fatamadrina

Italian Wedding Planner

Choose freedom.
Be you.

About Barbara Pederzini, Italian Wedding Planner

Below is a description of Barbara’s approach to wedding planning. The service is no longer available.

When I see you, I see your story, your deep love for each other. I can feel your happiness bursting at the seams as you navigate through wedding blogs and websites looking for the perfect wedding ideas for your own celebration. But I also know this can be a very frustrating process. I’ve seen it a lot, people pinching in with advice that sounds like an imposition, nudging you around, titles screaming at you from the cover of magazines, trying to make decisions on your behalf… And none of the packages you see advertised feels really right for you.

But this is indeed about you. And I think you shouldn’t be made to feel like a selfish person just because you want to choose your wedding menu according to your own taste, or decide whether to throw a bouquet or not! I know you’re aware of this as you’re strongly aware of being different from anybody else.

It’s just that you don’t know how to get the wedding you want. You might know the industry and what needs to be done to execute your ideas. Maybe you don’t know if what you have been dreaming of is really feasible, and it all adds to the confusion and the stress. And to think this should have been the happiest time of your life!

It was fabulous meeting fatamadrina, to us she was an expert professional and always honest (there was no unpleasant surprise working with her). But more importantly, she was able to really help us be aware of our desires for our wedding day.
M&E, Udine

In love, in Italy.

Trust me, the solution to your conundrum is simple. Come have your wedding in Italy, far from all the background noise of imposed traditions, those pervasive trends, and the social pressure coming even from well-meaning friends and family. Here, in the land of classic art and original cuisine you can truly go back to the core, go back to you, and craft a celebration that it’s truly your own.

Have your wedding the way you’ve always dreamt it, and choose the freedom of hiring a consultant that can help you do just that. Up until 2016 fatamadrina was the key to a unique wedding because I began with the couple in mind. I used to listen to them for hours, literally, and start conceiving a project and a plan that would allow them to stay sane and true to themselves while planning your wedding.

A wedding planner like me will never leave your side (virtually as well as physically) throughout the planning process, and you will be always able to count on them for support, encouragement, and advice.

Meet Barbara.

My name is Barbara and until 2016 I helped free-spirited couples like yourselves plan a wedding that was truly their own, regardless of social conventions and impositions.
I started this business in 2009, beginning with a main niche in mind. I wanted to cater to all the dreams, desires and priorities that I felt were ignored in the industry. I didn’t become a wedding planner because I liked pretty things or flowers or weddings. That clearly made my job easier, but I became a wedding planner after realizing that couples who didn’t want to conform to common trends and conventions were exposed to judgment, conditioning, and interferences, that eventually would lead them to choose weddings that didn’t truly represent their true identities and personalities.
I chose to call myself fatamadrina (in Italian ‘fairy godmother’) because I wanted to be there for my clients, providing them with the expertise and skills necessary to plan a wedding, helping them overcome difficulties so that they could find a way to enjoy that extraordinary time of their life.
I could take couples through the complexities and bureaucracy of a legal ceremony and make it as simple as possible for them. I would research the best venues and the right creative professionals and set up a stellar team that would execute all the ideas that we would come up with together.
Or I would get in later down the line when they’d booked their venue and photographer, and they wanted to hand the reins to somebody else for the day.
No matter the scope of the project, my aim was the same: helping couples get the wedding their love deserved.

VIEW WEDDINGS I PLANNED

Questions I would get asked, and the not so obvious answers

How did you start in this industry?

When I was 11 I used to play at “wedding planning” with an old organizer and a vintage telephone. I was very meticulous, even providing my clients with insurance. I’m not sure this qualifies as professional experience but it certainly showed me I had a knack for the job.

No seriously, how was fatamadrina born?

When I was looking for a consultant to hire for my own wedding I realized that the industry in Italy didn’t cater to the actual needs of couples, it mostly tried to force stale traditions and limited options on them. I wanted to provide an alternative for those couples who knew they wanted something different but didn’t know how to achieve that.

You always look relaxed and in control, do you ever get discouraged?

When I was in high school, I started stage acting. Once, I heard actress Emma Thompson was pregnant and I wrote her a letter offering my services as an au-pair for her and Kenneth Branagh’s future offspring. I thought it would be a good way of putting my foot in the entertainment industry door. Ms. Thompson’s publicist kindly wrote back saying they wouldn’t be needing my services, but I never really stopped acting as if anything is possible. To this day, I truly see all obstacles as opportunities.

What did you study?

I have a background in English and French Literature and I lived for two years in Coventry, where I graduated from Warwick University with an MA in Film and Television Studies. This generally accounts for my love of visual storytelling and my command of English and French.

Did you ever produce big events?

In the early Naughties, I was an assistant producer at Milan Fashion Shows. The magnitude of it all and the fast pace of the work there never felt daunting to me. They felt exhilarating and super fun. To this day, managing big budgets on a tight schedule feels pretty natural to me.

Are we being selfish in wanting to have our wedding our way?

I don’t know you personally, so I cannot vouch for your personalities. But I can tell you a little personal story. My father suddenly died when I was 26, and when I was 33 my husband underwent coronary bypass surgery that literally saved his life. Both experiences taught me that it’s never too early to start living your life and pursuing your dreams. I think that if you do so while respecting and loving others, you won’t go wrong.

Are you married?

My husband and I got married twice. And if I had it my way we would get married every other year. I have a daughter who wants to become a graphic novelist and a son who’s an adorable rascal, in case you were also wondering.

Is there anything else you think we should know about you?

My favorite color is blue. It’s been for the last 25 years of my life and I doubt it will ever change, but the truth is there is no one color that I don’t like, in one hue or another. I sometimes eat meat. I wear my grandma’s vintage furs when it’s really cold outside because I hate waste. I like to recycle and repurpose things. I think there is never a bad time for pizza, Nutella or pasta. I drink cappuccino after lunch. And for breakfast. And at 5 p.m. And at 3 in the morning if I’m driving home from an event. I no longer plan weddings.

What now?

Well, I am afraid I am no longer available to assist you in planning your wedding. But if you wish to read something more about the way I work, as a way to decide which service you might want to look for from fellow planners, I suggest you visit the services page.

Destination wedding planner based in Modena, Italy, until 2016.