Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to ItalianVenues ("we", "our", "us"). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website italianvenues.com and use our services.

ItalianVenues is operated by ORTC FZCO, a company registered in the United Arab Emirates. ORTC FZCO also operates our sister site, The Destination Wedding Manual (destinationweddingmanual.com). Where this policy says "we", "our" or "us", it means ORTC FZCO trading as ItalianVenues.

By using our website, you consent to the data practices described in this policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the site.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Personal Information You Provide

When you contact us or submit an enquiry through our website, we collect the following personal information:

• Name
• Email address
• Phone number (optional)
• Wedding date (optional)
• Number of guests (optional)
• Preferred location (optional)
• Budget range (optional)
• Message content
• Source page (which page you submitted from)
• Venue name (if enquiring about a specific venue)

2.2 Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain information about your device, including:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Referring website
• Date and time of visits

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To respond to your enquiries: We use your contact information to respond to your wedding venue enquiries and provide you with relevant information.
• To connect you with venues and suppliers: We may share your enquiry details with appropriate wedding venues, and with suppliers listed in our directory, so they can respond to you directly about your requirements.
• To improve our services: We analyze usage data to understand how our website is used and to improve user experience.
• To produce aggregate statistics: We analyse enquiry data in aggregate, anonymised form — for example enquiry counts, guest-count medians and budget ranges — to understand the market and to publish market insights. These statistics never identify any individual.
• To send marketing communications: With your consent, we may send you newsletters, updates and promotional material about venues, wedding planning resources, and our own related products — including our sister site, The Destination Wedding Manual. These may feature suppliers who pay to be listed in our directory, and may be timed around your wedding date so that they reach you when that kind of supplier is usually booked. Marketing is always optional, is never a condition of using our free service, and you can withdraw consent at any time via the unsubscribe link in any email or by contacting us.
• To comply with legal obligations: We may use your information to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

4. How We Share Your Information

We may share your personal information in the following circumstances:

4.1 With Wedding Venues and Suppliers

When you submit an enquiry, we share your information with the relevant wedding venues so they can respond to you directly — usually by introducing you to them by email, with you copied in. Where your enquiry is for a supplier (a photographer, planner, florist, musician and so on), we share it in the same way with suppliers listed in our directory who match what you have asked for.

We share only what a venue or supplier needs in order to answer you: your name, contact details, wedding date, guest numbers and what you have told us about your plans. Suppliers pay us for their listing; they do not pay us for your enquiry, and we take no commission on anything you book with them.

4.2 With Service Providers

We use third-party service providers to help us operate our business:

• Airtable: We store enquiry data in Airtable for customer relationship management.
• Vercel: Our website is hosted on Vercel's infrastructure.
• PostHog: We use PostHog (EU-hosted) analytics to understand how our website is used.
• Resend: We use Resend to deliver enquiry confirmations and service emails.
• Analytics providers: We may use additional analytics services to understand website usage.

These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and only use it for the purposes we specify.

4.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or governmental authority, or to protect our rights, property, or safety.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Enquiry data is typically retained for up to 2 years after your last interaction with us, or until you request deletion.

6. Your Data Protection Rights

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK data protection laws, you have the following rights:

• Right to access: You can request copies of your personal data.
• Right to rectification: You can request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Right to erasure: You can request that we delete your personal data under certain circumstances.
• Right to restrict processing: You can request that we limit how we use your data.
• Right to data portability: You can request a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: You can object to our processing of your data for marketing purposes.
• Right to withdraw consent: If we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@italianvenues.com.

7. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website and store certain information. For more information about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.

8. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence, including the United States (where Airtable servers are located). These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those of your country. We ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with this privacy policy.

10. Children's Privacy

Our services are not intended for individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have collected information from a child, please contact us immediately.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new privacy policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this privacy policy periodically for any changes.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: