By Elise Events & DesignElise planned our wedding at Filoli Gardens in the summer of 2025, and I truly cannot sing her praises enough. Before meeting her, we had spoken with several planners and were getting the sense that a Filoli wedding might not be possible within our price range. Before we were about to give up on our dream venue, Elise thankfully took our call. From our very first conversation, she immediately put us at ease and reassured us that we could absolutely create something beautiful within our budget. She was intentional from the beginning, taking the time to genuinely get to know us--our personalities and preferences--before diving into the planning process. Because of that, every idea she presented felt thoughtful, personal, and curated to who we are as a couple. Throughout the year of planning, Elise was attentive, patient, and a joy to collaborate with. There were many times when she'd proactively suggest ways to stay within budget, even when it meant prioritizing us over her own bottom line. That level of integrity and care speaks volumes about her character. On the day of the wedding, I was stressed and anxious (as many brides are!), but having Elise at my side helped me find a sense of calm. She has this grounding presence that lets you know that everything is under control. Somehow, she managed to greet guests as they arrived, oversee every moving part of the event, and still remain by my side whenever I needed her. There were countless "save-the-day" moments. One that stands out: minutes before walking down the aisle, I was frantically trying to handwrite my typed vows onto notecards, hands shaking and overwhelmed. Out of nowhere, Elise stepped in and told us there was a printer on the property and promptly took care of the situation, thoughtfully printing my vows in index-card format so I didn't have to hold a big piece of paper at the altar. It wasn't until the wedding day itself that I fully realized just how much coordination she and her team had handled behind the scenes. She had even thought of small but meaningful touches, like IV hydration packets for our guests. Throughout the evening, I kept thinking, "Wow, Elise really pulled all of this off." Friends and family told us that it was the most beautifully organized and seamlessly executed wedding they had ever attended. Many also commented how stressful it must have been for my husband and me to plan a wedding of such scale and beauty, and I'd laugh and say, "Not at all--that was all Elise!". We gave her a vision, and she handled the rest! Our wedding was truly the best day of our lives, filled with joy and memories we'll cherish forever. And it was largely due to Elise and her team, whose kindness, foresight, and meticulous preparation were evident throughout the entire day. All of this is to say that if you are considering working with Elise, know that you will be in the best hands. Thank you, Elise and team! read more

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My wife and I agree-- the best decision we made about our wedding (after choosing each other) was working with Elise. Despite all the stresses weddings can bring, we felt assured that Elise was on top of things. Things we appreciated about her: -She took time to understand our vision on both a macro and micro level -Took time to know our famillies and what they valued in a ceremony -Incredibly creative and thoughtful about all elements of design -So accommodating to meeting/talking around our schedule I am very biased, but I think we had the best wedding ever. We thank Elise for it :) read more

Elise made the wedding of our dreams possible. Every other planner that worked with the venue was way out of our budget but Elise not only made it happen but absolutely crushed it. She gave us a ton of options throughout the whole process but had the experience/expertise to make recommendations. She had the perfect temperament to keep everyone calm despite the day of being a bit hectic, and we were extremely confident in her due to all the contingencies she had baked into the plan. Would recommend Elise to anyone. To quote one of our older guests (to some younger guests): "I've been to my share of weddings, and you guys should take as many pictures here as you can because this is probably the nicest wedding you'll ever go to" read more

This review is long overdue! Elise planned our summer 2023 wedding. It's been a little shy of a year now and we still have people raving about our wedding! From the beginning to the end, we've never been in better hands. They thought of anything and everything they could cover in a wedding to ensure the guests and couple had the best possible time. From piecing together a theme and look, to lining all the tables with pre-drink supplements to prevent hangovers. Elise was a superstar. She let us decide how involved we wanted to be in the planning process. We were both working full time and lived in SoCal during the planning so we were very very appreciative that Elise could take care of just about every detail. People tell us all the time that wedding planning is stressful; NOT WITH THE BRANNAN TEAM IT AIN'T. We didn't have to lift a finger. Elise took whatever loose ideas and keywords I had and brainstormed proposals and lists of vendors. Setup and tear down on the day of pretty much happened without me even knowing. Their team is truly magic, and this day will live on in our memories foreverrrr read more

