Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Björn VW. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Björn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Funny story. The original name of my company was Exquisite Event Concepts. I had that name for about a year, however I felt no connection to the name at all. So I had a bit of a brand identity crisis. One day I was chatting with friend about it and she looked at me and said “Why don’t you just use your name for your company. You have the most brandable name for a business and plus it personalizes it and that is how I became Björn VW Events.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Björn VW, I am the proud Owner of Björn VW Events in New York City. I was born and bred in Cape Town, South Africa.

My journey into the Event Planning Industry was pure luck. I worked for a restaurant in Westchester back in the late 2000’s and was their event planner doing baby showers, bridal showers and smaller events and two years later I wanted to do more and felt ready to start my own business.

I started out as a Day of Wedding Coordinator just to get my feet wet. Of course it took some time for the business to take off, but I got my first opportunity to coordinate a Wedding on the Upper East side of Manhattan. I went into Full Service Planning and Design 3 years later.

It took some time to establish my design aesthetic, which is Simple Modern Elegance. I focus on clients who want Timeless Elegance versus “whats trending”.

I become their guiding light to the entire experience. I am all about taking the guess work out planning and making the process as seamless as possible. When planning events, (weddings in particular) most couples do not have the time, the resources or the bandwith to take on such a project and that where I come in, not only as guiding hand, but the best friend they never asked for. My bond with my clients is that of we become family after. I collaborate with the best of the best that suits my clients style, vision & expectations.

The one thing my clients will always tell me is how calm I am and how well I listen. I never make a wedding about me, it’s always about them.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first moved to New York. It wasnt as easy as I thought it would be. I didnt have a plan, I rolled with the punches which in turn was good, because it led to a lot of hardship before it got better. had 1 or 2 friends, but I was here alone. I knew a lot of people back home so coming to a city this big and not knowing anyone was challenging. I had to start all the way at the bottom again and learn the way of life of Americans. With a name like Björn Van Wyngaardt, I didnt know it was going to be so confusing to some Americans. My name is Swedish and last name is Dutch and for everyone they would associate my name with a tall, blue eyed white man and when I showed up in job interviews, they looked confused, lol. which was a great conversation starter, but it definitely made me feel some type of way. But now, owning a business with my name attached to it, I can proudly say I am glad I didnt get any of the jobs I applied for because now, my name can shine in lights like its meant to be, lol

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The pandemic! lol. I remember being in a vulnerable state and I barely like to show any kind of emotion, lol. During the pandemic, the event industry was the anti christ. I literally lost everything. Was in a bad relationship that ended horribly and I ended up having to move in with my best friend. After losing all my business, I had to pick up a restaurant job just to get by which helped financially, but at the same time it gave me gave me ideas.

This story is funny now but at the time it wasn’t. I was laying on my friends couch and realized all my stuff was in storage including my shoes and suits. I looked at my feet and realized my shoes didnt have an address because I didnt have an address and needed to fix that immediately. Once I snapped my mind out of the Covid 19 disaster, I realized it was time to get back to work, but how do I do that if we cant have gatherings?

With my background in culinary, I decided to launch Shake & Sip, a virtual cocktail workshop that would teach everyone who signed up how to make unique cocktails they could not find in a bar. I worked side by side with my mixologist. The program went from 0-100 within 24 hours and before we knew it, we had people book us for corporate events, birthday parties etc all over the US. The program eventually led me to star on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Season 2 which is something I am very proud of.

When the pandemic hit, I initially did not want to have anything to do with zoom, but then I realized that the pandemic hit everyone all at once, but it affected everybody so differently. So if I could come into their home for 2 hours and gave them a sense of community and sense of entertainment that it would make a difference. Little did everyone know the more classes they booked, the more they helped bring me to life as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bjornvw.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bjornvwevents
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bjornvwevents
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChzbiakDgPH6JslMB1dP7TQ

Image Credits
LH Photography & Film Anthony Vazquez Photography Joseph Lin Photography