Top 10 planning tips from real-life couples
Photography: Emily & Steve
Our private Facebook group for planning couples is packed full of totally awesome people, all going through the ups and downs of planning a wedding in Italy (during a pandemic no less).
There is always lots of super helpful advice and tips shared in the group, so we thought we would ask these real-life planning legends for their best advice and share it with you!
You’re so welcome.
1.“Make sure you vibe well with your vendors! You're going to be spending the whole day with them so make sure y'all get along well.” Casey.
2. “Have patience & faith! Italy moves at a different pace but it all comes together just as you've envisioned.” Sonya
3. “The ultimate one - your guest list. Be brutal with your time and who you choose to spend it with prior, during and after your wedding. You can have the fanciest venue and trendiest decor but your guests will be one of the biggest elements that will make your day, pick the best ones.” Jocel
You can follow along with Jocel’s planning journey and gorge wedding on her Instagram @to_italy_withlove
4. “If you’re a US bride figure out how to do a wire transfer! Bank transfers are not as easy for us. Leverage a tool like TransferWise for vendor payments. Most vendors require bank transfers and most US banks require you to go into a branch to do a wire transfer. Services like TransferWise allow you to do it online and the fee is the same if not less than your bank.” Stefania.
5. “I second Stefania! Being USA-based, using TransferWise has saved me lots of money in transfer and bank fees. I would also suggest investing in a good travel credit card early on - a lot of our wedding expenses will end up paying for our flight over to Italy for our wedding.” Halley.
6. “Pick your wedding planners carefully, and make sure you’re on the same page regarding budget (and any commissions being received). Equally, if you’re a bit on the A-type side of things and don’t have a super complicated (large or intricate) wedding planned, consider utilising the vendor list on the La Lista site and pick a really good day-of coordinator instead!” Erika.
7. “One for the brides - everyone tells you not to do this but you probably will - don’t hold your bouquet too high! I knew I wasn’t meant to and I did it anyway.” Lauren.
Lauren + Sam’s wedding was featured on La Lista as a real wedding. Check out their beautiful day here.
8.“If you have limited experience in event planning, it can be quite overwhelming to have your first one be the biggest one of your life. I think it’s really important to find someone that you trust to guide you through the process (especially if it's a destination wedding). Having Parade Wedding as our wedding planners was invaluable for us and actually made us really enjoy the planning process!” Hannah.
Hannah + Valerio’s wedding was featured on La Lista as a real wedding. Check out their stylish boho day here.
9. “We chose a church and reception venue that were a 5 min walk apart and our guests loved it. There were no issues with moving guests after the ceremony and we saved on our transport costs.” Tipwadee.
Tipwadee + Stefano’s wedding was featured on La Lista as a real wedding. Check out their chic and cosy Milan wedding here.
10.Make sure to have both partner’s names on hotel booking receipts if traveling into Italy to register your Nulla Osta- frantically calling hotels to resend invoices and trying to access bank statements for proof of entry was a little stressful!” Chloe.
Chloe + Ben’s Tuscan wedding at Villa di Ulignano was featured on La Lista. Check this out here.
Want more planning advice from the La Lista team and our expert members? Check out the planning section for all of our resources, plus visit the La Lista shop to get your hands on our epic planning templates.
Written by Beth Butler, marketing person and lover of all things weddings; with a particular passion for beautiful photography, muted florals and a good cup of tea.
