Camp Ocean Pines Wedding | Cambria Wedding Coordinator | Ally & Ben

When Ally’s mom inquired about our services for her daughter’s wedding, we could not have been more excited to be a part of their special day! Ally and Ben met at a festival for fire performers and have been performing together ever since! They were SO sweet, and by the end of their wedding, we felt as if we were part of the family!

Their theme was a mixture between festival and summer camp, which brought out an element of fun and silliness to the day. The flower guys were AMAZING and we wished that they could be at every wedding! They not only did a flower tossing performance during the ceremony, but also did an encore during the reception, which was definitely a highlight of the night. The reception also included a doughnut wall, a clothespin game with all the guests (and us), hot chocolate machine, and a glow stick dance party! What more could you want?!? Well, the couple’s first dance was a fire dance and they mesmerized us all with their fire spinning! We loved every bit of the day!

Special Thanks to These Amazing Vendors: Photography: True Color Photos
Videography: Wirth Photography
Rentals: All About Events
Photo Booth: The 805 Booth Catering: Camp Ocean Pines
Dessert: Twisted & Glazed
Bar & Beverage: Bottles & Ice
DJ/Emcee/Lighting: Epic Entertainment
Beauty: To Have & To Hold Bridal Salon
Bride and Bridesmaids Fashion: Janene’s Bridal
Venue: Camp Ocean Pines
Wedding Management: Amanda Holder Events

Love Letter: “Oh my goodness Amanda! You and your team are amazing. I loved talking to your mom – she is so sweet. Hannah kept us on-task like no other (in the nicest way), which was a major challenge for my family. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. You kept us on-track and made it possible for us not to worry about anything and to enjoy every minute. You far exceeded my expectations. Thank you for your magic!“ –Linda, Mother of the Bride.

“You and your crew were SO incredible in every way. Thank you so so so so so much for everything. You all rolled with the punches (and my confusion about timing every step of the way, haha) with so much grace and such a great sense of humor. You really made Ben, our guests, and me feel special and supported throughout the weekend (and you even laughed at my dumb jokes!). The vendors we worked with all said that you were the best and they were certainly right! The wedding would not have happened without your care and attention, thanks again! You’re all part of the family now so if you’re ever in the Bay Area please let me get you coffee or something. Thanks again!” – Ally & Ben, Bride and Groom.

Love Letter: “We laughed, we cried, and most importantly we didn’t have to worry about any of the coordination details! When my mom hired Amanda and her team, every vendor we spoke to, without prompting, enthusiastically told us that we made a good choice and that Amanda was THE BEST. They were certainly right! Amanda scheduled a virtual meeting with us right away to discuss our vision and what we’d need help with, and right from the get-go she was professional, organized, kind, and totally on-board with our nontraditional shenanigan-filled ideas. Over the course of the next two months, her and her amazing team gently pushed us to organize our thoughts and ideas as well as the plans we had already made, to make arrangements for the things we had not figured out yet, and to help us make our dreams a beautiful reality, all while respecting and understanding how frazzled and overworked we were.

The weekend of the event finally rolled around, and I met the rest of Amanda’s team on-site the night of the rehearsal. Not only were they all some of the nicest people I’ve ever met, but they worked like a well-tuned machine. By the end of the rehearsal I felt confident that this was all going to work- we were in good hands! They stayed on-site for a while longer on Friday, which was a godsend because I was still so clueless about everything and every time someone asked me a question I just directed them to the team and knew it would get handled. I chatted with most of the team members one on one and they were the kind of people who I would have invited to the wedding even if they weren’t coordinators. They made my family, my husband, his family, and our friends feel so supported and cared for!

When I woke up on Saturday late morning, Amanda’s team was already on-site and in action. As I got my makeup done, the team checked in on me and the other guests who got ready with me and buzzed around the venue getting things done and coordinating other vendors. The first time I peeked outside at the ceremony space, I was floored. It was beyond gorgeous and so perfect that I couldn’t keep myself from happy crying. Not once did I have to interrupt my emotions to deal with logistics.

The ceremony itself was overwhelmingly beautiful and my heart aches knowing that I can’t live in that exact hour for the rest of my life. Everything went off without a hitch thanks to the team, and really they were just getting started. As soon as they dismissed the guests to the reception hall, they brought my husband and me drinks, water, and tissues (we needed those by a huge degree, haha). They kept us on-time for photos, led us to the entrance hall, and even had plates of dinner already set out for us when we got there. With the second drink-refresh, I started to feel like the president being attended to by a team of loyal secret-service agents, it was pretty surreal and I might have let it get to my head a little bit.

Over the rest of the night they continued to hold the entire event down while still having fun and participating in our silly nonsense and party-games. The first dance was, as you can guess, a first fire dance, and both my husband and I had to change into different outfits beforehand. Hannah, one of Amanda’s team members, drove me up to the on-site cabins and helped me change, kept me from getting too distracted, and drove me back down to the reception hall.

When it was time to say goodbye to Amanda and the crew, I felt a genuine pang of sadness in my heart. Everyone was beyond lovely and I just wanted to hang out with them longer, even if they weren’t bringing me drinks! Their service was compassionate, personal, warm, gentle, organized, professional, nonjudgmental, and incredibly effective. Throughout the whole weekend, I was able to focus on the important stuff while they handled all of the finer details AND made me feel so so special.

My husband, our families, our friends, and me were able to have the most hilarious, fun, carefree, and beautifully spiritually important time of our lives because of Amanda and her team. They were the integral piece in bringing our vision to life and I cannot thank them (or my mom!) enough for making it happen. I told all of them that they’re part of my family now and I will absolutely treat them to coffee or a meal if they’re ever in my neck of the woods.

So the ultimate questions are: Is Amanda Holder Events “THE BEST?”? Do they live up to the hype?? The answer is the most resounding “yes” ever spoken and I’d give them 100 out of 5 stars in every category if possible. I highly recommend Amanda to anyone looking for a great wedding coordinator, especially if your ceremony is quirky and nontraditional like mine. While I’ve never worked with a wedding coordinator prior to this, I can confidently say that we happened to stumble across the best people for the job, and our magical weekend would not have been possible without them.” – Ally & Ben, Bride and Groom.