May 16, 2017

Meet Rachael Wilson of MatchMade Event Co. in Andersonville

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael Wilson.

Rachael, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My love of weddings started when I was a young girl and only grew as I got older. By the time I was 12 my mom gave me a subscription to Modern Bride as a gift – which meant that by the time I turned 18, I had stacks upon stacks of bridal magazines. Of course I loved all the gorgeous dresses, but I also enjoyed learning all the etiquette, memorizing the to-do checklists, and seeing how trends changed from season to season. I was enamored with the wedding industry.

I would have loved to have started planning weddings straight out of college, but I didn’t quite know where to start, so I jumped into corporate America. I worked in human resources for a large company in California for four years and then my husband and I moved to England where I continued to work in human resources for another three years. It was in England that I first started to really dabble in wedding planning. I planned a few weddings for friends and family which was a great way to get my feet wet and learn the ins and outs of the job.

During my time in England I had a wonderful boss who knew that I loved planning events, so she changed the nature of my job and I started to do a lot of corporate event planning. It was a blast! I loved getting to have a change in my job and start gaining everyday experiences with event planning. During my second year in England is when the real challenge came. I was selected to be one of the event planners for one of Cambridge University’s May balls. I was a part of a great team, and I learned a ton, but the best part of the May Ball experience was that it gave me the confidence to really go for my dream.

After three years in England my husband took a job in Chicago and that is where my dream became a reality. We decided that instead of me continuing my corporate career, I would dive head first into building my own wedding planning business. It was a lot of work, but I hit the ground running when we came to Chicago and got started.

My husband was my biggest supporter and the summer we moved to Chicago he helped me in every way to get things going. It took about six months, but by the start of the new year, I had a company, a beautiful website, and a lot of budding relationships with wedding professionals spread all over the Chicago area.

I worked hard to get my name out there, and it wasn’t always glamorous. I remember sitting at a wedding expo my first year, looking at the deejays across from me wearing glitter vests thinking, “This is NOT what I had in mind!” It was largely through the referral of others though that MatchMade started growing. I am so thankful for the relationships I built with vendors, as they really helped me get my start.

We are now in our fourth year of business and are entirely referral based which is such a blessing. It means I get wonderful couples and I instantly have a little bit of a connection with them. The last four years have been very full years for me as we now have two adorable children that I love spending time with, so that has changed things. I have scaled my business back, and now I only take on a handful of events a year so that I can ensure I give my best to the couples that I work with while also maintaining a good work-life balance. MatchMade is still a young company, but it has certainly been an exciting road that has gotten us to this point!

Has it been a smooth road?
This is a great question. I have had a lot of bumps and struggles along the way, but thankfully they have made me a better business owner and planner. I have had two major struggles that come to mind.

The first one was early in the business when I was trying to get things off the ground. The sheer fact that we had never lived in Chicago (or anywhere near here for that matter!) was a huge hurdle to overcome. No one knew me. No one knew what I was about or if I had any planning abilities. No one knew if I could bring my designs to life. It was a challenge for sure. I spent a lot of that first year just building relationships and trying to establish trust along the way. I made mistakes and I tried to learn from them as quickly as I could. And thankfully, I also had a lot of over-the-top amazing experiences which helped me to keep going.

The second thing that has been a hurdle is the family members of my couples, and more specifically, the mothers of both the bride and groom. You see, living in Chicago presents a unique situation. Most of my couples are not actually from the city so their families live further afield which means they aren’t as involved in the planning process. In a lot of other places, it is very common for moms to be a part of the planning, but not here. It is normally just the bride and the groom. As a planner, I love getting to work directly with the couple, but it means that I have to ensure that the parents involved also have trust in me.

It is something I have worked on quite a bit. I notice that the mothers go into the wedding weekend more relaxed if they have had an opportunity to meet or talk with me prior to the wedding. It has been something I have made a real effort at since my goal is for the couple and their families to enjoy the wedding fully. I have loved seeing the difference a quick phone call or a casual coffee date can make for these mothers. I know my mom would have appreciated that kind of thing had that been the case when I got married!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with MatchMade Event Co. – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
MatchMade Event Co. specializes in planning and designing weddings and other meaningful events. We are known for building real relationships with our clients so that we can help create a beautiful wedding day that is filled with details that help tell the couple’s unique story. We really come alongside a couple and help make their wedding day everything they hoped it could be…without all the stress!

There are a lot of little things I am proud of, but there is nothing I am prouder of than when a couple tells me how much they loved their wedding. I specifically remember one bride calling me the day after her wedding on her way to their honeymoon, but she couldn’t get on the plane before she told me how much they loved every aspect of the event and how I made everything come to life in a beautiful way. Those are the moments I am most proud of.

There are a few things that set us apart at MatchMade. Obviously, we have a knack for details and an eye for things on-trend, but what really sets apart is our motivation. First and foremost, we believe in the sacredness and beauty of marriage. We do everything through the lens of helping build strong marriages that will last a lifetime. Our mantra is Long Live Love – we truly believe that strong marriages are the cornerstone of society.

Second, we do everything we can to bring a couple’s love story to life and weave that into every detail of the day. It is something we are really known for! Lastly, we are all about relationships. From vendors and couples, to parents and guests, we care about them all. We want the wedding planning process to be one where relationships flourish and precious memories are made. That’s what we are all about.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Oh man, where do I start! Chicago has so many amazing features but the things I like best are probably, the skyline that is nestled right up to the lake, the incredible food…especially the donuts! I also really enjoy that it is an approachable city. It’s big enough to try something new every week, but not so big that it feels overwhelming. And the fact that there are so many great sports teams makes it even better…I am huge baseball and hockey fan, so it’s a great city to be a fan in! My favorite thing of all though is the different neighborhoods. They each have their own feel and architectural differences that make them really fun to explore.

What I like least about the city is quite simply that winter lasts so long! I enjoy the seasons and winter has a special place in my heart, but at some point you just want to feel the warmth of the sun on your face!

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