How Lynden Lane Makes Weddings Feel Like Home
Three women designed a 180-guest Montecito wedding and thought it seemed fun. The rest is history.
Fifteen years ago, Layne Povey got married in Montecito, in front of 180 guests, with an amazing wedding planner on the job. She, her sister Lyndsey and her mother Barbi designed the wedding, and thought: this seems fun.
“Thank goodness at the time we didn’t know how truly difficult it is,” Povey says, “or we would have never started Lynden Lane.”
They started it anyway. Lynden Lane Co. is the studio Barbi Walters and her daughters Lyndsey Moore and Layne Povey founded, and it spent the next 14 years taking weddings and learning from everyone around it. What follows is how the studio works: the design approach built on a residential idea, the multi-day celebrations that are most of its work, the partners it trusts, and where its bookings come from now.
More Like Someone's Home Than a Traditional Wedding
Lynden Lane always wanted to bring its residential design ideas to weddings, making them feel more like someone’s home than a traditional wedding. The years that followed went into beginning to understand how to talk to clients, and really understand their lifestyles rather than what they wanted their wedding to look like. The studio still uses that approach today. Getting to know who a couple really are, Povey says, is what allows the team to create something truly unique every time.
Every project begins with mood boards, always, as a north star. That puts everyone’s mind at ease that they are referring back to the same place, so the goals of the project do not get lost along the way.
“The end product may look very different than it started but you can always find the through line.” — Layne Povey, Lynden Lane Co.
A Price Tag the Industry Does Not Come With
Lynden Lane gets a lot of inquiries that align with its aesthetic, but not always with its investment level. Its weddings are very layered and detailed, Povey says, and not just in how they look: in how they function and serve the couple and their guests. The team is building an experience that takes experts to execute flawlessly, and it prides itself on delivering both a luxury experience and design.
Where couples hesitate, in her view, is on understanding what that costs. A home or a handbag comes with a price tag; a wedding does not, so understanding the investment can be tricky. What the studio hopes moves them is its transparency, honesty, taste and sense of humor.
“I think the hesitation comes in that the wedding industry does not come with a price tag like a home or handbag does, so understanding the investment can be tricky.” — Layne Povey, Lynden Lane Co.
No Guest Wants to Go to the Same Event Three Times
Most of Lynden Lane’s weddings are multi-day celebrations, so the team thinks about the weekend holistically. No guest wants to go to the same event three times, so each event needs to feel different.
The investment level obviously increases when a couple is hosting more than one event. The wedding is going to get the bulk of it, but if a couple is hosting additional events, Povey says, they want to be sure they have the funds to do them properly.
“No guest wants to go to the same event three times, so each event needs to feel different.” — Layne Povey, Lynden Lane Co.
If We Refer a Partner, the Client Expects Them to Perform
The studio is always looking for new partners to work with on its events, but working with people it trusts, who it knows can deliver to the level both the team and the client expect, is essential. When Lynden Lane refers a partner, the client expects that partner to perform because Lynden Lane recommended them, so the team has to choose wisely. That is not to say it does not want to work with someone new, which keeps the job exciting too, but a partner the studio is trying out has to have proved themselves.
When a vendor is not delivering, the team discusses the changes it needs to see and works toward a solution. Everyone is always learning, Povey says, and everyone should have the opportunity to correct a mistake or a mishap. If it does not feel like a solution can be found, sometimes parting ways is the only way.
“We are all always learning and everyone should have the opportunity to correct a mistake or a mishap.” — Layne Povey, Lynden Lane Co.
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A Concierge, and One Place to Go Back To
Lynden Lane is a full service experience, and the client should feel like the studio is their concierge. That does not mean the team can do everything itself, Povey says; it does mean the team is responsible for finding the client someone or something that can. The studio looks at its clients as family, and making them feel at ease is the whole point.
One underrated tool the studio built internally is a personal landing page for each couple. Nobody has time to go searching for an email with photographers or hunting down a planning timeline. They need one spot to go back to.
“No-one has time to go searching for an email with photographers or finding a planning timeline. They need one spot to go back to.” — Layne Povey, Lynden Lane Co.
Where the Bookings Come From Now
Lynden Lane’s bookings used to come primarily from hotels. Now most come from personal referrals or social media. Brides are doing their own research these days, Povey says, and that is how they find the studio. The team is also not afraid to reach out to someone it feels aligned with.
Social plays a huge part in the business, because so many potential clients are using it as a search tool. The studio works to show the over-the-top grandness of what it does, the care and detail in the smallest moments, and the team’s actual personalities.
“If you want to attract clients who align with you as a person you have to show them who you are.” — Layne Povey, Lynden Lane Co.
Full Service, Percentage Based, Human
The studio offers full service, priced as a percentage of the couple’s investment.
The team tries to use AI minimally. It has its place, Povey says, and there have been moments where it has really helped, but ultimately the studio wants its designs and its process to be human. Everything in moderation.
“We know that it has its place and we aren’t going to lie there are moments where it has really helped, but ultimately we want our designs and our process to be human.” — Layne Povey, Lynden Lane Co.
Nothing Beats Trust
The studio recently planned a wedding in Aspen that Povey calls one of the best experiences of its career. The planning with the couple was so fun, and they trusted the team every step of the way. Getting to know them so well allowed Lynden Lane to make decisions on their behalf as well as together. Nothing, she says, beats trust and kindness from your clients.
Her advice to a planner starting out today is three sentences long. Keep going. There is room for all of us. Trust your perspective and keep showing it over and over.
Lynden Lane has always loved Style Me Pretty, she says: it is classic, and it continues to make publishing fun and easy in a world where that is not always the case.
“Keep going. There is room for all of us. Trust your perspective and keep showing it over and over.” — Layne Povey, Lynden Lane Co.
