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Gatherings for Good Reviews

Gatherings for Good

Gatherings for Good

Santa Barbara, CA
4.9 out of 5 rating, 33 Reviews
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Reviews

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4.9 out of 5 rating
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2024 Winner
4.9 out of 5 rating
33 Reviews
99% recommend it
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Awards

33
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2024 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2017 Winner
  • L
    Levi J. Sent on 06/03/2024
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    Fantastic Wedding Coordinator!

    Had the pleasure of working with Gatherings for Good recently at a wedding! All I can say is Brenda is fantastic - very organized, friendly & definitely someone I would recommend for anyone needing wedding or event planning!

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you Levi! It was a pleasure working with you! I appreciate the kind words and hope we can work together again soon!
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    Julie H. Sent on 10/11/2023
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    Mother of the Bride 5 star Approval

    Brenda was so wonderful to work with. As mother of the bride I could enjoy the entire day at ease knowing she was behind the scenes making it one of the most magical days of our lives. I highly recommend her.

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you Julie! This means so much to me, I truly appreciate it! The wedding was so beautiful and I'm so honored I could be part of it!
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    Jessica Sent on 10/09/2023
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    Excellent Wedding Planner worth every dime

    Brenda was a dream to work with. She helped us plan, organize, and create our dream destination wedding. She went above and beyond to help ua with every detail. We loved working with her. She was direct and professional, she remembers every detail and plans for all moments. She is organized and helped us stay on track with wedding planning without making us feel overwhelmed.

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you so much Jessica! This is the sweetest! It means so much to me. I truly enjoyed working with you and loved getting to know you and your families. It was such a pleasure to be part of your wedding day. I am so thrilled for you and John and wish you a beautiful life together!
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    Lizzie A. Sent on 03/20/2024
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    Pulled off a challenging wedding!

    Our wedding (probably like many others) had many things go wrong day-of and without Brenda and her team, it would have been a disaster. So appreciate the attention to detail and day-of support! They were such a key factor in ensuring it was an incredible day in spite of everything else.

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you so much for your kind words Lizzie! It means so much to me and my team to be acknowledged in this way. It was so great getting to know you both and being part of your special day! I wish you all the best!
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    Prachi Sent on 08/19/2023
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    Indian Wedding in Santa Barbara - Wonderful Coordination

    We can't thank Brenda (+Gatherings For Good team) enough for orchestrating our Indian wedding flawlessly, even though it was their first time. Brenda's adaptability and dedication were remarkable. Her swift handling of last-minute challenges, from the seating chart to schedule changes and decor details, truly saved the day. The team's willingness to go the extra mile made our celebration unforgettable. @Brenda+team - you efforts will forever be cherished, and we're grateful for your role in making our day perfect.
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    Maria A. Sent on 08/22/2023
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    We gathered for good!!

    Brenda and her team are incredible! Brenda was in consistent contact with our vendors, zipped up nitty gritty, easily forgotten, last minute details, and made wedding planning a breeze. I was fixated on a very specific look/motif and she and her team made all my dreams come true! When I walked in I was shocked at how amazing everything looked and we received a ton of compliments! Lastly, during the reception, we had a slight issue with one of our other vendors and Brenda handled it with ease. We would book Brenda time and time again!

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you so much Maria! This is so amazing and truly means the world to me and my team. It was such a pleasure to be part of your beautiful wedding!
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    Elizabeth A. Sent on 08/08/2023
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    Brian & Elizabeth Wedding June 3,2023

    Brenda was amazing to work with, she went above and beyond her duties. Our guests were talking nothing but good things about her during and after the wedding. Brenda is the sweetest person you will meet, and she handles her duties like it’s second nature to her. Her experience is top notch, and she is committed to you for sure, her customer service, communication, and comprehensive tools she provides is one of a kind. I swear you fill like she is a part of your family. Your worries and overwhelming feelings will immediately disappear when you hire Brenda, you will enjoy and have excitement planning your wedding, as she is very detailed, organized and has great visions to give. Our expectations were far exceeded working with Brenda and I am glad we hired her. We couldn’t image our wedding day going as smoothly as it did while working with Brenda from the start. We promise you won’t be disappointed hiring Brenda.

