As a wedding photographer, I work with a lot of different wedding planners, and they can truly make or break your experience. Kaci was an absolute DREAM and she ran everything so smoothly. She has an incredible personality that made working with her a joy! We had so much fun and she totally killed it. Her time management skills and organization are so on point. You must hire her!

Covid bride here! And let me begin by saying, boy are we glad we had Kaci and her XOXO team, because we certainly didn't think we'd be planning our wedding right before a PANDEMIC brought everything to a screeching halt! Before the pandemic, Kaci answered every question we could possibly think of with great advice and personal experience. We were already thrilled to have her on board, and felt we had made the right decision in choosing her to guide us through our special day. Once the pandemic hit, she was on top of getting all of our vendors rescheduled especially our venue who wasn't working with us at all. But Kaci persisted and finally got them to agree to the new date we wanted, and we were thrilled! On our wedding day, she started at 9am decorating the venue with all the decor we bought, stringing white paper picado flags (they looked stunning!) on the string lights in the reception area, prepping the bride and groom rooms, and coordinating with all the vendors. Her energy, opti... Read moremistic attitude, and smile are infectious and gives you a sense of calm and relief that everything will go swimmingly, and sure enough our day went better than we had imagined. She's quick to respond to emails, calls and texts and has great recommendations. Even though she has other clients she is working with, she always made us feel special like we were the most important. This lovely lady seriously is a super woman, and you would be lucky to have her coordinate your special day too. I also want to give a shout out to Kaci's assistants who made our day of extra special as well, Natalie & Andrea. They were so sweet and worked so hard. We really had our dream wedding and the memories will stay with us forever. XOXO, Aletia

I am beyond thankful for Kaci and her team from XOXO! My husband and I had to reschedule our wedding 4x due to COVID and Kaci was nothing but supportive throughout the process. From our first meeting with Kaci to our last, she was funny, organized, flexible, thorough, and readily available to answer all our questions. You can immediately tell Kaci has a wealth of resources and venues/vendors she has worked with closely and finding amazing vendors was easy with her help! I can't imagine working with anyone better. When the wedding day finally came, everything went perfectly and I have no doubt it's because Kaci was making sure everything was on track. After working with Kaci for so long, we'll truly miss her and our meetings together! If you're looking to hire a wedding planner, I hope you look no further - Kaci and the team at XOXO are it!

XOXO Weddings was incredible from start to finish! I had the privilege to work with Kaci from XOXO Weddings. I interviewed a handful of coordinators, but Kaci was different. She worked with me not for me, which I appreciated being a bride who wanted my fairy tale wedding to come to life. I wanted to be apart of my wedding planning but be informed along the way. From day one Kaci was there to lead me through the process on how to plan a wedding and offer her expertise along the way. She was prompt and professional through the entire process. Kaci was able to see my vision and bring it to life. She worked with the many vendors we had to coordinate meeting and was able to make my life so easy. Even with COVID, Kaci was prompt and took care of all the hassle of changes. I could not have done this wedding without Kaci and XOXO Wedding staff! Kaci is truly special and I couldn’t be happier with having her plan our special day!! I HIGHLY recommend XOXO Weddings and Kaci!!!

