her. My husband would get her thoughts on all the other vendors we hired and she looked through the contracts with us. The day of the wedding everything was 100% under control and ran so smoothly. We had one little hiccup that we were able to take care of before any of our guest noticed. She & our caterer had all hands on deck and took care of it within minutes. We didn’t have to worry with Nicole and that’s what you want on your wedding day. The day goes by so fast and you need someone that you can trust so you can focus on taking the special moment in and enjoying it. She with our other amazing vendors did their magic and brought it to life. We whole hardheartedly recommend Nicole. Thank you for being a ROCK star! You have a special place in our hearts and will always be part of our special day.

roning out details, both through in person meetings, and responding to any emails and texts I sent her way. The day of the wedding, Nicole was in her element, and on her game! She was always running around and coordinating with my vendors, making sure everything went smoothly. And yet for how busy she was, she helped keep me stress free and happy, and served as a huge comfort. (I was reminded of the old adage about ducks - calm on the surface but paddling like hell underneath!). I only found out weeks after the event what minor hiccups came up throughout the day, and that’s a huge testament to Nicole doing her job well. I could not recommend working with this team more, my experience with Nicole was amazing, and it will be very worth the investment! Thank you again, Nicole!

stupid last minute questions. They will know who all the vendors are, they will have eight copies of the day-of timeline that they made months ago with you, they will be courteous and friendly and polite with those guests of yours that forgot to RSVP to the wedding but came anyway - they are on it. They are not making your friends and family and bridal party slave away on the day of the wedding by asking them to do last minute things. They will take care of it. We talked about it extensively after the wedding and we truly feel that Cortney and her team, especially our planner, Nicole Cipolla, really had their stuff together the day of the wedding. Everything went incredibly smoothly. The day-of timeline was accurate almost to the second, and when it wasn’t, it wasn’t their fault but the fault of some other vendors. They really stepped up day of, and that was the most important thing. We were not especially sentimental about having the “best day ever” because hey, we like to think we weren’t peaking at the age of 30 - but because of Nicole and Cortney executing the event so smoothly, we actually came away from our wedding thinking, “Holy crap, this was amazing, this was actually worth all the frustration of planning.” For many of us, this will be the one wedding in our lives we plan. As a result, we are very dependent on the responsiveness and personality of our planners. Cortney owns and runs the business, but it is crucial to make sure that you like not just her, but her associate planners. You likely will not be dealing with Cortney herself directly during most of the planning of the wedding. We initially picked Cortney Helaine because the bride really liked Cortney in the interview, her business came referred by another highly recommended vendor in Orange County, and the service package was comprehensive and appropriate for our needs. But in practice and for a day-to-day basis, we weren’t dealing with Cortney but an associate planner that Cortney assigns to your wedding. We should have spent more time interviewing the associate planner to see how well we meshed with her in terms of personality, because there was a significant personality incompatibility between us and her. However, fortunately, that associate planner left the business, so Cortney assigned us Nicole as a replacement, who stayed with us through the end. I was cautious at first but ultimately when Nicole stepped in, we had a really great experience with her because she is a very thorough and patient person, even when we really hit the roof during planning over certain problems that stemmed from our venue. Nicole never lost her temper on us even though in hindsight she was entitled to tell me to jump off a bridge at least once or twice. One specific item is worthy of mentioning. Our venue caused us one very specific major problem as we got close to the date. When we explained to Cortney how big a deal this issue was for us, she went to bat for us, went above and beyond the call of duty, and solved the problem creatively. Once everything was over, we truly feel that we picked the right wedding planner and that the entire business did a great job of executing the wedding smoothly.

available for late night questions and tough requests. Highly, highly recommend!

answer questions and really make my vision happen. Our wedding was flawless and I was able to relax and enjoy the wedding day (and really the entire wedding weekend) because I knew that Cortney had everything ready to go and was ready to handle anything because she really understood what I wanted! Thank you so much to Cortney and her team for making our wedding perfect!

ys had our best interest in mind while we were working with other vendors. I always imagined the day of the wedding to be super hectic and stressful, but having Cortney there to take care of everything made my wedding day relaxed and so amazing. If there were any problems during the day, I didn't know about them and I knew that Cortney and her amazing team took care of it. Thank you Weddings by Cortney Helaine for helping make our wedding day the best ever!!

k home (4-5 days per trip) to Irvine sprinkled in over those 7 months for those absolutely "hands-on necessary" wedding planning tasks. Our families weren't able to help much either with the planning, so it was really imperative that we had a coordinator for more than just the day-of. We hired Cortney and her team to do our partial coordination after meeting with a couple of other wedding coordinators, but she just really blew us away with her organization, how personalized her approach was to us (b/c we wanted to balance our concerns of not wanting a "McWedding", but didn't want to break the bank, either), and how she really kept us on track with our decision-making process...without being too naggy or pushy. Both my husband and I have demanding and time-consuming jobs, and couldn't make the wedding a tippy-top priority, but Cortney gave us wonderful, creative, tailored-to-us ideas when we needed them, and gave us space when there were wedding details that we personally really weren't interested in...she let us make our wedding our own. You know how some weddings you go to, you feel like you could switch out the wedding couple, and could replace them with another couple and nothing would seem out of place? That's not the kind of wedding we wanted. Our family and friends marveled at how bespoke our wedding was, while still being tasteful, fun, and romantic...and, perhaps most importantly for a lot of folks, within budget. Cortney always made time for us whenever we came into town, and with our limited time schedule while in CA or in ATL, she always had time to answer our emails or set up a conference call (even with the East Coast/West Coast time difference.) During the week of our wedding, when it looked like our outdoor ceremony and reception might get rained on, she calmly gave us our options for tenting or bringing everything inside, while balancing the costs of the options as well as what pros/cons we were willing deal with as a couple. In the end, everything worked out wonderfully, and we have memories we will cherish forever. Cortney really is a professional in her field, and, as my husband would say after every meeting and phone call we had with her, "Wow, she's worth every penny." And I agreed every time :)

now what would and wouldn't work and she helped keep track of all of our details and vendors. The day of our wedding Cortney made sure we weren't in need of anything. She had everything under control and between her and her assistant Nicolette, our day couldn't have been better.

ne night because I was busy and had to work, and showed me various pictures and ideas for themes and decorations. She also brought the paperwork for various locations that we had previously discussed via email so that we can get that going right away. We didn't have much time. We kept in touch via email and text messaging to check on progress and when each step was accomplished. She even put my party favors together for me. The day finally came. She arrived early at the park and met with the delivery trucks and organized the set up. She even personally delivered breakfast to our hotel room. All we had to do that morning, was show up and walk down the aisle. Thank you Cortney for making life much easier. I couldn't have done it without you.

Cortney worked great under pressure and was always one step ahead of our event. Cortney was, no doubt, a professional and took her job very serious. Our pastor was so amazed with her that he asked for her contact information so he can recommend her to his future couples. She is definitely a person who can be trusted and we guarantee you won’t be disappointed. We are so happy with the way our wedding day came out we wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks Cortney. Mayra & Rudy Garcia.