Listen to the Podcast About Hitched Planning and Design
Podcast Summary
In the latest installment of Eventful Endeavors, Austin Reed hosts Breanne Lopez, the thriving owner of Hitched Planning and Design, and Lisa Forbes, Senior Coordinator. During the light-hearted conversation, Breanne recounts the interesting journey leading to her acquisition of Hitched Planning and Design, a renowned player in the Kansas City wedding industry.
Interestingly, Breanne did not coin the company’s name; rather, she purchased the company as is from its creator, Jessica Corbett, who currently works at Good Earth. Breanne candidly quashed a humorous connection between the company’s name and the 2005 blockbuster “Hitch” starring Will Smith. She believes the name Hitched reflects Jessica’s fondness for bluegrass and cowboy vibes. Regardless of its origin, Breanne adores the name for its unique charm.
Breanne’s transition to the helm of Hitched Planning and Design began with her move back to the Midwest from the East Coast. Accustomed to the service industry, Breanne made a conscious decision to leverage her network and connected with a friend who introduced her to Hitched. Emphasizing her love for community and service, Breanne highlights her commitment to bringing joy to her clients in the wedding industry, without the rigorous demands of restaurant operating hours.
Breanne’s fascinating journey is a testament to the power of networking and passion, factors instrumental in her thriving position in Hitched Planning and Design.
Learn more about Hitched Planning and Design
This interview was provided by Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos
Podcast Transcript
Breanne Lopez (00:24)
Perfect. Thanks.
Felix And Fingers (00:24)
Hello, welcome everyone to
another episode of Eventful Endeavors. My name is Austin. I am joined here today with two juggernauts of the wedding industry here in Kansas City, the owner of Hitch Planning and Design, Brianna Lopez and Lisa Forbes, Senior Coordinator. How are you two doing today? Go. I am very blessed to not only have worked a bunch of your events, obviously, but…
Breanne Lopez (00:42)
Fabulous.
Lisa Forbes (00:44)
Great.
Felix And Fingers (00:51)
We’re dear friends, so this is just gonna be a lot of fun today. My first question, and I was thinking about this earlier, and this is gonna be really stupid and I’m sorry because I was thinking it was gonna be really smart with this. Is there any relation to the hit 2005 film Hitch?
Breanne Lopez (01:07)
You mean like why the company is named that?
Felix And Fingers (01:08)
you
Yes,
yes.
Lisa Forbes (01:12)
my god, I wish, I wish.
Felix And Fingers (01:14)
Hahaha!
Breanne Lopez (01:15)
wish too,
I wish that like, Will Smith and I were like cool bros and like that’s why. Well so I didn’t name the company, I bought the company after it was already named. So Jessica Corbett, who now works at Good Earth, this was her baby. She created it and she named it and she always, she has like a blue grass kind of like.
country girl wearing her cowboy boots, like rocking that vibe. And so I think Hitched was kind of that background whenever she named it, which I love. I think it’s such a cute name. But yeah, I mean, I don’t know if she’s, I don’t know if she was like, yes.
Felix And Fingers (01:47)
Yeah.
Maybe Herm will Smith
go way back, you know, it’s the.
Lisa Forbes (01:57)
I’m gonna say,
what a story that would be if she was like, I’m, you know, Will Smith fan all the way.
Felix And Fingers (02:03)
Behind the curtain, yeah. That’s awesome.
Breanne Lopez (02:05)
She, that girl knows
everyone, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
Lisa Forbes (02:08)
you
Felix And Fingers (02:09)
Hey, you know, that’s a, it very well could be, could be, but yeah, sorry. I had to be smart with that one earlier. was like, they’re either going to love this or this. But yeah. So, okay. So I didn’t know that you, you, you bought the company that was like already like, so kind of tell me. Yeah. Kind of go a little bit more in depth on that and like, just tell me like your journey into hitched and like how you’ve got to like where you are now.
Breanne Lopez (02:14)
No, that’s a good one. That’s a really good one. No, I love it. Absolutely love it.