I had the pleasure of working with Elise Events & Design as my full-service wedding planner and I cannot say enough good things about the entire experience. Elise is the absolute best! She planned my wedding in 9 months and made the entire process fun and enjoyable. Hiring her was the best decision I made. I interviewed 4 different event planners and chose Elise because I connected with her the best. She is incredibly sweet and super easy to talk to. We told her our budget and she made us feel confident that she could stay within our means and still deliver the wedding of our dreams, and that she did! Wedding planning can be very intimidating, especially for someone like me who didn't initially have a clear vision of what I wanted. But Elise took time to get to know my husband and I and understand our style and preferences so she could provide valuable insight and creative suggestions to make our wedding unique and special. She coordinated every aspect of our wedding, from creating our wedding website, sending and tracking our RSVP'S, to designing and executing our entire wedding weekend. She does it all! Her expertise in handling vendors, contracts and budgets allowed us to relax and enjoy the lead up to our big day without any stress. She truly put her heart and soul into making our wedding day a reflection of our love story. The entire weekend was a dream come true. Thank you for making it the most memorable experience of our life! read more

Elise gave us the most memorable, intimate, and beautifully curated wedding. We knew Elise was the one for us when we read about her values of producing conscious, sustainable events. To be honest, we came to her not really knowing what we wanted, just a rough idea. She took our very rough idea and invested the time to truly get to know us, while guiding us along step by step. The outcome was the most spectacular wedding weekend that was so perfectly 'us'. I don't think I was stressed for a moment of the entire wedding planning process. And that day/weekend will forever be etched in our memory as the most perfect day. read more

By Elise Events & Design - Party & Event Planning Near Me

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Elise was our planner for our Napa wedding in September of 2022. Her and her team are absolutely amazing. Elise is such a down to earth and calming presence that any bride needs by her side. She helped us do a full buildout at a home in Calistoga, CA and made sure we had all the design elements in place as well as all of the logistical elements no bride wants to hear about (generators, kitchen buildout, shuttle capabilities, etc). She helped us allocate all of our vendors and kept in constant communication with them to make sure the day of was perfection. The entire day was magic. We wouldn't have been able to have our wedding without her and I couldn't recommend her enough. read more

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The absolute best decision of our entire wedding was having Elise as our planner. She provided great communication through the entire process. Her knowledge of vendors and everyone she connected us with was great. Her experience really showed and she was very thorough. She was personable yet professional and I felt comfortable trusting her through the many decisions that come with planning. She brought great personal touches and made the day unforgettable. I would hire Elise and her team to do my wedding again and again without hesitation. read more

By Elise Events & Design - Party & Event Planning Near Me

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Elise is the most wonderful, organized, and joyful person that helped make all our wedding dreams come true! We had the Month of Coordination + Design package and I'm so glad we booked this. Elise gave us so many great recommendations, worked with our budget, and helped make communication with vendors a breeze. Using a sleek online tool she was able to share out mood boards, create a comprehensive timeline, and keep all details in order. The week leading up to the wedding we were texting back and forth last-min decor details, and she was even able to coordinate an amazing bubble exit after our ceremony. I cannot imagine how we would keep organized without her, she was on top of everything! On our big day Elise was with us at our ceremony, making sure I looked perfect and had everything I needed before I waked down the aisle. Meanwhile her team was setting up all our decor for our outdoor garden party reception. The whole day was a dream and stress free and it definitely couldn't have happened without all of the Elise's hard work and attention to detail :) read more

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Elise is the best, there's no way our wedding would have been as perfect as it was without her. Everything from working with the vendors we chose to sourcing new vendors that were not even on the venue's preferred list, she knew what we wanted and helped us achieve it. She also read through our contracts and joined vendor calls to make sure we weren't being taken advantage of. We had done phone screenings with several wedding planners before talking to Elise and we thought they could all get the job done, but after about 5-10 minutes into our intro call my wife (fiance at the time) and I looked at each other and nodded in confirmation that she's the one. She was the only one who sounded interested in us and what we wanted for our wedding, and after choosing her it's clear that interest was genuine. I will be recommending Elise to any of my friends who get engaged in the area, she is an absolute joy to work with. While I may be biased since it was my wedding day, her excellence and professionalism were confirmed when most vendors sang her praises and asked to work together again in the future. read more

