Testimonials 2019-03-01T12:05:47+00:00

Testimonials

CECILIA & ANDREW (Hong Kong) October 2018

Absolutely the best!
We couldn’t be happier how our wedding turned out and it would not have been possible without the help of Lara and Glam Events!
We live in Hong Kong and got married in Tuscany. We did some groundwork and made an advance trip to Italy (approx 7 months before the wedding) to scout for venues and catering for tasting, two of our top priorities on our list. With venue and catering checked off, we started to look for wedding planners online back in Hong Kong. I still remember very clearly the very first conversation I had with Lara over a long distance call, I was completely sold by her positive attitude and how comfortable it was to have an initial conversation with her. She made me felt so secure when we only had 6 months to plan the wedding remotely from another country. We immediately knew she was the right planner for us.
Of course, Lara and Glam Events did not disappoint. Throughout the planning process, Lara was very patient and professional, always available, gave us a lot of feedback on our ideas, followed up on every detail we had requested, and made sure that we were on track with timeline. Most importantly, she took a lot of the stress off of our shoulders (crucial for future bride & groom) and made the wedding process incredibly pleasant. She also helped us to organize a series of events for us to host before and after the wedding day. Her recommendations and organization skills are impeccable!!
Finally, on the day of our wedding, it was a dream. A dream that we will never forget. We felt like we were the most relaxed couple (while our bridesmaids and groomsmen were panicking) and everything just fell into place smoothly throughout the day. Lara made it all seem like it was so easy for us! Our guests were also very impressed with her professionalism on the day of our wedding and she took care of every little detail until late at night. She absolutely made sure it was a day we will never forget.
Hands down would recommend Lara and Glam Events over and over again. We can’t thank you enough for all the incredible hard work you have done for us to remember for a lifetime. Thank you for giving us the wedding of our dreams and for being the BEST wedding planner we can ask for.
Our wedding was in the fall with 80+ guests traveling from 10+ countries. Glam Events turned our vision into reality within 6 months.

STEPHANIE & HENRY (San Francisco) September 2018

Best wedding planner in Tuscany.
Lara helped make our dream wedding come true! We live in San Francisco and got married in Tuscany. Lara was easy to connect and provided great insight to Tuscany, this was essential since we were planning a destination wedding! She referred us to the perfect florist and photographer based upon our vision and budget. During the wedding week, Lara took care of everything and was very professional. With all our guests being out of town, Lara also coordinated their stay nearby our venue. If we had a question, she always promptly returned our calls or emails. We never had to wonder if things were taken care of. We highly recommend Glam Events planning to anyone looking for someone who will provide professional service with kindness and heart!

LAURA & DAVID (London) September 2018

Dream makers! Our wedding day was so incredibly perfect, it was even better than we could have ever imagined and we cannot begin to describe how totally amazing Ilaria was! She really made our dream day come true. No request or question was too much trouble, she was always really quick to reply, we were never left waiting or feeling like there was anything we couldn’t ask. All the vendors she recommended were fantastic, and she managed to get us our dream venue. She was excellent in guiding us through what the next thing to think about booking would be, meaning we had all the big parts in place well in advance so I never felt stressed. Ilaria also helped my Dad plan a day after cocktail party on the most amazing rooftop in Florence for all our guests.
We came over to Florence for a few days about 10 months before the wedding to put in place the major parts and she really made us feel like we were in such good hands – we had both Ilaria and Lara with us that day (they are both great) and they helped us decide our menu, the table setting, the flowers and how the event would take place at the venue – they really listened to what we envisioned our day looking like and made it a reality.
On the day Ilaria was there from the morning making sure everything was in place for the afternoon and running through the ceremony rehearsal with us – she was there right till the end of the day seeing that everything ran beautifully. We really cannot thank Ilaria and Glam Events enough for creating our dream wedding!

IRENE & SASHA (New York) September 2018

Ilaria is absolutely wonderful! She has fantastic taste and is fun to work with. She customized our wedding to be unique to our cultures and personalized for who we are. We couldn’t imagine a better wedding planner to work with!

ELEANOR & MATT (London) July 2018

Fantastic, creative and thoughtful wedding planners.
Ilaria and Lara at Glam Events are amazing wedding planners and we highly recommend them to other couples considering getting married in Italy. Everything was planned exceptionally well and looked amazing – with great attention to detail. Nothing was a problem for them and I really felt that they helped us get the most from the suppliers. They have a great contact base for suppliers in the area and we met some lovely people who all helped to make our wedding perfect! Ilaria and Lara are so kind and thoughtful and created a beautiful, stylish event that felt incredibly personal and also cohesive in theme. The best thing of all was knowing that on the day we wouldn’t have to worry about anything. We can’t thank them both enough for helping us create the most special day of our lives.

ASHLEIGH & AYDIN (London – Cape Town) June 2018

Glam Events was exceptional. Ilaria was recommenced by a friend who got married in Tuscany and we were not disappointed. Both Ilaria and Lara were complete pros. All the suppliers they provided were also spectacular and first time right. The on the day execution was also flawless and stress free.
They were able to produce an amazing three day event for us and 200+ guests that exceeded our expectations.
We would highly recommend Glam Events to anyone considering a wedding in Tuscany!

ANDREA & SHANE (Ireland) April 2018

I’ve always dreamed of getting married in Tuscany and Glam Events helped this become a reality. We planned our wedding over 2 years from the comfort of our home in Ireland. We had no idea where to start but after speaking with Ilaria about what we envisaged for our special day she recommended the most fabulous venue for our setting. From here we discussed every detail and the caterer, patisserie, florist, DJ, celebrant were all carefully chosen for us based on recommendation and price. Every question we had was always answered promptly from either Ilaria or Lara. A year before we got married we flew to Italy and met these two beautiful ladies, who chauffeured us around with ease. We viewed our venue and tasted our food, wine and cake options.. the most fun day ever!! Paperwork was completed simply with the help from these ladies and our wedding certificates arrived to us quickly after we arrived home. The day of our wedding was so relaxed as Glam Events took care of absolutely everything. Thank you Ilaria and Lara for helping us have the most magical wedding!