When my now husband proposed in 2019, my mom gave me two days to celebrate before she informed me that she had already found my wedding planner months ago and that her name was Kaci Mallat (now Kaci Johnson) from XOXO weddings. At first, I thought a wedding planner was an unnecessary luxury, an extravagance for the uberwealthy. A year and a half, a global pandemic, and a wedding later (and in the process of planning the post-COVID Part II), and I can tell you that I was wrong, and I will be thanking my mother for the rest of time (as one should) for finding Kaci for us. Kaci Johnson is a co-founder and owner of XOXO, so when I write about her personally, I write about XOXO as a company by default. Our initial meeting with Kaci was two hours in a local café. I am an educator and appreciate both organization and thoroughness, and Kaci checked off those boxes immediately with her binders, checklists, and seemingly boundless wealth of information on local vendors (not being from Calif... Read moreornia originally, this was a huge bonus). We knew she was the person we wanted responsible for making our vision into a reality. Now, I’d like to split the next part of this review into two parts: pre-COVID and during COVID. Pre-COVID, Kaci continued to dazzle us with her organization and savvy in this field about which we knew absolutely nothing. I could write a novel about how wonderful Kaci is, but to summarize, her magic is that she is able to make it seem like you are her only client. I know that sounds silly—of course she must have other clients—but it’s uncanny, people! She is so incredibly responsive and has never, to this day, mixed up anything having to do with our wedding with any other couple. She makes you feel like yours is the only wedding she is working on, and I still have a hard time believing she has more than one wedding on her caseload. I know she does, but I still can’t conceptualize that other couples exist because she must sleep, right? She can’t possible devote so much time and effort to us and have the time to do the same for other people, right? Well, apparently she can because she does. Ok, let’s fast forward to COVID, which turned our 300-person dream vision upside-down just two months before our date. I am not ashamed to say that I cried on a Zoom call due to being stressed, overwhelmed, confused, and uncertain of how—and if—we would be able to pull this off. Turns out “we” is too many people. Kaci Johnson pulled it off. In her Kaci way—accessible, responsive, compassionate, and determined—she worked with us to achieve our two primary goals: to be married on our original date, and host an intimate civil ceremony that was COVID conscious. The day of the wedding was seamless. Kaci and her assistant left nothing to chance and every detail was immaculately planned and presented. I, as the bride and as an individual prone to anxiety, was completely calm because I had nothing to be stressed about. And I don’t mean that as a cliché…I literally mean there was nothing for me to be stressed about and I was able to focus on marrying my husband after the most daunting, trying year of our lives. If I wrote any more, I don’t think anyone would read it because we’re all busy people, yeah? But let me leave you with a few takeaways, a TL;DR, if you will: 1. My wedding would not have happened were it not for Kaci Johnson and XOXO weddings. 2. My husband, my family, and I enjoyed working with Kaci so much that we hired her again for our big, traditional, Catholic wedding/anniversary party next spring. We’ve also become friends with Kaci and her husband and are planning on having them over for dinner imminently. 3. XOXO weddings personalizes and individualizes the wedding planning experience to the specific couple to the point that you feel like you’re the only couple in the world. 4. You don’t need a photo booth. You don’t need expensive gifts for your wedding party. You DO need a wedding planner. More specifically, you need XOXO weddings. You can thank me later, like I’ll be thanking my mom literally forever.

XOXO Weddings and Kaci Johnson is absolutely the BEST. I had already followed them on Instagram for years, so when my husband proposed, I instantly reached out to them. From the first time I met Kaci I knew that we would work great together. She is so sweet, attentive, and creative. She listened to all my ideas and thoughts and helped me organize everything I needed. We actually had the majority of my vendors booked in just two months! Then Covid hit and everything changed. Kaci was there for me every step of the way. Since my original wedding was going to be indoors, she helped me cancel that and plan a whole new wedding that would take place outside. It was a very stressful time and she was always available to answer my questions, listen as I vented, and made sure my husband and I were able to get everything we wanted. THEN the week of our wedding, the caterer and venue cancelled due to Covid. I still wanted to find a way to make our wedding happen, even if it was going to be very... Read more very small. Kaci helped me plan this one as well, helping me find the best taco truck so that our families could eat, organizing new tables, chairs, decorations, etc. In just a matter of days Kaci was able to create something absolutely beautiful for us. It wasn't the big wedding we had originally envisioned, but she found a way to take our ideas and still bring them to life. In the end, Kaci helped me plan THREE different weddings in the span of a year. I am so incredibly grateful for everything she did to make our special day possible! She is absolutely the BEST and I can't recommend her enough!

