The Escrow Vault.
Your money never sits in a stranger’s account.
A look inside the structure that holds, releases, and protects every dollar of every Cordelia wedding.
The moment everyone freezes.
The wire transfer is the highest-friction moment in destination wedding planning. The vendor is wonderful. The venue is perfect. The contract is signed. And then a wire transfer of fifteen thousand dollars to a foreign bank account, on a Wednesday, with no recourse.
Most couples sit on a perfectly good vendor for weeks rather than complete that transfer. Some give up entirely and book a resort. Others send the wire and spend the next nine months in a low background hum of “did I just send fifteen thousand dollars to a stranger.”
Cordelia replaces the wire transfer with something different.
Funds move only when milestones do.
With and without.
A booking, with and without an Escrow Vault.
You wire money. You hope.
The full deposit lands in the vendor’s account on day one. The vendor has the money. You have a PDF contract you can’t enforce across borders.
If the vendor disappears, the venue cancels, or the work isn’t delivered, your only recourse is a lawsuit in a foreign jurisdiction in a language you may not speak.
Most disputes never even get filed. The cost of recovery exceeds the loss.
You fund the Vault. The Vault holds.
The deposit lands in a regulated escrow account. Cordelia is the trustee. The vendor sees the funds are committed but cannot touch them.
Each release is tied to a specific milestone. Contract signed. Design approved. Final delivery confirmed. If a milestone isn’t met, the funds don’t move.
If a vendor fails, the Vault holds the line. Replacement funds come from the Vault, not from your pocket again.
Three parties. One trustee.
No private wires.
Every dollar of every Cordelia wedding moves through the same structure. The couple funds the Vault. Cordelia holds it. Vendors are paid out only when triggers are met. Nothing is wired peer-to-peer. No vendor ever sees the couple’s bank account information. No couple ever sends money directly to a foreign account.
Five releases. Each earned.
A typical Cordelia wedding releases funds across five milestones. The schedule is set at booking, written into the contract, and visible to both sides at every moment. Each release requires a triggering event. Each one is logged with a timestamp.
The deposit lands.
Twenty percent of the total moves into the Vault. The vendor sees the funds are committed and reserves the date. Nothing is paid out yet.
The first release.
You approve the full design, the line-item budget, and the confirmed sub-vendor roster. The Vault releases the first slice to the planner and primary vendors so they can begin sourcing.
The remaining balance funds the Vault.
You wire the remaining eighty percent into the Vault. Critically: the funds are still in the Vault, not the vendor’s account. Triggers determine when each line releases.
Sub-vendors are funded for local costs.
Florists buy flowers. Caterers buy ingredients. Rentals are booked. Approximately fifty percent of the remaining balance releases for these working capital needs, against documented invoices.
Final balance clears.
If the wedding was delivered without a dispute, the remaining balance releases to the planner and vendors. If a dispute is filed within those 48 hours, the funds stay in the Vault until the dispute is resolved.
Cordelia’s commission of 5% is held back from the final release, and only collected on weddings completed without a dispute. The platform is paid only on success.
The wall, not the warning.
Wire fraud, vendor disappearance, no-shows on the wedding day. These are the scenarios couples lose sleep over. The Vault doesn’t just track milestones. It’s the wall that catches money when something fails.
Cordelia replaces from the regional bench within 48 hours, or refunds the line.
Because the funds are in the Vault and not in the failed vendor’s account, replacement is a release decision Cordelia controls. The cost of replacement comes from the Vault, not from your pocket again.
The Vault refunds what hasn’t already been spent.
If the wedding cannot proceed (natural disaster, government restriction, family emergency), the Vault returns the unreleased portion of funds. Already-released sub-vendors keep what they earned. The unspent balance comes back to you, not to the platform.
The final release is held until the dispute resolves.
If you flag an issue within 48 hours of the wedding, Cordelia pauses the final release and opens a dispute resolution process with the Market Manager. Funds don’t move until both sides reach an agreement or Cordelia’s mediation determines the outcome.
Audited like a bank.
Built on regulated rails.
The Cordelia Vault is built on Stripe Connect plus a dedicated trust account with US-regulated escrow infrastructure. Funds are segregated from operating funds, audited monthly, and never commingled. Cordelia cannot touch escrow funds for operating expenses. The structure is regulatory, not just contractual.
Money that’s protected.
Cordelia is hand-picking founding couples for pilot weddings in Tulum, Cabo, and San Miguel.