ASHLEY & FILIPPO (Los Angeles) October 2017

Lara from Glam Events has incredibly great taste and extensive wedding planning knowledge. She is friendly, punctual and knows the business very well and was available any time I needed a quick phone chat or facetime conversation. She was also there with us throughout the night and was by my side even helping me bustle my dress! She is an incredible, professional and extremely creative person.
Without Lara and Ilaria I wouldn’t have had the incredible and beautiful wedding that I had. They define class, my guests said they haven’t had this much fun in 20+ years! Grazie mille Lara and Ilaria!

KRISTEN & DAN (Toronto, Canada) September 2017

Wow! Where do we begin… These girls are incredible!! We can not say enough about Glam Events Tuscany. We planned our destination Tuscan wedding from Canada which was definitely scary but having Glam Events as our wedding planner made the process an incredible experience. Right off the bat, they made us feel completely confident that they could bring the vision we had for our wedding day to life. We worked very closely with Lara the whole way through. In the exchange of 100’s of emails, she was always professional, extremely organized, super friendly, caring and her attention to detail was spot on. She always got back to us extremely quickly (even though we were working in completely different time zones). She was always available for calls or skype…I even recall her stepping out of a dinner party one night to talk to us.

We are very particular individuals who ask more questions then you could possibly imagine. We often felt terrible about how much we were emailing and asking, and even when we knew it was too much Lara was always happy to hear from us and answered all of our questions (and then some) keeping our minds at ease. Lara understands the operations and logistics it takes to bring a destination wedding to life. We had 2 days of activities leading up to the wedding for 60 people and she helped organize everything from transportation to accommodations, dinners, and activities. 2 months later our guests are still raving about their experience.

Our wedding day was perfect beyond our wildest dreams and we have only Glam Events to thank for it. I (the bride) did not have to worry about a thing. I stood back in awe and watched everything come to life. Lara was on location from 6am until 2am or later making sure everything was perfect. Choosing to work with them was the best and easiest decision we made throughout our entire wedding planning process. We miss the girls and hope we can work with them someday again.

CRISTINA & ALBERTO (Spagna) August 2017

As an Italian leaving abroad, I was looking for the perfect spot in my country and the perfect organization for my wedding. I had many ideas going around in my mind but I didn’t know how to realize them until I found Ilaria online. Since the begging she captured my attention with her kindness, her way to explain me things, her simplicity and her courtesy. She was always very clear about everything and she always tried to find a way to accomodate my whishes. She always kept in touch with me, she was very quick in answering and very clear about the prices and the options. She really can help you realize the wedding you are looking for, just tell her your ideas and everything will go on smoothly. The wedding was a success, the food was great, the music was epic, the location was like a fairytale and I could never imagines I was going to miss my fantastic wedding planner! Grazie Ilaria per tutto, sei la meglio!

AILIE & DAVID (Scotland) July 2017

Ilaria and Lara were absolutely wonderful in helping us planning our wedding! We are from Scotland and were having a legal ceremony in Florence so didn’t know where to start with regards to legal paperwork and Italian vendors. Ilaria and Lara took the stress away from planning a wedding and were an absolute pleasure to work with. They were always on hand to help, spent time with us in Italy on the lead up to the wedding and were always happy to help with whatever we asked. They were both there on our wedding day and did such a fabulous job, we genuinely couldn’t have done it without them!

LAUREN & CHRISTOPHER (Uk) July 2017

Glam Events in Tuscany did an amazing job on our wedding. Lara was a fantastic planner. We loved working with her, as she was always so kind, upbeat and enthusiastic. She has the perfect approach of offering advice and a view when it is needed but we still felt that we were getting a day that was just as we wanted – only it was even better thanks to all Lara’s hard work and planning. Lara was so easy to work with. Her English is amazing and she is very responsive with emails, calls and skype, and really good fun to work with – we laughed a lot! She was so generous with her time throughout the entire planning process even though it was a busy Tuscan wedding season. Glam Events were able to offer us a great range of suppliers and had really good contacts in the local area – the caterer’s food and wines were exceptional (the best food in Tuscany), the DJ was loads of fun and all the lighting and decorations looked perfect. A huge thank you to Lara for making all this happen for our special day: 100% recommend!

CHRISTIN & MASSIMILIANO (Texas) June 2017

My husband and I had a wedding that was beyond what I had ever imagined – a wedding that I wish I could relive over and over. Our wedding was simply magical – and could not have been possible without Lara from Glam Events in Tuscany. Words cannot express how incredible she is – from her work ethic to her ability to capture our style and cultures. My husband and I did not even have a chance to visit our venue before our wedding, but Lara put us at ease and took care of every little detail imaginable – to ensure that we could relax and enjoy our day. Lara was very prompt with her replies – and would take the time to Skype with us on a regular basis.

The wedding was beyond our expectations, and Lara’s attention to detail is impeccable. Our family and friends still cannot stop talking about it! I am forever grateful for all that Lara did for us; she truly is amazing.

VERA & EHSAN (Taiwan) May 2017

Ilaria is the best wedding planner in Tuscany – she has a wealth of experience creating unforgettable events, has exquisite taste, and loves what she does. She has great relationships with vendors throughout the region – from the best florists, to the best photographers, DJs, and caterers. Most importantly, her top priority is making the bride and groom’s vision come to life – she has a warm, unobtrusive style, which is rare to find among professionals of her caliber.

Thank you, again, dearest Ilaria for making our dream wedding come true!

ERIKA & BRIAN (New York) April 2017

I must start this review by saying that Ilaria and Lara are hands down THE BEST wedding planning team you will find, in Italy and beyond. My husband and I had the most magical wedding, entirely thanks to the talent and experience of Ilaria and Lara. If you are looking to plan a destination wedding in Europe these women have my highest recommendation.

Throughout the planning process, Ilaria was extremely responsive, organized, creative, positive, and just an absolute joy to work with. She quickly answered every one of my countless emails with enthusiasm, and I was always reassured that she had every detail of our weekend covered. Ilaria presented us with a selection of the most high-end, highly regarded vendors, and I’m so glad that we went with all of her recommendations, because every single one of our vendors provided us with perfection. Ilaria’s experience shined while dealing with the vendors, she clearly has had years of working with these professionals and it was obvious that they had the highest amount of respect for her. She worked tirelessly to ensure that all of the vendors understood our vision and worked to make sure everything was executed to our specifications. We put all of our trust in Ilaria and our vendors and I’m so glad that we did. We knew that the wedding weekend was going to be lovely, and were so excited to have all of our family and friends together in one of our favorite places, but Ilaria and her team exceeded all of our expectations and delivered a weekend that was beyond our wildest dreams.

