the event guru: an interview with sparkling day events

Elisavet Fakou: When you think of a “sparkling day”, what comes to mind? I imagine it’s more than just sunlight and champagne. 

Sofia Fakou: Always more. It’s a feeling before it’s a picture. A sparkling day is that moment when everything aligns, mood, setting, people. But here’s the secret: sparkle looks different for everyone. For some, it’s a wildflower tucked behind the ear. For others, it’s a perfect silence just before the music starts. 

EF: I love that. Do you think guests remember what they see… or how they feel?

SF: Always how they feel. The mood lingers longer than the visuals. My job is to make sure our clients arrive and instantly exhale. That’s the imprint. Joy without effort. Belonging without instruction.

EF: And where does that start for you, when you’re handed a new event, a new couple, a new story? 

SF: With a seed. A word, a memory, a color they mention without realizing its weight. I listen more than I speak in the early stages. I watch how they describe their dreams. My work begins there.

EF: You’re like a translator. But instead of language, you’re working with scent, sound, color. What’s the palette you keep coming back to?

SF: Blues and whites, of course, we live in Greece. But I’ll never get tired of that bougainvillea pink. That magenta. It’s rebellious. It climbs up walls with no permission. It’s always invited. 

EF: Give me a secret detail, something no one noticed but you still think about.

SF: There was a wedding on Rhodes. We set up this Greek treats corner, cheeses, olives, ouzo, the whole thing. But tucked between everything were two big pots of basil. The bride’s father had passed, and she once told me he loved that scent. The moment she noticed them… she didn’t say anything. She just smiled, quietly. That was enough.

EF: That’s the beauty I chase too. Something that doesn’t scream but stays with you. Speaking of staying power, do you think events are part of a visual language? Like living editorials? 

SF: Absolutely. There’s a narrative. A rhythm. People might not consciously notice how the font on the menu matches the arch of the floral arrangement, but they feel it. That’s storytelling. That’s the layout.

EF: What’s the scene that always gives you chills before the event begins?

SF: When the florist calls and says they’re stuck in traffic and the chairs aren’t placed yet. That chaos. That jolt. But I always plan for it. I start early, like, obnoxiously early, so we can absorb the madness without losing the magic. 

EF: Imperfection feels like part of the art, no?

SF: It has to be. You can’t stage authenticity. If something goes wrong and we can’t hide it, we transform it. Nothing breaks the fourth wall, if we do our job right, guests never know the difference. 

EF: If ALATI hosted something with you, what would the space feel like? 

SF: Intimate, with depth. Maybe baroque meets modernism. Clean lines, but something antique in the corner. Soft lighting. Velvet maybe. The kind of space where you want to both photograph and forget your phone.

EF: And beauty, what is it, to you, right now? 

SF: It’s a quiet kind of boldness. Something that makes you pause. It’s a handwritten note. A perfectly timed breeze. A story that’s told without words. Beauty should haunt you a little.