If you’re a bride who’s envisioning the ultimate wedding, who wants a wow-factor that can take your guests’ breath away as they first walk into your ceremony or reception, Exclusive Events should be on your must-see list. The mission of this four year old décor business is to make your Hollywood-style wedding dreams come true, right here in London.

With a style that's modern, trendy and comes with design options ranging from linens and lighting to covers and cutlery, Exclusive Events could easily play a part in some of London’s biggest and most stylish weddings. At this decorating company, you have a choice. You can have Exclusive Events design your entire day from top to bottom, or they can rent you the décor items so you can do it yourself – either way, both options come without the Hollywood price tag. Owner Rachel Francis' flair for design translates well through her hands-on approach and dedication to making sure brides' décor dreams become a reality, regardless of their budget.

We sat down with Rachel and her decorating team (who’s kept busy solely by referrals of clients who have used and loved their designs) to find out what London brides would want to know – what are their options, what do they cost, what’s the catch, and where have you been all my life?!...

Personally speaking…

With a love and natural talent for design and décor, opening a wedding décor business was something that Rachel never thought twice about. "With my extensive experience in customer service and a flair for design, it was only natural to combine the two to assist brides in creating their dream wedding," Rachel told The Ring.

Exclusive Events opened in September of 2006 as a home based business. Over the past four years, with endless referrals from past clients, and over thirty weddings per year (a number that's steadily gotten bigger), Exclusive Events expanded to a storefront location on Wellington Road in London. This gives the team an opportunity to help their brides explore ideas and enlighten their senses. "Our layout is a collage of different designs that tantalize our couples' senses, inspiring them to experience their dreams," Rachel told us.

Owned and operated by Rachel, Exclusive Events is supported by a team of well trained staff members, including two Assistant Designers, Carlissa Thompson and Olivia Hosseini. "Assistant Designers are my hands and ears when I am not able to be on location," explains Rachel. Both Olivia and Carlissa have over four years of experience in wedding dècor and designs. The team also meets regularly to discuss upcoming events and the latest trends and ideas.

Brides' dreams + fabulous designs

As they continue to grow, Rachel says that Exclusive Events has developed a wide range of supporters who through word of mouth. "We are caring and passionate and it shows," she says. Such was the case for Rokhsana and Andrew Purdy. They were referred to Exclusive Events by their reception venue for their July 2008 wedding décor and say that there was an instant connection with Rachel the first time they met. "We trusted her and knew she would give 100%... she had our best interest in mind." Rokhsana adds that after the first meeting she left feeling so relieved and taken care of.

Samirah Ahmed, Owner of Designs In Bloom, a London florist, is a wedding expert who has worked with Rachel and highly recommends Exclusive Events (and is even using them for her own upcoming wedding). She says, "Rachel is incredibly fun to work with. She loves her clients… and is very focused on making their day perfect for them." She adds that while Rachel has an easy-going personality, she also lets clients know her opinion and suggestions to help further make their wedding great.

Part of what we think shows us that Rachel truly cares is the fact that she loves to hear the stories of her engaged couples. “I love seeing their love for each other. It makes me love my job that much more more,” she says, with a chuckle. “I love being a part of helping create and build their wedding dreams.”

Recent bride, Monika Hosseini, certainly felt like Rachel cared about her wedding day dreams as she told us that one of the biggest reasons she hired Exclusive Events was because Rachel made her believe that her wedding day vision was absolutely possible. "Rachel really wanted to know what my dream wedding was and she did her best to make that come to life," Monika told us. "She made me feel at ease and I felt like a lot of the stress of planning my wedding was lifted off my shoulders because I was confident Rachel would do a great job."

When Sherri and Chris Daley were searching for a decorator for their September 2009 wedding ceremony and reception, they say they met with Rachel and their search was over. "Her upbeat personality instantly won us over, along with our feeling that she genuinely cared about what we wanted for our wedding," the couple told us.

While Exclusive Events has a modern and trendy style that can incorporate décor from simple to extravagant, Rachel says they're largely inspired by the bride and her dreams. Since it’s your day, she wants you to have the look you want. So, Rachel takes your ideas and dreams and expands them with her own to create a cohesive look, theme and style for your day. "We will go above and beyond to make the dream happen," Rachel says.

Rokhsana and Andrew would agree, telling us that they couldn't have done their decorating without Rachel, who went above and beyond for them. While they describe Exclusive Events' style as unique, creative, fresh and classy, they add that they can (and will) accommodate everyone's sense of taste and style. "Rachel had a wide variety of décor to choose from," says the couple. "We told her what we had in mind and she was able to accommodate it all and beyond. We had a lot of our own décor as well that we brought in and Rachel worked her magic and was able to turn [the hall] into a unique, amazing and elegant space."

