First Coast Weddings and Events is a Jacksonville planning company founded by Heather Canada Randall in 2002. Four planners on the team, covering Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Palm Coast, Orange Park, Green Cove Springs, Callahan and Amelia Island.
Heather Canada Randall. Photo courtesy of First Coast Weddings and Events.
Who they are
Heather describes herself as a Master Wedding Planner, owner of First Coast, and sales manager at Bowing Oaks. She started in hospitality in 1996 - theme parks, hotels and country clubs - and started the company in 2002.
She also coaches and speaks to other wedding planners about running a planning business. One of the things she lists as a favourite is teaching people how to build thorough timelines that vendors love. As one of the vendors on the receiving end of those timelines, we will vouch for that.
Emma Murfin joined in 2006, Laura Salmon in 2017, and Ashley Barksdale brings fourteen years of planning in North Florida. You get assigned a lead planner based on the services you book and your venue, rather than on who is free.
The three levels they offer
Pick the tier first
- Wedding day coordination
- You plan it, they run it. Your planner is assigned two months out and starts with a detailed review of everything you have booked. Usually the right starting point if the budget is tight.
- Planning guidance
- You have started and want professional help refining the rest and making sure it holds together
- Full-service planning
- Start to finish, for people who would rather not handle the details themselves
They publish a plain-English article on what wedding planning actually costs in Jacksonville, and why two planners quoting the same package name can be a long way apart. Read that, then ask them for a number for your date and guest count.
Worth asking your venue first
Most venues include a coordinator, and it is worth finding out exactly what that person does and does not cover before you price anything else. Some venues run a genuinely full planning service; plenty look after the building and the catering timings and nothing else. That one question tells you whether you need to buy coordination at all.
What their couples say
"I would recommend First Coast Weddings and Events to every bride getting married. 10/10 recommend!"
S&R, Timuquana Country Club, via firstcoastweddings.com
"We would have never been able to pull off this wedding without you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for creating a once in a lifetime wedding."
H&B, Jacksonville Golf and Country Club, via firstcoastweddings.com
First Coast Weddings and Events • Jacksonville, serving Northeast Florida • firstcoastweddings.com • 904-739-8003 • they offer a free intro call
Tell them AE sent you.