Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs

Service levels: Full-service planning

Team size: 2 – 6

About Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs

Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs

Owner & Lead Planner

Planning Weddings That Are Perfectly You Traditions are fun and all, but sometimes they can feel suffocating, especially when your family and friends have some ideas that don’t align with your vision for your wedding. But you have your own ideas about what getting married looks like. As your wedding planner, our job is to make your vision a reality. Not your family’s vision, not Instagram's vision, not our vision — your vision. You can confide in us with your ideas and questions, and know that despite guiding you with our expert advice, you’ll always be in control.

If we're going to work together, you should know a few things about how we do business: This woman-owned, multiracial-owned business celebrates all types of people. I want to work with you no matter who you love or how you love them. Creativity is paramount in my line of work. I can bring any design style to life, whether you want an opulent ballroom wedding for 200 or an out-of-the-box elopement for 20. I do not have any limitations regarding color, style, or design. I am not here to take over and make you do my wedding. It is your wedding. My job is to advise and assist you in executing the wedding of YOUR dreams.

Services by planning level

Service included in starting price

Service available for an extra cost

	Full-service planning	Partial planning	Destination wedding	Day-of coordination / wedding management
Description	Our Full-Service Wedding Planning is the total package: comprehensive, attentive, and personalized throughout the planning process. We’ll guide you through the entire wedding planning process with innovative ideas and intentional and purposeful planning/design to create an unforgettable experience. This package is perfect for busy couples who want to sit back and enjoy the wedding planning process.	With Partial Planning, we will guide you through the wedding planning process by co-planning with you, from vendor selection, guidance, design assistance, custom timeline creation, execution on the wedding day, and more. You will benefit from our strategic planning, innovate ideas, and calming presence. This package is perfect for couples who want to enjoy the wedding planning process knowing a team of seasoned professionals are with them.	Wedding Management - Average Investment - 5000 Partial Planning - Average Investment - 7000 Full Planning - Average Investment - 10000 Prices reflect the average costs of services and travel fees.	Our Wedding Management package is an elevated version of the popular day-of coordination service, as it includes logistics management leading up to your wedding. It’s perfect for overwhelmed couples who want to wake up on wedding day knowing their well-laid plans will be flawlessly executed.
Planning begins	12 Months out	12 Months out	12 Months out	12 Months out
Event Styling & Design
Budget Planning
Venue Recommendations
Vendor Selection
Vendor Management
Contract Review
RSVP Tracking
Wedding Website
Accommodation Coordination
Transportation Coordination
Venue Visits
Final Venue Walkthrough
Timeline Creation & Management
Onsite Event Management
Pricing	Starts at $8,000	Starts at $5,000	Starts at $5,000	Starts at $3,000

Reviews

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4.8 out of 5

4 reviews

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Positive Experience with E&S Affairs
•Verified review
•M. S.•Sep 15, 2024
Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs is a best-in-class wedding planning service that is committed to bringing your wedding vision to life. From their collaborative and logical communication style to their solution-oriented and insightful approach, they were an invaluable partner throughout my wedding planning process. Christena, our planner, kept me organized with her awesome planning tools and check-ins, and was always accessible via email to answer any questions I had in a timely manner. She was incredibly efficient and dependable on my wedding day, ensuring everything ran smoothly with minimal interruption. I highly recommend Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs as your planning partner for your special day.
The Best of the Best!
•Verified review
•Paul O Callaghan•Mar 23, 2023
I have been fortunate to work alongside Christena on a number of events and she is 5 stars in everything she does. She is incredibly organized and makes sure that all vendors stick to the timeline. She is kind and caring with couples and is the best person you could have to plan your biggest day. Look no further that Christena and the Elegant & Sophisticated crew to elevate your wedding to the next level.
Money well spent!
•Verified review
•Cayla M.•Jul 12, 2022
I was that person that did not think I needed a wedding planner! I decided last minute I needed one and I had interviewed 4 people and Christena was the only one that made me feel comfortable! Christena helped keep me organized, in control, and confident that I would be able to get through this! She brought things to my attention that I had no clue I needed to do. During the rehearsal dinner she got everyone in line and made sure everyone knew exactly what they were doing. The day of the wedding Christena and her assistant Jill knew literally handled everything from making sure my vision was brought to life, to making sure everything ran accordingly to plan, and making sure all items that were mine were organized and set aside for my family to gather at the end of the night. I cannot sing Christena’s praises enough! You are getting more than a wedding planner with her! If you are on the fence about this do not be, it is the best money well spent!!!
Very enjoyable interaction
•Verified review
•Terrance H.•Jul 12, 2022
Was referred to ESA from someone in my opinion whom was less than professional in her communication. So there was a little trepidation at first. However, from our first interaction with Christena at ESA to the end of the event Christena conducted herself in a professional and exceptional manner. From her initial communication, to vendor recommendations to all of the questionnaires to ensure the events moved smoothly were all investments that showed Christena cared. We used ESA for day of wedding coordination as well as a surprise birthday party the day before the wedding g. Yep, busy, busy, busy. Christena was there for a walk through at the venue which was 2 hours from her home base. She stayed in contact throughout the months leading up the the events and take the lead with vendor a onto or so before. She helped to keep us on track and was available via email with short turn around times. Although their was a LOT of planning prior to the wedding, Christena was more than helpful keeping us on track and ensuring the wedding day could be enjoyed without worrying about last minute pop up issues, and there were a few. Her team was able to resolve a bartender issue causing minimal interruption for guests. In the end Christena felt more like a guest as much as a vendor for each event. We are grateful for the service Christena provided and would highly recommend her and her company, ESA to anyone wanting a coordinator to help ease the stresses of such and important and joyous day!!