Breanne Lopez (02:34)
This is important to the story of kind of how I function in life. I went to an all women’s college and I studied theater there and I went to a conservatory and they were very, very specific about, they beat it into our heads that when you go to a new place, you reach out to everyone that you know, love and trust, and you really work your network. You meet with people that you don’t even necessarily think that.
they would be able to help you in some way because you never know. It’s always good to connect with people because you might be able to help them. anyway, so my husband and I were moving back from the East Coast. We were in the restaurant industry and we had just gotten married. We wanted to start a family. So we decided to move to the Midwest. And when we moved
I knew I wanted to be in the service industry in some way because that’s what I loved about the restaurant industry is working with the people. And I had all of my regulars who I just adored and I knew everyone in the community. And so I didn’t want to work, you know, 65 hours a week, like every night, every weekend. But so I really just started to work my network. I started reaching out to everyone that I knew in Kansas City, a lot of girls that I went to college with.
and one of my best friends, best friend’s sister-in-law worked at Hitch. And so I really wasn’t even kind of looking at the wedding industry, but I was like, that’s interesting. So I reached out to her via this kind of person that knew the person that knew the person. And I was so annoying. I truly didn’t leave Jessica alone.
She said I was so intense and she’s like, well, if she really, really wants to work for me this bad, I guess I’ll just like give her some hours. Cause I was like constantly reaching out to her. And then honestly, I fell in love with the wedding industry after the fact. It was kind of like, stumbled into it and I was like, my gosh, this is wonderful. This is really like a passion for me. I didn’t realize it would be. So I worked at Hitched for…
Lisa Forbes (04:12)
Thanks.
Breanne Lopez (04:37)
four and a half years and then after COVID, Jess was looking to make moves and change some things up. And I knew she was doing something. I didn’t know exactly what she was doing, but I called her one day and was like, listen, I don’t know what you’re doing, but if you’re trying to sell the company, like I would love to throw my hat in the ring. Like you should just sell it to me.
Felix And Fingers (05:00)
bright.
Breanne Lopez (05:01)
And she was like, I hadn’t even thought of that. She had like other people that she was talking to. And then, you know, it just kind of worked out. And then here we are all these years later.
Felix And Fingers (05:11)
Yeah, that’s fantastic. I didn’t know any of that. That’s a really, really cool story. What part of the East Coast were you?
Breanne Lopez (05:13)
Yeah!
So I moved to Manhattan, New York City, and that sucked. I was like, I moved up there thinking that I was gonna be Carrie Bradshaw and live in like a gorgeous like upper midtown apartment for no money. As one does, as Sex and City promises you. And I got up there and I was like, where am I? What a culture shock.
Felix And Fingers (05:22)
Okay.
As one does, yeah.
Breanne Lopez (05:40)
And then after four months, I moved out of Manhattan into Jersey City, just right across the Hudson. And I liked Jersey so much more. And so then I stayed in Jersey City for the amount of time I was there and that’s where I my husband.
Felix And Fingers (05:55)
Okay, lovely. So Lisa, then when did you get involved with Hitch?
Lisa Forbes (06:02)
Yeah, so this is the fun, I mean another fun part of the story I should say, it’s all fun. So I’ve been in the wedding industry since 2007 for a long time and worked in various different components in the wedding industry. I was a venue manager, I worked in the catering area, and then I eventually, when I started my family,
decided that the hours were just too crazy and I was working 60 to 80 hours a week, never home with my little ones, that kind of thing. And so I decided that I wanted to branch out and become a wedding planner. And so I did that with different various companies and a little over a year ago, I was kind of in that position where I just wasn’t doing enough weddings. I knew that I wanted more and just didn’t have enough.
enough reach at that point. so I, it’s kind of a crazy story. So I was at home, I was getting ready to make dinner and I accidentally sliced open my finger and I could not get the blood to stop. Like I’m just like bleeding out. I still need to finish dinner. like, I’m, you know, I’m Googling when do I need to go to the emergency room? You know, like all this kind of stuff. And I Googled it. What’s that?
Felix And Fingers (07:11)
Yes.
How much blood is…
I how much blood is too much blood?
Lisa Forbes (07:23)
Right, right, I’m like, I don’t know, know,
I’m not feeling faint yet, but I’m kinda like, when do I need to make a change here? And so Google said, you know, make sure you’re elevating, right? And so I’m sitting there and I’m ready to work, I’m done with dinner or whatever, and my hand is up in the air, and I’m like, well, I can’t work, I can’t type, I’m trying to get this blood to stop, I’m gonna just scroll on Instagram for a minute. And I open up Instagram and the second post that I saw,
was Brienne’s post saying that she needed experienced wedding planners and she needed to hire immediately. So I’m like, all right, well I don’t know this person. Like I know Hitch because I knew Jessica really, really well, but I had no idea who Bri was and I, you know, like I’ll just kind of reach out to her and see what she says. So I put my resume together and I sent it over to her. And like 25 minutes later, she’s like, can I interview you in 30 minutes?
