Napa Valley & San Francisco
Full Service Wedding Planning and Design
We are guided by the philosophy that creating an event is creating a curated experience and memory that will stay with you and your guests long after the event has passed.
Catherine Moore
OWNER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Catherine grew up in Sonoma County, California, surrounded by the landscapes she now plans weddings in.
At the age of fifteen, she moved to San Francisco, and joined ballet students from around the world to study full-time with San Francisco Ballet School. Here, she fell in love with the city, and with events. As a ballet student, and several years later, as a professional ballerina, she attended many celebrations, from intimate and elegant lunches, to San Francisco Ballet’s Gala opening-night and New Year’s Eve celebrations at some of the most fabulous venues the city has to offer. She found event and ballet productions to be similar in design. Both required the same attention to detail to create a perfect setting and aesthetic. Both relied on the perfect combination of colors, scenery, music, lighting, decor and more to create a unique experience for attendees.
When she retired from ballet, she returned to that world through a different door. A degree in Mass Communications from UC Berkeley led to planning galas for arts organizations and dance companies, celebrations not unlike the ones she’d attended for years as a performer.
From there, she moved into corporate and executive events before eventually finding her way to weddings, where she’s spent the last decade creating celebrations across Napa Valley, Sonoma, San Francisco, and beyond.
Martina Connolly
PLANNER
Martina is a Northern California import, who grew up among the rolling hills of Tuscany, Italy, offering her planning talents both in the Bay Area and for destination events in Italy.
Growing up surrounded by beauty and art within the walls of a medieval town, she quickly found herself drawn to beautiful things. Originally trained as a classical pianist, she learned the joys of creating experiences through music. From a very young age, she took part in events of all kinds, even forming her own musical quartet specializing in playing weddings. Martina completed her education in Venice in the performing arts and design world.
Once she moved to the States, she honed her event skills working for institutions like the New York Botanical Garden and the San Francisco Symphony. She married all her learnings by joining Catherine James Events and creating weddings and social gatherings in both the Bay Area and her native Italy.
She believes every experience should be fun, beautiful, and tailored to the unique desires of the bride and groom. Every event has the magical ability to suspend reality and catapult everyone experiencing it into a joy filled, exquisite bubble that exists only for those moments. That is the feeling she chases with every event she signs on to.
When she’s not working, she divides her time between her two home countries. In California, you can find her enjoying the outdoors with her two small children, out at her favorite pizza spot, or returning to her early love of playing the piano.
Emily Ufheil-Somers
PLANNER
From a young age, Emily always loved art, music, gatherings and love. She is pretty sure that she wanted to be a wedding planner before she even knew that was a profession! Now as an event planner for over 12 years, she is so honored to be able to work with couples on such an important celebration. She is guided by the philosophy that it is a privilege to help bring about the joyful experience of bringing client’s communities together to celebrate their love story and the start of their union.
Emily’s unique combination of incredible focus on details, guest experience, and keen eye for design are her wedding planning super powers. Her goal is to make sure you and your partner fully immerse yourselves in your big day, while everything else happens seamlessly around you - she can’t wait to work with you!
“If we did one thing right for our wedding it was hiring Catherine and her team. Catherine was amazing throughout the whole process, and she really helped ease my anxiety and stress. Everyone we worked with loved working with them, they are professional, kind and truly brilliant. I would get married all over again just to work with Catherine and her team!”
—B+D
