We are both Colombians who live in the USA. Neither one of us is from Cartagena but we always knew that is where we wanted to get married the problem was finding the right person to make our dreams come true of a fun, enjoyable and streamlined wedding planning process and we found all of that and more with Itala. No words to describe how pleased and happy we are to have been able to work with Itala. From the first conversation that we had with Itala over a year ago, where she wanted to get to know us and share with us how she worked, to after our magical wedding, our experience was flawless, could not have been better. Let's just start with the fact that our wedding was a dream come true, Itala exceeded our expectations and more. She worked with our ideas and created a fairy tail. Our guest described the wedding ceremony and reception as MAGICAL.
The wedding planning experience was great, Itala is so knowledgeable, organized, full of ideas, accommodating and very detailed oriented (FYI her spreadsheets are like none you have every seen!). We had interviewed other wedding planner but knew Itala was the one from the moment we first spoke. We really liked the fact that Itala spent time getting to know us and getting to understand what we wanted, even though it was via Skype or email, it always felt very personal. Itala is also very responsive, she always replied to our messages, even if it was just to acknowledge that she received the message and let us know that she would get back to us shortly. She also great list with prices of all the venues and vendors in Cartagena so that you can get pick and choose exactly what you want with ease.
When I (the bride) and my mother went to Cartagena to finalize some of the details, Itala had all the appointments planned out, took my mother and I to each meeting, took notes of everything I had requested to confirmed with all the vendors, was able to help me make choices when I felt overwhelmed with so many choices, and even organized an additional appointment on the spot when my mom and I were not please with the first cake tasting. More than anything thought, Itala gave my mom the piece of mind that she need to know that everything would be taken care and all she had to do was enjoy. My mom, who tends to want to control everything, was perfectly at ease and able to actually enjoy the wedding planning process after she met Itala and that to me was priceless.
The week of the wedding we met with Itala in Cartagena, she was so on point, had everything ready to go, appointments, meetings, etc... We met with our priest, distributors, musicians, and she was always with us. Itala had notes of everything we had requested even the things we had forgotten and we felt a complete ease and were able to enjoy time with our family and friends instead of having to worry about the wedding. For the rehearsal, we were so impressed with her coolness and how she was able to organize and direct our crazy group of family and friends. On the big DAY, things could not have gone better, the ceremony was beautiful, the church was decorated beautifully, and Itala made sure that the little details that we had asked for were there. The reception was unreal, when we walked into the house we thought we were in the wrong place. Itala took our ideas and suggestions and created a piece of art. The decorations were beautiful, the food was delicious, the live band, the DJ and the hora loca group were just terrific. We and our guest had the time of our lives.
To sum up, we highly recommend Itala, hiring her was the best investment we could have made for our wedding. Itala not only made out day surpass anything we could have ever wanted she made the entire process fun for us. From the moment we spoke to her until the days after the wedding, she was always attentive, always making sure that we had what we needed, and conscious of our budget and wishes. Many guest both already married and single said they wanted to come back and get married in Cartagena with Itala so if you are wonder if you should reach out don't give it a second thought she is worth it! We not only feel like we found an amazing wedding planner but also a friend for life.
Mil gracias Itala y un abrazo muy grande, Luisa y Cesar