Liz Taylor, CEO of the Taylor Lynn Corporation and Liz Taylor Consultancy, tells us how her brand saw her through the pandemic, her career highlights and gives top tips for a memorable wedding.
LIZ’S TOP TIPS FOR A SPECTACULAR WEDDING
Prioritise the entertainment. Don’t spread you budget thinly, invest in one “wow factor”. A good atmosphere is more important than the visuals.
Hi Liz! Thanks for joining us in our Wedding Edition! Tell us more about TLC and the new consultancy!
I’ve had the Taylor Lynn Corporation since 1986 and we organise corporate and private events. We’ve travelled all over the world and done events for royalty and celebrities. I use my black book of contacts to support my consultancy business, and my black book has evolved out of contacts I’ve made through the event management business. I’ve put on events for people like Gary Neville and Gary Barlow, and for International Women’s Day I’m organising an event featuring Maureen Lipman. It has organically evolved as I’ve grown the business. When lockdown hit and everything shut down, I set up a consultancy business – Liz Taylor Consultancy – which is something that I’d wanted to do for a long time.
It’s been a challenging time for events, but how did the business manage to weather the storm?
Brand is paramount. During lockdown I knew that the only way that I would survive was by keeping the brand out there. And I am the brand. I don’t say that from an ego perspective, but that was how I built my business. If I could do it over again, I would structure my business differently, because it’s a difficult business to sell. The clients that come to us, come because they want me. We’ve grown the brand, and we are leaders in what we do.
You have a great reputation across corporate and private events generally, but how did the Jewish events come about?
Jewish events, especially Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs, were the core business for me very early on, because everybody wants a DJ, flowers etc. It just grew from there. I organised one DJ, and then was asked to organise other service providers, and then was asked to provide management on the day. It grew very quickly from there.
So, what makes you so successful in such a competitive industry?
We are extremely creative and reliable, in that you know that if TLC is 38 doing an event, it’s going to be mega. My focus is that I’m only as good as that next event. It doesn’t matter how many good events I’ve done in the past, or how many great ones I’ve got coming up. I’m only as good as the one I’m doing and so I put 110% into it.
You’ve organised some pretty fabulous Jewish weddings, what is most important to make it memorable?
There’s a whole different sector for Jewish for weddings. Some brides come with a file that they’ve had since the Bat Mitzvah, full of pictures and dresses and other things that they want. I’ve done some amazing productions for weddings, and in my opinion, there are two key moments in a wedding.
The chuppah and the ceremonial part is obviously hugely important, but a lot of people tend to skip over the chuppah because they’re so much looking forward to the party, and the entertainment is so important. We did a wedding recently where we brought five violinists in from Paris for the ceremony. A lot of time and effort when into the repertoire and the choreography and it took everyone’s breath away. And then you head into the reception, and you grab a drink and a canape and hear some toe- tapping music. Whether it be salsa, pop-classical, or something else, the entertainment is the key factor to any successful wedding. You never go home saying you had a great piece of chicken; you go home saying: “wow, I had the best night! The band was incredible!”
Finally Liz, is there an event that stands out as the highlight of you career?
Well, I’ve married two daughters, which I loved and I hated because I found the pressure enormous. I was also on the client side while planning those events, and I was moaning to myself about what everything cost!
But if I’m honest, the most unexpected was when I got the call from Kensington Palace three weeks before the Duke of Cambridge was due to host an event, and they’d been let down. Somebody had recommended me. Within 24 hours I was sat in Kensington Palace organising an event with Taylor Swift and Jon Bon Jovi!!
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