I really hoped I would never feel the need to write this review, but based on both our planning experience and what happened after our wedding, I cannot recommend Ivory Events.
We paid $6,000 for full-service planning of a large, complex wedding with 200+ guests, ~30 vendors, multiple venues, transportation, cultural ceremonies, and live food stations. We paid 50% upfront and ultimately paid the full contracted amount even though we ended the relationship more than 2 1/2 months before the wedding.
Our concerns began only a few months into planning. We raised them in fall 2025, things improved temporarily, and then similar issues resurfaced. My mom and I repeatedly had to follow up, correct information, and often handle planning work ourselves. We received incorrect vendor communications and were copied on emails relating to other clients' weddings.
When incorrect information was sent to one vendor, Ivory told us the employee acted "without authorization," called it a "serious breach of our standards," and said she was no longer with the team. We had not asked for anyone to be fired and actually felt terrible about that. Our concern was how the mistake reached the vendor and what would prevent it from happening again.
Vendor sourcing also required repeated follow-up, and several times I ultimately found vendors myself because recommendations were taking too long. Of the three Ivory-recommended vendors we hired, two were among the most difficult vendors we worked with; our photographer was excellent.
We also experienced email threads where follow-ups did not appear to account for information already discussed. When we raised this, part of the explanation was that my mom and I were also communicating with vendors, even though there were situations where we stepped in because the communication already needed clarification.
We were reassured that budgets, tracking sheets, vendor details, and timelines were carefully organized, while I was personally centralizing contracts and vendor information and knew there were still gaps.
Budget was another major concern. I raised it early, and we had been told our ~$150,000 budget was workable. As costs increased, I felt I received more reassurance about stress/anxiety than concrete budget tracking and overage discussions. By the time we terminated, we were significantly over budget.
The timeline became a final breaking point. We had to ask and follow up for it, and it contained gaps, inconsistencies, placeholders, and missing logistics. The initial response emphasized prior conversations, recordings, and transcripts. After reviewing it, Ivory acknowledged a technical issue with Timeline Genius and said it was correcting errors and missing vendor/transportation information.
We terminated Ivory more than 2 1/2 months before the wedding, and Ivory acknowledged it in writing. Another planner handled the remaining planning and executed our wedding beautifully.
Afterward, Ivory publicly stated it had planned our wedding "almost to the end." Its Marketing Coordinator later contacted our photographer requesting our completed gallery to "feature and submit [it] to several publications." Neither my husband nor I was included. Our contract stated permission would be sought before publishing personal photos. Our photographer contacted us first, and we instructed him not to share it. Correspondence later characterized the request as an "inadvertent oversight."
Any one mistake can happen. What ultimately caused us to lose confidence was the cumulative pattern and how the issues were handled. Based on our experience, we cannot recommend Ivory Events. read more