Dream, imagine, desire: the bridal day is a magical time for any couple! To make it so, in addition to the certainty that you have chosen the right partner, it also takes much organization, creativity, energy and…a dream location! All these ‘ingredients’ must be carefully mixed together for the perfect recipe!
Today this new post/interview will tell about Elisa, Nadia and Chiara, in other words: the creative minds behind “Merry le Marche”, a professional wedding planner with an edge. Let’s find out together what ‘their secret’ ingredient for a successful wedding is…
- Could you briefly introduce ‘Merry Le Marche’?
Merry Le Marche is a wedding planner that will become a tour operator shortly. It formally works between Italy and the United Kingdom and have also various connections in northern Europe. The business is run by Elisa Generali, Nadia Pacino and Chiara Nigra: three Italian women with experience abroad, who have joined strenghts and expertise to create the world’s first agency dedicated to the international promotion of our beautiful region, Le Marche.
From left to right: Elisa, Nadia and Chiara
- Who is on your team and what makes you ‘special’ wedding planners’?
Our team is well structured and each of our members is responsible for something different and specific. Elisa, with previuos management experience in Italy and in London, is the general coordinator and she takes care of the planning phase of the wedding. Nadia, who has Italian-German origins, is our wedding designer: she curates all the arrangements starting from the location, to the flowers, the stationery and any other detail that needs a creative flair. Chiara, an expert in tourism and in high-end events planning, is in charge of logistics and accommodation of the guests after their arrival in Italy. She’s currently working on our upcoming ‘experiential’ travel project.
- How is the work of ‘wedding planner’?
The wedding planner is often the ‘key-person’ of weddings, especially for people from abroad who wish to get married in Italy. For some couples, the Italian bureaucracy and the logistics organization from abroad can be too complicated and so, they prefer to rely on an on-site specialist, able to help them to find the perfect location and suppliers. Our mission is to act as a trusted ‘bridge’ between couples and Italy. We work as mediators and look for their best options to shape and make their dreams happen. We are their interpreters and, more often, we become even friends.
- The name “Merry Le Marche” sounds like a real ‘promise’ … where does the idea of recommending Le Marche as the perfect wedding location come from?
The name Merry Le Marche is a clear reference to the nature of the events and tours we organize: they must have a merry ‘soul’! In fact, we aim to plan cheerful and lively weddings. Le Marche is a land of a great spirit: people from other countries always notice this feature of our region and just fall in love with it! They get captured by the stunning beauty of our landscape and the richness of our territory, as well as the personality of people from Le Marches: the friendly and joyful way local people are. Obviously the pun ‘merry/marry’ is no coincidence, since we take care of cheerful and unconventional weddings. And when saying it loud it also sounds like an invitation: ‘come and marry Le Marche!’
- Who are your ‘ultimate’ spouses? Who do you address to and what is your idea of wedding?
The main subject of our project is Le Marche region. Therefore, our ‘ideal’ spouses are eager to fall in Love with our territory and to marry, as well as their sweetheart, also the venue that will host the ceremony. In addition to this essential feature, we often collaborates with couples with very peculiar ideas that we will strive to become a reality. No more 80’s wedding parties with opulent-looking brides and luncheons longer than 10 hours! Full speed ahead for the vintage, the wedding festival, the picnics and the food trucks and whatever is outside the box! Right now, for example, we are organizing two marriages in the Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean style in the beautiful Riviera del Conero area and another one inspired by the old Fellini movies in the surrounding countryside of the city of Fano. And yes, it is challenging, but also a lot of fun.
- Over the years there have been several wedding agencies, especially aimed at couples abroad with the dream of living the most beautiful day of their lives in Italy. What identify a wedding planned by ‘Merry Le Marche’?
Our uniqueness lies in our region. Le Marche is a still a land to discover and although many foreigners still dream of getting married in Rome or in Venice, others want to explore new and ‘true’ places, far from the biggest touristic cities. Le Marche offer just that: an authentic land, still ‘underexposed’ but efficient in tourism and with food and wine delights, as well as cultural, artistic and landscape excellence. In addition to that, as we were saying before, our ideal target are unconventional and eccentric couples, with special wishes. If you dream of a unique event that looks like impossible, just contact us, and we will find a way to make it happen!
- What does it mean to organize a wedding for foreign couples? What are the details not to forget?
Taking care of events for people from aborad is a wonder: we are honored to introduce them to our beautiful region and there is no greater privilege. The planning is a long process and on average it takes 18 months to organize an international wedding. However, with a meticulous time management and specific softwares we will not forget about anything. Italian bureaucracy always distress our clients but with an experienced wedding planner no hurdle is hard to overcome.
- What do you like the most of planning weddings?
It is a fantastic job in general, but in particular we appreciate the creativity behind this work. Starting from a small idea or vision and even from a small detail, we can give life to a great event! We also love to see the excitement in the eyes of our couples and their families and to have the honor of being part of an important and unforgettable moment. We enjoy to welcome all these people to our land and see them fall in love with Le Marche. And then, apart from some rare moments of understandable stress, we have lots of fun and laughter.
- Your weddings takes place in Le Marche in an Italian way. How much appeal does our country have abroad and what do foreigners expect from a ‘Made in Italy’ wedding?
Couples from abroad have always had a passion for our country and Italy is still the top destination in Europe where they dream to hold their wedding. Foreigners are enchanted not only by the beauty of the location, but also by the idea associated with Italy, which is a mix of romance, old movies’ charm, tradition and elegance. They love to combine all these features to their wedding, although with a personal touch. In fact, our couples want to feel like they are the main characters of Italian movies and we love to help them with that.
- Finally, Le Marche are the background to your weddings: I guess for some of your guests is their very first visit to our region. What does fascinate them the most and do you think they could even plan to be back after the merry event?
The beauty of a wedding destination is that the couples, their family and guests will stop for at least a few days and then have the chance to explore a bit of the surrounding area, tipically in the days following the wedding. They always fall in love with the beauty and authenticity of our land and appreciate the fact they hardly end up meeting tourists from abroad, not to speak of their love for our local cuisine and wines. They appreciate the diversity of our region, the fact that here you can stand in front of mountains but also lay on pristine beaches, that you can walk around in an immaculate UNESCO site like the city of Urbino, as well as in never heard before tiny villages which are equal in beauty. They feel like they can really connect intimately with this land and this feeling, unfortunately, is no longer exclusive in other parts of Italy, especially in regions and cities which are literally invaded by tourism throughout the year. There are even those who fall in love to the point of buying a house and come and live here. There are many northern Europeans who now live here, who have learned Italian and have started their own business. In our area, the province of Pesaro and Urbino, there a large community of Dutch, German and English residents. I mean, who come and visit Le Marche often return, and sometimes…with a one-way ticket! To promote a niche tourism attentive to details and to tradition ‘Merry le Marche’ will become tour operator shortly, supporting an experiential tourism that brings our clients to savor every moment of their stay and to live their journey not as a quick gateway but as a total experience and awareness.
A special thanks to Elisa, Chiara and Nadia for sharing this beautiful interview with Discovermarche and all the best with their upcoming merry projects!
Please find out more at: www.merrylemarche.com
As well as their official Facebook page: here
Discovermarche 