I am so excited that you are here! I am Elle, the founder & heart behind Elle Ellinghaus Designs, or as we say, “EED” for short. At EED we believe in grace, pearl necklaces worn in odd numbers, and that weddings should be exquisite. Design & love are two things that are dear to my heart, so when EED began, I combined the passion for creating beautiful spaces with the romance of love. I wanted to create a planning studio whose knowledge was based on countless hours of hands-on experience, where our clients felt like they were with a friend, and a company whose designs blew their couples away.
I started a dream in 2006 with a sketchpad and a lot of ambition, and today our team of planners have designed events featured in publications around the world including Martha Stewart, BRIDES, & more; we are winners of The Knot “Best of Weddings” award 2013-2020; we have traveled across seas for destination weddings and have designed for VIP clientele such as politicians, NFL players, Fortune 500 execs and more! Some of the EED gals are family, some have been in each other’s weddings and you will always find us holding our bellies from laughter while together. Below you will find a little about each of us!
Owner
Loves: the beach, the south, the 20’s, porch swings, lilly pulitzer, animal rights, champagne
Senior Wedding Planner
Loves: pink, picnics, palm trees, pearls, cowboy boots, frank sinatra
Wedding Planner – Charleston Studio
Loves: traveling, pizza, st. thomas, calligraphy, love stories, dancing
Assisting in all the Details
Loves: fresh flowers, her boys, a good pair of heels and the color pink
Event Producer, Blogger & Styling
Petite Pineapple Designer
Loves: sweets, lipstick, fringe and fashion
2005
Elle graduated college with a dream of an interior design career when a client asked her to design her daughter's wedding. She said, "Absolutely...not." You see, Elle wasn't into that whole ooey gooey love thing and wanted nothing to do with weddings. "One wedding wouldn't hurt," said Elle, so she did it. Then the bride's friends began asking her to design theirs. Soon, she had a goal of putting these weddings to an end to get back to interiors. Little did she know her world was about to change due to a set of handsome, green eyes....
2007
Elle met her soon-to-be husband and it was love of at first site the moment she walked in and their eyes met. He asked her to a quick lunch, 8 hours later she left understanding that "ooey-gooey love thing" she used to roll her eyes at. After him, Elle wanted to be around love all the time so she transitioned to only weddings, but brought her love of decor into the world of romance. Design she knew, but Elle started to dive into the world of wedding planning & logistics learning everything from her own hands-on experience and countless hours of work.
2010
With the experience, brand and business plan she wanted complete...Elle Ellinghaus Designs was official in 2010. Elle's sister, Jillian, had been planning weddings for a boutique hotel chain for years, so they had a conversation:Jillian: "Hey Elle! You are full of great, wonderful ideas all the time!"
**Note from Jillian: That last sentence was added by Elle...[rolls eyes]**
Elle: "You should totally come work with me! So fun!"
Jillian: "AH! Totes!! Can we play country music in the studio? Count me in!"
2012
EED moved into their studio on Canton Square and started turning it into a design space, adding flower boxes and painting the doors and trim pink.
2013
Two interns started at EED who would be be set apart from all the rest: Chelsea & Maureen. Chelsea would eventually become an EED Wedding Planner and Maureen would grow to be involved in everything from event producing to blogging, and what Elle calls "the backbone" of EED.
2014+
The team adds irreplaceable Event Producers, Lauren & Chatara, to make this team complete! Elle was asked to be a featured author in the Event Planning textbook used at colleges nationwide and to speak around the country telling her story, being a cheerleader for other small businesses, and teaching wedding planning. EED would go on to be featured in numerous publications, asked to destinations around the globe to design clients weddings, earn the The Knot "Best of Weddings" award 6 years in a row, and live happily ever after creating other's ever afters.
2016
The EED planners are asked to design events for their clients after the wedding is over. Birthdays, debutante balls, and celebrations of all kind. EED's second company, Le Petit Pineapple (the same cute pineapple and sophisticated planning.. with a bow) has begun for social events.