Breanne Lopez (08:08)
you
Lisa Forbes (08:21)
And I’m like, sure, why not?
And then Brie was over there talking to other people in the wedding industry about me. I’ll let you tell that, Brie.
Breanne Lopez (08:31)
It was kind of an interesting time in the business for Hitch just in general. was some things going on. We had let go of some people and we were trying to hire some people pretty quickly. I was on the phone with Brigid Shin from Bronze and Blushed and got her message like, would love to, here’s my resume. I had also never heard of Lisa.
Because a lot of times you planners, you’re not necessarily interacting with other planners. And so I’m like, oh, this lady Lisa Forbes just emailed me and Bridget was like, hang up the phone, hang up the phone and call her and hire her immediately. I was like, oh, is she she’s like, everyone knows her everyone’s obsessed with her. She’s been in the business forever. She’s like that. She’s like, cannot believe she emailed you like that’s crazy. This is like a big whale Brianne you got like you got to reel that whale in like this is like
Felix And Fingers (08:58)
Right. Yeah.
Breanne Lopez (09:22)
Big deal and I was like, my gosh, okay and so yeah on the phone and Truly it was like I Mean it was love at first sight like we like met virtually and by the end of the phone call we were both crying Like it was just a love connection and I obviously had
Felix And Fingers (09:23)
I’m going
Lisa Forbes (09:28)
You
Mm-hmm.
Felix And Fingers (09:44)
Yeah, my next
question is gonna be like what will refer, because I’ve seen how you two interact and it’s so infectious. I love it. I mean, I’ve got to work with you in your house when we got to practice for the benefit. I got to see you guys interact at the benefit, all sorts of things. yeah, I was going to kind of ask what first impressions were and just like, and you kind of mentioned that that friendship was just kind of immediately there. Yeah.
Lisa Forbes (09:56)
Mm-hmm.
Breanne Lopez (10:10)
Yeah.
Lisa Forbes (10:10)
It was, think
Brie and I compliment each other in such a unique way. You know, we’ve both been in work situations with people that let us down. And so I think like to be able to bond as quickly as we did and like just have this immediate connection, I, you know, and I know people say this all the time about relationships, but like, I feel like I’ve known Brie for…
over a decade and I’ve literally known her for not even a year and a half yet. And you, I think you could even speak to that Austin, like we don’t act like we’ve only known each other for a little over a year. We act like other.
Breanne Lopez (10:39)
Okay.
Felix And Fingers (10:48)
I would have
thought you two are related. mean, honestly, it’s just the banter, everything. It’s fun to work with and it creates a really inviting atmosphere for other vendors. And I’m sure your clients too. I mean, I can only imagine. But yeah, that’s a lot of fun. Gotta love that.
Breanne Lopez (10:49)
Yeah.
Lisa Forbes (11:05)
Yeah.
Breanne Lopez (11:05)
think
it’s so funny, like our unique trauma really complements each other, like work trauma that we have, it’s almost like things that I would like that have not been maybe there for me in the past work wise, like she just effortlessly brings to the table. And then vice versa things that maybe like she needs more, more of like that is just naturally who I am as a person. And so we do kind of like just
complete each other in a lot of ways. And for me, it’s like working with Lisa’s, I say this all the time, I’m like, she’s such a grownup. Do you know what I mean? Because even grownups, even grownups in the workplace do not always act like grownups, but she is like the way that she handles herself in the company and in the community. She has such a beautiful professionalism about her. She has so much,
loyalty as well, but also just like etiquette and I mean Lisa’s very revered honestly in this community and so I just always feel lucky. I told her at the benefit I was talking to my mom and I was like, I genuinely like in the last year and a half, I’ve never once been annoyed by Lisa. I’ve never once been like, I don’t know why she does things this way or like that wouldn’t be the choice I would have made or like that’s
Frustrate I’ve never thought that I think that’s really rare in a work situation To where it’s just kind of effortless
Felix And Fingers (12:34)
Yeah,
I mean, for sure. mean, on the on the music side of things for I mean, that kind of coincides like when you when you get to show up and play shows that people that are your friends and you know, I know every little movements, you know, thing that they’re going to do, which which tells me exactly what I’m going to do. It just makes the night easy.
