This view. Hard not to recognize it immediately. Impossible not to love it madly.

As a Wedding Planner and Designer, I have been lucky enough to attend many dream ceremonies all over Italy, but Villa Cimbrone in Ravello holds a special place in my heart. Why, you may ask? The answer is simple: its timeless beauty, historic charm and breathtaking views of the iconic Terrace of Infinity are something that stays with you.

I dreamed for many, many years of having a wedding here. I told Paola Vuilleumier, owner of this location among the most coveted in Italy, as we sat at a BtoB table at the Destination Wedding Planner Congress in Rhodes, Greece. I didn’t need to flip through pictures of the location: in my mind, I had already dreamed of it thousands of times. From the vaults of the Crypt, to the gardens, already dozens of different designs crowded my creative mind every time I saw those architectures so recognizable in some colleague’s Instagram pages.

Villa Cimbrone, located in the picturesque town of Ravello on the Amalfi Coast, is one of Italy’s most fascinating historic residences. The villa was built in the 13th century and has hosted such illustrious figures as Greta Garbo, Winston Churchill, and many others. When you walk through the gate under the tower at Villa Cimbrone, you feel catapulted back in time, into an atmosphere that evokes history and tradition.

When I received Paola’s call, in spring 2022, to see if I had availability in supporting a destination couple from Brazil and Switzerland, and already at an advanced stage of planning, I knew I had to accept the challenge!

It was not easy, given the scale of the event and the delicacy of having to take over a project that was not mine since the beginning: not having followed the concept of the event from the initial stage – for a Designer -c an be a limitation. But the wishes of the bride and groom were very clear, and the floral design was entrusted to a true Master (and friend), the “Prince of Ravello” Armando Malafronte, so a guarantee!

This, is the “behind-the-scenes” tale – through the lens of Pasquale Andreotti – not only of an extraordinary adventure, made up of an international team that spoke Portuguese-Brazilian, German, English and Italian, made up of some 30 vendors, a three-day event and unpredictable and mocking weather.

It is also a tale of a new professional awareness for me, Elisa, and a relationship that transcended borders and went beyond the event itself. Read on to find out more…

Entertainment, fun, amazement, surprise-the key words of Hanns and Elaine’s wedding. At first – I admit – I didn’t understand why they wanted to put together SO MUCH entertainment. At every moment: from the folk group Scialapopolo accompanying guests dancing and singing through the streets of Ravello, to Brazilian musicians, to performance arts by NuArt, to not-one-but-two moments of “Vanity Style” photo shoot by Zuzu Birkhof (see above).

In short: music, colors, laughter in every moment. I knew Brazilians are used to this, but the real motivation was something else: Hanns and Elaine wanted to offer their guests a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to thank them for the very long journey they had endured. A celebration not only for them as a couple, but as a family. Something accomplished for all of them. This generosity, it only became clear to me later, getting to know them more deeply, understanding their life, their story, their motivations.

I approached this event with a very special intensity. Because I knew that for me, Elisa, it would be my last as the bride and groom’s primary reference Planner. Immediately after this event, I would communicate to my Team my decision, which I had already been cultivating for at least a year: my role in my company would change, from operational in planning, to managerial and strategic in the Design and Academy division. We already had 7 Planners, some with me for 11-12 years, and it was time that even major clients could rely on them completely.

Rarely has it happened to me in these now 15 years as Wedding Planner to experience such a heartfelt, exciting, and participatory celebration like this one at the famous location of Villa Cimbrone, in Ravello. A succession of emotions, but also of great operational and logistical challenges – for me and my Team – in the hope that the bride and groom would be happy with this long-dreamed celebration.

Their satisfaction, and gratitude, eventually went far beyond that. A few months later, Stefano and I flew to Brazil, to Rio de Janeiro, to celebrate Elaine’s 50th birthday at another INCREDIBLE “Venetian Carnival in Rio” themed party.

Their generosity amazed and gratified us as we discovered Rio with their lifelong friends on a phenomenal “gringos tour”. And then arriving at the theme party finding ourselves wrapped in the colors, warmth, exaggerated and wonderful costumes that only Brazilian artists know how to create, dancing to the enthralling music in a luxurious party that lasted at least ten hours, we celebrated together the birth of something very, very rare in our world in which we “live with clients intensely” for so many months, but then the paths part: this time, we celebrated the birth of a special friendship and esteem, which I believe and hope will last for a long time.

Planning @elisa_mocci_events | Ph backstage @andreottiphotography | Venue @villacimbrone  | Flowers @malafrontefiori⁠ | Stationery @estudiopinus | Entertainment @nuart_events @fabioferreiraviolino @hevertoncastro | Cakes @le_torte_di_renato

Read the wedding story from the official photographers Morlotti Studio here.