First off, this is long overdue. When a friend in my circle opted out of coordinating my wedding 3 months prior, I realize that the only resort was to hire someone who solely focuses on weddings professionally. Granted, this was during the height of the insane Covid-19 pandemic in Los Angeles County, where couples were canceling and rescheduling their weddings left and right. I met up with one of the co-owners Kaci through a Zoom meeting. As it would turn out, she lived in very close proximity to me, and even in the same city as my fiancé. I saw her various option plans that XOXO weddings offered, chatted with Kaci a bit, got a feel as to what could and could not be collaborated leading up to and on our wedding date, and how we can proceed to execute. Kaci referred to me numerous vendors, kept me centered, and really thought of every little detail. So, due to the pandemic everything really changed gears about a month prior. My parish still wasn’t open for indoor weddings. So, my... Read more husband and I opted for two ceremonies last minute in collaboration with my church. One simple one there to appease my mother and have it acknowledged through my religion the day prior. Besides, they were already managing my wedding license. Looking back, things may have not been exactly how I wanted it when I initially planned it, but it really all fell into place the way it needed to. Everyone who was supposed to be there was, and even with all the precautions in place, give or take it was a pretty normal wedding with a decent turnout. No ridiculous super spreader scenarios here! So now, we move on to how the wedding really went. I was fortunate to work with Kaci and other vendors who wanted to work during this time, while also practicing all the proper safety precautions. We ended up hiring a man who not only officiated Filipino weddings, but had a business in all types of weddings in general that happened to be available. That being said, the traditional religious ceremonies were out the door since we already had our church wedding. He also had a background in stand-up. So, our ceremony was different and fun, and the pressure was off being any kind of denomination. The traditions that Filipinos have in their weddings were incorporated in for sure, but with a twist of modern and unique rituals that made it our own during this time, i.e., we had our rings blessed with “Holy Sanitizer” - LOL. Our wedding reception location also had a beautiful garden especially for weddings, which was available that day right before our scheduled reception. So, the wedding that was witnessed by all, with the entire court and entourage intact, was held there. My friend who I wanted to DJ my wedding had to also back out, so ended up hiring one who actually does this on the side and never stopped. From how to cut the wedding cake, to passing out to all the vendors their well-deserved tips, to the seating arrangements, to putting our belongings in our vehicle…Kaci did it all or managed it beautifully and efficiently. Kaci also knew when to politely tell me to simply exhale and let go, and be the bride I needed to be that day. Also, she was on standby to step in just in case she needed to handle any unruly family or drunken friends, which fortunately was not needed. I think most brides, and their mothers for their daughters when applicable, envision how their wedding is going to turn out. It’s true when they say the day goes by extremely fast. I definitely chose correctly with XOXO weddings, and it wouldn’t have been as successful without Kaci taking the wheel. I researched so much that it’s hard to say how I stumbled upon them, but I was the lucky one. I will say that Kaci is 100% a pro at this. She knows weddings. Regardless of the kind of wedding you have, she’ll orchestrate alongside the other vendors to make it happen with ease. She’ll be honest with you by giving you her input on how things will probably really be, rather than what you had in your mind. From there, realistic and informed decisions will be made. Her day of assistant was an absolute gem. And now that we are reaching a sense of normalcy, I highly recommend XOXO weddings. If you’re in Southern California, then definitely ask for Kaci. If not her, then her trusted and trained professionals that she has groomed to maintain the consistency upholding the reputation of her company on the Pacific Coast Side.

I am so glad we decided to use Kaci as our wedding coordinator. She has gone above and beyond my expectations. The first time we met I made my decision to book her, I didn't even need to talk to any other coordinators. You can tell how much Kaci believes in this job and the amount of love she puts into her work. Kaci has held my hand through meltdowns with covid. We had to postpone our wedding and I was going to lose my mind. Kaci took over EVERYTHING for me with ease and grace. I can not express enough how grateful I am for Kaci. I have tears in my eyes writing this, it's not often you find someone like this and she is truly a gem.