Lisa Forbes (12:55)
Mm-hmm.
Felix And Fingers (12:56)
and it creates a really good flow. But yeah, one of the questions that I really like to ask that I’ve been asking all the planners that I have interviewed is tell me about…
We always hear about the highlights. We hear about all the crazy, amazing things that we get to do pretty much on a regular basis. But the low lights are some of the things that, you know, as vendors, you know, we’re behind the scenes. We get to see a few of the things that can happen sometimes, but, know, they stay kind of on the DL. But as planners, you know about everything that happens at events. So you don’t have to do any like specific call-outs or anything like that.
sensitive information, but tell me about a situation if you had them, and it’s okay if you haven’t, of a wedding where something like it was disaster doomsday, everything was fine, like you got it covered, but it was behind the scenes, and maybe they didn’t even know about it. Have you had anything like that?
Breanne Lopez (13:52)
Lisa, do you want to go?
Lisa Forbes (13:52)
I mean, how
much time do you have?
Breanne Lopez (13:54)
Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (13:56)
okay. Now, let me get a glass of wine real quick and then we can, yeah.
Breanne Lopez (13:59)
Yeah.
Let’s make some cocktails. Do you want to go first, Lisa?
Lisa Forbes (14:03)
No, you go ahead.
Breanne Lopez (14:05)
well, gosh, I’m trying to think. There was a wedding, that recently happened and it was during the like snowpocalypse ice storm that we had. and so it was just weather related. Unfortunately, it was just like a crazy ice storm and we had a guest come in.
while they were walking in fell and cracked their head open and had to go immediately into the bathroom. Thank goodness. It was like a bunch of like doctors who were at the wedding. So literally a trauma surgeon was with her in the bathroom. She had like a full concussion. And during the ceremony, the way the venue was set up during the ceremony, they had to call 911 because she had to go to the hospital.
Felix And Fingers (14:37)
Amen.
Yeah.
It was during the ceremony. my gosh.
Breanne Lopez (14:55)
It was during the ceremony. Like we were waiting to start and then the couple was like, let’s just start. Like they were kind of over it honestly, because it was like half the people didn’t show up because of the ice storm. I mean, it was really kind of a bummer, but so it just worked out to where the ER or the like the ambulance was like wheeling in the gurney as Father’s story had everyone like bow their heads to pray.
So I don’t think anyone saw the gurney being rolled in and then like when it was being rolled out, they were also like doing something like a prayer or something. So I think kind of like miraculously don’t really think anyone saw the human being being rolled out really close to the ceremony moment. And it’s not like one of those things where usually as the planner, I could be like, hold, just hold please. We’re gonna get through this and then you can go. Like she needed to go the ER. Like I couldn’t stop them.
Felix And Fingers (15:24)
Yeah.
Breanne Lopez (15:48)
So that was kind of a bummer.
Felix And Fingers (15:48)
break.
Yeah. That’s a tough one.
Breanne Lopez (15:50)
That was a wild one.
tough one. mean, the the day was still we made the best out of it and they still partied and they still had a really great time but I’ve never had anybody like actively like going out on like an er stretcher like mid ceremony before.
Felix And Fingers (16:07)
We’ve had, yeah, yeah, we’ve had a couple where they’ve had to call EMS and or something. It’s like they had a little too much at the open bar or something. there’s always something. It’s know, it’s.
Lisa Forbes (16:08)
Neither have I, knock on wood.
Breanne Lopez (16:20)
Sure.
Lisa Forbes (16:23)
I think it’s
earlier than what you would think. Because the later stuff, when people have been drinking, we kind of know how to handle all that kind of stuff. But I we had to call the EMS one time because it was a Jewish wedding. And the groom stomped on the glass. And as we’re walking into the, because we were in a hotel ballroom, and so as we’re walking into the other hotel room,
Felix And Fingers (16:27)
Yeah. Yeah.
Right.
Lisa Forbes (16:48)
he’s like the ballroom, he’s like limping and he goes to like pull his shoe off and like literally there was like an inch of blood in the bottom of his shoe because the glass had gone like through the side of his shoe and just like, it was like a two inch gap like cut in his foot. like, now, like I’m not anything, but again, like we’re at a Jewish
Breanne Lopez (17:05)
No.