We will be forever grateful for Ilaria and Lara for giving us the most wonderful memories and we are happy to have finished our wedding with two beautiful, Italian women as new friends. If you are looking for the most spectacular wedding planning team, you really need not look any further. I have every confidence that Ilaria and Lara will create an event for you that is pure magic and far beyond your expectations.

CAROLINA & JOEL (New York) September 2016

Ilaria… let me see, where do I start?… What a beautiful person she is, it was wonderful having her as my wedding planner. Extremely pleasant online and even more in person. It was very nice to meet her! I am a firm believer that when things fall in place smoothly without great effort it is because is meant to be. My wedding was just that, I also believe that Ilaria made it just so much more easy going for us. Everything went well, I genuinely enjoyed all of it.
The cake was perfect, the flavor unique and pleasant.
The olive oil bottles added just the touch we needed to show our guests appreciation in a simple but authentic way. The tags said exactly what I asked, thanks to Ilaria for making sure of that.
The food and wine at Il Castello Ristorante Certaldo Alto, I don’t have words to explain how good the flavors were. Everything they served was just absolutely delicious.
The flowers, exquisite. Elena Mainoldi (www.elenamainoldifloral.com) translated into physical form exactly what I asked for Ilaria was a great mediator between her and I, making sure everything went as wished.
The musician: Francesco Biadene is very talented. His interpretation of the songs we requested was just lovely. His voice and the talented way he played the guitar added just the right touch to our ceremony. Thank you so very much.
Ilaria, thank you, thank you, thank you very much!
Carolina Salcedo

BIANCA & NIKO (Cayman Islands) September 2016

We absolutely loved working with Ilaria, she is an exceptionally talented wedding planner. She made our wedding a reality with the wave of her magical wand. She knew exactly what we wanted and needed to bring our dreams to life. She was able to transform our ideas into something more than we could have ever imagined.
When we first decided to have the wedding we were a little bit worried about planning it from the Cayman Islands as we would have little control of the wedding planning process and we were skeptical of whether our vision would be executed with perfection. However Ilaria was available to answer all our questions and concerns. Every vendor Ilaria recommended exceeded our expectations and were willing to accommodate our every request. There are not enough words to explain how talented Ilaria is, and we cannot thank her enough for helping us create memories that will last a lifetime.

SOPHIE & CRAIG (Uk) September 2016

Ilaria planned my wedding in september 2016!
I dont know where to start – Ilaria made all my dreams and ideas come to life and shared her own thoughts which made my day spectacular!
She has such a personable approach and is very easy to get along with – no question or task ever too much and responds to every question in detail – i worked with Ilaria for around 6 months constantly and your work is amazing!
Our guests where blown away by our wedding the detail and the creativity involved was beautiful and all down to Ilaria talent and keen eye for detail!
My wedding planning was never preassured and was a joy to do because of ilaria who done all the hard work and effort to create such a beautiful day!
I found a friend in Ilaria and in my eyes nobody will compare when it comes to planningyour wedding!
Married : castillo di vincigliata 4/9/16
Eternelly gratefull
Mr and mrs atkinson

JESSICA & DANIEL (New York) August 2016

Weddings are a stressful thing, especially when it is a destination wedding and you do not speak the local language. When my husband and I chose to get married in Tuscany, we knew we had to use a wedding planner. Luckily, we were recommended to Ilaria by our wedding venue and we could not be happier. She created the most magical day of our lives and we and our guests were absolutely stunned with the results.
Ilaria is so talented, she is truly so good at what she does, she has a beautiful eye for detail and she really really loves her work. You can see her passion and dedication immediately through her responses and in person, she is just an angel. She is experienced, and has a phenomenal list of recommended trusted vendors she uses which were truly brilliant. She is a visionary, she helps bring to life your special day and what I found really useful was her expert opinion and she made decision making easy and efficient (as weddings require lots of little decisions).
She is patient, and also very responsive. She would be available via skpe if we required it (we were based in NY) and was very responsive in emails. She is very easy to work with, and she works very well with her vendors to ensure on-going relationship is held so that the best prices are obtained and budgets are met. She far exceeded my expectations for such an important event and I highly recommend her for any event.
Most of her work goes on behind the scenes, and she works tirelessly to make sure everything is perfect. The wedding turned out so beautiful, beyond anything I could dream of, and she made my fairytale dream wedding come to life. I could not thank you more Ilaria. Me, my family and guests were blown away with how beautiful the day/event was. So many of my guest, said this was the best and most beautiful wedding they have ever been too. Thank you with all my heart. I highly recommend Ilaria for any wedding in Tuscany. She is the no doubt one of the best weddding planners in Italy

CRYSTAL & FRANCESCO (New York) June 2016

Hiring Ilaria at Glam Events as our wedding planner was the best decision! Planning a destination wedding can be overwhelming, but with the help of Ilaria, it was never stressful and always a pleasure. Not only is she kind and patient, but she is so professional! Every email was answered promptly, even with the time difference. Additionally, ever single vendor she recommends is just as professional and wonderful.
In fact, everything Ilaria recommended was perfection! Ilaria recommended that we host our welcome aperitivo on a hotel rooftop with views of Florence’s historic center, and even the local Italian guests were blown away! On the day of our wedding, the weather forecast was not looking too good, but Ilaria knew we had our hearts set on an outdoor ceremony. She recommended that we set up the ceremony in 2 places, 1 outdoor and 1 indoor, and as we got closer we would make the call. As we got into the car to drive over to the venue, the clouds opened up and the sun shone brightly, and we were able to have our dream wedding just as we imagined. I feel like Ilaria went above and beyond her job description, whatever questions, concerns, or needs we had, she was there!
Grazie Ilaria and team, you guys are amazing and I cannot thank you enough!

