Grandmother Pasta and Royal Standards with Laura Somma
Some of the most sophisticated hosts on the planet have private chefs, Michelin-level service, and access to anything they want on demand.
And what do they crave?
A simple pasta pomodoro that tastes like someone’s grandmother made it on a Sunday. Not because it’s “basic,” but because it’s real.
That’s where this episode starts, and it’s the thread that runs through everything Laura Somma does: authenticity, discretion, and leadership that stays calm when the stakes are high.
Laura is my Italy partner, the founder of LS Events, and a founding force behind The Wedding Privé. She’s also someone who has worked in rooms where celebrities, royals, and billionaires are surrounded by “yes” people. Laura is not one of them. She tells the truth, protects the experience, and leads with a steady hand.
Listen to the full episode via Spotify or Apple.
The difference between access and experience
If you’re planning a destination celebration, especially in Italy, it’s easy to get hypnotized by access: the villa, the view, the yacht, the guest list.
Laura makes a sharper point.
People who live with constant access don’t remember access. They remember feeling.
They remember the moment that was rooted in place. The detail that couldn’t have happened anywhere else. The warmth that felt human, not produced.
That’s why the “simple” things land hardest. A meal that tastes like a family recipe. A ritual done with intention. A room that feels considered without trying to impress you.
The best events allow you to settle in and be fully present.
Discretion is not a vibe. It’s logistics.
Laura shares one of those stories that would pique the interest of most planners.
She’s asked to produce a birthday celebration, one of high profile, high risk, and the need for low visibility. The brief was clear: paparazzi cannot get in.
So what do you do when the entire region knows your guest has landed?
You engineer the environment.
Laura locks the celebration to a private island off Positano with difficult access and full control over the perimeter. Everyone on the island is accounted for. Vendors, catering, performers, team. No surprises. No spectators.
That is what discretion looks like in real life. It’s not secrecy. It’s planning that anticipates pressure and still holds.
When everyone says “yes,” the planner has to say what’s true
One of my favorite parts of this conversation is Laura’s stance on leadership.
She talks about being in rooms with celebrities and then later working inside the orbit of the royal family of Qatar. In those settings, there’s a familiar dynamic: people around power often default to agreement. They nod. They please. They avoid friction.
Laura doesn’t.
If something feels wrong for the mood of the evening, the pacing, the standards, she says so. Directly. Calmly. Without theatrics.
And here’s the point that matters for planners at every level: the clients who hire you for high-stakes work do not want another person pleasing them. They want someone who can lead.
Design is not decoration. It’s meaning.
Laura breaks down something that’s easy to forget when you’re deep in timelines and logistics.
Planning is the skill. Design is the message.
Design is how you communicate something about the hosts through color, ritual, music, and the way the evening moves. It’s not just what the table looks like. It’s why it feels the way it feels.
Laura describes her approach as building a bridge.
Because often, you’re already bridging worlds:
An American couple hosting in Italy
A Middle Eastern family honoring tradition on European soil
Two families from different cultures meeting in a third country
The job is not to force sameness. The job is to blend with respect and clarity, so the experience feels cohesive and emotionally true.
Her non-negotiable for guest experience
Food matters. Service matters. Setting matters.
But Laura’s non-negotiable is this: a local performance.
She’s blunt about why. Great food exists everywhere now. You can eat “Italian” in New York and LA and London. Guests can book that whenever they want.
What they cannot replicate is a performance that belongs to the place.
A moment of music, movement, or tradition that lands in the chest and anchors the memory to the destination. It introduces a new emotion. It gives the evening dimension beyond dinner and dancing.
It also does something practical: it keeps the experience from feeling like a beautiful backdrop with generic programming.
Why The Wedding Privé exists
Then we get into The Wedding Privé and why it’s built for what’s coming next.
Not just destination weddings. Multi-destination weddings.
Couples are increasingly expanding the travel element of their wedding. Not just one destination, but multiple venues across multiple countries. That’s what feels sophisticated now: a celebration that moves, unfolds, and gives guests more than a single weekend in one place.
Laura has lived this operationally. She describes how hard it is to execute across three or four locations without senior leadership in each place. Junior support can only carry so much weight. The complexity compounds fast.
The solution is not one planner trying to be everywhere.
The solution is collaboration with equals. Senior planners in each location, leading their chapter with authority, taste, and local fluency.
Laura also isn’t afraid to say that the planning industry can have big egos, and ego does not scale. The Wedding Privé is built for planners who understand that working together does not dilute your brand. It elevates the outcome.
Laura’s closing advice is simple and sharp
She ends with two truths:
Trust your gut.
Stop trying to please everyone. Lead.
If you feel something is off, believe yourself early. Your instincts are data.
And if you’re the professional in the room, act like it. Couples are overwhelmed. Families are emotional. Opinions multiply. The planner’s job is to be the rational center and move the decision forward with confidence.
Not louder. Cleaner.
Listen to the full episode via Spotify or Apple.
If you would like to talk with us about planning your next event, HERE.
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