Valerie was amazing, we couldn't have been luckier in finding a more professional and genuine wedding planner. She is so passionate about her job and knows how to get it done. From the start, she got a great sense of who we were and what we were looking for. She connected with us and we connected with her, she has a right mixture of understanding what we as a non-Spanish couple hoped for with our wedding abroad and got it done. She’s very up to date about venue options in Barcelona and outside the city, she’s well connected to vendors (venues, florists, caterers, photographers, videographers, hair and makeup, ect), and set everything up for us with such great organization, we were able to hit the ground running each time we came to Barcelona and make informed decisions. Coming from the States, it seemed impossible at first to pull off a wedding in Spain, but working with Valerie simply made a lot easier than we had imagined. She worked well long distance over email, skype, and phone, and regularly got back to us in a reasonable timeframe. Valerie and her assistant Mireia were integral in coordinating our rehearsal dinner at the Textile Museum located in the Gothic Quarter, our ceremony and reception at Sant Miquel del Fai, and a Sunday brunch on the beach for 100 guests. In addition to our big events, she and her team organized group rates at several hotels in Barcelona, helped coordinate welcome bags for all of our guests, and oversaw so many details we never would have thought of. Valerie is very organized and thorough, she kept a detailed check list in order to make sure we addressed all items from A to Z. She left no detail unfinished or set aside, when our wedding weekend kicked off, we knew exactly what was going to happen, even if the unexpected happened. Valerie is personable, engaging, fun to be around, and it's obvious she wanted to make sure our events were memorable and what we dreamed they would be. Throughout the process, we developed not just a trusting connection with Valerie and Mireia, but we also formed a great friendship. Planning a wedding can obviously be extremely stressful at times, so the fun and laughter went a long way! We could not have planned our wedding without her, it simply could not have turned out as perfect as it did without the experience and passion she brought to the table. We had shopped around quite a bit in the beginning with different wedding coordinators in Barcelona, thankfully we found Valerie and Weddings Via Val!!
We were a little hesitant earlier on about choosing The Gangsters of Love to play at our wedding, as we were trying to separate the style of music we were interested in versus what we felt was appropriate for our venue and crowd. Valerie had a lot of wonderful things to say about them, plus, as we started doing more research on the band and their music, our decision to go with them became very easy. I cannot imagine our wedding now without them, even my dad who NEVER dances undid his tie and danced all night. They played songs that everyone recognized and loved, but their own music was just as popular with our crowd. Their stage presence is awesome, they really got the crowd going, and all night people commented on how talented and fun they were. They made for a perfect party at the end of our special day, I 100% recommend The Gangsters of Love!