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you so much Elizabeth for the kind words! You and Brian were amazing to work with. Thank you for trusting me with such an important day in your life! It was such a pleasure and honor to get to know you both!
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    Zac S. Sent on 04/23/2023
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    Attention to detail and creativity shone through

    I recently worked with Brenda who truly exceeded my expectations. Brenda's ability to capture the theme of the event was unparalleled. From the decor to the entertainment, every aspect of the event was perfectly aligned with the theme and created a cohesive and immersive experience for all attendees. Brenda's attention to detail and creativity truly shone through, and she was able to bring the vision for the event to life in a way that exceeded even my wildest expectations. I would highly recommend Brenda to anyone looking to create a truly unforgettable event.

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you so much for the kind words! I truly appreciate it. I was thrilled and honored to be part of such a special day!
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    Dana H. Sent on 02/18/2024
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    Brenda and her team were invaluable!

    If you are on the fence thinking you don't need a wedding planner, please let me tell you that you do! First, from the planning piece, Brenda was able to customize a package for us based on our needs. She was invaluable in recommending local vendors, who we would have never known about. She ran the day of the event so smoothly, allowing me to sit back and be a mom and enjoy the event to the fullest. The wedding day was beautiful, and just what we had dreamed of. Alex and Brent recently celebrated their 1-year anniversary, and our family and friends are still talking about how special the event was. Thank you again Brenda!

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you Dana! I appreciate your kind words and am so very grateful to have been part of such a beautiful day for Alex and Brent! It wonderful working with you all!
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    Taylor O. Sent on 01/24/2023
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    Coordinated, Amazing, Worked with our Budget

    Brenda was professional, coordinated, organized, and prepared for our wedding day. She worked with our budget and had inventive ideas.
  • Susan
    Susan Sent on 11/22/2022
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    An amazing experience!

    Brenda was incredibly professional and really took pride in organizing our big day. Truly couldn’t have done it without her!
  • Heather
    Heather Sent on 03/09/2023
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    Great coordinator!

    Brenda Cali was there for me on the day of the event and she was organized, engaged, and in touch with all of the vendors. Highly recommend!

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you Heather! I appreciate your kind words! It was such a joy working with you and being part of such a fun event!
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    Chelsea S. Sent on 10/31/2022
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    Brenda is AMAZING!!

    Brenda is not only incredibly skilled in her craft (and wildly organized!), but she's also such a genuinely kind, caring, and helpful human being. She truly went above and beyond the "call of duty" for me, starting from BEFORE I had even formally hired her! I was in a bit of an emergency circumstance for us, we were wanting/needing to marry quickly after the death of a parent had kind of forced us into not having the emotional capacity to plan a big wedding. By a miracle of God, Brenda came into this hard and emotional time for me and breathed new and beautiful life into helping give me a SENSATIONAL and GORGEOUS micro-wedding, all in less than 30 days! We had to work long-distance (I live about 2.5 hours from where I married) and we had to move quickly on everything... and Brenda was absolutely unbelievable at helping keep me right on track with everything and helping me think through everything. She really pulled SO much of the stress I was feeling off my plate. And she was so patient with every question I had. I really appreciated how she communicates so clearly w/scheduling and timelines, providing prompt answers, etc., she just made literally the world of difference for us to work with! She is the kind of person/Coordinator who, on our very first consult call (before we were even contracted!), generously gave me an hour of her time to ask me questions and then give me all the recommendations she had for me as to how I could pull off my wedding, whether I was moving forward with her or not. There just aren't many people in the world any more who put their heart into giving you the quality level of service and care that Brenda and her team do. I truly cannot recommend Gatherings For Good highly enough. If you are a super organized person, Brenda will be the PERFECT planner for your event who will be two steps ahead of you, keeping you right on track with every detail. Or, if you're like me, and you enjoy more of the creative side of things but struggle with the finite organizational details and can feel easily overwhelmed by all that, then Brenda will be the PERFECT planner for your event because she will lay everything out for you so clearly and cleanly and you'll be astonished how many of your worries and headaches (in planning your event from start to finish) dissipate completely simply by having her help. Gatherings For Good is also very well connected. I could not believe how quickly Brenda was able to help put me in touch with some of the most AMAZING vendors possible who all worked out perfectly. There is honestly no way that my wedding could have been even anywhere close to the magical day that it was without working specifically with Gatherings For Good. It was even through their website blog that I found my phenomenal photographer!! Brenda helped make my dreams come true, and in my case, she even did so with SO much grace, under the most stressful of circumstances with a tight timeline and helping me emotionally while I was a first time bride dealing with complex divorced family dynamics, a unique venue (antique yacht going out on the water), and still grieving the recent death of my dad. I was also SO impressed with the way Brenda handled my less-conventional choices I ended up making along the way (ie: informal officiant; saving money by going with artificial floral, having a non-traditional wedding cake, etc. ) - Brenda is SO supportive of helping make your day exactly the way YOU want it, no matter what that entails or how unconventional certain aspects of achieving that may be! And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the MIRACLE of how well-priced the services Gatherings for Good are!! Even though working with them was the best investment I made in my wedding, I still could not believe how reasonable their pricing is, especially when you start working together and learn how unmatched the quality of service they provide is. If you're looking for a person/team with utmost professionalism, genuine care for you and your event, who is extremely poised and a superstar in her field, then you should seriously contact Brenda immediately! I promise you will not regret it! She was my ideal event (wedding) planning "fairy godmother" and I know she will be for you, too!! And whenever I plan my next big (or even small!) event again, I already know for sure that I will be hiring Gatherings For Good!
  • Divakar
    Divakar P. Sent on 08/14/2022
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    Amazing!!!

