Generally speaking we would start planning within 2 weeks from you confirming your booking with us; however we always look at our schedule and make sure we make a start when we can do a seamless onboarding process. In some cases, when a couple is getting married more than 15 months away from their enquiry, we may mutually agree to book them in so as to secure their date in our diary, but start planning a certain number of weeks or months later. We’re flexible, so let's chat and decide what’s best for you.

At Elisabetta White | Intimately Inspired Events we have quite an essentialist approach [we are from Milan, so a bit of a cliche!], but our approach is very much tailored and inspired by our couples' personalities, so we adapt easily. Curated details matter, but what really excites us is a breathtaking venue in a stunning, effortlessly beautiful setting, with amazing food, drinks and an off the chart DJ. Saying that, we believe that a well thought out design concept can be expressed beautifully through gorgeous floral decor, bespoke stationery and small touches, as they help you bring your vision together. We also cannot bring ourselves to use chair covers and chiavari chairs, so we're probably perfectly aligned if hearing this makes you go: “We'll take a Wishbone chair any day!”

For us at EW that’s 60 people and under. Intimate weddings have been our focus since 2016. We know your thought process for wanting a smaller wedding experience, the challenges you’re facing, the impact a small wedding has on your budget and the way that specific market works inside out. That said we also take up to 2 larger weddings per year, only if there is perfect alignment between your vision and our core values.
This means that  while your wedding has a higher guest count, the kind of experience you're after is still very much an intimate one; and you're determined to make your wedding a joyous experience revolving around effortlessly elegant yet relaxed events, not something that feels pompous or opulent.

Absolutely! In fact, hearing your suggestions gives us a good idea of the style of suppliers you like, and if they fit the criteria for your wedding, we are more than happy to work with them. Where possible, we will also offer alternatives so you can make a well thought out choice, but don’t ever feel that you have to work exclusively with our recommendations. We have preferred suppliers in certain regions – suppliers we've worked with plenty of times, who offer us a consistent service and bend backwards for our couples. So be reassured you will have plenty of choice. The most important thing, however, is that any supplier you may want to bring on board are professional wedding vendors, not people who do it amateurishly or who isn't working professionally in the wedding industry. 

FAQs

We believe that there's a transparency and trust issue associated with the practice of planners demanding commissions from vendors, as often he/she has to inflate the vendors' rates by 10-15%. A planner that takes commissions unbeknown to you may seem more affordable, but they do in effect cost you way more than you realise. You also end up with a lower caliber suppliers as in order for the planner to mark up proposals, she has to fit in both their quotes and the planner's commission within the budget. We refuse marked up quotes from suppliers, and only ever accept a thank you from suppliers who do so out of their own pockets. Our fees are adequate for the work we do so we don't depend on kickbacks to make a living, therefore we don’t expect it, nor demand it.

As your planners we're all about transparency, so no hidden fees, nor small prints. We charge travel and accommodation at cost (airport transfers, business flights, car hire, accommodation & per-diem) on top of our package fee. Our job is all about making sure you're not hit by suppliers’ hidden fees either, so we do our due diligence to check VAT charges, travel fees and anything else that might have an impact on your budget. We want you to have the peace of mind of knowing your spending is under control.

No we can’t. We’ve tried that approach before and the only way to make sure we are charging for profit (what any reputable business should do) would be to estimate the number of hours needed to plan a wedding and then multiply by 1.5 to account for any changes, delays and extra work we often end up having to do that would generally fall out of the agreed scope. Charging an hourly rate on those hours would be lovely for us, but not cost effective for you as it takes 400+ hours to plan a destination wedding from start to finish. So charging a percentage with a minimum fee is the most professional and fair way to cover all of our overheads, man-hours, and so on.

Our policy is to liaise exclusively with the couple. We do not liaise with third parties. Of course, you are more than welcome to involve them in all your decision and on the wedding day they can 100% be your advocate alongside us. But in terms of planning, all communication is exclusively with the couple. We have tried working with additional family members, but in our experience, our communication needs to be streamlined to ensure we can consistently offer a straightforward, stress-free experience.

We only like to partner with fair, honest wedding suppliers who charge a reasonable amount of money for what they offer, so our policy is to never drive hard negotiations. We respect the profit margin that professional wedding suppliers need to maintain in order to keep the business afloat. That said, we have a strong professional relationship with a lot of suppliers, and that means the quotes we send through are usually the best available rate. At times we might also be able to get the supplier to give you some added value.