Since 2011, Love by Lynzie has been working with couples, companies, and brands alike, turning their stories into tangible experiences and activations. Founder, Lynzie Kent, and the Love by Lynzie team have worked on hundreds of weddings, events, and creative projects in both Toronto and Muskoka, maintaining loyal relationships with some of Toronto’s best event, wedding and design vendors. They believe the best way to celebrate is in a stress-free, joyful environment. Love By Lynzie also prides itself on being the originator of the Toronto Pop-Up Chapel Co.—an alternative to getting married at city hall with efforts of building up the local community. Their work has taken them across the globe and has been published internationally in Wedding Bells, Wedluxe, Today’s Bride, White Magazine, as well as many online publications including Style Me Pretty, Green Wedding Shoes, and CBC Life. Keep reading to learn more about Lynzie and her unparalleled guest and follower experience with equal parts logistics and creativity!
What inspired you to enter the wedding industry?
Before working in weddings, I worked in the entertainment and events industry for many years. I started as a vocalist performing in wedding and event bands at the age of 16 and then worked for different entertainment companies as a singer, dancer, and eventually talent and event coordinator. From there, it was a really organic move into wedding planning and design. What I loved about weddings was the boundless opportunity to be creative, yet also work logistically and use my critical thinking skills. I've always loved creating a project from the ground up, coming up with creative solutions to problems, and making people feel like the center of attention. Weddings were the perfect fit to meld those skills.
What inspired you to start Love by Lynzie?
I've always known I wanted to have my own company. Nearly 10 years later, I’m so glad that I do. Love by Lynzie was born out of a desire to redefine how weddings were planned and designed. It’s always been my goal to advocate for couples and what they really want their wedding to mean and be. I’ve always thought it was important that wedding planning and design be approachable, attainable, and inclusive, and for me, that's been at the heart of Love by Lynzie. We don’t do luxury weddings. We do real, raw, rad weddings that relate to everyday, hard-working couples.
If you could change one thing about the weddings and special events industry, what would it be?
Without a doubt, I wish weddings created less waste. I'm all about exploring ways to be more sustainable in the event industry which is why I created The Pop-Up Chapel Co. It’s also why I'm adamant about working with vendors who have sustainable practices, using thrifted and upcycled décor, and renting over buying from unique resources. We’ve recently started a new offshoot of our company called “The Backdrop Shop” where we're creating prefabricated backdrops that can change in color scheme and be rented over and over again. I want weddings to be gorgeous, but I want us to be conscious of the footprint they leave.
How does using Aisle Planner help you deliver the client experience you want to?
I believe our clients pay us to be the central hub of their wedding planning experience. One contact, one team to go to with all their questions, one place to find all the contacts and details. Aisle Planner allows us to create that hub for each and every client empowering them to learn more about their wedding plans even when we aren’t in meetings. Aisle Planner keeps the communication streamlined and keeps the conversations going even when the planner or the couple is offline. Plus, it’s allowed us to create internal processes that ensure all couples receive the same level of care from our team across the board.
What's your favorite Aisle Planner feature?
The ability to link vendor invoices from their contact card directly to the client’s budget has been a game-changer for us. We love watching budgets be updated in real-time and helping our clients track their spending.
What would you tell someone who's thinking about becoming a wedding and event planner?
The pretty that you see is the final picture. It’s amazing to watch that being brought to life, but you need to be equally in love with the numbers, the timelines, and the spreadsheets. You need to know that you’ll be helping adults navigate one of the most emotional times in their lives and this brings out the best and the worst in people. The commitment to this career has to be about more than just the pretty.
What do you think will change about the weddings and special events space over the next five years?
Despite the obvious changes that COVID-19 has delivered to this industry, our team has been working towards attainable design and micro weddings for the last four years. I believe the millennial generation wants to approach planning differently, focusing on experiences and ease, rather than spending. While I believe luxury weddings will always exist, I think there's a market that's underserved between luxury and city hall. This is why my team has focused our energies towards packages that empower our couples to DIY their weddings, building our sister company The Pop-Up Chapel Co. and expanding nationwide, and creating the simplest micro-wedding offerings around with all-inclusive packages.
What’s your personal philosophy on becoming a great wedding and event planner?
Comparison is the thief of joy. Focus on what sets your design skills apart and creates your visual niche. Unfollow people that make you question your X-factor and set out on a mission to find the clients that are ideal for you. Don’t apologize for your aesthetic. Embrace it and learn to be comfortable with pushing people outside of their boundaries. Center the experience around your client and how you can use your creative brain to make their dreams come true.
What lights your creative fire?
COLOR. Music. Good Lighting. So many flowers. Travel. Paint. Using my hands.
Is there anything you're particularly excited about working on this year?
With The Pop-Up Chapel Co., we’re traveling across Canada bringing our bold chapels to life from Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and more! We’re planning to marry over 250 couples in our chapels between 2020 and 2021, and raise over $63k for charities across Canada. We’re also extremely excited to be launching a podcast all about redefining the wedding and event industry and what it means to be a bride or wedding vendor in today’s amazing, but complicated world. Plus, micro weddings are here to stay and we cannot wait to help our couples through the easiest streamlined process ever. 2021 is going to be the biggest year yet!
Just for fun
What’s the most used tool in your emergency kit?
Hands down, white duct tape. It works for hems, holding anything into place, sticking down a windblown runner. We don’t leave the studio without it.
I’m dying to design a wedding or event in…
Western Australia. My husband is from Perth and it holds half of my heart.
What’s one trend you hope to see more of?
Backdrops and large installations.
Your favorite shoes to wear on event day?
Blundstones, all the way. You can dress them up or down, they look rugged when scuffed and they're bliss for your feet.
If you could go back in time, what’s one thing you would change about your wedding?
We had a limited budget so I skipped out on a few things. I'd decorate the ceremony much more, add a floor to our tent (instead of wet grass), and do colorful chairs.
Hero photo courtesy: Wade Muir
Want to see more from Lynzie? Check out her website lovebylynzie.com!
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