The Wedding Biz: RACHEL BIRTHISTLE – The Lake Como Wedding Planner and Creating a Wedding with Contrasting Events

Andy welcomes Rachel Birthistle to The Wedding Biz. Rachel is the Owner and CEO of The Lake Como Wedding Planner based in Como, Italy. In addition to her own events, she has worked with people like Lisa Vorce on Chrissy Tegan and John Legends wedding and many others. She says she is predominately a wedding planner in a destination rather than a destination wedding planner.

Rachel’s father was in the fashion industry, and from a young age, she worked in his factory doing tasks like snipping thread and packing items. She found the place fascinating and knew that being in the fashion industry was where she wanted to be. She started making her own clothes in school even though her friends thought her fashion style was a little out there!

Rachel discusses going to design college, finding a job with a large retailer in London, traveling all over the world, and her decision to stay home. She speaks about going back to college for sports therapy and starting a clinic in her home. Her life took twists and turns but eventually led her to a position with a wedding planner and, ultimately, her decision to start her own extremely successful business.

Rachel strives to make each client’s wedding an event starting when they get off the plane for their first meeting with her. With an itinerary of possible venues in hand, she begins to analyze the client’s style, how they interact with each other, and begins the design process in her head. Creating a sequence of contrasting events for her clients is what she loves most.

What is your dream? If it’s to start your own business, what are you waiting for? You will never know if you can do it until you take a leap of faith and try. Rachel is someone who did just that; she found areas that were lacking in the wedding planning industry in Lake Como, Italy, and set out to change it. This is a learning experience for anyone with a dream, so sit back and listen to this very insightful episode.

THE NEXT LEVEL: RACHEL BIRTHISTLE Discusses KIANA UNDERWOOD/TULIPINA: Setting Fear Aside to Embrace Ambition and Find That Spark of Creative Genius

In this episode of The Next Level, Andy Kushner and guest co-host, Rachel Birthistle, discuss last week’s interview with Kiana Underwood. Rachel is the CEO and owner of The Lake Como Wedding Planner and happens to be in Italy overlooking beautiful Lake Como during this interview.

Welcome to another episode of The Next Level. Today, Andy is joined by co-host Rachel Birthistle to discuss his amazing interview with Kiana Underwood of Tulipina. Kiana is a true artist and couture floral designer for luxury weddings and events. Rachel is the perfect guest for this episode because she has worked with Kiana and loves her creativity. We have a great interview in which we discuss parallels in our own lives with Kiana’s and the need for pushing past the fear and letting true artistry shine. We also discuss clients, pricing, and what it really means to be a couture floral designer.

THE NEXT LEVEL: RACHEL BIRTHISTLE discusses JOSE VILLA/Part 1 – Redefining Success With Fine Art Photography

Do you prefer to take photographs digitally or with film? Listen as Andy and Rachel discuss Jose Villa and why he uses film almost exclusively. Rachel is the Owner and CEO of The Lake Como Wedding Planner based in Como, Italy. She works with clients directly but also has the pleasure of morphing into the local team for many foreign agencies such as planners in the states like Lisa Vorce on Chrissy Tegan and John Legend’s wedding, Colin Cowie, and many more.

 

Jose Villa is a celebrity photographer known for crafting vibrant, fine art images that are as unique as the people in the photographs. Jose has been published in many magazines around the world and was listed in the Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World by the American Photo Magazine. This interview from two years ago is being re-released to get you ready for Part 2 coming out in a few weeks.

 

Rachel has worked with Jose many times and shares how focused he is on-site, his underlying intuition and empathy when shooting weddings. They chat about how important it is to connect with the client, whether you are the photographer, the planner, the entertainment, or any other creative partner in the industry. The more you feel connected and know the client, the more you want to do a better job because you have a personal bond with them.

 

Listen, as Andy and Rachel discuss how guests taking pictures with their phones can get in the way during the ceremony and why they should just sit back and let the professional photographers do their jobs. Plug into this episode and keep a lookout for Part 2 in the next few weeks.