We cannot say enough amazing things about Elise. We hosted our wedding in a space that had never been used as an event venue and not only did Elise bring our vision to life -- it was better than we had even imagined it. She was with us every step of the way, kept us organized and even keeled. We would recommend her to anyone and in the meantime will be dreaming up other parties we can throw, just to have a reason to work with her again. read more

By Elise Events & Design - Party & Event Planning Near Me

We hired Elise as our Month of Coordinator and she truly made the month(s) leading up to our wedding stress free and organized. She made herself available for site visits, tastings and questions-she offers you all of her wedding expertise and industry connections! As soon as we handed off the details (and there were a lot!), a huge weight was lifted, we knew Elise had it under control!! Not to mention how flawlessly she executed our wedding-from the rehearsal, to the decorations to the ceremony to keeping everyone on track with the timeline. We did not have to worry about a thing and our day went off flawlessly. Elise is a wonderful person inside and out, you are in good hands :) read more

If there was such thing as a wedding fairy godmother, Elise would be that to us for our wedding process. She was the glue for our wedding. Not only is she organized, punctual, and very easy to work with, but you can also tell that wedding planning is her passion and joy. Throughout our wedding planning journey, she was instrumental in letting us know our timeline of when we should make decisions. She helped us find vendors that she already had relationships with, but also encouraged us to hire vendors that she hadn't worked with. When people would ask me how wedding planning was going, I'd say, its pretty fun since we have Elise to do all the heavy lifting! On the day of our wedding, there was a misunderstanding with our transportation. Elise took charge and was able to work with our bus driver to keep the transportation on schedule. The best part about this was that I didn't find out about this misunderstanding until the next day. This was the exact reason we hired Elise- to coordinate the wedding itself and wrangle the vendors so I could enjoy my day as the bride. In short, Elise is nothing but exceptional at her job. If you are on the fence about hiring a wedding planner, without hesitation I would say to hire Elise. You wont regret it! read more

I hired Elise and her team to do my last-minute large Indian engagement party at Filoli and I am so incredibly lucky to have worked with her. I only started planning the event a couple of months beforehand and even though so many vendors were already booked for that day Elise managed to put together an amazing team of florists, caterers, decor, musicians, etc. The event turned out even better than I had imagined and it is all due to Elise. Elise is absolutely incredible to work with and she manages to make even the most large-scale intricate processes seem easy. Here are a few highlights of my experience working with her: - Creativity: I really wanted to wow my guests at the event and Elise is an incredibly creative person and within 5 minutes of brainstorming she is able to come up with wildly creative ideas. She will come up with design ideas that are truly unique (for seating charts, drink walls, etc.) that your guests will not have seen anywhere else. Her designs are truly bespoke. - Attention to detail: Elise will go to venues and vendor showrooms with a tape measure in hand and she maps out layouts with precision so there are no surprises and she makes sure to make the best use of any venue space Sustainability - Having a sustainable event mattered a lot to me but at the same time I didn't want to massively increase costs and Elise was able to do that for me Great attitude: Elise is one of the calmest people I have ever met and she is definitely a soothing presence which is great when you are dealing with event planning stress. Also she is really great about listening to what you want and working hard to achieve it. Lots of planners will try to push their own aesthetics onto their clients but Elise is absolutely incredible at listening to your vision and then working to make it happen. She is an absolute dream to work with. read more

