Relationship-building key to successful event planning

HAPPY STATE: Bryan Rafanelli, president of Rafanelli Events, calls planning Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding one of the capstones of his career. / PHOTO  COURTESY RAFANELLI EVENTS
HAPPY STATE: Bryan Rafanelli, president of Rafanelli Events, calls planning Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding one of the capstones of his career. / PHOTO COURTESY RAFANELLI EVENTS

Everyone who follows the wedding and events industries – or celebrity news – knows that Bryan Rafanelli, founder of Rafanelli Events, in Boston, is the man who managed to get Chelsea Clinton’s wedding off without a hitch.
Less known is that Rafanelli grew up in Rhode Island, flexing his entrepreneurial instincts at a young age by running his own neighborhood lawn-mowing business. He garnered a love for special events through constant family celebrations he says were a central part of his Italian-Irish upbringing.
Once on the path to becoming a lawyer, he veered into the political arena, another early love, by working on campaigns in Syracuse, N.Y., where he went to college, and parlayed organizing fundraisers into becoming an event planner.
He founded Rafanelli Events in 1996 and since has expanded his business to offices in Washington, D.C., Palm Beach, Fla., and New York City.
In addition to being enlisted by former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to plan their only daughter’s 2010 nuptials, he’s participated in planning four state dinners for President Barack Obama, under the direction of social secretary Jeremy Bernard.
Recently, he served as a guest lecturer to Johnson & Wales University students in the school’s sports, entertainment and event-management program at its Providence campus.
Some 500 undergraduates attended.

PBN: Is event planning a dream you followed through your own schooling?
RAFANELLI: In my day, there was no such [thing as] an event-planning major. When I went off to school and joined a fraternity, I certainly ended up understanding what throwing a party [such as formal events] was and I was very good at it. My friends would say, “You should figure out how to make money [on this],” but it was not a career [option] at all. I really wanted [to do something creative] and I loved politics. I really got a tasting of organizing, going door-to-door [on a campaign]. The story ends where I brought the two of them together, but I certainly didn’t remotely think about that [growing up].

PBN: What led to the decision to open your own business?
RAFANELLI: It really came from my father. He worked for a corporation [as a lawyer for an insurance firm] and he constantly would say to all his [six] children that you should work for yourself. Funnily enough, we all work ourselves. [Also] I was doing consulting and was broke. I decided I had to cross over into the for-profit world. I wanted to be arm and arm with influencers and people who wanted to do good things.

PBN: What was your biggest challenge in establishing Rafanelli Events?
RAFANELLI: Doing the whole fake-it-till-you-make-it thing. When I was first in business, everyone was like, who are your clients, what have you done? It was really proving that I could do this and was serious about it. I had one of those Cinderella stories. A caterer friend asked me to event plan and I met the couple chairing [the event]. They were very influential in Boston and they asked me to do their daughter’s wedding. I said, “I’m not a wedding planner,” and they said, “yes you are.” They took a chance and they were very influential in Boston. It just went from there. I started as a consultant doing three events a year. Now I do 125.

PBN: Were you impressed with the students and program you saw at JWU?
RAFANELLI: The depth of the program is what I was impressed by. I was sitting next to a staff [member] who teaches protocol. The idea that there’s a class protocol, I was like, aha. They’re getting all the great pieces to the puzzle to step into a career. I think we all know that some will not become event producers [but] that doesn’t matter. They’re building better people over there.

PBN: What advice do you have for those students?
RAFANELLI: My two biggest suggestions for them – and they’re both free – is working on a political campaign and volunteering. I did both and it’s how I cut my teeth. I learned to be diplomatic and get along with all different kinds of people. It’s really right in front of you [and] business, business, business, which aggregates to accounting and understanding money and a business plan. That’s inside [their] program so they’re going to have that no matter what they do. [Also] they should learn how to read people’s minds. It will make it so much easier.

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PBN: To what do you most attribute your success?
RAFANELLI: I would say it’s relationship-building and stewardship. It’s just been a big part of who I am and so I have been fortunate enough to have legacy clients. I really understood the importance of being grateful. My success is based on doing my best to take care of people who have taken care of me.

PBN: Let’s talk Chelsea. Would you call planning her wedding a career capstone?
RAFANELLI: When you work for a United States president and a secretary of state, it’s a pretty historic moment and unlike one I can ever imagine happening again. The best part is that they are great people, who are thoughtful and want to have the best for their child. It was really an amazing experience. I think I’m going to have a few capstones but that was one of them.

PBN: What is the best and hardest parts of your job?
RAFANELLI: The best part is that it’s constantly changing, and that’s something I love. Even though [an event can] take a year or two to plan, it lasts five hours. The worst part is sometimes it’s too much time. We move so quickly in this world we’ve all created. It’s so intense because there’s a high expectation of things happening really fast. •

INTERVIEW
Bryan Rafanelli
POSITION: President, Rafanelli Events
BACKGROUND: After an early career in political fundraising and event planning, Rafanelli founded Rafanelli Events in Boston in 1996. He was named Man of the Moment by Town & Country in October 2010, one of the 25 Trendsetters of the Year by Modern Bride, one of Boston’s 40 Under 40 by Boston Business Journal and held the title Best in Boston for eight consecutive years with Boston Magazine.
EDUCATION: B.A. in liberal arts, Syracuse University, 1984; attended Boston Architectural Center
FIRST JOB: Mowing lawns on Love Lane in Warwick
RESIDENCE: Boston
AGE: 49

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