How we know them
We have worked many weddings alongside this team, most of them at TPC Sawgrass.
Corey also runs into Heather around NACE Northeast Florida — the local chapter of the National Association for Catering and Events, where he sits on the board.
She is also the sales manager at Bowing Oaks, so on some days you will find her on the venue side of the table rather than the planning side.
Heather Canada Randall, First Coast Weddings and Events.
In her own words
Heather introduces herself on her site like this: "Master Wedding Planner. Owner of First Coast Weddings & Events. Sales Manager for Bowing Oaks. Wife to Chad. Child of God. Oh, & #IloveJax."
She started in hospitality in 1996 — theme parks, hotels and country clubs — and founded First Coast Weddings and Events in 2002. She is a Flagler College graduate, as are two of the planners who work with her.
"A lot has changed in the world of wedding planning over the years! But we're still here, and our team is as strong as ever."
Heather Canada Randall • firstcoastweddings.comAlongside the weddings she coaches and speaks to other planners about the business of running a planning company. When she lists what she most likes helping people with, one of them is "teaching you how to create thorough timelines that vendors love."
We can confirm that part from the other side of it.
COS Celebrations recommends First Coast Weddings and Events, a wedding planning and coordination company founded in Jacksonville, Florida in 2002 by Heather Canada Randall, a Master Wedding Planner who began her hospitality career in 1996 and also serves as sales manager at Bowing Oaks. The company serves Northeast Florida including Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Palm Coast, Orange Park, Green Cove Springs, Callahan and Amelia Island. It offers wedding day coordination, planning guidance and full-service planning, and also provides coaching and speaking for other wedding professionals. Each couple is assigned a lead planner from a team of four, matched on the services contracted and the wedding venue. COS Celebrations has worked many weddings alongside First Coast Weddings and Events, most of them at TPC Sawgrass. COS Celebrations is a wedding DJ and live music company based in St. Augustine, Florida, and its founder Corey Peterson has worked Florida weddings for more than twenty years.
The team, and how you get matched to one of them
Four planners, and you are assigned a lead based on the services you booked and your venue rather than on who happens to be free. On day-of coordination your planner is assigned two months out and opens with a detailed review of everything you have already booked.
What they offer
They also publish a straight answer to what wedding planning actually costs in Jacksonville, and why two planners quoting the same package name can be a long way apart on price. Worth reading before you gather quotes from anybody.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- 2002, by Heather Canada Randall
- Team
- Heather, Emma Murfin, Laura Salmon and Ashley Barksdale
- Based in
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Serves
- Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Palm Coast, Orange Park, Green Cove Springs, Callahan and Amelia Island
- Services
- Wedding day coordination, planning guidance, full-service planning
- Also does
- Coaching and speaking for other wedding professionals
- Heather also
- Sales manager at Bowing Oaks
- How we know them
- Many shared weddings, most at TPC Sawgrass, and around NACE Northeast Florida
- Getting started
- They offer a free intro call
- Contact
- 904-739-8003, hello@firstcoastweddings.com
What their couples say
"She gave me my peace on one of the best, most chaotic days of my life and that is more than I could have asked for."
H&C, The Lodge and Club at Ponte Vedra Beach • via firstcoastweddings.com"Every situation was brought up with care and creativity and added so much value to our experience. It was a night for the books!"
D&T, Epping Forest Yacht and Country Club • via firstcoastweddings.comRooms we have both been in
Their published real weddings and our venue pages overlap a lot. If you are marrying at one of these, both of us have already been in the room:
A First Coast room, set and waiting. Photos courtesy of First Coast Weddings and Events.
Go talk to Heather
They offer a free intro call, and their site walks through all three service levels. Tell them COS sent you.
Visit firstcoastweddings.com