Exclusive Interview | Costanza, Director and Event Planner for Europe, Resh&Co
/“The team is the most important part of our work! We can’t do anything without our team or our vendors. They are the extensions of our ideas and work. We need to trust our team giving them the right responsibilities, and the right gratitude, so they feel 100% involved in the projects. We have to make them feel special and precious, because they are.”
Tell us about your journey.
We all come from different experiences and I have been planning weddings since 2009. Creating emotions and planning events were the things that I’ve always wanted to do in my life, and simply I did. I started with Italian weddings in 2009 and in the years I’ve planned so many weddings from different countries, being in touch with different cultures and requirements. For sure in the years the wedding industry changed a lot and the wedding is today much more focused on entertainment and decor.
Social media helped a lot to create trends also in this industry, and couples are now much more sensitive to the beauty of the decors or to entertain the guests and do something out of the ordinary.
What do you think it takes to succeed in this Luxury wedding industry?
Planning a wedding is not easy and it requires big responsibility. In the luxury market, even more, as we have to deal with bigger budget and much bigger expectations.
Luxury weddings are different than the “standard ones” as most of the time the intention is to represent the image of the couple or the family, and there is much more pressure for the best result. Most of the times, luxury means also privacy, so we can face challenges to maintain the willing of clients who may don’t want anyone publishing pictures, or security to events. To succeed, it’s always helpful to be accurate and to understand the real intentions and goals of the clients.
Share some of your secrets in keeping an engaged, safe and happy team?
The team is the most important part of our work! We can’t do anything without our team or our vendors. They are the extensions of our ideas and work. We need to trust our team giving them the right responsibilities, and the right gratitude, so they feel 100% involved in the projects. We have to make them feel special and precious, because they are.
How do you think AI will impact work?
About AI affecting our business, weddings are very personal and emotional no matter what technology comes in they can’t replace human emotions and personal touch, as we mentioned earlier we always have added that personal touch in all our weddings so we would love to use the AI in the guest interactions or to enhance their experience but overall AI will probably only be a helping tool on a bigger picture it will only help make interaction easier we don't see any impact largely.
How does the wedding industry synergize with other industries globally? Do you see any difference between the industry in the Middle East and Europe or further eastwards?
When it comes to a wedding, everywhere in the world there is the same emotion investment so it’s always a big affair. With the growing of the Destination wedding trend, this industry synergies completely with the travel and hospitality industry.
What are some of the trends you see impacting the operations, and where do you see the industry going in the next 5 years?
I would point to, two big trends that are very strong nowadays.
Weddings are going smaller, many couples decide to reduce the number of guests and to have multiple days celebration with the closest friends, allowing them to live a more personal and emotional experience.
Another trend is planning sustainable weddings, in fact, especially in the Z generation, there is much more care about the sustainability in all aspects of the wedding, from the environment point of view, using paperless invitations, artificial flowers or plants rather than fresh flowers, or trying to reduce the food waste.