Hiring Alison from XOXO was hands down the #1 best decision I could have made for our wedding. I did countless research on various planners, and ended up with XOXO, and boy am I happy I did. Worth every penny and then some. Such a small blimp of money compared to the incredible amounts of value added to the most important day you will share with your partner, beyond having babies! Alison went above and beyond- always very responsive, patient, and fun and collaborative to communicate with. Before Covid, I was already thrilled with everything, and then layer on the complexity of planning a wedding during the C-19 world, and her expertise and skills were the gifts that kept on giving 10x over. She was always on top of what regulations we had or should comply with, and always communicated how we would need to adapt if needed. Everything leading up to the wedding was seamless- she was patient with me after many changes to vendors and me wanting to find the perfect fit for everyt... Read morehing, if something didn’t feel right, she never pressured me in one direction, but always gave me the peaceful and reassuring “we have time” reply, even when I didn’t find a hair/makeup person I was 100% sure about a month prior to the day, she kept reassume we would find the one and make it work, and would keep going until I felt comfortable with the choice. She never pressured me into spending more than I wanted, and if I questioned the cost of a vendor, she never made me feel stupid or out of place for checking to see if it was worth it. From handling late night calls with us planning from Seattle, to on the day of managing unplanned circumstances and even dismissing a crazy wedding crasher- she handled everything and then some and I didn’t have to lift one finger or even know or be concerned with half the things that went on. Even after the wedding, she is still helping manage vendors late and unexpected invoices- she was an is a ROCKSTAR, if I ever plan any other large scale events, XOXO and Alison will be my go to, without a doubt. Choose them and it will be the best decision, beyond marrying your partner ;)

Allison was phenomenal! She was such a joy to work with and always available when we needed her help. She made us feel like we were her only client when I'm sure we weren't. Not only was she irreplaceable planning for the wedding (during the uncertainty with covid, no less) but the day of she was also exceptional. There were set backs through the morning with bridesmaids arriving late, or the bride's father not having his suit, and she took it in stride and kept everything moving flawlessly. We even had a wedding crasher that she handled with grace. ALLISON IS AMAZING.

XOXO made our day so smooth. We had heard horror stories from other couples about their weddings without a planner. They spent more time running around keeping everything together than enjoying their day. Not us. From start to finish XOXO made sure that everything was just handled. No stress on our part of contract negotiations, no terror of forgetting setup items, no questions on what was or was not needed. They provided the best possible experience we could have asked for from our wedding. Of special note were Melissa and Kaci. Melissa was our planner leading up to the event. One thing you don't know when you are planning a wedding is what all you don't know. Simple things like "did the venue put everything in the contract" and "who is in charge of picking up XYZ." Melissa was on it. From minute one she had our folder in hand and had us on the right track. Kaci was our coordinator the day of. This woman is pure efficiency, and not a single moment went by that everything wasn't just t... Read moreaken care of. She was on it before we even knew it was needed. These two women are amazing and I will always recommend them to anyone getting married.

Working with XOXO Weddings was a dream. Kaci was immensely helpful throughout our planning process and no question was too big or small for her! She truly took the time to get to know what we were looking for and her coordination made our planning and our wedding the best day of our lives even when the groom had the flu last minute. I HIGHLY recommend working with XOXO for your wedding!