SALLY & KAI (Boston) June 2016

Ilaria Menichetti with Glam Events helped us have the wedding of our dreams. She is the most patient, sweet and smiley person you will ever meet. Nothing is ever too much for her. Come to her with your dream wedding ideas and she will deliver a wedding of your dreams. The number of emails Ilaria had to wake up to every morning from me would cause anyone to want to quit. She persevered, kept her cool, and got the job done(exceptionally). Our guests were blown away and I didn’t have anything to worry about on my wedding day except not messing up my vows… I don’t believe anyone else would have had the patience or openmindedness to pull off our wedding with the wedding ceremony, reception and getting ready locations(4 of them) more than an hour apart…
She also helped us with planning an outdoor rustic pizza party at our villa to wine tasting/tour/dinner to pasta cooking lessons to the most amazing wedding ceremony/reception to a most delicious post wedding recovery brunch…
We can never thank her enough…

MARK & PIERRE (Berlin) May 2016

Ilaria was a fantastic wedding planner. Not only is she a lovely person but she is dedicated and professional. She was always quick to get back to us, had wonderful ideas and realized an incredible and beautiful wedding. Getting married in Tuscany is expensive but it was completely worth it – we had an incredible day and much of that is thanks to Ilaria’s impeccable planning and her amazing vendors (particularly a wonderful caterer and surely the most incredible wedding photos and video we have ever seen). It was especially impressive given some of the practical problems we had from special requests (a Scottish Ceilidh band in Italy) to last minute emergencies (some difficult weather on the day and the need as a result to hire a tent for our venue). Ilaria really went the extra mile for us and I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone. Thanks for helping us to arrange such a special day!

EMI & TERRY (Canada) April 2016

Ilaria in one word; amazing! She turned our dream into a reality. We were a bit nervous planning a destination wedding (we live in Canada, wedding was in Italy) but Ilaria’s professionalism and genuine love for what she does put us a ease. It felt like a best friend was planning the wedding. The vendors she works with are equality as professional and a true pleasure to work with. Ilaria listened to what we wanted and she delivered, surpassing our expectations!
The day of the wedding she had everything under control. She made sure we didn’t have to worry about a thing so that we could focus on getting married and having fun with our friends and family. We couldn’t have been happier with her services, she is worth every penny.
I cannot say enough good things about Ilaria, she made our wedding a dream come true and it was perfect and seamless. I cannot recommend her highly enough!

CIARAN & JOANNA September 2015

Ilaria helped plan the wedding of our dreams this September 2015. We both live in Canada, and found her services through reviews online and saw some photos of past weddings she has planned through various websites. Her services was the first thing we booked for our wedding, even before picking a wedding date or even where we wanted to have our wedding. From the beginning of the process, she was always helpful and patient with us, guiding us through every step of the way. This included the selection of our abbey, villa, makeup, photographer, car rental, meals before and after the wedding, and any other items we requested. In every situation, she provided us with different options and gave us her expert advice which we really appreciated. She has wonderful ideas for everything and all the vendors she provided were amazing. She was also very helpful with getting our legal paperwork done, which we wouldn\’t have known how to do without her. In all honesty, we could not have planned our wedding without her help. On the day of the wedding, she helped with all the timings and organization between all the staff and vendors. We were very relaxed and happy on our wedding day because we did not have to worry about anything. She was behind the scenes co-ordinating everything with the vendors and all the details. We are forever thankful for Ilaria\’s help and would highly recommend her to anyone planning a wedding.

AISLING & BENJAMIN April 2015

Hello Illaria & the wonderful staff at the Borgo di Colleoli,
On behalf of my new wife & I, I would like to express our profound thanks for all your efforts and hard work to make our dream destination wedding come true.
The Borgo is such a beautiful venue with so much to offer its guests, I think that you can be proud that the service and professionalism of the staff equals the resorts beautiful surroundings.
Illaria, thanks again for working closely with Aisling to bring the plan together, we really could not have had this dream realized without you. No job was to big or to small, you are a true professional.
For us to be away and for a large part separated from each other & to have such a fine production on our arrival with everything working so well, as we say in Australia, I take my hat off to you, well done to Illaria & the team here at the Borgo Di Colleoli
Thanks also to the DJ, who is a fantastic guy, excellent with the music & has been a real support to us with the party goers!
Yours Sincerely,
Aisling & Ben
Hi Ilaria,
Thanks again for making our dreams come true. It was amazing xxx
We were totally overjoyed by the entire day and you truly are the best wedding planner ever!! 😀
With love from Venice

DANIELLE & RICHARD May 2015

Here you go!!….
I was put in touch with Glam Events after I contacted the villa we wanted to get married at and they recommended Ilaria. I was unsure how having an Italian wedding planner would work and whether it would be worth it but my experience was fantastic and I couldn’t have planned the wedding without Ilaria!
Over the course of 18 months of planning Ilaria was always quick to respond to emails and we planned a visit to the venue we liked a year before the wedding date. This is when we realised how invaluable she was, during our weeks stay we met her recommended suppliers who we were able to pick from. Although this was difficult as they were all amazing!
In the run up to the wedding Ilaria was helpful in every way, she helped with all the paperwork, helped us source random items we wanted for the wedding and totally understood the vision we wanted to create from the beginning, she was always there with suggestions but always happy to go with what we wanted.
On the wedding day itself I was so calm during the whole day as Ilaria was able to liaise with the suppliers and made sure everything ran smoothly. She went over and above for us and made our day that extra little bit special. I was so sad to see her leave I cried! Our wedding was just perfect and we couldn’t have done it without the help of Ilaria and Glam Events.

