THE QUESTION A CLIENT ASKED ME THAT STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS
Okay, so this one is a very personal blog and If I am completely honest with you all… I did think twice about being this raw and vulnerable out in the open, for everyone to see. But then this thought came to my head.
Couples trust us so much with their most important day in their lives and we get to know everything about them and their story. I feel it is only fair that you get to know, the real me, not just Luisa “the wedding planner” but myself as a person and the reason to why I am who I am and what led me to what I do now.
“ARE YOU THE ELDEST CHILD?”
A little while ago, after one of our weddings, I was doing a feedback call with a client. We were talking through the day, what they loved, how everything felt and then he asked me something I wasn’t expecting (at all).
“Are you the eldest child?”
Then he paused and said,
“Did you have to carry a lot growing up?”
I was a little taken aback, I wouldn’t say I was upset but he had noticed something in me on this wedding day that I don’t always say out loud.
He had seen the part of me that looks after people, the part that carries responsibility seriously and the part that doesn’t wait for someone else to step in.
And it made me think about why I am the way I am, not just as a wedding planner, but as a person.
When I was 13, my mum left. My dad was still there, and he loved us, but in many ways, life changed overnight. My younger brother needed me, the house needed holding together, and I grew up very quickly.
I didn’t have the language for it at the time and I didn’t think, “This is a lot for a child.”
I just thought, “Something needs to be done.” So I did it.
If food needed ordering, I found a way. If something needed sorting, I sorted it. If people around me needed holding together, I tried to be the steady one.
Looking back, I can see how much that shaped me.
I became someone who notices when people need support.
Someone who thinks three steps ahead, who cannot sit back when there is a problem to solve and who takes responsibility seriously, because I know what it feels like when things are uncertain.
That is the part of me my client saw. And honestly, it is the part of me our couples experience too.
Because on a wedding day, there is so much more happening than people realise.
Yes, there are timelines, suppliers, styling details, table plans, guest movements, weather decisions, speeches, music cues and room changes.
But underneath all of that, there are people. A bride trying to stay calm, a groom taking everything in, parents feeling emotional, guests needing direction and suppliers needing answers.
And now I realise the instinct of always looking after people, watching, thinking, adjusting and solving problems, has always been in me.
Where this took me before wedding planning
All of this took me into roles built around people, pressure and responsibility. Recruitment, the police, Border Force, operational planning, training, logistics, budgets, crisis management. I worked in environments where details mattered, calm mattered, communication mattered and having a plan was not optional.
That background gave me structure, but my life gave me resilience.
And my Italian roots gave me the love of hosting, beauty, warmth and making people feel genuinely welcome.
And that combination is the heart of Luisa Lombardi Events.
What does this all mean to our couples?
It means you are not just hiring someone who is organised and has a good taste (although yes, you are).
You are choosing someone who cares deeply, who plans properly and who will not let people down.
Someone who will look after you as if you are part of the family,
So underneath the timelines, the design boards, the supplier emails and the beautifully styled rooms, this is who you are really hiring.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and if any of you can relate to this. You know where to find me – drop me an email, DM me on instagram or if you’re planning a wedding and want us to support – you can arrange a chat with us here.
Love,
Luisa xx
