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Chelsea Brandau

Owner, Lead Event Planner

About Us

Oasis Destination Weddings is locally owned and operated right here in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.  My goal as a local wedding coordinator is to make certain everything runs smoothly on your special day, while you and your loved ones are doing nothing more than relaxing in paradise and enjoying the celebration.  I can help guide you through the planning process with an insider's knowledge of all that the beautiful Central Pacific region of Costa Rica has to offer.  I love what I do and I hope to share the experience of planning your wedding with you. 

 

But how did I get here?  Good question - and sometimes I can't believe I really get to live in this awesome place and do this cool job.  

I have a bit of an odd path that I've followed to get here.  I grew up in a small town in upstate NY, then moved to the Boston area for work after college, and eventually ended up here in Costa Rica more than a decade ago.  So, I tell people I started out a country mouse, then turned city mouse, and ended up a jungle mouse, with no plans to go back!  

While still in the States, I worked as a pastry chef in the Boston area for a variety of places - cake shops, restaurants, ice cream parlours.  And before that, I actually worked as a civil engineer for many years... so a rather non-traditional path to wedding planning, but lots of well rounded skills to get the job done - from large-scale project management, to planning and design of decorative items, to making sure the numbers will work!  

I'm ready to help you plan your big day and know I can work with you to create the wedding of your dreams.  Whether it's big and extravagant or small, simple, and intimate - we'll work together to get it planned just right and then executed perfectly.

 

But don't take my word for it - see what some of our clients have had to say!

Love Letters

Chelsea,

My goodness - what would we do without you!?  Thank you so much for being a critical part of making our special day come together.  Everything was beautiful and we want to thank you for the respect, patience, counsel, and advice you gave us throughout the planning process.  You are a joy to work with and kept our confidence at a high level the whole time!  All of the best to you!

Lindsey & Andrew

 

 

Hi Chelsea! 

I hope you’re doing well since we last saw you in Costa Rica for Sam & Dan’s wedding! Since I have been back home in Florida, I’ve had time to reflect on our time and it always brings a smile to my face. I had never attended a destination wedding before and I was blown away by what a amazing experience this was. Every minute of our entire trip was such a great experience and will be remembered forever. Countless thoughtful details and planning created such a joyful and loving event that I thoroughly enjoyed, without being distracted with things to do. I wanted to thank you for all your terrific work coordinating the wedding events and tell you how much it was truely appreciated! 


Most sincere thanks, 
Becky (mother of the bride)

 

 

Hi Chelsea,

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all you did behind the scenes to make our wedding day a memorable one.  I can't believe it has been a week already!  We are safely back in snow covered Canada missing the beautiful country you call home. Our wedding was drought with challenges but in the end, it was exactly what we wanted.  Ana was the exact right officiant for us and you were the planner that pulled my vision, DIY projects and location into a cohesive reality that honestly made it all worthwhile.  I am grateful that our paths crossed and really hope that they will again.  If you're ever in Nova Scotia let me know...we can share some blueberry hooch over a bonfire at the beach.

 

Pura Vida!

Bernadette & Steven

 

 

If you’re planning a wedding from abroad, I adamantly recommend not doing it alone and instead hiring Chelsea Brandau. Chelsea saved my husband and I an enormous amount of time, stress and money. Now that our wedding is complete with literally no issues (which many people can’t say), I truly don’t know what I would have done if we hadn’t hired her. I know if we didn’t have her help throughout the planning and execution of our wedding we would have been significantly more stressed, completely disorganized and paying much more for the vendors and elements we needed.

 

Chelsea is responsive, trustworthy, patient, and diligent. My husband and I hired Chelsea about 8 months before our wedding and she helped us through the entire process. We briefly considered going without a wedding planner and I’m forever grateful we didn’t go that route. Many brides decide to hire a planner for just the day of the ceremony, which is helpful, but I’m so glad I hired Chelsea to help with the entire process. I quickly learned that connecting with vendors directly was nearly impossible abroad and having her assistance was not only helpful, but also necessary. She helped coordinate every detail, from connecting with the restaurant owner for our rehearsal dinner, to how to display our seating chart, and truly every detail with the ceremony, reception, guests and weekend events in between.

 

Planning a wedding is stressful. Hiring a wedding planner is an excellent investment in wedding stress reduction. And hiring Chelsea Brandau as your wedding planner is a sure investment in a smooth, low-stress wedding. Do yourself a favor and hire Chelsea to plan your wedding. Your guests, your wallet, and your calmer self will thank you!

 

Monica & Kieran

 

 

I was referred to Oasis Weddings and Chelsea Brandau by a friend of a friend who had used Oasis Weddings to plan their wedding. Although both my husband and I had never been to Costa Rica, we decided what better place to get married and start our own adventure by taking an adventure with friends and family. So with referral in hand we contacted Chelsea. Right off the bat I could tell I would be comfortable coordinating and collaborating with her. Having never planned any type of party in my life (let alone such a momentous occasion like a wedding) she was quick to pin down what my dream wedding would be and look like by asking specific questions and clarifying my thoughts through subsequent emails and telephone calls. Throughout the year that we planned the wedding, the time line was very clear and I never felt overwhelmed. Emails were responded to promptly and I always felt Chelsea was attentive to my questions no matter how small or insignificant they were.

