When Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez married in Venice this summer, the three-day celebration offered a glimpse into a world where discretion and spectacle coexist. Such occasions are the speciality of the wedding and event planners featured in this year’s Spear’s index.
‘The kind of families we work with place service at the very heart of what they want,’ world-renowned event planner Sarah Haywood tells Spear’s. ‘The reference point is already really high – that’s our challenge. What we’re telling them is: we know that. Everything we need to do needs to be achieved together with the most competent [people], the best of the best.’
[See also: Inside the world of billionaire wedding planning]
Spear’s has curated a list of the leading wedding and event planners in the UK and beyond. These advisers are accustomed to orchestrating nine- and ten-figure celebrations for billionaires, celebrities and, on occasion, royalty. With access to the world’s most exclusive venues and the ability to secure A-list talent, they are the gatekeepers to the world’s most talked-about parties.
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Many of our featured event planners accept only a handful of commissions each year, guaranteeing a truly bespoke service. Their remit extends from shaping the creative vision to managing suppliers, caterers and venues, and overseeing every operational detail in the run-up to the big day.
Trends in 2025
What sets these planners apart is not an adherence to fleeting trends, but an ability to let the lives of their clients dictate the design. ‘An event is a microcosm of a life,’ notes Vivienne Errington-Barnes, founder of Shift + Alt Events and a new entrant in this year’s index.
Still, 2025 has seen subtle shifts in clients’ priorities – from creating bespoke wedding merchandise to moving away from hotels in favour of museums or even atmospheric ruins. One celebration designed by Party Planners, headed by fellow newcomer Harriet Webber Jamieson, unfolded in a ruined Cistercian abbey.
[See also: How UHNW lovebirds are taking weddings to a whole new level]
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Increasingly, celebrations are being extended over several days, whether for cultural reasons or simply to prolong the gathering itself. Few families have made such occasions headline news quite like the Ambanis, whose multi-day weddings blend traditional ceremonies with show-stopping performances on a global stage.
The Bezos wedding followed a similar rhythm, spanning three days and drawing a guest list likened to ‘American royalty’. The event was orchestrated by Lanza & Baucina, the discreet trio of Italian aristocrats, who have secured their place in the Spear’s index this year.
Click the links below to jump to a section of this article:
- Methodology
- The best events, entertainment and weddings planners: some names to know
- The best events, entertainment and weddings planners in 2025: the complete list
- Contact us
Methodology
Each year, the Spear’s Research Unit reassesses and refreshes its rankings of the leading providers in each sector by gathering data from and about the advisers and firms themselves, assessing submission forms, collating nominations, carrying out peer reviews, reviewing data from third-party sources, gathering references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.
Advisers are evaluated using a proprietary scoring system that assigns different weightings to certain attributes. These scores feed directly into each new set of rankings in the Spear’s Indices. Each of these indices are published first online (according to the research calendar) and then in print. Print publication takes the form of the annual Spear’s 500 directory, which includes the top advisers in every index.
[See also: A guide to The Spear’s 500: Everything you need to know]
Each featured adviser is profiled on spears500.com. The site allows users to search the Spear’s database of more than 4,000 entities to find one (or more) to meet their specific requirements by filtering for specific attributes such as an adviser’s location, their specialist expertise and information about their client base.
The best events, entertainment and weddings planners: some names to know
Colin Cowie
- Focus: A-list celebrity weddings and events
- Position: Founder
- Firm: Colin Cowie Lifestyle
Known ubiquitously as ‘Mr Wedding’, Colin Cowie is renowned for his extraordinary events. His first step into the celebrity wedding industry was ironically thanks to Hugh Hefner, who at the time was engaged to Playmate Kimberley Conrad. ‘I got to design the wedding of the world’s most famous bachelor,’ Cowie tells Spear’s.
Since then, he has designed events for everyone from Oprah to Tom Cruise. He has also organised the nuptials of Jennifer Lopez to Ben Affleck and the Emir of Qatar to his bride. The novelty hasn’t yet worn off for Cowie. ‘I’m as excited today as I was when I first started.’
Read Colin Cowie’s full profile on Spears500.com
Julia Dowling
- Focus: UHNW and celebrity private events
- Position: Founder
- Firm: Snapdragon
‘Our focus isn’t just curating weddings and events; it’s about orchestrating and designing unforgettable moments and memorable experiences,’ says Julia Dowling, founder of Snapdragon. Since its establishment in 2010, the firm has achieved remarkable success in delivering events for some of the world’s most discerning clients, including high-profile individuals, celebrities and top-tier executives.
When asked about the success of the company, Dowling tells Spear’s that ‘success, in the Snapdragon chronicles, isn’t measured by the grandeur of an event, but by the emotions it ignites’.
‘Grandeur’, however, is what draws clients to Snapdragon, a firm whose approach has been marked by tasteful elegance intertwined with an appreciation for luxury. What she does reveal is that the ‘the realm of luxury weddings consistently flirts with the extraordinary.’ It seems only appropriate that at Snapdragon, the bar for ‘extraordinary’ is raised high.
Read Julia Dowling’s full profile on Spears500.com
Alex Fitzgibbons
- Focus: Events for the royal family
- Position: Chairman
- Firm: Fait Accompli
Event-planning company Fait Accompli counts the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex among its esteemed clients. It’s even rumoured to have been a favourite of the late Princess Diana.
The firm, founded in 1987, is highly discreet, with a strong stance on anonymity and discretion. ‘We don’t do any PR, we don’t do any marketing, we don’t have Instagram,’ says chairman Alex Fitzgibbons. ‘That probably means we’re better suited to some clients than others.’ He notes that once clients begin working with Fait Accompli, they tend to be loyal.
‘During [the company’s] time, we’ve had some families and clients who we’ve been in the full life cycle with. The parent’s wedding, the children’s christenings, birthday celebrations, children’s birthdays and unfortunately a memorial service or two.’
Read Alex Fitzgibbons’ full profile on Spears500.com
Antonio Licata di Baucina
- Focus: Royal and A-list weddings
- Position: Founder
- Firm: Lanza & Baucina
Given that its founders have snubbed almost every interview offered, including those from Tatler and Vogue, it is safe to say that discretion is at the very heart of Lanza & Baucina’s service.
Founded by Prince Antonio Licata di Baucina and his cousins Counts Riccardo and Aleramo Lanza in 2002, the wedding and event planner has counted numerous celebrities, billionaires and royalty among its client base.
Most recently, Lanza & Baucina planned the ultra-luxury wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, which took place in Venice in June 2025. ‘Because of our family connections, we always know someone who can open secret doors in Italy,’ di Baucina once told the press. ‘If we have enough time, we can do almost anything.’
Read Antonio Licata di Baucina’s full profile on Spears500.com
The best events, entertainment and weddings planners: the complete list
Click on the individual names to be directed to more detailed profiles of each adviser on The Spear’s 500 website. The table is ordered by ranking and then alphabetically by surname.
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