Preferred vendors of Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs

5.0 (7)

Rebel Entertainment Group

Chicago, IL

Photographer

Kriztelle Photography LLC

5.0 (5)

5.0 (3)

No, we only do one wedding per weekend

Yes, we also plan: rehearsal dinners, engagement parties, bridal showers, vow renewals, anniversary parties, baby showers, birthday parties, graduation parties, and holiday parties

You will be working with the Owner & Lead Planner - Christena. There will also be assistants helping on the wedding day and throughout the planning process.

Over 100 weddings in various religions, cultures, gender, sexuality, size, and design. Our weddings always have an element of elegance and sophistication; it is the based line of what we do. Every wedding is unique, and we love seeing our couples bring their individual personalities, ideas, theme and spin to their weddings. We specialize in creating weddings that are uniquely yours because we want to see our couple's love story brought to life on their wedding day. We also do a lot of cultural and multicultural weddings.

The religions we have worked with are Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Greek Orthodox. Cultures we have worked with South Asian, Filipino, Arabic, Nigerian, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Polish, Greek, and Italian. Having worked with many cultures and religions, we have developed an effective system for learning new cultures, religions, and traditions.

Most of the venues in the Chicagoland area, and a few out of state, with the list growing every year. We have worked in hotels, lofts, industrial, art galleries, museums, barns, forest preserves, wineries, restaurants, breweries, banquet halls, rooftops, estates, and more. We can plan in any location. We have also developed a system for working to learn and work with any venues we have not worked with in the past, so no worries if we have not been to your venue just yet. We can learn and adapt to their process very quickly.

Yes, we can assist you in planning a destination wedding; we worked on many destination weddings in the past, including some during 2020.

While we work with any budget, most of our couples spend 60k and higher on their weddings.

We can work with any size wedding; we have done a micro wedding with 30 guests and a multiple-day South Asian wedding with 500 guests. On average most weddings range between 120 - 200 guests. We can handle any size wedding.

Yes, Christena, the owner and lead planner background is in high-end luxury weddings, so she has worked on many weddings ranging between 100k to 500k.

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Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs

About Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs

Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs

Services by planning level

Reviews

Positive Experience with E&S Affairs

The Best of the Best!

Money well spent!

Very enjoyable interaction

Preferred vendors of Elegant & Sophisticated Affairs

Frequently asked questions

Do you take on multiple weddings in a day or weekend?

Do you also plan other events, like showers or rehearsal dinners?

Are you part of a team? Who will we be working with?

Describe your experience. How many weddings have you planned, and what are they like? Any specialties?

What religions and cultures have you worked with?

What venues have you worked at before?

Do you plan destination weddings?

Is there a minimum budget to work with you?

What is the average size of the weddings you plan?

Our wedding budget is 100k+, can you work with that budget?

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