There really are not sufficient words to capture how strongly my wife and I would recommend Ethnic Essence. From the first moment of contact, Smita Aunty and her team showed themselves to be first-class. Smita Aunty and the Ethnic Essence team (namely, Shilpa and Neha) were incredibly supportive, responsive, helpful, and absolute professionals in terms of turning our dream wedding into a reality. They have an outstanding (and very easy to follow) organizational system, and are always willing to communicate with clients, make necessary changes and accommodations, and handle any requests. Our wedding was the first big wedding in both my and my wife's families, and Smita Aunty walked us through the process and all the complexities of an Indian wedding thoroughly and seamlessly. On the day of, Shilpa and Neha were the two greatest on-site coordinators one could imagine. We truly cannot write or communicate a strong enough recommendation for Ethnic Essence. They are the absolute best, and we strongly encourage any couple looking for their dream wedding to work with them.

We had an amazing experience working with the Ethnic Essence team and couldn't be happier with how our wedding turned out! Smita Auntie was such a pleasure to work with - she was kind, responsive and really brought our vision to life. Her years of experience, attention to every detail and honest feedback put us at ease throughout the process. The entire team was organized and their help on our wedding day really allowed us to enjoy every moment. We didn't have a lot of time to plan but Ethnic Essence pulled everything off beautifully and made it feel seamless!

Dear Smita Aunty, Shilpa, Neha, Pooja, and team at Ethnic Essence, I cannot thank you all enough for helping us plan our wedding. Everything we experienced this past weekend completely surpassed expectations. When it came to the task of planning an Indian wedding from across the country, not seeing or being familiar with many of the venues and vendors before booking, all while starting my first few months of residency, I was definitely worried how things would go. But from the first day we worked with Smita aunty, she put my mind at ease and it was clear that we were in good hands. You were always there to answer any questions (we had many!) and so helpful always. It was amazing seeing your creative vision come to life last weekend and I know the guests were just as blown away as we were with your decor and planning. The whole thing was just WOW! And Shilpa, Neha, and Pooja throughout the weekend were truly amazing with their coordination and execution skills, I couldn’t have imagined things going smoother. Thank you guys for keeping me and Gajan well fed, hydrated, and in good spirits throughout all our events and for making sure we were all on time and hitting our cues. Extra special shoutout to Pooja who my bridesmaids couldn’t stop raving about for being such a positive energy on the morning of the wedding when things got a little stressful! The entire team at ethnic essence has truly made this an event that me and my family as well as Gajan‘s family will never forget. Thank you so much for all your help and we can’t wait to highly recommend you to all our friends and family for their future wedding planning! Best of luck with everything ahead!

Lots of love,
Meghna & Gajan

Smita and her team did an amazing job in bringing our ideas to life. They understood the ambiance that we wanted to create. We asked for a romantic and elegant wedding and that's exactly what we had. All our guests were impressed with everything. Everyone loved it!

We used Ethnic Essence (EE) for our wedding decorator and month-of coordination at the Hyatt Newport Beach! Throughout the process, the EE team worked with us to make floral and decor decisions for the ceremony and reception. I wanted a modern/simple Indian wedding with a boho feel for the ceremony and an elegant feel for the reception. Smita was knowledgeable and guided me when I was indecisive and brought my vision to life. When signing up with EE, they provided us with a very detailed and comprehensive workbook that helped us stay organized. I handed off all vendor info and logistics to Shilpa (my month-of coordinator) leading up to the wedding and she made sure everything was set for the big day. On the event day, Shilpa and her team did an excellent job of ensuring everything ran smoothly. Highly recommend EE!

Ethnic Essence was one of the first vendors I picked when we began planning our wedding. We had gotten many recommendations about their services from our friends and family and I'm so happy with our decision. Smita Auntie & Mary both did a great job helping make my vision come to life and they are so great with the entire process. I completely trusted them to make everything look amazing and IT WAS A DREAM!!! The amount of compliments we received and the awe we had the entire wedding and reception made everything so worth it. I would recommend Ethnic Essence's services for anyone!

Planning a wedding is no small feat. My now husband and I were referred to Ethnic Essence and Smita in 2019 when we set off to plan our dream wedding in Palm Springs. We reached out to her about our decor desires for our big day and she worked with us to stay within our budget and still make all of our events look magical. Fast forward to March 2020, two months before our big day - we had to cancel our wedding due to COVID. After months of uncertainty and two attempts to reschedule, we finally settled on moving forward with a small, intimate wedding. Cutdown from 200 to 50 people, venue change to something more local in Malibu (we're from LA) and cutting down from 4 events to 1 - Smita worked with us to adjust all the little details so we could still celebrate our big day and that too safely!

The ceremony space it was so ethereal and magical - everything turned out even better than I dreamed of in my head! Smita is a true visionary and brought everything I asked for to life! Everything came together so beautifully - from the palki sahib, to the entry archway, to my GORGEOUS bouquet (which I'm having preserved so I have a memory of it forever), to our amazing B&G table at the lunch -- I still can't stop thinking about it.

We even had our planner back out of working with us less than two months before our wedding and we reached out to Smita to do month of coordination for us and she more than happily agreed. Her and her team (Alisha and Radhika), were so wonderful the day of and we were so gracious and thankful that we had them running point on our big day. We had delays and small hiccups, but they handled everything with calmness and care and made us feel so at ease.

Their hard work, dedication, professionalism and most importantly attention to detail throughout this whole process blew us away. So many of my friends and family commented how impressed they were by them. We truly had a wonderful and memorable day celebrating and could not have done that without Smita, Alisha & Radhika's help. We're so appreciative of the part they played in making our wedding special.

Highly recommend, look no further for your decor and planning needs! Especially for those looking to plan and execute small, intimate COVID safe weddings.

Ethnic Essence and Smita Aunty were amazing! Planning a wedding amidst covid was hectic but she was there every step of the way as we planned around this pandemic. The decor was outstanding and they made our visions come to light! Thank you for taking the time to customize our events and making them everything we wanted.

They are so helpful! We don't know how we would have been able to pull off such a beautiful wedding without them. They work with you to create a design and really make your ideas come to life. Smita and their whole team won't quit until you are satisfied. The flowers were absolutely gorgeous for our wedding. Smita was able to capture exactly what we imagined, and she exceeded our expectations.

Smita’s sense of style, attention to detail, and flexibility are unmatched. When we decided to have our wedding amidst Covid-19 we knew it would be a little crazy but we never imagined that we would be so lucky to have such a patient and professional wedding planner. Smita would work around my busy work schedule and was always available for my 1000 questions.
To all those future brides out there:
if you’re looking for an upscale wedding planner that you can’t 100% trust to help you plan the biggest day of your life, while keeping your vision and making it come alive then I would highly recommend Smitha.
My husband and I sincerely appreciate everything you helped us with for our big day . Our wedding would not have been spectacular without you and your team at
Ethnic Essence !!!