    She was amazing and helped us create a comprehensive timeline, alleviated our stress by overseeing all aspects of the wedding day ceremony!
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    Allison Sent on 07/03/2019
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    Amazing wedding coordinator!

    I can't say enough good things about Brenda! She helped make my wedding day run SO smoothly and was readily available to provide consultation and support in the months leading up to it. Brenda is very organized, has great attention to detail, and is so helpful in working with your vendors to make sure everyone is on the same page for the big day. Our wedding day was amazing and stress free thanks to Brenda. I highly recommend her to others looking for a wedding coordinator, she's the best!
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    Shannon Sent on 06/04/2019
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    Exactly what I needed!

    I had a small wedding of only 50-60 guests with a limited so I didn’t originally think I needed a coordinator. This is the best money I spent on the wedding because even though I selected all the vendors and negotiated the contracts myself, Brenda followed up with everyone to make sure everything arrived and was executed the way they where supposed to the day of the wedding. All of the details that I would have not realized to do myself, she took care of.

    With a smaller guest list I didnt want to assign a guest the duty of helping clean up or get us down the aisle or make sure that the cake was cut or champagne was poured at the right time. Brenda made all of that happen so everyone, myself included had a care-free, fun-filled night.

    I also had a few last minute decor items I received that I didn’t know how I wanted to use them and she found the right place for everything. Everything came together beautifully with the beach theme!

    Her organization, responsiveness, check lists and run of show details she provided a month leading up to the wedding where great so I had no surprises during our rehearsal ceremony or the day of my wedding. So glad I choose Brenda and her helpful and sweet assistant Karina for the the best day of my life!
  • Lori
    Lori K. Sent on 06/05/2019
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    Mother of Bride

    I am so happy and grateful that Brenda and her team were available for my daughters wedding. I can’t stress enough how they made the night a dream come true and by allowing our immediate family a stress free event, we all had such a great time! It was the best decision I’ve made in a long time!
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    Danielle F. Sent on 04/22/2023
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    Seamless, meticulous & everything you would hope a coordinator would be!!

    Brenda was so well organized, thought of many things that I did not & was extremely resourceful with a wealth of knowledge! Honestly don’t know what I would have done without her!!

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you for the kind words! It was a beautiful wedding and a pleasure working with you! - Brenda xo
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    Lisa Sent on 01/13/2019
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    Amazing Planner | Planned my wedding cross county

    Brenda and her team went above and beyond in providing Last Stage Planning & Wedding Day Coordination for my wedding.

    In addition to being readily available for consultation, Brenda recommended vendors and went out of her way to advise and answer all my questions. I planned my wedding cross country, sight unseen, Brenda provided exceptional assistance in advising on the local Santa Barbara area (such as hotels, restaurants, dry cleaner, bridal shower venues, dinner/ brunch locations, etc.).