Felix And Fingers (17:05)
I’m happy you’re bleeding.
Lisa Forbes (17:08)
wedding, like is there a doctor in the house? Yeah, there’s like 50 doctors in the house.
Felix And Fingers (17:09)
Bye.
Breanne Lopez (17:12)
Okay.
Felix And Fingers (17:12)
Yeah.
Lisa Forbes (17:13)
But we had to call the paramedics anyway just to make sure he was okay and they ended up just like somebody went to Walgreens and bought liquid stitch which I now have in my emergency kit bought liquid stitch and just stitched like liquid stitched it and he went and partied the rest of the night like crazy
Felix And Fingers (17:29)
is
it’s insane. Gosh. Yeah. I mean, the party has to go on, I guess. You know, that’s just the I mean, the show the show must go on. That’s just the yeah.
Lisa Forbes (17:36)
Yeah.
The show must go on.
Breanne Lopez (17:40)
Yeah. mean,
there’s been so many different things, like little things that happen over the years. Like the rentals aren’t right and you’ve got to like call and get them there and get everything set and prepped before. like that kind of stuff I would even say is more like typical. that’s
You plan for those things to happen as planners and you just know that you’ll like fix it and make it work and it’ll be fine and the client never knows. And we always just allot ourselves way more time than we actually need for setup. So when stuff like that happens, it’s really not a big deal. We have time to fix it.
Felix And Fingers (18:04)
Okay.
Lisa Forbes (18:16)
Yep.
Felix And Fingers (18:16)
Yeah,
absolutely. Yeah. So next question, you kind of touched on this a little bit earlier, Brianne, but so if, and this is for both of you, can answer in whatever order you want to, but if you weren’t wedding planners, what would you want to be?
Lisa Forbes (18:30)
There’s nothing else. There’s nothing else. I really truly believe that I was put on this earth to do this job. I really believe that. I have a passion for it. It’s funny, I went back and looked at my college thesis a million years, I mean, forever ago. I found it in a box of my mom’s stuff. And I’d totally forgotten that, but I did it. I guess it wasn’t a thesis. It was my final
Felix And Fingers (18:33)
Nothing else?
Lisa Forbes (18:55)
senior project or whatever. And I actually did it on opening my own event planning business. That was years before I was in the event planning world. know, like I was, I had my degrees in clothing, textiles and merchandising. I worked as a visual merchandising manager for different retail stores. Like, so I thought that’s where my life was gonna go. But I think even back in college, when I was doing that, I must’ve had just some sort of, you know, inkling that this was what I was gonna eventually do.
Breanne Lopez (19:02)
Okay.
Lisa Forbes (19:24)
I don’t know that I
necessarily knew it was gonna be weddings. think back then I thought I was gonna be a fashion show producer, but then I realized I was gonna have to move to New York and I did not want to move to New York. And so I kind of looked into getting my first event planning job and it was at, it was at Incredible, which is awful to say out loud. I don’t know if you guys know Incredible was.
Felix And Fingers (19:31)
Right.
Breanne Lopez (19:43)
.
Lisa Forbes (19:52)
It’s not even there anymore. But they did like small weddings and events and things like that. And that’s kind of how I got my start. And then once I started doing the weddings from the event planning side, that’s when I realized that I actually had a passion for weddings themselves. And Brie even knows this. Like she’ll try to give me other events like, hey, do you want to do this? You know, non-propos. No, no, I do not. I want to do weddings and weddings only. The benefit is the only exception to that rule.
Felix And Fingers (19:54)
Not included.
Mm-hmm.
You
Lisa Forbes (20:19)
Other than
that, I am strictly a wedding girl.
Felix And Fingers (20:22)
Yeah. Bree, what about you?
Breanne Lopez (20:24)
I love that answer.
I love that answer, Lisa. Non for profit work. And I really do. It’s not that I don’t love weddings. I do love weddings. And what I love most about weddings, I think it’s a little different than Lisa. the wedding part I love, but it’s not, I wouldn’t say that’s my passion. Like working with the client is my passion.
being of service to others like really fills my cup up and so it’s not necessarily like wedding trends or like again like I like all of that stuff I really love design but like the thing that like really gets me going that like makes my heart beat is the just being of service to others and helping someone through a journey that feels arduous at times and being their kind of support human like I love that.
