Today we’d like to introduce you to Claire Lopez.
Hi Claire, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m Claire Lopez, the owner and lead planner behind Bella Poggio Events, a Memphis-based wedding and event planning company serving couples throughout the Mid-South and for destination celebrations.
While I officially launched Bella Poggio Events in June 2025, I’ve been part of the wedding and event industry for more than 11 years in different facets. That experience gave me the opportunity to see events from multiple sides long before I ever started my own company, and it helped shape the kind of planner and business owner I wanted to become.
Bella Poggio Events was created from a genuine love of bringing people together, but the name itself is deeply personal to me. “Bella” means beautiful, and Poggio — meaning hill in Italian — was my great-grandmother’s maiden name. I wanted the business to feel connected to family, legacy, and the idea of creating celebrations that are both beautiful and meaningful, which is where our tagline, “Creating celebrations as beautiful as the hills,” came from.
When I decided to start my own business, I was very intentional about building it on more than just a love of weddings. I wanted Bella Poggio Events to be rooted in professional education, strong systems, thoughtful client service, and real experience.
I became a Certified Wedding Planner and later earned my Master Certified Wedding Planner designation. I’ve continued investing in education around planning, luxury client experience, design, destination weddings, and the business side of the industry, and that growth has completely shaped the company I have today.
What started as a passion for creating beautiful events has grown into a business focused on giving couples structure, guidance, and someone they can trust to see the entire picture. Today, Bella Poggio Events offers wedding coordination, full-service planning, wedding weekend planning, and destination wedding support.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned through both my years in the industry and running my own company is that couples are not just hiring a planner for a checklist of tasks. They are hiring someone to help carry the mental load of planning.
My job is to understand the budget, vendors, design, logistics, timeline, guest experience, and all of the moving pieces, then help make sure those decisions actually work together.
I’m especially proud of how much Bella Poggio Events has grown in a relatively short period of time while still feeling personal. In 2026, I earned my Master Certified Wedding Planner designation and continued expanding the company’s work in full-service planning, wedding weekends, and destination celebrations.
Those milestones mean a lot to me, but the most rewarding part is still hearing a couple say they were able to relax, that their family got to enjoy the day, or that they had no idea how much was being handled behind the scenes.
That’s really what I want Bella Poggio Events to be known for: thoughtful planning, calm leadership, strong professional relationships, and creating weddings where couples can actually be present for the experience they spent so much time building.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not been a completely smooth road.
One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to transition from being experienced in the wedding and event industry to actually owning and growing a business. Those are two very different skill sets.
I had already spent years working in different facets of weddings and events, but when I launched Bella Poggio Events in June 2025, I suddenly had to become not only the planner, but also the marketer, salesperson, accountant, content creator, client experience manager, networker, and decision-maker.
There have been seasons where inquiries were strong and seasons where bookings felt much slower than I wanted. Learning not to panic during those quieter stretches — and instead look critically at my sales process, messaging, website, client experience, and lead sources — has been a huge part of my growth.
I have also had to learn that being good at the work is not enough. You have to communicate your value clearly. Couples need to understand not only what you do, but why it matters and how your work changes their experience.
Another challenge has been learning when to evolve. I have changed services, refined my pricing, invested heavily in professional education, rebuilt parts of my website, adjusted my sales process, and become much more intentional about the clients I am trying to attract.
That can be uncomfortable, especially when something used to work and suddenly does not work as well anymore.
I have also had to learn to trust the experience and education I bring to the table. Like many business owners, there have been moments of second-guessing, comparison, and wondering whether I should be doing what someone else is doing. Over time, I have become much more confident in building a business that reflects my own values and the kind of experience I want to provide.
The challenges have made Bella Poggio Events stronger because they have forced me to stay teachable.
I am still learning, still adjusting, and still investing in becoming better at both the planning side and the business side. I think that willingness to keep evolving is one of the reasons the company has grown as quickly as it has.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Bella Poggio Events is a Memphis-based wedding and event planning company specializing in full-service wedding planning, wedding coordination, wedding weekend planning, and destination celebrations.
What sets us apart is the way we look at the wedding as a whole.
A wedding is not just a collection of vendors or a checklist of tasks. Every decision affects something else — budget, design, logistics, guest experience, timing, venue flow, transportation, setup, and the vendor team. My role is to help couples understand how those pieces connect so the planning process feels clear and intentional rather than overwhelming.
For full-service planning, that means guiding couples from the early stages through the wedding itself. I help with vendor sourcing, proposal comparison, budget guidance, design direction, logistics, timeline development, guest experience, and keeping the entire planning process moving forward in the right order.
For wedding coordination, couples may have planned most of the celebration themselves, but they need an experienced professional to step in during the final months, connect the vendor team, finalize logistics, manage the timeline, lead the rehearsal, and make sure neither the couple nor their family is responsible for running the wedding day.
I also work with couples planning destination weddings and wedding weekends, where there are additional layers of travel, guest experience, multiple events, vendor coordination, and logistics to consider.
One of the things I am most proud of is that Bella Poggio Events is built around professional education and intentional service. I am a Master Certified Wedding Planner and Certified Wedding Planner, and the business is licensed and insured. I have continued investing in education because I believe couples deserve more than someone who simply loves weddings — they deserve a planner who understands the responsibility of managing one.
I’m also proud of how quickly Bella Poggio Events has grown since officially launching in June 2025. That growth has reinforced for me that couples are looking for thoughtful, professional planning that still feels personal.
But what I am most proud of brand-wise is the experience I want couples to associate with Bella Poggio Events.
I want them to feel supported, informed, and confident in the decisions they are making. I want their vendors to feel prepared. I want their families to be able to enjoy the wedding instead of working it. And I want the couple to be able to look around on their wedding day and actually experience what they spent so much time creating.
I often say that professional planning is not about taking the wedding away from the couple. It is about giving them the structure and support that allows them to enjoy it.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
One thing I would love readers to know is that I care deeply about the experience people have while planning, not just how the wedding looks at the end.
Beautiful weddings matter to me, of course, but so does the process of getting there. I want couples to feel informed, supported, and confident instead of overwhelmed or like they are constantly wondering what they forgot.
I also really value the wedding community here in Memphis. So much of this industry is built on strong relationships between planners, venues, photographers, florists, caterers, entertainers, rental teams, and so many other professionals. I’m incredibly grateful for the people I’ve gotten to work alongside and for the trust couples place in me.
Bella Poggio Events is still growing, and I’m excited about what comes next. I’m continuing to expand our full-service, wedding weekend, and destination work while staying rooted in the kind of thoughtful, personal service that made me want to start the company in the first place.
At the end of the day, I want couples to remember how their wedding felt — not just how it looked — and I want them to know they were able to be present for it. 💛
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bellapoggioevents.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/bellapoggioevents
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/bellapoggioevents
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/bellapoggioevents
- Other: https://TikTok.com/bellapoggioevents