By Elise Events & Design - Party & Event Planning Near Me

Where do I even start? If I could give 10 stars for Brannan Events I would in a heartbeat! Elise and Michael were hands down the reason why my husband and my wedding was a huge hit and ran FLAWLESSLY. From the moment we got engaged, I knew there was absolutely no way we could plan our wedding alone...and when I found Elise, I knew she would be the first and only coordinator I'd meet with. Elise's calming nature, bubbly personality, and years of experience in the Wedding industry immediately sealed the deal. My husband and I got hitched at Ravenswood Historical Site in Livermore, CA. We signed on with Elise for the month-of coordination, and let me tell you, she was incredible the whole way through! During the month of coordination, Elise was there for us 110%. She answered any and all questions that came to mind, and her responses were immediate. When we asked about using different vendors, Elise sent us more than enough options, (well before our wedding), willing and ready to reach out and give a hand wherever need be. Not only did she go with me to finalize the last minute details and decisions with my vendors, she also helped me make some really tough decisions when I was stuck and I'm so thankful for that! On our Wedding day, I didn't feel stressed one bit, which I feel is rare given how many brides I've talked to this past year. I felt happy, relaxed, and very excited! Looking back, I immediately recognize Elise for all of that, including the absolute success of our wedding. All her hard work, support and comfort leading up to and during our wedding spoke volumes. I still have guests telling me how fun our wedding was, and how beautiful everything turned out. I cannot tell everyone how much it means to have someone by your side for YOU on the most special day of your life. Elise was that for us. She had our backs leading up to our wedding, on the day of, and even after. She provided to us so much more than I can even put into words on this review, but I want everyone to know that Elise and Michael are rock stars! Absolute professionals at what they do! -Natalie and Jeff MacKinnon read more

Elise is a wonderful wedding planner and we are so glad we hired her for full-service planning for our wedding. She is super creative and delivered everything we expected. She made our special day care-free and we couldn't recommend her enough! read more

The Yelp review only offers five starts as an option, but Elise and her team earned many more! My daughter Lauren chose a fairly remote but beautiful location for her wedding, which included housing the entire guest list of about 150 people for the weekend, and certainly made logistics in general a challenge. Elise worked closely with Lauren through every step of planning, including identifying the best possible vendors, insuring each phase of the weekend was appropriately set up on time, and doing all the cleanup and storage each time as the string of events unfolded. She and her capable team were responsive to spur of the moment requests and flexible as schedules changed. They were both omnipresent and invisible, efficiently doing whatever was needed. Lauren is a master planner and accustomed to getting things done the way she wants, but she was also the bride! Elise was the perfect advisor, planner, and team leader Lauren needed to enjoy the weekend as the bride, not having to worry about supervising or monitoring details. As the father of the bride, it was a big relief to know that Elise was in charge of making sure everything happened as planned. And it did. It was an absolutely unforgettable occasion. Elise is a highly competent professional who is also very personable and considerate. I'm so happy Lauren found her! read more

Elise led the entire design and production of our fall wedding in Sunol, CA. All our friends & relatives say it's one of the most beautiful weddings they've ever been to! Since my venue came with a day-of-coordinator / event manager, I wasn't sure whether it was worthwhile to hire an additional planner leading up to the event. I can tell you ELISE IS SO, SO WORTH IT! Elise helped source and manage all our vendor briefings (i.e., the flowers needed to fit the color scheme, on site visit for the rentals, phone calls, etc.), stayed on top of the contracts and payments, and also provided much needed expertise on just HOW to pull off a beautiful and fun wedding in general. Elise's day-of timeline and floorpan were SO handy for everyone: we used these repeatedly in the days leading up to and during the reception. Elise also had AMAZING creative ideas to design a meaningful and personalized event - like our travel theme, beautiful luggage tag seating card display, and advice on how to think about the space and directing the eyes to certain areas. She is hard working, responsive, and organized - HIGHLY recommend! read more

I have nothing but amazing things to say about Elise. We went with her "month of coordination plan" and it was the BEST decision we made toward our wedding. We met many times over the year. She helped me keep on track and was a knowledgeable resource that I loved bouncing ideas off of. She has an comprehensive tool called Aisle Planner that helps you stay on track. It has a detailed timeline. It also helps you organize your guest list, budget, contacts and everything wedding related you can imagine. Aisle Planner also allows you to post inspiration boards to share with you florist, bridesmaids and Elise. The month before the wedding I was able to hand over everything to her. She coordinated with all of our vendors, created a detailed timeline, ran our rehearsal, and executed the best day of our lives. My friends and family that interacted with her we're blown away by her professionalism, charisma, and ability to stay calm under pressure. Months later I am still getting compliments on how amazing she was. Overall and most importantly the day of our wedding we were able to relax. Planning a wedding is overwhelming and I honestly could not have done it without her. read more