There’s nothing that makes me feel better than having a client tell me like, they just want me close, because I make them feel calm, or I make them feel like everything is good. Like that is so special to me. And so I would love to always do some weddings, but I would also love to do more non for profit work and just help organizations that are really giving back to the community in like a really special way.
That’s why we started Hitch Helping Hands and yeah, like it’s exhausting work, but it’s for me so fulfilling.
Felix And Fingers (21:45)
Yeah, that’s kind of what was gonna be my segue into Hitch Helping Hands. I’m really glad you brought that up. That is something that is really cool that at least I’ve discovered in the short career that I’ve had in the wedding industry is just the, it’s an opportunity to kind of just give back a little bit. And weddings are such, every single one is unique. Every single one has its own individuality. It’s its own unique experience.
But something that is just truly inspiring and something I’ve very been blessed to be a part of is hitch helping hands. And yeah, I don’t want to talk anymore on it. I just want you to give me the whole spiel. I need people to be inspired by this as it has inspired me. But yeah, how did how did you get started with hitch helping hands? Can you tell us what it is? And yeah.
Breanne Lopez (22:33)
I’ll start and then I’ll let you take over Lisa. So Lisa and I had literally like she had been working with hitched for like a month, not even. And we had just gone to some big events in the community. And I just was, I just had this feeling like we’re going to these big events, but like, what are they for?
Lisa Forbes (22:45)
Not even.
Breanne Lopez (22:59)
Who are they for? Like, who are we lifting up? It just felt, I just felt like something was missing and I was feeling really badly. I, again, like I truly think like the best way to feel really great about yourself or just as a human in general is to be of service to others. Like that is, that feels so good. And that’s why I think everyone in the world should do that. So I literally called Lisa and I was like,
We gotta do something. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know, like, I just, have, like, can we start something or, like, can we do our own event and can it be, like, giving back? Can we be, like, focusing on others and not ourselves? Like, not like, how are we making more money or how are we growing or how are we, like, can we just focus on somebody else besides ourself? And I don’t know what that means, but I wanna do that. And again, it’s like one of those kind of kismet things that I feel so strongly with Lisa.
Lisa said,
Lisa Forbes (23:57)
have you ever heard of Wish Upon a Wedding? And she said, no, what’s that? And I told her about it. And I had only learned about it like a few months prior. And Wish Upon a Wedding, for anyone who doesn’t know, is an organization that’s a national organization that does weddings and vow renewals for people who’ve been diagnosed with life-altering or terminal diagnosis. And I explained all of that to Brie, and she was like, yes.
She was like, how do we get involved? I was like, well, I happen to know the director, her name is Lacey, and I could get us in touch with her and see if maybe we could do something. And Bree goes, I think we should do a benefit. Like, I’ve never heard of this organization. Let’s do a fundraiser. Let’s raise awareness and do a fundraiser and see if we can partner with them and see what this looks like. And I was like, okay.
And literally within five days, Bri had an entire board set up. And we hadn’t yet, we didn’t really have hitched helping hands yet, but we had the start of an idea within a week of mentioning Wish Upon a Wedding. And then we just kind of started doing our research and learning about how to do a fundraiser. We knew how to plan an event. That was not a problem for us.
Felix And Fingers (25:12)
Right, yeah.
Lisa Forbes (25:13)
but the, but the parts we, yeah. yeah. I mean, we didn’t know anything.
Breanne Lopez (25:13)
You’re country that’s a totally different beast though.
Felix And Fingers (25:18)
Which let me say,
that benefit was like, I mean, one, Grand Hall, Power and Light, shout out, beautiful venue in Kansas City. I mean, just like all the praises. You guys knocked that out of the wall. I mean, it was beautiful. Start to finish, it was so much fun. It was like, I can’t even start with Matt and Chrissy’s story. It’s everything is just, it was start to finish, beautiful. But sorry to interrupt, please continue.
Lisa Forbes (25:43)
Thank you.
No, thank you. No, and I’ll let Bri kind of go back into, but yeah, we immediately kind of started looking, we got connected with Wish. We started looking for people that we could grant a Wish for, and we were able to start with Jenny and Nick. They were our first Wish recipients. We did their Wish last June, June, 2024, and that was such a beautiful experience because I also know Jenny personally. And so,
Felix And Fingers (25:57)
Yeah.