But it's not just brides who recommend Exclusive Events as Anna at the Ukrainian Centre has worked with Rachel before and told us that she's easy to talk to and always pleasant to work with. "She’s always very happy and jokes and enjoys her time with her brides," adds Anna. "She's very open, friendly and gives brides what they’re looking for. She helps guide them, gives them ideas but what the bride wants is what they get."

At Exclusive Events, it's easy to see just by looking at their portfolio of past events that they offer a wow factor with their attention to detail and dedication to making sure each client gets the best experience. They offer a non-traditional, Hollywood-style of dècor for brides with big dreams, which they do by using loads of fabric layers, vibrant colours, blinging crystal, up lighting and rich and trendy damask.

Samirah told us that Exclusive Events uses great, high quality products (like silk and taffeta linens instead of polyester) at very reasonable costs. "Rachel is also in the process of bringing great new looks (neat things like as seen in New York or other high-end fashion and décor-oriented cities) to the London market at affordable costs." Samirah thinks that Rachel is a hardworking professional who "works closely with her clients to create what they had envisioned for their wedding day." She also told us that she often heard comments from clients who say "Rachel is just great!".

Décor for all budgets

Exclusive Events doesn't believe in limiting their services to specific brides. They're wedding specialists who feel that no wedding is out of their design range, and therefore shouldn't be out of your price range. "We believe that every bride, regardless of budget, should have the best experience possible," adds Rachel. "We are proud to work with any and all budget types." That being said, the average bride spends about $1000 and up on their décor at Exclusive Events; but, Rachel and her team can work out their services for lower or higher budgets. Plus, they've gained some ideas through their experience that can help brides to focus on the more important details, while still staying on budget.

“If you’re on a budget, pay attention to the table details," advises Rachel. "It’s what your guests are going to be looking at. Find ways to bring your pizzazz into the details and keep the overall look in mind when you’re taking care of the details.”

"We found Exclusive Events' pricing to be the best," Rokhsana and Andrew told us, adding that Rachel did so much beyond what they asked so nothing compared to her when it came to choosing their decorator. "I recommend Exclusive Events to everyone and anyone I know who is getting married," adds Rokhsana.

Anna, who says she would choose Exclusive Events over any other decorator, finds Rachel to be very flexible when it comes to making changes to ensure that her brides are happy. She adds that Rachel's designs are creative and she takes "inspiration from different sources and sees her designs through."

Exclusive Events doesn't have pre-defined packages; but instead, offer their services and rental items separately so you can pick and choose what fits into your style, needs and budget.

Some décor items offered by the Exclusive Events team, which can be set-up by them, or by you (for rent)…
• Designer linen + chair covers in many colours and materials, including silk, satin, taffeta and organza
• Dramatic lighting - up lighting, silver and black candelabras, etc.
• Glamorous glassware
• An array of vases that hold anything from orchids to glass beads
• Unique and distinctive décor items from pillars and urns to ornate wrought iron pieces
• Floral centrepieces, which can be customized to your wedding design décor

Monika, who says she would definitely recommend Exclusive Events to other brides looking for unique wedding day décor, thought that their prices were very reasonable. "One thing that Exclusive Events offered that I couldn't find anywhere else is a great price for the custom wedding of my dreams," she told us. She adds that while Exclusive Events had tons of options to choose from, if there was something that she wanted that they didn't have, they were willing to get it for her.

What Sherri and Chris loved best about the options that Exclusive Events had to choose from was the amazing colour selection, especially because they were not able to find their colour of table cloths anywhere else they looked. "We also liked how everything was customizable so we got exactly what we wanted," adds Sherri. "We felt the value of Exclusive Events' pricing was excellent. Rachel even gave us some great DIY decorating ideas to help us stay within our budget." In fact, Sherri and Chris say that every experience they had with Rachel was a positive one. "She was always professional and ready with fresh ideas and advice. She went over and above when it came to her services. Rachel even offered to help tie the bows on all of our wedding favours to help ease our last minute wedding stress...."

Rachel and her team of designers make it their business to keep up with tomorrow's trends, and offer some fun ideas for décor for the upcoming wedding season…

"Be eco-friendly whenever you can for your wedding," is Rachel's first piece of advice, something that has taken off in all aspects of the wedding industry. What's hot for centrepieces, are floaties –submerged flowers with floating candles in vases of all shapes and sizes.

Rachel also told us that pastel colours are making a comeback, and nature is playing a great role in décor.

Many brides who visit Exclusive Events, according to Rachel, are loving various shades of colours, incorporating fruit into their décor, and using lots and lots of texture.

Details, details, details

• Email Exclusive Events via their online contact form to set up a personalized consultation at their Wellington Road storefront in London.
• Initial meetings are with Rachel and typically last about 1 to 2 hours.
• The average bride spends $1000 (and up) on décor at Exclusive Events, but they can help with any budget.
• Rental items can be picked up or delivered if you plan to do your décor yourself.
• You can also hire the Exclusive Events team to take care of complete set-up and take-down.