Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Giles.
Hi Rachel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Back in high school, I worked for a local florist and that is when I fell in love with weddings. However, I never thought I could make a career out of weddings – I just thought it was a fun thing to be a part of. During college, a family friend asked me if I would be the Day-Of Coordinator for her son’s wedding. I blindly said yes, not having a clue what I was getting myself into. After that, it was a ripple effect and I started booking a few more weddings. I thought to myself “I should start a little business!” and by business that meant creating an Instagram account. My thought process was that I would have the typical 9 to 5 Monday through Friday job and that weddings would just be a fun hobby. I figured I needed to know a little bit more about the logistics of weddings, so in late 2018, I started interning and learning under the incredible Alex Moreau with XO Moreau Weddings in Austin, Texas. Without her mentorship, I would be absolutely lost in this industry! Now let’s fast forward a few years… I graduated from Texas A&M (whoop!) in May of 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a certificate in Professional Event Management. Yup – in the height of CoronaVirus. Luckily, I managed to land a job with my dream architecture firm in Dallas! After about a month of working, they, unfortunately, had to let all of the new people go. During this time, I truly had no idea what to do – I was applying to job after job, getting rejection after rejection – all knowing that it wasn’t personal, but at a point, it starts to feel personal, ya know? Any wedding that I had booked had been postponed. I remember thinking “What the heck?! Why did I work so hard in college? Why can’t I get a job? What’s wrong with ME?!” I felt incredibly lost and felt this weird sense of rejection from the world. (As so many of us did during that time!) I even applied to a master’s program as a last-ditch effort, got in, and decided not to go because I knew I wasn’t “in love” with architecture. Around December of 2020, I realized that I had gotten to a point with my wedding side hustle that I either needed to let it go or take it more seriously. At the time, I was still unemployed with no prospects so I felt like I didn’t really have a choice but to put everything I had into the business. In February of 2021 I took the leap – completely rebranded, dropped a website, came up with a business plan, and a full year later here we are. Looking back, I am weirdly thankful for those months of unemployment because it really gave me the opportunity to figure out what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be and that feels really good after being lost little college grad.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Heeeeeeck no. But being an entrepreneur wouldn’t be rewarding if it was handed out like candy. I think the biggest obstacle I have faced while growing this sweet little business of mine, is learning all of the different hats you have to wear as a company of one. Not only am I the owner, but also the lead planner, the creative, the stylist, the social media manager, the accountant, the logistics, the billing, etc. It can be crazy overwhelming! So, the challenge has been learning how to be disciplined with my time, boundaries, and my personal view of success. It’s all about learning to change your perspective and not allowing the obstacles to define you as a business owner. And let’s be honest, as human beings as well. As creatives, I think it is so hard to separate ourselves from our work – it is so easy to fall into the comparison trap and feel like our value and worth comes solely from our work. When I decided to take wedding planning full time, I came across a quote that said; “One of the most important qualities to develop in life is determination.” At some point, you just have to put your foot down and say, “I am going to move in this new direction and no person or situation is going to stop me.” As an entrepreneur, you learn to become flexible. The “figuring it out” that is inevitably part of the journey becomes a sort of fun challenge – you figure out what works best for you and one day you look back and realize how thankful you are for the challenges because that is where the growth took place. That has been one (of the many!) factors that have kept me going despite the challenges.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Like I mentioned, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a certificate in Professional Event Management. Both areas of study laid a solid foundation for wedding planning. Many people ask me how architecture relates to weddings. If there is one thing I learned in school, it is that architecture influences everything around us by adding enduring value to our environment. As designers, this language is embedded within us and it’s our job to explore and create remarkable spaces that enrich people’s lives. I view weddings through the same lens. My approach to wedding planning is the same approach to my architecture projects. I am going to research, study and come up with a concept. From that concept, we will develop, design and create the wedding you never knew you needed. When it comes to my personal wedding style, think Audrey Hepburn meets Marilyn Monroe; you’ll get the elegance but also the spice. Given the opportunity to guide you through your engagement season I guarantee your life will get a little more jazzy! I think what sets me apart from most planners is how chill I am – I definitely fall in the type B category with a sprinkle of type A. My job is to make your life easier, plus I don’t like feeling overwhelmed, so making sure our time together is smooth is a priority. I have a strategic process that I follow that naturally guides us all in order to keep stress at an all-time low. I am most proud of how far I have come within the year. I never would have imagined being my own boss by 25! Like WHAT – that is CRAZY!! It has been a humbling journey but also the most rewarding!
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Is it too simple to just say creating? I love that each wedding is so different and a unique expression of who my clients are as a couple. It’s finding those little quirks each couple has and perfectly integrating them into the overall design. I’ll be honest, that always makes my heart flutter a little bit! I get super excited when I come up with a baller design board and send it over to my clients for the first time. As a designer, I can always picture exactly how everything is going to look, but I have found many people can’t visualize how all of the different pieces are going to come together to create something beautiful. The best part is on the actual wedding day, once everything is set up and my couples get to walk into their space for the first time… that exact moment is what I cherish. I don’t even know if I can describe the feeling – it’s more of an “I’m-so-grateful-you-trusted-me-with-this-and-here-it-is!!” kind of feeling. It makes me feel like I have added value into their lives by creating an event that is 100% totally them.
Contact Info:
- Email: hi@honeyandcoweddings.com
- Website: https://www.honeyandcoweddings.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honeyandco.weddings/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/honeyandco.weddings
- Other: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/honey-and-co-weddings-fort-worth-tx-2058767
Image Credits
Asia Eidson
Patti Darby
Franny Pullin
Trish Dove
Bailee Bruce
Jason Masters
Alex Pendy