 

As we got closer to the date of the wedding Chelsea not only coordinated the wedding but also transportation to and from San Jose to Manuel Antonio for our wedding guests so that we could get fair pricing (we had 52 people attend our wedding). She also coordinated our transportation from the hotels and rehearsal dinner/wedding and later the Catamaran Cruise the majority of our guests took the day after the wedding. The task was daunting to say the least but it was handled with ease by Chelsea. Through it all, each and every person was able to arrive safely to Manuel Antonio without difficulty as well as to each event. Chelsea also set up miscellaneous activities for us such as a couples massage for my husband and I, my manicure and pedicure before the wedding, and a catamaran cruise for our entire party.

 

As I said earlier, both my now husband and I had not set foot in Costa Rica until the week of our wedding, so I depended on Chelsea to be my eyes and ears and to translate my vision into reality. I was incredibly impressed, every recommendation was stellar. Our Rehearsal dinner at El Lagarto was awesome and delicious (all our guests raved about the food and the view), our officiant was amazing, warm and the type of person you would want to preside over such a special ceremony, and the DJ knew how to keep the party alive. The catamaran cruise for the day after the wedding just added an extra special way to end our wedding festivities. 

 

But best of all was the wedding! Amazing, beautiful and perfect! I can't emphasize enough how amazing it was. Chelsea's recommendation of our event venue was exactly what I wanted. Through a series of emails and communicating over sites such as pinterest she was able to give me exactly what I envisioned plus more. And best of all the wedding day was stress free and I was able to fully enjoy the day and all the friends and family that had come with us to join us for such a special occasion. That in itself is priceless. I couldn't recommend Chelsea and Oasis weddings enough. If you want an amazing wedding and trip to Costa Rica, you can definitely put your faith in these wedding professionals. 

 

Rachelle & JR

 

 

 

My wife and I got married in Manuel Antonio in April. Trying to plan a wedding from another country when you literally know nothing about the destination and are relying solely on the internet and recommendations was a little intimidating; but with the help of Chelsea Brandau at Oasis Weddings we couldn't imagine a better day. Over several phone calls and emails she found out exactly what our vision was and managed to make it happen seamlessly and even surpass what we planned. Everything was handled professionally but Chelsea still managed to make the planning fun, stress free, and feel like a vacation! We spoke to a few other planners in the area prior to going with Oasis and I couldn't imagine having received the wedding we got without her help. The connections she has locally with florists, photographers, caterers, bartenders, stylists, venues, and other vendors ensures you get the best day possible (and at a much better cost then other planners quoted us). In short, Oasis and Chelsea made it all happen for us, they're the best! 

 

Kirsten & Paul

 

 

Chelsea,

Hope this reaches you well!  I wanted to thank you again for the amazing work.  The wedding was like a dream and everyone is still talking about it!  Weeks later and I am still stuck on the red velvet cake you made I couldn't believe it.  I really can't thank you enough everything you put together surpassed my expectations and what I envisioned for my big day!   Thank you most importantly for your patience and for being so understanding throughout all of the chaos.  I keep on retelling the story of the wedding to my friends and family who could not attend and you are seriously the one who saves the day and I cannot stop singing your praises! You are truly awesome and I am so grateful to have had such great support from you!

With love,

Camille =)

 

 

Hi Chelsea, just wanted to send you a quick note to send our warmest thanks for helping us make our wedding way so wonderful and easy and stress free - just the way we wanted!!

Mica & Nate

 

Our wedding was held in Manuel Antonio and was planned by Chelsea Brandau.  The first impression that we got of Chelsea was that she was extremely easy to communicate with and always responsive.  That stayed constant throughout the planning process and we felt extremely comfortable and well taken care of by Chelsea.  We had a lot of different ideas initially, some of them a bit unique.  For example, because we are surfers, we wanted a surfboard to be our actual guestbook.  Chelsea went and found a local artist willing to paint an old board for us for a stellar price and it came out AMAZING.  Additionally, she also made us a custom cake and helped us with a lovely beach design for the overall theme of our wedding.  The day really was a dream and working with Chelsea made it incredibly easy.  My friends and family claimed it was the nicest wedding they had ever been to and some even joked about a "do over" so they could have Chelsea as their planner.  Everything from the decorating details to the DJ to the menu was easy to sort out with Chelsea's guidance and expertise. If you're going to plan a wedding in the Manuel Antonio area, working with Chelsea will take the headaches out of trying to find vendors, organizing this, ordering that, and all of the other overwhelming responsibilities that come with planning a wedding.  Instead of stressing out and running around, we could just relax and let the day happen, all thanks to her hard work behind the scenes.  We are so grateful for her contribution to our day and would happily recommend her to anyone!

Emily

 

 

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!! Everything was perfect and well worth it!! It was an awesome day to end our vacation!!

Reina & Gilbert

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