Lisa Forbes (26:08)
to be a part of that story and that journey and for that to be the wish that kind of kicked us off was just, it was just a real blessing. I mean, it was just such a beautiful moment to really be able to firsthand witness what wish can do for the life of someone who has cancer, but also their family and their friends and that sort of thing. And then we went into our next benefit.
or our first benefit, which was that the Guildman was beautiful. And then after that, then we got to work with Chrissy and Matt and I’ll let Bree kind of take over from there.
Breanne Lopez (26:40)
One, mean, for me, like when I get an idea or like something is exciting for me, like I’m all in. I’m like a little manic with it, you could even say. Like I get a little crazy. And so truly we had like no idea what we were doing. I mean, we were just kind of, and again, it goes back to that. Like my training from college, we just started reaching out to people. We met with.
Beth Chapelo with Chapelo Events and she hyper focuses on non-for-profit and she kind of works on non-for-profit and corporate events. She used to do weddings and so we immediately reached out to her and we’re like, can we just like ask you questions? Like we don’t know what we’re doing. And she was the one that was like, you need to change your name. You need a different name. You need to have a name that talks about, you know, is almost like an onomatopoeia. Like it is what you’re doing.
Felix And Fingers (27:22)
Yeah.
Breanne Lopez (27:34)
So then that’s when we developed Hitch Helping Hands. And she gave us so many pointers, like all the props to Beth. Like she really told us what we were doing, because we were like, we don’t know. But we were just going guns blazing. And we had a really incredible group of human beings that were also like, I don’t know what we’re doing, but I’m so down to just do it with you.
And if we didn’t have the board, couldn’t do these benefits. Like there’s just no way. It’s such a giant amount of work. And so having all of those other people that were passionate about it as well was just, was huge. And then we got Jenny and Nick, like Lisa was saying, I mean, you were there. We were all sobbing that first wish. And I even saw Jenny came to the benefit that we just had.
at the Grand Hall and she hugged me and she said, you’re an angel and you’re doing God’s work. And it’s like, you at a wedding, like yes, that’s a really important special time for somebody, but like when someone doesn’t have very long to live and they’re like, you’re an angel, what you granted me and my family is something that they’ll have for the rest of their lives, even if I’m not here. You know, it’s just like,
even quantify what that means, you know, to a community, to yourself, to them. It’s hard to kind of express that, you know, it’s like, that makes it all worth it. Gosh, I mean, even that Jenny is still here and she can still come to the benefit and I hope she can come for so many years, but it’s like working with these people that are going through these
crazy hard times and even just to raise money for wishes in general to know that like if we’re not doing it here, there are wishes all over the country. That people are getting to experience this like beautiful gift and it’s just, you know, it’s fuel is such fuel. Because a lot of times like at least I’ll be like, my gosh, this is the most work. It’s so hard. It really is so hard to like
put on these benefits, but you’re reminded so quickly why you do it. it’s special, man. It’s just so special, and I’m so grateful.
Lisa Forbes (29:48)
Mm-hmm.
Felix And Fingers (29:54)
Yeah, it’s absolutely something that, not even something, it’s the most rewarding, I think, both of those events, just thinking in music that I’ve ever done personally. it collectively was two hours of my, know, but it’s just such a…
You talk about just ways to give back and that is it. That is the most fulfilling and just heartwarming.
Breanne Lopez (30:13)
you
Lisa Forbes (30:20)
Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (30:21)
Just way to do it. But but yeah, you guys knocked it out of the park. It was it was so much fun I did want to make mention. I’m gonna I’m gonna call you out a little bit Brian we You the rehearsal that we had at the house was a lot of fun I showed up to high
heels and a tutu and it was a Yeah, you know I would have guessed that you know if you if you said
that not a wedding planner that would have been like a dancer or a singer or something. My mind was just immediately there. Yeah, you got the spirit for it for sure.
Breanne Lopez (30:49)
That was, gosh, that was so much of my life for so many, so many years, the musical theater performing and I definitely still have heart for it, but it’s.
think when it became a career, it took all the joy out of it. But I’ll tell you what y’all like I it’s like I want to do it and I like doing it but like while I’m doing it or right before I’m doing it like the song at the benefit I mean, I thought I was gonna pass out. I mean, I was so that I was gonna have a heart attack. I mean, I was so nervous and like my mom was like, what’s the video and I’m like,
Felix And Fingers (31:03)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Forbes (31:18)
you
Felix And Fingers (31:18)
You
Lisa Forbes (31:22)
Bye.