JENNIFER & CHRISTIAN June 2015

Ilaria,
Where do I begin? There is so much I want to say to you. I have waited until a week or so after being home in Phoenix, and back in our normal routine, to sit down and write you this email. I’m having trouble already finding the right words. Mainly, I can’t thank you enough for planning and organizing the wedding of the century, really. I’m sure you have organized even more elaborate events in the past, and I’m sure things behind the scenes didn’t go 100% according to your plan, but to me, in my mind and in my small world this was absolutely, without a doubt, the best, most loving, exquisite, lavish, exciting, and yet at the same time intimate, affair I could possibly imagine.
I’ve seen examples of your work on your website, and I know your skill and talent, so I am not merely thanking you for being talented. I want to thank you for being YOU. Many wedding planners could organize a beautiful affair with the right budget and agreeable weather, but you did more than that. You were, and remain, my friend. Due anni fa, I read a review on your website where someone wrote that “although I did in fact hire Ilaria, I feel as though she is more of a friend.” That’s when I knew I wanted to request your services. And, I can honestly tell you now, I understand that remark and how true it is. Without sounding strange or scaring you (haha!) when we first met I instantly felt like I had known you for years. And, I know my parents felt that way too by how they were acting around you. You put us all at ease immediately. Planning a destination wedding 14 hours away from home was not always a “comfortable” feeling, but I never had my doubts (well…except with the US Consulate in Florence haha) because I believed in not only your professional abilities, but your friendship.
It’s funny, I feel that you and I are so similar, and my mom and I always joke that if I lived in Florence you and I would be close friends. I expected that with a language or cultural barrier, things would be understood but very much so on only a surface level, not deeply understood. I smile remembering us all in your car, driving back to the Borgo from meeting with Don Martini, and you rolling your eyes and winking at me and saying how he is so sweet but can be “a little annoying at times” and us all laughing and knowing what you meant. You and I love our families, travel, design, Florence…I too left my heart in Florence as you once told me. Every time I leave Florence I cry. I’ve lived in wonderful cities – New York City, Boston, Phoenix……but if I could be anywhere, live and work and have my family with me….there’s no better home to me than Florence. Italy in general, really. I don’t know what exactly it is – I used to think that it was because it reminded me of my grandparents whom I love and miss every day. Like somehow being there I was closer to them, surrounded by people with similar mannerisms or ways of thinking about life. But, its more than that. The people, the architecture, the way of life – the enjoyment of life. And now, I married my love in the city I love and I am even more in love with Tuscany than ever before 🙂
I honestly miss it, all of it! It was such an incredible time. And I keep looking at photographs and wondering what exactly it is that makes me so sad to be home and wishing I was back at the Borgo. And the answer is this: You took my fairytale and made it a reality. All I wanted when Christian proposed to me was to have everyone I love in the same home, for an extended period of time – much longer than a typical 5-hour wedding “day,” laughing and drinking wine and telling stories and getting to know one another and spend time with one another – all happy and healthy and well. It was incredible to have both Christian’s family and my family under one roof since we are used to being on different sides of the country… and then adding close friends of mine that I have known for 20 years and consider them part of my family, and all being together as one big loving group. For the wedding itself, I wanted that same intimate feeling, and you accomplished it! That one, long, beautiful table was breathtaking. There aren’t words to describe how beautiful it was. With rolling Tuscan hills in the background, beautiful heart-felt speeches from my family, delicious food and wine…..There were times throughout dinner when I would just sit back and look left and right at all the guests around me, that flew thousands of miles to be there to support Christian and I, and I would look back at the actual table that you and I designed (with the help of 2,000 emails!) and it was hard to believe that I was actually living out an experience we had only talked about creating for the past 2 years…that the time had come, and that the reality was even better than I could have planned for or imagined. Its a feeling and a moment in time that was so magical to me and I will never forget that feeling. I could go on and on about that wedding week but I will try to stop myself for your sake 😉 so you don’t have to read a huge novel!
Being in Italy for 35 days, surrounded for weeks by family and friends that are scattered all over the country and even the world, friends from London, Italy, Beirut, California, Chicago, Boston, New York…I really realized that the world is actually so small, and can be as “small” as you make it. Meaning, keeping in touch these days is so easy with email, cell phone, etc. As soon as I push “send” on this email you will instantly receive it! I am no longer sad that everyone lives far apart – my mother always told me distance does not define a relationship, and she’s right. You told me and my parents a funny story about one of your brides that cried when she said goodbye to you and you joked that she could email you that week if she wanted – I understand what she was feeling. You should know what you do touches so many lives and you are such an important part of one of the best days of their life – its a very special thing. Christian and I will always look back on our time with you and smile, and I hope we can be more than a “memory” to you, meaning, I hope we can remain friends and see each other again. I’m sure many brides say that, but I actually mean it. I promise this was not our last trip to Italy and we won’t visit in the future without contacting you first! I look forward to having dinner with you and your family and seeing how big your two children have grown! I’m already trying to convince Christian that we need to go back and stay at the Borgo for our 5 year anniversary 😉 My one regret from the wedding day is that I didn’t get any cake before they cleaned the table and took it all away – I told Christian I want Galateo to create that cake again when we return so I can have a piece 5 years from now! And, if you do ever get to California, or even New York, let me know and I will come meet you!
I wish you and your family all the love and success in the world! I won’t say farewell but rather that I will be seeing you again 🙂
Love,
Jen McDaniel 😉

LENKA & CESAR

Dear Ilaria,
It has been a month or so since our wedding and we can still feel like yesterday the emotion and buzz of our big day. After talking with many of our guests we can say with certainty that it was the best day of our lives and an extraordinary day that most of our guests will remember forever. The compliments about the beauty of the place, the ceremony, the glamour, the excellent organisation, the band, the food, the perfect timing of everything has been repeated and repeated during the last few weeks on so many occasions. We can only join them and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our dream a reality.
It wasn’t a wedding, it was a fairy tail and we were the lucky couple with the happy ending.
Thank you so much Ilaria, for your assistance with a long and difficult paperwork process, for your attention to detail and your advice, for your help and your trustworthy work at all times.
We would recommend you gladly to all your future clients. If ever in doubt, one videocall to this always smiley lady will do the magic. Nothing is ever a problem, nothing is ever impossible. With a big optimism and smile on her face, Ilaria can really take away the headache that wedding planning can sometimes become.
We are utmost happy about all that happened on that day and we just wish we could do it all over again.
Happy planning!
With gratitude
César & Lenka

DIANNE & ROBERT July 2015

Hi Ilaria
Hope you have been well!
We wanted to thank you again for all your help with our wedding. We all had such an amazing day! Please find below our testimonial:
Dear Ilaria
We want to thank you so much for your work with organising our dream wedding in Amalfi. Your attention to detail and “can do” attitude made planning our wedding easy and stress free. You listened to our ideas and had a great network of vendors to help make the ideas become reality. Your friendly approachable nature meant finding new vendors easy if needed. We would definitely recommend your services to anyone wanting to get married in Italy!
Thanks again!
Rob and Dianne Casotti