You should hire this company for your wedding! We chose Elise for our flowers for our wedding this past June and we were thrilled with the end result. Even throughout the planning process, she was extremely helpful, kind, and went above and beyond to assure us that she would do a great job, and she did! We went back and forth through email with pictures and descriptions, and I felt great about everything she was doing for our wedding. She really encouraged participation and input from us, which I greatly appreciated! I was being pretty particular for the type of bouquets I wanted (almost too picky), and she exceeded my expectations for them! She did an amazing job bringing my visions to life and made beautiful bouquets for me and my bridesmaids. Not only were those amazing, she also made lovely floral arrangements for both our ceremony site and our reception. We went with a coral/cream color combo and she really made it look great with the flower arrangements she put together for our centerpieces and other tables. Super classy, elegant and stunning! I could go on much longer about how awesome she is and what a wonderful job she did! She even battled a major traffic backup on her way to the wedding, and still got everything looking amazing on time! Definitely go with Brannan Events and Floral Design for all your floral, arrangement, and planning needs for your wedding. Seriously, you will be so pleased! Thank you Elise, you rock!!! read more

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Elise is an absolutely amazing amazing wedding planner. Our very large wedding was scheduled for May 2020 so we got a very large shock 2 months before the wedding. Elise helped us navigate the entire rescheduling process so seamlessly. She was there to communicate with vendors and the venue and to provide a supportive and empathetic ear. She helped us reschedule to a year out which, unfortunately, with the ongoing pandemic, we were not able to have because of restrictions in San Francisco. We then planned a very small intimate wedding at a completely different venue and she helped so much in organizing and coordinating all that. It was magical and perfect and it was all because of Elise. Elise basically helped us plan 3 weddings! She is incredibly creative and has wonderful ideas. Weddings are complicated and a lot of work and having Elise helps so so so much. Could have honestly not done it without her. read more

Please know that as outrageously positive what I'm going to say seems, it doesn't' even begin to describe how important Brannan Events / Elise was to my wedding. Elise took my (tight by Bay Area standards) wedding budget and helped me create (okay she really created it with minimal input from me) the most wonderful experience for me and my guests. Before I hired Elise, I was pretty much having panic attacks every few days - and we were well over a year out. She swooped in, took it all off my plate, and made sure that everything got done in the most supportive, thoughtful, and efficient way. I was obscenely busy going into wedding planning, and Elise helped all of the planning get done, and connected me with the most amazing vendors to really round out my wedding! I am not the most creative person, I roughly know what I like, what I don't like, have favorite colors and had a vision for an overall vibe. I gave Elise that little bit of information, and she created a fabulous experience. Going into the final stretch, there was virtually no stress on me, Elise had it all handled. If anything went wrong during that last month, I really didn't hear about it. Day of, everything went smoothly, I was happy, my husband was happy, everyone was happy!! I can honestly say that Elise made my wedding experience the best it could possibly be, and I highly recommend her for all your event planning and coordination needs. I miss our emails and phone calls and can't wait to get coffee the next time she is free in the valley!! read more

Can't say enough great things about Elise and her company, Down Buchanan Road! Not only was she able to help me pull off my dream wedding (in under 4 weeks!!) but she helped me find our venue, go dress shopping, put together a budget, did all of our floral design and was able to coordinate with all of our vendors! I would highly recommend her and her services to anyone looking to have a gorgeous and stress free wedding! If i had any questions she was there to answer them or talked to someone who knew the answers. I wasn't a bridezilla because I had nothing to worry or freakout about. Thanks Elise for the wedding I always wanted!! read more

By Elise Events & Design - My floral arrangement and makeup done by Elise - Party & Event Planning Near Me

Thanks to Elise, our wedding was beautiful and unforgettable. We hired Elise for her month-of-coordination services, and I'm so glad we did. She took our big picture idea and made it a reality. Not only did she communicate with the vendors and take care of the day-of schedule, she ran last minute errands and designed our decorations, and who knows how many other countless little things that came up that day. We had so little to worry about knowing that she was behind the scenes making everything perfect. We couldn't have pulled it off without Elise's organization, quick thinking and positive attitude. Thanks, Elise! read more

