Regarded as one of the country’s premier event planners, Bryan Rafanelli of Rafanelli Events—which has full-service offices in Boston, New York City, and Palm Beach—has conquered projects as large as decorating The White House for the holidays to planning A-list weddings that require CIA levels of obfuscation. In the past 22 years, his company has mounted an astonishing 2,000 events in 50 cities, 23 states, and nine countries, with attendees sometimes topping 15,000 guests. Fresh off organizing a massive launch event for the Krewe Foundation in New Orleans, the planner discussed his favorite ways to decorate for the upcoming holiday season and what really goes on behind the scenes of a VIP wedding.
You obviously plan many different events for many types of clients. What's that common thread that makes it a Rafanelli event?
We're fortunate enough to work for really successful people who have lived successful lives. I say that as a starter because that's the standard that we have to follow. So, they have amazing, interesting, complicated lives, and we're a great fit for them because we can produce amazing projects for people that are amazing, intricate, thoughtful, and successful. Nobody's the same, but they all have really high expectations because they live a high-expectation lifestyle. So, we're here to complement that.
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And how did you find yourself in this business?
You know, we hire interns now that are special events majors at major universities around the country. And I wasn't that guy. I was in a fraternity. I loved all that. Every Monday morning, we created and designed a new idea for the following weekend to have a good time. And did I think we could turn that into a business? No. [Later] I got into this [field] because I was in a tragic situation where I lost a friend, very young, at 28 years old to HIV, and I really wanted to do something. I went to the nonprofit that was helping him and I said, “Okay, what can I do?" And they said, "You can join our special events committee.” So, I started to cut my teeth on everything to do with how to build an event and be successful at it. And not just an artistic event, [but] something that had meaning and had success. That was my way in. I often say to our interns, go work for a nonprofit because they have so little staff and so much to do that you learn how to organize and create something.
On the other end of that spectrum, you work with many high-profile clients on their events. Do you ever have to create diversions or ways to throw party crashers off the scent?
When we did Allison Williams' wedding, we were really concerned about the paparazzi. I mean Allison's amazing and well-known, but she also had some really high-profile guests: Tom Hanks was the officiator; Bruce Springsteen sang. I mean, amazing stuff. We were really worried that she was going to get lots of attention. So we set up a completely different wedding site. From the air, over on the next farm, you could see an altar and chairs. But she was really getting married two ranches over [at Brush Creek Ranch in Saratoga, Wyoming.]
That’s incredible. What about security details at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in Rhinebeck, New York?
We had to be thoughtful about the way we constructed everything that we did. Even the interiors of some of the tents had to block people's views. We had this journalist from Germany hike through the woods to try to get a photo. He literally came through hundreds of acres of woods to try to get the shot. Now, thanks to our Secret Service, they managed to get him and walk him off the property. We're always making sure that people can celebrate the things they deserve to celebrate, and not for people to get inside that shouldn't get inside. Having said that, in Rhinebeck, we set up all this amazing bike fencing downtown. When the President, the Secretary of State, Chelsea, and everybody else at the party got out of their cars to go into the tavern for the welcome dinner, we wanted to be thoughtful about the tiny town of Rhinebeck and the press. So, it's not like we're trying to keep everybody away. High-profile clients want to live a normal life, right? They don't want to always go through the kitchen door.
You’ve also worked on vow renewals, how do those differ from weddings?
We did Matt and Luci Damon’s, quote, unquote, renewal, but they never had a wedding. So, it's a little bit different. I mean, quite honestly, at the end of the day, they did that for their girls. They have four children, they're all girls, and I don't want to stereotype little girls, but it's like “Mommy, what did your wedding look like?” And they got married at city hall. So, ten years later, Matt's like, "OK, let's have a wedding.” They did a beautiful white party, and all the guests were in white. And the difference, of course, is when you do a renewal and you have four kids, they walked down the aisle [too].
You’ve been lucky enough to work in The White House many times.
We did seven White House state dinners and decorated the White House twice for the holidays. And that's history, you know? I was lucky enough to be one of the very few people who've ever worked with the social office to design those events. And every time I walked into The White House, I pinched myself and thought about all the brilliant people that had crossed the threshold of that house. That I got to reinterpret the White House that many times was extraordinary. The Obamas are an extraordinary family and they really wanted the best for the American people. Michelle's projects with kids were so great, as she deeply cared about changing their lives and inspiring them. And then we got to do that through design. It was incredible.
What are your favorite items to use for holiday decorations?
I love to make a list of all the classic things about the holidays: round ornament balls, ribbon, pine cones, any kind of classic item. And then I supersize it. One of the favorite things that we ever did at The White House was when we took wrapping bows and built beautiful wall covers, wreaths, and balls hanging from chandeliers, all made out of ribbons you could buy at Duane Reed or CVS. So, although the material was—dare I say?—average and available to anybody, anytime, and anywhere, we turned it into something beautiful.
What’s the funniest thing that’s happened during an event?
We have a client who has alpacas on their farm and they insisted that the alpacas come down the aisle for the wedding. They're beautiful animals, don't get me wrong, but the thing about alpacas is that if you look at them directly in the eyes, they get nervous and they spit at you. So, we had to deal with that. And by the way, they didn't spit on anybody! They just came down the aisle.
