Mallory & Lukes picture-perfect Lake Como wedding
Photo by: Gabija Monika Photography
Mallory and Luke's journey began in college as friends, before life led them to separate paths in Atlanta. After reconnecting there, their relationship turned into something more. When Luke's job relocated him to Nashville, Mallory reluctantly followed, eventually turning the move into a new adventure by starting a successful bachelorette party planning business- Bach Babes. With the business thriving the couple now live in Charleston where they continue to expand.
Despite their experience in the industry, Mallory quickly realised she’d plunged into the deep end and had to manage her expectations. After exceeding her budget nearly threefold and parting ways with their initial planner, she learned how crucial a dedicated planner from the start is to save both stress and money.
“Veronica at White Cat Wedding was truly my saving Grace coming into the picture with such organisation and amazing ideas. I couldn’t have been more happy to make the painful decision of cutting off my first planner since it led me to Veronica.”
SUPPLIER TEAM
Venue: Villa Ponti Bellavista | Planner: White Cat Wedding | Catering: COC | Photographer: Gabija Monika | Music & Lighting: Active Times | Florals: Civuoleunfiore Studio | Illustrator: Sarah Darby | Hair: Chiara Sommella
The Engagement
“We both love traveling and I should’ve known that it would only be right to get engaged in a foreign destination since we travel so often! We got engaged in Lake Como Italy on a trip with just the two of us and it was perfect! He planned a day for us to walk through the Gardens of Melzi and popped the question in front of the Villa!”
“Colours, meticulous details, and every accessory was carefully chosen: from the lamps to the chargers to the vases, everything had to tie in with the other elements and have a common thread.” - Veronica, Planner
The Budget
“I went in with a very unrealistic expectation of what I could get done with a small budget (25k). I pride myself on being very resourceful and creative when it comes to spending money so I went into this thinking my budget was fine and I’d be able to creatively figure it out. That was not the case. My wedding ended up coming out a little under three times the amount I went in thinking we would spend. I don’t regret this at all because I think my weekend was perfect, but do wish I would’ve had better expectations when initially going in!”
“When Mallory approached me, she had a very clear vision of how she wanted her wedding to be: a party, a celebration and a day full of pure emotion to share with her closest loved ones. This made it authentic and truly theirs allowing me to suggest more unique design ideas and options.” - Veronica, Planner
The Venue
“I ended up finding my venue while scrolling through Airbnb and felt like it had the most beautiful view I had ever seen. I chatted with the owner to see if there had ever been other weddings there and if she would allow weddings and found out that they had previously had one other wedding, but that wasn’t something that typically did. Whilst doing the calculations, the total cost of all the vendors, and having my family all stay for 4 nights came out lower than a one-night shebang with one of the wedding venues in Lake Como. The beautiful view, interesting architecture, and overall appeal of this being something so different made me decide that I would rather go the path less traveled and book with Villa Ponti Bellavista, the private villa!”
Top piece of advice?
“My biggest piece of advice is to start your planning process by sitting down with your fiancé and writing out the top three things that you want to see in your wedding or you’re excited about. As you go through planning, things like the colour of the napkins start becoming important and you start splurging on things that were never important to you in the first place. You begin to focus on things that the you who started out planning wouldn’t have cared about, solely because the decision is now in front of you.”
Help from La Lista
“I found our planner- Veronica on La Lista and used the Facebook community for resources. I also generally don't like being signed up for email subscriptions but found the topics covered through emails were super insightful and helpful during my planning process.”
“Colours, meticulous details, and every accessory was carefully chosen: from the lamps to the chargers to the vases, everything had to tie in with the other elements and have a common thread.” - Veronica, Planner
Stand out moment
“I loved the dinner because we had one long table that ended with a view of Lake Como and truly it felt like magic. We had 50 guests, with the only people over 40 being our parents, making the vibe of the weekend feel so much more casual and people were able to let their hair down. We had multiple days of events leading up to the wedding, so by the time we were sitting at our wedding dinner it was an incredible feeling to look down the table and see people from different points of our lives chatting as if they were old friends. It is just an overall buzz of magic and love.”
“The dinner table was arranged in record time—just one hour—since we had to transform the ceremony area into the dining area. It was truly a team effort between the catering, florist, and my team. In person, it was even more beautiful than we had envisioned!” - Veronica, Planner
Stand out suppliers?
“I was obsessed with all of my suppliers. My photographer Gabija Monika was incredible and made me feel confident in front of the camera. My florist Michele Castelnuovo Flowers went above and beyond to bring my vision to life. And of course, my saving grace Veronica of White Cat Weddings, I truly don't think I could have done it without her. She brought it all together. She linked me with the correct vendors for my vision, was patient and willing to provide multiple options for each decision we faced, and was so incredibly organised the whole time.”
“Mallory and Luke were the ideal clients: they trusted me, were decisive, always welcomed ideas with enthusiasm, and immediately understood the value and professionalism of my work. This created an atmosphere that allowed for the realisation of a wedding that, I can admit, is now one of my all-time favourites!”- Veronica, Planner
SUPPLIER TEAM
Venue: Villa Ponti Bellavista | Planner: White Cat Wedding | Catering: COC | Photographer: Gabija Monika | Music & Lighting: Active Times | Florals: Civuoleunfiore Studio | Illustrator: Sarah Darby | Hair: Chiara Sommella
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