    Also applauds to her associate, Karina, who has the perfect upbeat personality fit to keep things running during my 'braindead- mind going a mile a minute- all over the place' bride moments. My husband also appreciated her large tequila shot pours.

    Definitely an asset to making our wedding so amazing and easy transition given our lack of familiarity with Santa Barbara.

    Thanks again!
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    Gisselle Sent on 11/15/2018
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    Wedding Day in SB!

    I cannot say enough about how amazing Brenda was from very first time I called her all the way up to the wedding. She is very helpful, has tons of suggestions, she is SUPER organized, attentive to details and gets back to you right away. She is also very good at problem solving; we ran into a few issues (not on her part) that were very stressful but she was there all the way and we were able to solve the problem really quick. I also really loved the fact that you are able to choose a package at a very affordable price and get a lot of help which I noticed other companies charge an arm and a leg for the help she gives. If you are lost, like me when it comes to planning an event, she is your gal.

    The day of my wedding was perfect. My husband I did not stress one bit because Brenda and her amazing team took care of everything. All we had to worry about was mingle and enjoy our day. We literally did not stress that day.

    I highly recommend Brenda (Gatherings for Good) for any event. She is hands down the best.
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    Melanie Sent on 12/19/2016
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    I had a lot of DIY elements and Brenda and her Assistant were very helpful about placing things where they were supposed to go. She was very responsive, flexible and willing to help and give suggestions. Everything stayed on schedule and she was on top of everything. I would recommend Gatherings for Good for your wedding in Santa Barbara.
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    Matthew Sent on 12/31/2016
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    It was really easy to work with Brenda and her team and it definitely made our wedding day run so much smoother. We couldn't have been more pleased with how everything turned out.
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    Jabrielle Sent on 09/19/2016
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    Being active duty military air force stationed overseas (japan) and a single parent and then my fiancée (at the time) is a full time nursing student in California, planning for a wedding is very challenging. We knew we needed a lot of help especially the day of the wedding. We found Brenda from Gatherings for Good and the reviews really sounded promising. first, the website provided very detailed description of what services you're paying for. After talking to her on the phone describing to her our challenges, I didn't expect she'll take the job. She kept us on track and was very quick on replying to our e-mails. When we finally met her (just 2 weeks before the wedding), we went over at the venue and talked about the timeline of the wedding. Brenda is very detail-oriented which is an asset for this once in a lifetime event. She was also there on our rehearsal. On the wedding day, while the bridal party was getting ready, Brenda picked up all our décor. When I came to the church, I saw everything and it was everything that I envisioned as far as the arrangement of the décor I gave her. It was the same at the reception. She was there with another staff, Karina, and they kept us on schedule on everything. They stayed there until the end to let us know that all our stuff has been packed up and delivered to our hotel room. We didn't have to do anything. We were able to spend our valuable time having fun with our loved ones. I definitely absolutely recommend this vendor. Also, same sex friendly. Top of the line service.
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    Monica Sent on 10/09/2016
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    Gatherings for Good truly helped to make our wedding seamless and unforgettable! I started working with Brenda over 6 months before our July wedding, and she was excellent about proactively checking in to make sure we were on track. She was always willing to talk through process and vendors with us, which was so helpful as we were planning our wedding remotely. Her vendor recommendations also saved us significant time, and gave us a lot of peace of mind since we knew she had worked with them.

    We had a large backyard wedding on a private ranch, which presented a lot of logistics to figure out and a whole lot of day-of coordination. Brenda and her team were absolute CHAMPS in figuring out process, directing other staff, and making the wedding even more beautiful than I ever imagined in my dreams. They came in 3 hours before things started and totally transformed the reception area into the most beautiful space - it really wowed me. They kept the whole night on track and on time as well.

    We would highly recommend Brenda and her team to anyone planning a wedding. If they can handle all of the curveballs we presented, they can handle anything! And make it look easy!
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    Michelle Sent on 06/25/2023
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    Would totally recommend

    Fabulous experience with Brenda and team - every detail was handled! True professionals!

    Gatherings for Good's reply:

    Thank you Michelle! We truly appreciate your kind words! We love working with you as well and were so thrilled to be part of your special day. xo
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