Selective days inside Italy’s luxury wedding market, with Kellen Lauxen and Alessandra Zucca, wedding planners specialized in destination weddings in Italy. Their vendors, their venues, their method.
We’ve welcomed planners and decorators from around the globe. We’re not just mentors. We’re active professionals in the Italian wedding market, always learning, always growing. Every edition brings something new.
It’s not just about traveling to Italy. It’s not just about attending an immersion. It’s about returning with an international experience that opens new doors in the destination wedding market, and changes how local clients and vendors see you at home. Planning and executing a wedding in Europe is a credential that elevates your value in any market. Every activity is guided, planned and lived in practice: from organizing a real wedding to building strategic connections with vendors and professionals across Europe.
Local luxury couples and international planners recognize the Italian aesthetic instantly. Having Italian destination weddings in your portfolio elevates your perceived value at home, even with the couples marrying around the corner. Italy is the credential. The local market is where it pays back.
Planners, decorators, photographers, videographers and content creators all in the same place, working with the people who shape Italian luxury weddings. While Kellen guides you, Sam and Rayana Sacramento run the parallel IWE Photography experience with the photographers, videographers and content creators. Same house. Same dinners. Same productions.
This is the network being built in front of you. The imagery creators document every wedding and editorial you design, so you leave with professional images of your own work. And you’re in the room with the people who decide which planners and decorators get the call for the next Italian luxury wedding.
Kellen began her career as a decorator in Italy and is today one of the most recognized wedding planners in the country. With nearly two decades of experience, her company, Lauxen Eventi, Firenze, serves Brazilian and international couples who choose Italy as their wedding destination.
In 2018 she designed the intimate wedding of actress Sthefany Brito, and her work has been featured in Vogue, Caras, Bride and Tonic, Carats and Cake, Inesquecível Casamento and Wedding Wonderland.
Inside IWE, Kellen opens her market to you: her vendors, her venues, her design process, and the way she built an international clientele from Italy.
Passion, creativity and meticulous attention to detail: these are the ingredients Alessandra Zucca uses to transform every event into a unique and unforgettable experience. With years of expertise in weddings and exclusive events, she specializes in destination weddings in Umbria and throughout Italy.
From venue selection to full coordination, each project is tailor-made, carried out with professionalism, sensitivity and a trusted network of carefully chosen vendors. Based in the heart of Italy, Alessandra designs events that tell a true story: the couple’s story.
Named top 5 wedding photographer in the world (WPC Team Gold, SWPP #2 Photographer of the Year). Sam leads the parallel IWE Photography experience. His team documents everything you design.
The strategic mind behind IWE. Rayana built the business model and the network with European luxury planners over two decades living in Europe.
On Day 4 you design, produce and run a complete Italian wedding inside Hotel Mediterraneo Sorrento, a 5-star luxury hotel on the Sorrento Coast with panoramic terraces over the Gulf of Naples. Getting ready, ceremony, reception, cake, toast, from beginning to end. Real florals, professional models, full production. And every detail you create is documented by the IWE photography team, so you leave with professional images of your own work.
A choreographed journey through the Amalfi Coast: from international market positioning to a complete destination wedding day at Hotel Mediterraneo Sorrento.
Arrival at the IWE house. Welcome cocktail so everyone gets to know each other: mentors, planners, decorators, imagery creators and the team.
Morning: the world of destination weddings in Italy: venue selection through the seasons, the rules and responsibilities of vendors, and how the Italian market really works. Afternoon: technical visits to strategic venues, taking the first steps of the wedding project you will refine throughout the week.
Morning: direct contact with renowned local vendors, from sophisticated floral design to authentic gastronomy, the specialists who master the Italian wedding market. Afternoon: an exclusive destination wedding venue, a detailed technical visit, and an immersive hands-on session where you apply everything in practice.
You are at the heart of a real wedding execution at Hotel Mediterraneo Sorrento: décor, styling, coordination, timeline. You apply everything from the previous days to deliver a flawless wedding, and every detail you create is documented by the IWE photography team as a highlight of your portfolio.
A final breakfast together at the IWE house. Connection. Reflection. And then home, with a new portfolio, a new network, and a new chapter in your international career.
Land in Naples, leave the rest to us. You focus on shooting and learning.
Shared rooms in the IWE house (private room upgrade available).
All transfers between venues during the program.
Daily breakfast, welcome aperitivo, closing dinner.
Professional models, designer dresses, stationery, real florals. You design and produce with full production support.
Complete wedding flow with florals and full production, repeated so every participant captures every scene.
Daily mentorship with Kellen. Direct introductions to the Italian vendors and venues she works with.
Hear from planners who lived the immersion.
“Being here is an incredible experience. I’ve learned so much. They think of every little detail.”
“It was something truly unique, exceeding all my expectations. I hope to return many more times.”
“Taking part in an event like this is surreal. Learning from Kellen and the entire team was truly invaluable.”
“My experience was so much better than I expected.”
“It was amazing to take part in this experience where we truly get to live what a wedding is like.”
“I learned so many things during these days and met so many people, it was incredible.”
Selection-based admission. Not for total beginners. We review your portfolio and your career stage to ensure the experience is right for you.
3-minute form. Your work, Instagram, where you are in your career as a planner or decorator.
Our team reviews within 48 hours. If your profile fits, you’ll receive an invitation.
Once accepted, confirm with the deposit and choose the option that fits you best.