CIARAN & JOANNA September 2015

Ilaria helped plan the wedding of our dreams this September 2015. We both live in Canada, and found her services through reviews online and saw some photos of past weddings she has planned through various websites. Her services was the first thing we booked for our wedding, even before picking a wedding date or even where we wanted to have our wedding. From the beginning of the process, she was always helpful and patient with us, guiding us through every step of the way. This included the selection of our abbey, villa, makeup, photographer, car rental, meals before and after the wedding, and any other items we requested. In every situation, she provided us with different options and gave us her expert advice which we really appreciated. She has wonderful ideas for everything and all the vendors she provided were amazing.
She was also very helpful with getting our legal paperwork done, which we wouldn’t have known how to do without her. In all honesty, we could not have planned our wedding without her help. On the day of the wedding, she helped with all the timings and organization between all the staff and vendors. We were very relaxed and happy on our wedding day because we did not have to worry about anything. She was behind the scenes co-ordinating everything with the vendors and all the details. We are forever thankful for Ilaria’s help and would highly recommend her to anyone planning a wedding.
Thanks!
Ciaran & Joanna

PAULINE & FLORIS August 2015

Dearest Ilaria,
First of all, happy new year! We hope you had a great time with your family. Pauline and I were thinking back of 2015, and wanted to thank you again for playing such an important part in our best memories of the year. You were the best help for our wedding that we could have asked for – a perfect mix between professionalism and a very personal touch: you always were enthusiastic about our ideas, and made many suggestions; but at the same time you respected our space and choices. And if you were a perfect help in the preparation, in communicating with us, negotiating with the different vendors and making sure all deadlines and budgets were respected; you were even better on the day itself. We didn’t have to do a thing, and didn’t even think about having to do a thing – we were so sure that you would do an amazing job (as you did) that we forgot all about the organisation and had a lot of fun at our wedding. Thanks so much for all this. We will recommend getting married in Italy to everyone just so that they can meet you 🙂
Cari saluti,
Pauline & Floris

BETH & TOM July 2014

Dear Ilaria
We just arrived back from honeymoon and wanted to say Thank You so much for making sure we had the most beautiful wedding. It was absolutely stunning, everything we imagined and it really was just a perfect day!
All of our friends couldn’t believe how beautiful everything was, from the castle, to the food, the wine, the music, everything! So hopefully there will be more Italian weddings in the future, and of course we will give them all your number!! 🙂

BRENT & KRISTAN May 2014

Hi Ilaria,
Hope this mail finds you well.
We just received the photos from Jules and the preview video from Gattotigre and we absolutely love them!! It is all thanks to you putting it all together. You took all my crazy ideas and requests and transformed them into a reality- Everything came together even more beautiful than I could have imagined! The day was absolutely perfect and Brent and I cannot thank you (and all the vendors you chose and coordinated with) enough for all your help, patience, organization and attention to detail throughout the year planning our big event. The comments we received on the wedding are incredible- people are just shocked at how stunning the décor was and how incredible the food and drinks were. You were such a pleasure to work with and we will definitely recommend you to anyone and everyone we know! We would absolutely love to work with you again in the future.
Congratulations again on the new little one coming soon!
Hope the rest of wedding season goes well for you and please keep in touch! 🙂
Kristan and Brent

VESELA & KASH June 2014

Ciao Ilaria,
We are now back in NYC and we wanted to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your hard work and efforts to make our special day a truly unique experience for us and all our guests. The wedding has been described as ‘magical’ and ‘fairy tale’ experience. We were truly lucky to have you as our wedding planner and we hope to keep in touch in the future!
Greetings and thanks to your husband too – a great man!
Baci,
Ves and Kash

SABRINA & …… June 2014

Hi Alessia and Ilaria,
How are you?
We just got to Seychelles for our honeymoon.
The wedding was fantastic. Everyone loved it. We had a really good time. I liked everything. Everyone was impressed by the cake show. The food was lovely and so were the flowers. I didnt get a chance to see the flowers in the church too much, but I will see the photos. Thank you a thousand times for your help and patience and everything. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Kisses!
Sabrina

KENZA & PATRICK June 2014

Dear Ilaria,
now I just got back to my senses! I wanted to thank you again for this magical wedding you have organized for us. It was all beyond what I could have ever dreamt!!
Thank you for your patience with our neverneding calls, your positiveness always and for amking us live a fairytale.
Thank you also for your beautiful present, it is sooo kind of you!
I don’t want to loose touch with you!
Please kep us posted with pictures of your baby and dont exhaust yourself too much this usmmer
Sending you lots of love
Kenza and Patrick

RIMA & SEIF September 2013

Dear Ilaria
We would like to thank you for the great effort & your personal contribution in all wedding details. We are sure that your personal involvement contributed a lot in the success of the wedding. We & all the guests stated that the wedding was Spectacular & Memorable.
We haven’t had the chance to thank you personally after all the events but we wanted to say you have made a magical wedding a reality. We think it has been a brilliant effort and the result was beyond perfection!!! Thank you so much!!

LAURA & MICHAEL September 2013

Dear Ilaria,
thank you so much for helping us to organise this wonderful day!
We literally could not have done any of this withouth your help, support and patience!
We are so grateful for the beautiful venue and generous hospitality.
This will be a day we will never forget
Love Laura Mike and Ethan

MARTINA & CRISTIANO August 2013

Carissima Ila,
io e Cris vogliamo ringraziarti per tutto quello che hai fatto per noi.
L’assoluta professionalità, la competenza, l’entusiasmo che hai messo dietro ogni singolo dettaglio hanno reso l’atmosfera del matrimonio davvero unica e speciale, la fotografia di un sogno!
Ma soprattutto ti vogliamo ringraziare per la fiducia che ci hai ispirato fin dal primo momento in cui ci siamo conosciuti, e che ci ha permesso di goderci a pieno il giorno del matrimonio, lasciando che la tua discretissima regia guidasse l’intera festa: ci siamo dimenticati di ogni responsabilità, ci siamo lasciati andare all’emozione e al divertimento, e ci siamo goduti tutto al massimo!
Non ci dimenticheremo mai di quella splendida giornata, ma non ci dimenticheremo mai neppure dell’anno pieno di emozioni e divertimento che abbiamo passato insieme, tra mail, appuntamenti, catering, ville, vestiti e fiori.
Grazie, e un abbraccio fortissimo!
Marti e Cris