Seven weeks post wedding and one thing remains abundantly clear to me - there is no better wedding planning team than XOXO Weddings. The XOXO team stood out to me from the start. Four months following our engagement, my now husband and I were at a loss for where to hold our wedding celebration. Our budget was somewhat tight and we had a 200+ person guest list. Our families could not agree on a date or a location, but one thing was certain - we would not be hiring a wedding planner and it would be on me, the bride, to plan and execute. We got engaged in January 2019 and by the following April I was feeling fairly hopeless. Then I had an idea - why not get married at my husband's sprawling family home? Everyone was on board for this idea - it seemed budget friendly, could accommodate the extensive guest lists, and would be absolutely beautiful. Only problem, I had no idea how to plan an at-home wedding. I began researching wedding planners, figuring we could trade a venue fe... Read moree for a wedding planner fee. XOXO Weddings, with their hundreds of rave reviews, caught my eye immediately. I submitted my request for a consultation and was contacted quickly by Kelly. Amid numerous conversations with potential planners (I interviewed about five or six companies total) Kelly stood out like a gem. Our initial conversation was professional, but I was immediately at ease with her. In addition to logistics, she asked intimate questions about my relationship with my now husband, as if she was genuinely trying to get to know us as a couple. Looking back, I think this is essential when trusting someone to execute your wedding vision. After hanging up with Kelly, I immediately told my fiancé and my mom I found the perfect planner. My mom asked about her experience with at-home weddings, and I realized I was so taken with Kelly that I had completely forgotten to ask. I reached back out to Kelly and sheepishly admitted that the most essential question had slipped my mind. I was then so impressed by her response that the deal was sealed immediately. She told me that while she did not have first-hand experience planning at-home weddings, she was looping in Kaci, a co-owner of the company, who had extensive experience with weddings at personal residences. I was then told that Kaci would be taking over our planning process and would be training Kelly as we go. At no point did the XOXO team try and put me in the hands of someone who did not have the experience that suited my specific needs. I didn't even voice a concern, just posed a question, and they were so quick to have the ideal solution! This set the tone for the following eight months of working together, as our wedding took place the following January. Now that I've gotten the lengthy preamble out of the way, I have to rave about Kaci. From the get-go, my now father-in-law was skeptical about hiring a wedding planner. He is a research and numbers guy, and was convinced that he could find better deals and execute more lucrative negotiations than she could. He was wrong. Every time he presented a deal, Kaci found one better. She skillfully kept us on budget without compromising quality and vision (our wedding was more stunning than I could have imagined and I have the pictures and rave reviews from guests to prove it). Every vendor she suggested was incredible (I cannot emphasize this enough)! Friends with their own wedding planners went with our vendor recommendations because Kaci's were just that much more cost effective and wonderful to work with. Kaci just has the best connections - there's no other way to say it. The next reason you should go with Kaci, or any member of the XOXO team, is difficult to put into words. Anyone planning a wedding knows that emotions run high. Friends and members of your family that you did not expect to get emotional or sensitive are suddenly voicing opinions and grievances. If you are planning a wedding and have not yet hit this stage, don't worry, you will. Throughout our planning process, Kaci acted as our barrier, our mediator. She smoothed things over between our sets of parents, between us and our parents, and at times, between us, the couple. Kaci acted as our confidant and our advocate. She made us feel respected and heard. She reminded our families that she was planning our wedding, not our parents weddings. She took care of absolutely everything. Three weeks following our wedding, I was a bridesmaid in a close friend's wedding. The contrast between that, and my own experience as the bride, could not have been greater. On my friend's wedding day, I watched her write checks to vendors, calculate and doll out tips, and get calls about various mishaps. Her wedding planner popped in every so often, but for the most part was nowhere to be found. On my wedding day, if (and when) plans went awry, I was blissfully unaware. Final payments had been made the week before the wedding, tips had been calculated and distributed in advance, and Kaci gave our wedding party specific instructions to go to her, not us, should anything arise. On our wedding day, my husband and I were able to be present because we knew we were in excellent, capable hands. This is a gift we will never be able to repay to Kaci and her team.

My wife and I run out of adjectives to describe what a wonderful experience we had with Tanya at XOXO Weddings. She was so cool and kind and reassuring and helpful. We hired her as a ‘month-of’ coordinator, so we met with her a couple times before, and I can’t tell you how amazing it was to hand things off to her the week of the wedding. And most important, of course, was the job she did on the day-of, helping us pull off the wedding without a hitch. She kept everything on track and we didn’t worry about a thing. Our wedding day was the opposite of stressful, and that was in large part thanks to her. So check out XOXO, and ask for Tanya Boyd - although I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if everyone there was also top-notch.