Breanne Lopez (31:27)
Absolutely not. I don’t want to see it.
Felix And Fingers (31:28)
If it makes you feel
any better, can’t tell you how many hundreds of shows that I’ve done at this point and still to this day, before the downbeat of anything, I forget every song that I’ve ever learned. I forget every note that I’ve ever learned how to play. And I am just in an absolutely just manic state. And then it starts, I’m like, it’s whatever. It’s easy.
Lisa Forbes (31:31)
it was so great.
Breanne Lopez (31:48)
It’s fine. It’s like once you get
going, it’s like, okay, I think I can do this. But like, my mom was like, I didn’t even know you had started the song. Because it kind of came out of nowhere. And I was like, that’s so good. Because for the first two measures, I was I was in the wrong key, I couldn’t hear like I couldn’t hear it. And so then by the third measure, I was like, I was in the right key, I had switched it. But I was like, thank God nobody knew I was singing because I was singing off key.
Felix And Fingers (31:52)
Yeah.
Nailed it.
Lisa Forbes (32:15)
I
it. You nailed it. Everyone loved it. Everyone was talking about how great you were and everyone was saying like, had no idea she could do that. And I didn’t know. I didn’t know until the day Austin that you came over. I had no idea. No clue.
Felix And Fingers (32:26)
Yeah, yeah,
I was just as shocked. The whole band was was spoofing you up. So we still talk about it. And we’ll probably talk about it tonight. So yeah.
Lisa Forbes (32:32)
Mm-hm. Well, I
would imagine that when somebody comes to you as like a band member and they’re like, hey, I really want to do this song. Like there’s a little bit of cringiness in you. OK, great. That’s just going to be amazing. And then Brie actually is like, amazing. And it’s like, well, this is great. Let’s do this.
Breanne Lopez (32:36)
my god.
you
Felix And Fingers (32:45)
You
It was every level of cute and professional and fun and exactly what it needed to be to where, there was no cringe. I never had a doubt. We opened up that door and I knew exactly what I was getting into. And it was a great day and it turned into a great moment at the benefit.
Lisa Forbes (32:59)
Yes.
Breanne Lopez (33:02)
Okay.
Lisa Forbes (33:06)
It was
Breanne Lopez (33:09)
Thank
Lisa Forbes (33:14)
And now, next year when you go, hey, I’m gonna do a performance, I’m gonna be like, yeah, let’s do it. Whereas before it was like, I don’t know how I feel about this. Let’s see what’s gonna happen here. You blew me out of the water, Bri.
Breanne Lopez (33:14)
I was also surprised.
Felix And Fingers (33:27)
Yeah, next time we’re gonna pitch you
up on one of the boxes, you’ll be just right up with the bands and everything. Yeah, we’ll have a whole showcase moment for you ready. Yeah.
Breanne Lopez (33:31)
Right.
I love it. I mean,
I’m ready for it I’m also not ready for it. I’m like, I’m like, we’re gonna do this again, help. But I’m gonna, I feel I’m gonna do it. I think I like, I’m such a weirdo. Like I like to put myself in really uncomfortable situations and be like, figure it out, Breanne, you got this. Even though I’m like.
Lisa Forbes (33:39)
Really?
Felix And Fingers (33:39)
Getting here to prepare.
It prepares you
for the next moment. It just builds little layers of confidence. That’s all it’s about.
Breanne Lopez (34:01)
There you
go.
Felix And Fingers (34:03)
Well,
hey, want to thank both of you for being on today. I love both of you dearly. I admire all of your work. But yeah, everybody please check out hitchedinkc.com Hitched Helping Hands, Wish Upon a Wedding, everything that we mentioned today, all three beautiful, beautiful, beautiful organizations and companies. Yeah, we’ll talk soon. I hope we can do this again. And yeah, thank you guys. Yeah.
Breanne Lopez (34:08)
I’m sorry, I’m not sure.
Lisa Forbes (34:09)
Love you.
Breanne Lopez (34:29)
Thank you for having us. Thank so much for having
Lisa Forbes (34:30)
Thank you so much.
Breanne Lopez (34:32)
us.
Felix And Fingers (34:33)
All right, we’ll talk soon.
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