LEYLA & MICHAEL August 2013

You have been a pleasure to work with over the last
Thousand thank you for having such a positive attitude helping to achieve everything we wanted with maximum efficiency and minimum furs
Thank you for answering all of thousands of questions and not allowing any of our demands too much trouble
You have made this process so much easier and withouth your help our wedding would not have been possible+Thank you again
Lots of love Leyla and Michael

SATA & JARED August 2013

Hi Ilaria –
Thank you so much for planning such an amazing wedding! That day was absolutely perfect – everything was better than we could have imagined! We can’t wait to see the pictures from Cristiano! I’ve been looking at his website everyday to see if there are any teasers that he puts on his blog 🙂 He said to expect them around the end of Sept or beginning of October, so we are trying to be patient.
And in addition to the wedding, the itinerary you helped us with for the week was amazing. Our families truly had an amazing experience and I think a few of them will be visiting Italy again in the future.
Grazie Mille!!!!!

ANA PAOLA & ROBERTO June 2013

First of all thank you very much, everithing was lovely and people were so happy, We couldn’t have done it with out you.

SARA & JONNY May 2013

Thank you!
Dear Ilaria, it has been such a pleasure to work with you in planning our wedding. Your patience and bright smile has helped us through all the ups and downs of this process!
As we begin our lives together we will always reflect on this day and appreciate what you helped us achieve.
We hope to stay in touch
Lots of love Sara and Jonny

VERONIQUE & JEROME Mars 2013

Les invités ont adoré notre mariage du début à la fin, nous avons eu beaucoup de compliments.
A’ tres bientot
Veronique et jerome

MERLE & JAMES September 2012

Ilaria,
prima di tutto grazie per aver fatto si che il nostro matrimonio fosse così stupendo. Tutti sono rimasti felicissimi e tu hai fatto si che tutto fosse cosi bello, cosi uncio ed incomparabile.
Le parole non posson oespirmere quanto ti siamo grati
Di certo ti contattteremo se torniamo in Toscana, sei stata più che una wedding planner, ci hai guidato e supportato e hai fatto del nostro matrimonio un ricordo stupendo. Ti sentiamo come un’amica
Spero che resteremo amiche, abbiamo trascorso cosi tanto tempo insieme e quando vieni a Londra vogliamo vederti assolutamente, sia noi che i nostri genitori!!

VERONICA & PAOLO July 2012

Buongiorno Ilaria,
prima di tutto volevo dirti che noi siamo felicissimi del risultato del matrimonio…tutti i nostri ospiti ci hanno riempito di complimenti
e sono rimasti affascinati dalla location scelta…e sicuramente gran parte del merito è tua…quindi grazie ancora per tutto.
A parte la soddisfazione nel rapporto che abbiamo avuto noi ci siamo trovati bene anche a livello umano quindi se mai ne avrai occasione e voglia gradiremmo avere te e la tua famiglia come ospite a casa nostra…
Un forte abbraccio.
Veronica e Paolo.

SARA & DAVE July 2012

Ciao Ilaria!
Sono cosi felice che siamo stati pubblicati su SMP, e questo è dovuto soprattutto al tuo stupendo lavoro cha ha trasformato i nostri sogni in realtà. Non posso credere che siano già trascorsi mesi da quando eravamo in Toscana, sembra ieri!
Ho pensato spesso a te e a ciò che hai fatto per me e voglio che tu lo sappia. Non ci sono parole per descrivere quanto sia restata felice di tutto e non dimenticherò mai quel girono che è stato cosi perfetto. Tu hai veramente grandi doti come designer e event planner.
L’unica cosa che vorrei tanto è tornare indietro nel tempo e rivivere tutto di nuovo.
Ritorneremo sicuramente in Toscana e vogliamo rivederti. Nel frattempo ti auguro una valanga di nuove coppie che ti scelgano come designer perché sei la migliore.
Grazie ancora o come si dice in italiano grazie mille
Restiamo in contatto
Sara e Dave

BARBARA & ALESSANDRO July 2012

Ciao Ilaria e Federica,
io volevo ringraziarvi per avermi permesso di realizzare un piccolo sogno. Siete delle bravissime professioniste che avete peraltro saputo gestire una persona tanto esigente e testarda come me. Mi sono divertita come non mai.
Grazie di cuore, Barbara

CARLII & DOMENICO May 2012

Ilaria, non possiamo dirti quanto abbiamo apprezzato i ltuo aiuto. Grazie!
Grazie ancora per tutto, sei veramente grandiosa in quello che fai!
Carlii e Domenico

VIKKI & CHRIS May 2012

SUSAN & MARCEL (Svizzera) September 2011

Ciao Ilaria,
Marcel e io volevamo ringraziarti ancora per tutto l’aiuto dello scorso weekend!
Adesso sfortunatamente siamo tornati a Hong Kong in ufficio e non possiam osmettere di pensare all’altro sabato. E’ stato un party meraviglioso e ci siamo davvero goduti quel giorno! Senza di te non saremmo stati capaci di organizzare una cosi bella festa con tutti i nostri amici e la nostra famiglia! Grazie per tutto l’aiuto che ci hai dato
Calorosi saluti
Marcel e Susanne

MR & MRS VANDRISSE (France) July 2011

E’ stato un vero piacere preparare il nostro matrimonio con Ilaria. Lei è sempre stata paziente e comprensiva con noi durante tutto l’anno. Grazie alla sua ricca esperienza ed alla raffinata conoscenza della Toscana e dei migliori servizi offerti in questa regione, la pianificazione non è stata per niente stressante per noi.
Abbiamo avuto una richiesta speciale in termini di organizzazione poichè il nostro desiderio era soggiornare una settimana in Toscana in una struttura tipica toscana con amici e parenti. Molte wedding planners hanno provato a deviarci dal nostro proposito proponendo tutte altre cose, Ilaria immediatamente ha iniziato a proporci idee corrispondenti ai nostri desideri. Non c’è bisogno di dirlo, ha fatto si che il nostro sogno diventasse realtà ed ha colpito tutti I nostri ospiti con la sua genuina amicizia e la sua professionalità.
Vogliamo anche sottolineare l’alto senso di professionalità di Ilaria, se per qualcosa non eravamo soddisfatti lei ha fatto in modo che tutto fosse risolto chiaramente e con siddisfazione.
Per riassumere, crediamo che non sia facile lavorare alla pianificazione di un matrimonio con una persona cosi affidabile, seria, aperta e generosa specialmente quando si muovono grandi quantità di denaro come per un matrimonio. Siamo grati di averla incontrata e di aver acquisito un’amica speciale!

