About
Ciao and welcome! I’m Daniela. It brings me so much joy to share Love Grows Hope with you.
About me
My heart has roots in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (FVG), a truly special, often undiscovered corner of Northeast Italy brimming with authentic charm, incredible wines, and layers of history.
Though FVG is home, my life is now based in vibrant Amsterdam.
This dual perspective fuels my passion: connecting international couples like you with the magic of my home region.
About Love Grows Hope
Love Grows Hope is dedicated to helping internationally-minded couples craft sustainable and purposefully impactful destination weddings.
We specialize in creating authentic, unforgettable celebrations in Italy’s unique Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, ensuring your love story also contributes to a better world.
Let your wedding day plant seeds of hope. Celebrate your love, share the impact.
How Love Grows Hope came to be
My passion for blending creativity with purpose has been a lifelong journey. During my time living in London, I worked as a performer and singer, using my songs to engage with and advocate for women’s rights.
Later, a move to Italy led me to Pisa, Tuscany. There, I pursued a Master’s degree in Peace Studies, an intentional step to build a strong foundation for the values I hold dear. Among others, I studied anthropology of conflicts, international humanitarian law, environmental conflicts sociology and development economics, balancing theory with practical skills in project management and intercultural conflict transformation. Alongside my studies, I became deeply involved in the local community through grassroots activism (founding a local Extinction Rebellion group) and volunteering with the Red Cross, especially during the intense first wave of the pandemic.
My journey then led me to Amsterdam to be with my husband. Here, I became a certified Participatory Action Research (PAR) practitioner and continued my commitment to social justice by working on a PAR project with a local NGO focused on the difficult conditions of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. It was also in Amsterdam that my professional path crystallized: I became a certified sustainable travel advisor with the host agency FORA, officially connecting my values with my love for creating meaningful travel experiences.
The Wedding That Changed Everything
Then came the “aha!” moment, born from my own experience planning my wedding back in FVG. My vision was clear: it had to be deeply personal, truly reflective of our values, kind to the planet, and a chance to make a positive impact. This meant seeking out specific, conscious choices: for instance, sourcing mozzarella from a ‘Libera Terra’ producer, using potted seasonal plants instead of imported flowers, having our recycled gold shaped into rings by a local artisan, and using our wedding favors to support the vital work of Still I Rise.
Pulling this off while planning remotely, however, was incredibly challenging. I navigated the complexities of finding genuinely sustainable suppliers, coordinating logistics across borders, and managing everything on the day itself. I found myself wishing for an expert guide who truly understood both sustainable practices and the unique context of FVG, someone who could help translate vision into reality without the overwhelm.
Where Purpose Meets Passion: The Birth of Love Grows Hope
That’s when all the threads of my life came together: my history of activism, my academic understanding of sustainability, my professional training in sustainable travel, and my deeply personal planning journey.
And so, Love Grows Hope was created.
It starts as this blog – a dedicated space to inspire and guide you in planning your own authentic, sustainable, and purpose-driven destination wedding in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. My mission is twofold:
- To provide you with practical advice, curated inspiration (showcasing stunning castles, vineyards, and hidden gems!), and connections to trusted, value-aligned suppliers within FVG.
- To champion “Doing Good Through Weddings” by integrating support for impactful causes and empowering you to make choices that ripple outwards with positivity.
I’m so excited to share what I’ve learned with you. Let’s create a celebration that not only tells your unique love story but also helps love grow hope in the world.
Discover my journey on my first blog post: My Wedding Journey: How Love Grows Hope (and My Italian Wedding!) Came to Be.
Warmly,
Daniela