Elise is fantastic. We knew right away she was the planner for us. She was so attentive to every detail and kept us organized from day 1 right up through the wedding day. We felt we could trust her to understand and bring to life our wedding vision and she did just that and more. She brought her positive energy to all she did and it shone through in the finished product: our wedding went seamlessly and we couldn't have done it without her. All the other vendors we worked with enjoyed working with her as well. We highly recommend her--you will love working with her if you get the chance to! read more

First of all let me say, when I came to Elise two months before my wedding I was panicking. I had just parted with my original wedding coordinator because nothing had been getting done, and lack of communication was a huge issue. My caterer had not been finalized, I had no clue who would do my floral work, no officiant, and on top of that, my venue in Brentwood had been closed down by the county 8 weeks before our wedding day. After only 1 meeting with Elise, everything became so much more clear. She put even the smallest details into perspective for me and made everything seem SO simple even though there was so much to be done in such a short amount of time. She makes it known how important it is for the bride to be stress free, and fulfills her duties to take the weight off of your shoulders. Very inexpensive for the amount of work she puts into making your wedding day absolutely perfect. Elise conveniently also does floral design, which is a huge plus because that's one less vendor you have to be concerned about keeping tabs on. She pays such close attention to detail and I would recommend her to anybody! read more

If I could give Elise 10 stars I would. She is incredible at what she does. I booked her two years before we got married and she was wonderful from day one. Responsive, affordable, patient, informative, calming, ON TOP OF IT! She knows what she is doing. She met with me multiple times before the wedding and spoke with me so much via text and on the phone, I honestly could not have done it without her. She guided me through the whole process and made is so much easier (because it can be extremely overwhelming). She was great with our bridal party and all of our guests. She took charge at the rehearsal and told everyone what they needed to be doing, everyone kept commenting on how good she was and not to mention SWEET. She is SO nice, she oozes with kindness. She is confident and knows how to organize a lot of people with different personalities at different levels at one time, all the while keeping her cool. I heard some of our drunk guests were rude to her (so sorry Elise!!) and she handled it so well (I didn't know until after the wedding, someone mentioned it to me). She kept me calm, cool and collected the whole time (and so did Michael...thank you Michael!). I would 100% recommend you hire Elise. I wish I had hired her for the whole planning package in hind-site. I just did day of planning and it was A LOT to handle with a full time job. I am a control freak and a perfectionist and I just couldn't give that up in the beginning, but looking back... Elise is just as detail oriented and is so creative and communicative. She would have nailed it and saved me a few melt downs. HIRE HER. NOW. DO IT. Thank you Elise! read more

By Elise Events & Design - Sweet Elise waiting for us - Party & Event Planning Near Me

We hired Elise for our month-of wedding coordination. Elise has the PERFECT demeanor to be a wedding coordinator. She is professional, eager, positive and engaging. She knows how to offset and dispel nerves and negativity with a positive "can-do" approach. She has some very nice ideas for a DIY touch and she has the eye of a designer. When it comes down to the day-of ... she works very hard and makes sure that all issues are professionally addressed. She works with the best interest of the bride in mind, and keeps the bride well-informed and at ease. Elise's team member, Michael (also her husband-to-be) ... worked very hard as well and they did a very good job, despite some difficult logistics with our wedding. Thank you for everything Elise :) read more

As I was planning our wedding, I had initially thought I wouldn't need the extra help coordinating and fine tuning all the details involved the day of the wedding. Man, I could not have been more wrong. Elise, with Down Buchanan Road, did an incredible job easing the stress and bringing thoughts and ideas to my attention that I hadn't thought to consider. Most of all though, she gave me the confidence to know I could relinquish control to her and truly enjoy our wedding day from beginning to end. Elise has a good eye for detail and did a great job adding additional decorative touches that aided in the overall setting. She also remained composed and professional, not once appearing overwhelmed by last minute changes and adjustments that needed to be made. Elise is knowledgeable and capable of answering any questions or concerns that arise. I am glad I chose Down Buchanan Road's services for our wedding day! read more