MELISSA & BARTJAN (England) July 2011

“La nostra location aveva già una wedding planne rinterna cosi non ero sicura di prenderne un’altra esterna. Però dopo aver incontrato Ilaria e parlato con lei al telefono e ascoltato le sue idee, abbiamo deciso di avere lei come nostra wedding planner, ed è stata assolutamente la scelta milgiore! Ilaria è è stata incredibilmente entusiasta, energica, paziente e creativa senza mai essre insistente. E’ cosi generosa con il suo tempo da non credere. Non ho mai sentito che stava lavorando cercando di guadagnare, piuttosto è facile sentirla come la tua migliore amica durante tutta l’organizzazione del matrimonio. A volte mi è sembrata più eccitata e perfezionista di me! Quando mi sono innamorata di un certo tipo di candelabri Ilaria li ha cercati per tutta la Toscana considerando tutte le opzioni anche di comprarli se non avessimo potuto trovarli da noleggiare. Alla fine li hatrovati in uno dei più costosi shops di Firenze ed ha negoziato per noi il prezzo migliore.
Quando ho avuto una crisi di indecisione sul flower design, Ilaria ha passato quasi due ore al telefono con me mostrandomi centinaia di foto per decidere quali tipi scegliere. Chi altro lo avrebbe fatto? Nemmeno una damigella d’onore. Non si è mai lamentata con me o l’ho mai sentita
snervata. Mi ha dato un sacco di idee sul light design e decor, che hanno fatto la differenza all’evento. Non abbiamo preso tutte le opzioni che ci ha proposto e lei non i ha mai spinto a farlo.
E’ stata davvero una manna dal cielo ed ha reso la pianificazione del matrimonio molto meno stressante e più divertente.
Pianificare un matrimoni dovrebbe essere un’esperienza divertente e stupenda, se lo fai con qualcuno come Ilaria lo è ancora di più e non lo dimenticherai mai. Grazie di tutto Ilaria!

ROMY & HELMUT (Germany) July 2011

Ciao cara Ilaria,
noi stiamo molto bene!!
Siamo molto fortuanti, abbiamo avuto un matrimonio da sogno… stupende settimane di vacanza… ed una davvero splendida wedding planner!!!
Cari saluti
Romy

NIKKI & JAMES  (England) July 2011

Abbiamo saputo da sempre di velorci sposare in Italiaed abbiamo contattato un numero infinito di wedding planners. Tu sei stata la prima a risponderci ed eravamo cis eccitati che tu potessi organizzare tutto quello che volevamo- la flessibilità e la quantità di opzioni che ci hai offerto è stato fantastico. La nostra location era semplicemente perfetta- siamo stati assolutamente catturati da essa e cosi anche i nostri invitati, era semplicemente magica. Tu, Ilaria, hai fatto molto di più che organizzare il nostro matrimonio…dalla sistemazione dei nostri ospiti, alla cerimonia civile, dalla documentazione alla pizza con chef il giorno prima del matrimonio!

Le nostre visite in Toscana per organizzare il matrimonio sono state un piacere, hai sempre prenotato la nostra sistemazione e mai una domanda era troppo banale per te- abbiam osempre ricevuto risposte con un sorriso ed abbiamo gustato moltissimo le prove menu!!

Facci sapere quando passi da Londra la prossima volta ti incontriamo volentieri… potresti prendere di nuovo bangers e mash come l’altra volta! Con affetto, Nikki & James x

KATY & TONY (United Arabian Emirates) June 2011

Ilaria, che cosa possiamo dirti? Dall’agosto scorso, quando abbiam oavuto la fortuna di conoscerti, ancora mi meravilgio di te. La tua organizzazione, la tua pazienza con noi, la tua creatività e la tua gentilezza sono solo una parte degli ingredienti che hanno contribuito a rendere il nostro matrimonio il più stupendo che potessimo immaginare io e Tony. I nostri ospiti continuano a dire che è stato il più delizioso e bel matrimonio al quale abbiano partecipato e non senza di te non avremmo raggiunto questo effetto.Il barbecue, il giorno prima del matrimonio, è stata un’idea stupenda e a dispetto dell’irta strada, il posto scelto meritava moltissimo.I nostri amici erano deliziati dalla vista magnifica, dal cibo squisito e dalla musica del chitarrista.
E il matrimonio stesso è stato un evento a cui i nostri invitati non avevano mai partecipato; il cibo a bordo piscina era favoloso e dera solo l’antipasto…mi dispiace non averlo provato, ad ogni modo i miei nervi erano così fragili che non avrie potuto ingerire uno spillo…
Ringrazia la tua assistente assistente Alessia che mi è stata utilissima facendo d ainterprete con la stilista dell’acconciatura.
Cerimonia, cibo, musica, tutto è stato squisito, surreale.
Potrei scrivere una tesi sulla buona riuscita del mio matrimonio ma ho un viaggio di nozze che mi aspetta.
Infine siamo rimasti commossi dal tuo pensierino totalemnte inaspettato, lo conserveremo come un ricordo molto speciale dell’incontro con una magnifica signora.
Grazie ancora una volta Ilaria
Prenditi cura di te
Mille baci

SALLY & MATTHEW (Hong-Kong) April 2011

Grazie tantissime perchè ogni dettaglio del girono del nostro matrimonio è stato davvero fantastico! Tu, Ilaria, e il tuo team siete stati davvero fantastici, non sarebbe stato lo stesso senza di voi!

MARCO & ALESSIA (Italy) September 2010

Per rendere una fotografia indimenticabile dietro deve esserci un ricordo senza tempo,
con voi di Glam Events lo abbiamo lasciato scolpito sulla sabbia, indelebile e incisivo, nessun’altra giornata di sole come quella potrà mai essere così perfetta.
A voi che sapete regalare il profumo di una giornata di festa.
Grazie di cuore, Alessia e Marco