I am so excited to let you know that this month we are celebrating 20 years of planning weddings for our wonderful couples.
I launched Stylish Events at the National Wedding Show in February 2002 and our first wedding was for lovely Hannah and Giles in September that year at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Stylish Events very first wedding for H&G at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
My goodness how the wedding planning industry has changed over the years!
Wedding Planning was still very new to the UK at that time and there were very few wedding planners. There was also no social media in those days!
To celebrate our 20th Anniversary, we have created a little video to highlight our journey in the wonderful world of weddings.
A huge thank you to the amazing couples who have trusted us with the most important day of their lives. We will never take your trust for granted. I wish I could include you all in this video, but then it would be hours long!
In 2009 lovely Gemma became our first intern and since that time we’ve had so many interns. I have loved having you all on my team and could not have done it without you!
I would also like to thank the fantastic venues and suppliers we have had the pleasure of working with over the years for helping us create these weddings.
It was a complete honour to organise this 6-Day wedding for Nicola and Daren at Castello Orsini in Nerola, Italy in July 2018.
We first met Nicola and Daren through Daren’s mother Jeanette, who is herself a renowned photographer. From the very start they knew exactly what they wanted their wedding to be – a fabulous adventure in a fairy-tale castle somewhere in Italy, surrounded by family and friends. They wanted to create a wedding that their guests would remember forever.
They asked us to be involved right from the start of the planning and before anything had been booked! Having this time to find the perfect venue was so important to them and so there followed our 18 month adventure together. We spent 6 months researching every possible castle in Italy, and I really do mean every possible castle – from the North to the South, from the East to the West, we searched and searched and searched.
For anyone who knows Italy well, there are a lot of beautiful castles – or Castellos as they say in Italian – so this was quite a search!
After some time, we had narrowed it down to 3 castles – one in Tuscany about an hour from Florence; one in Lazio about an hour from Rome; and one in Ischia, which is a small island off the coast of Naples. So, in July 2017 Nicola, Daren and I set off for 4 days in Italy to view the venues, spend some time in each region, sample the food and wine and enjoy the atmosphere of each location.
From the moment they saw Castello Orsini they knew – and so did I – that this was the place. They simply loved it. The Castello is stunning, the people who work there are so lovely and the location is breathtakingly beautiful. It ticked every box on their wish list.
We also met their wedding co-ordinator, Nathalie, who was delightful. Nothing was ever too much trouble and she cared about the wedding as much as Nicola and Daren (and me). She was with us every step of the way and made fantastic suggestions for everything. I will never forget working with Nathalie and I am so grateful to have had her with us to plan this wedding. I can only pray we will work together again some day soon.
Once we had the venue, my team got to work to plan the wedding over the next 12 months – exactly how Nicola and Daren wanted everything to be. We loved being involved in all aspects of the planning – from arranging the Legal Ceremony in Italy, to the flights and accommodation for over 100 guests, to selecting the perfect wedding suppliers for the three main events – the Welcome Party, Wedding Day and the Brunch Party the day after the wedding. There were also dinners in the local village and various events each day, including a day trip to Rome, spa treatments and a wine tasting. There was a lot to do!
Planning a 6 day event in Italy is not an easy task, but with a Bride and Groom who are warm, generous and know what they want, it was a joy from start to finish.
The details and styling of the Welcome Party in the gardens of Castello Orsini
We will never forget this wedding – it was one of the most complex and detailed we have ever planned. It’s always such a pleasure to work with couples who are beautiful – inside and out. This was the most wonderful wedding in a magical castle. So many happy memories. ❤️
This epic wedding would not have been possible without an amazing team:
“From the moment we met Dominique we knew our dream wedding in Italy was safe in her hands. Dominique and her team worked so hard in getting every last detail of all the events to perfection.
Dominique also had the gigantic task of flying out our guests on different days and they all made it for the long weekend without a single hitch. They not only helped with the wedding, they also booked coaches to and from different airports, day trips for our guests and even managed to get the local Pizzeria to open only for us and all our guests in the local village.
Nothing was ever too much for the Stylish Events team. Dominique was so patient with all our guests queries and questions and everyone told us how luckywe were to have her involved. We will be forever grateful to Dominique and her team for turning our dream wedding into reality.” Nicola & Daren
Unless otherwise stated all photographs in this blog are by photographer Nick Redman
A Stylish Event 