BIRTHDAY EVENT · VILLA BALBIANO · LAKE COMO
A Night Worth Smashing Plates For
Old Hollywood glamour meets Greek tradition at Villa Balbiano on Lake Como, for a birthday nobody there will forget.
Some parties you go to. Others you remember for years. The birthday celebration of Nicole Sakhtaridi, known to her followers as @monnolitt, was the second kind: one long evening of glamour, candlelight and the very satisfying sound of porcelain hitting stone.
The setting was Villa Balbiano, the seventeenth-century jewel on the western shore of Lake Como. Its frescoed halls and terraced gardens run right down to the water, and it has always looked like a film set. For one night, we treated it as one.
La "Dolce Vita" Sophistication
OPA
Then came the twist.
Partway through the night, between champagne towers and the first notes of the band, the mood turned from elegant to electric. In honour of Nicole’s Greek heritage, we brought in the old tradition of plate smashing: kefi in its purest form, a joyful letting-go that says life is good, and we are here to celebrate it.
Guests danced to Zorbas Sirtaki exactly after dinner and smashed white plates. It was loud, liberating and completely unforgettable. The evening flowed indoors for the party to start. International hits from the 80, 90s all the way to current hits where performed before the Dj took the stage and the night continued.
THE STYLING
The look was cut from sculptural silk taffeta, a fabric that holds a dramatic shape, rustles with every step and catches candlelight with a soft, luminous sheen. The silhouette took the spirit of classic silver-screen icons and pushed it into bold, contemporary fashion. Strong volume, clean lines and stark black and white contrast made a statement look for a luxury birthday party in Italy, cinematic and timeless, and unmistakably modern.
BACKSTAGE
Every great production needs a crew, and this one had the best.
The Heritage Collection brought their signature touch of timeless luxury. Sofi Bute Events shaped the vision with a sharp eye for detail and a talent for making grand ideas feel effortless. Villa Balbiano was a living backdrop, with history in every hallway and the lake glowing at every turn.
Our team was behind the scenes from the first sketch to the last swept-up shard, building the experience moment by moment. On this page we’re opening the curtain on that process: the setups, the details and the quiet hours before guests arrived, when an empty terrace slowly became a scene.
“We wanted the whole night to feel like a classic film, and the only colour in the frame was the guests’ smiles.”
CREDITS
Celebrating: Nicole Sakhtaridi, @monnolitt
Venue: Villa Balbiano, Lake Como
Partners: The Heritage Collection · Sofi Bute Events
Production & Experience: Smooth Mood Project
Theme: Black & White Old Hollywood with a Greek twist
AV: Blunotte
Planning an event in Villa Balbiano or elsewhere on Lake Como? We would be glad to hear about it.