Creating Dreams: Becca Jordan on Designing Weddings, Homes, and a Life She Loves

Becca Jordan Founder, House of Three, London

“I'm not your generic wedding planner, and I’m quite fussy with the weddings that I take on. It needs to have quite a creative design element for me to be involved. I’m a designer, and a wedding is a temporary interior.”

How do you choose a career when you’ve gifted with an abundance of creativity, a keen eye for detail, and a natural talent for client relationships?

You choose two!

For Becca Jordan, a London-based high-end wedding and interior designer, that wasn’t a rhetorical question; it’s her reality. Becca designs jaw-dropping weddings and luxe, sanctuary-like interiors for high-profile, global clients.

I first met Becca through a friend whose Surrey mansion she designed to perfection and whose gorgeous wedding she elevated into an unforgettable event. So, when it came time to revamp my own home in Zurich, I turned to her. Working remotely, Becca transformed a blank and oddly shaped canvas into a functional and luxurious space—a testament to her exceptional skill and vision.

In this interview, Becca shares valuable insights for any woman who dreams of starting their own business or entering the world of weddings or interiors. From juggling motherhood and running two businesses, to how she balances demanding clients, global suppliers and a team, her advice is equal parts inspiring and practical.

If you’ve ever wondered how to stand out in a competitive industry, how to connect with clients who demand nothing less than excellence, or how to find your niche, this conversation is packed with lessons you can apply to your own journey.

Read on to discover how Becca Jordan blends artistry with strategy, why she believes weddings are just “temporary interiors,” and how her perfectionism has driven her to the top of two incredibly demanding industries. If you’re ready to elevate your game, this is the insight you’ve been waiting for.

Watch the video interview on YouTube here

Image of a Surrey home designed by Becca Jordan

Becca’s Interiors are cosy, clean and functional

Introduction to Becca's Journey

Nony

Becca, our readers, listeners, and viewers want to know if this is what you always wanted to do, how you got into it, and how you balance everything.

Becca

I studied interior and spatial design at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London and then sort of moved into the interiors industry, but I always felt like I was missing something. So, I transitioned quite early on into a role as a wedding designer, planning high-end luxury weddings for another company. At the wedding of a premier league football player, he'd sort of clung to the fact that I was actually an interior designer and sort of took me to the side, and I was so nervous that I'd done something wrong.

And he said, “You're an interior designer, aren't you? Well, when we're finished, can you come and design my home?”

It was like, this is my dream. This is what I want to do!

I sort of realized I didn't have to choose one or the other. In a way, I could save myself a lot of marketing time by doing both. Your interiors clients are quite often clients that are getting married. They then move into a new home together. So whether that be patching a home or moving into a rental, they want to make it theirs and not individual tastes. It was a real moment for me where I realized that, actually, yeah, this could work, I could do both.

Unfortunately, contracts from leaving my old job prevented me from designing the footballer's house. Long story short, I was sued for trying to design it despite the fact that the industry was totally different.

So, I adhered to my contract, avoided working in the wedding world for 12 months, and then sort of jumped back into the two again. Even though that particular offer didn't work out, the idea grew from it.

The delightfully Chaotic Combo of Interior Design and Wedding Design

Nony

So, to understand, practically, as a wedding designer, you were doing the setup of the wedding, what it should look like, and really the aesthetic details behind the look of the wedding?

Becca Jordan

Yeah, that's where I say that I'm not your generic wedding planner, and I’m quite fussy, for want of a better word, with the weddings that I take on. It does need to have quite a creative design element for me to need to be involved. I am a designer, and a wedding is a temporary interior.

Nony

Fair enough.

Becca Jordan

So if the couple, for example, didn't have much of a creative sense, if they weren't particularly interested in the look and aesthetic of the space, and it was more about the day and the time together with their families, they probably wouldn't be the right couple for me, because I can obviously input so much design. But that's where I think the crossover makes sense because I think when I say I'm a wedding planner and an interior designer, people think it's a weird combination, but a wedding is a temporary interior.

Image of a wedding Becca Jordan designed at Syon House

Image by Lucy Davenport

Image by Lucy Davenport

Image by Lucy Davenport

“I’m quite a timid character. But when it comes to work, I seem to find this different confidence where I will walk up to somebody and say, ‘Hey, this is what I do…Can I help you?’ ”

Authentic Self-Promotion and Building a Portfolio

Nony

How did you market your interior design business while you were wedding designing? How did this footballer know to ask you to look at his house? How did you build your portfolio?

Becca Jordan

I suppose the way that I approach design is quite different to how most other wedding planners at the time would have approached it.

I was very spatial in the way that I was speaking to them.

So, when we were setting up the table, I was not thinking about it necessarily from a wedding's point of view. I'm thinking about it more as you would at home: where are their guests going to be and how are they moving through the space, and how are they journeying from one side of the room to the next, and what might they pass on the way, just in the same way that we would do at home.

And I think it was just those questions. Because at the time it wasn't my own business, I think they sort of were like, hang on a minute, you're asking questions that we never would have expected to have been asked. The clients were a little bit like you seem a bit different from everyone else that's on the team. What did you do before you came here? So that's where the question came about.

Nony

So the work spoke for itself and then just through conversations it became clear that you had even more services to offer.

Becca Jordan

Yeah, and I'm a very big believer in you get what you put into something.

I’m actually like weirdly quiet, you know, sort of, I suppose, not shy, it's probably not the right word, but I am quite a timid character.

And I want to make sure that I'm doing everything right by everybody. And I don't offend anyone. But when it comes to work, I seem to find this different confidence where I will walk up to somebody and say, hey, this is what I do. Like, can I help you?

I don't know whether you've ever felt the same, but I think I've lost a little bit of that confidence since becoming a mum. I don't know whether that's just because I've now got the responsibility of somebody else. I'm not only focusing on my own responsibilities.

But yeah, back then, when he was asking me the question, I didn't run a business. I was young. I didn't understand how you would even begin to start a business. I think it's just like, yes, of course, I can do that.

Nony

The stakes felt lower.

Becca Jordan

I think I've done that my whole career. One of my largest clients, who I am still working with ten years later, I met in Westfield shopping center. I offered to carry her bags to the car. It's not quite as random as it sounds, but I was styling Kelly Hoppen. She's quite a large interior designer. She's famous for East meets West design. She was a dragon on Dragon's Den at one point.

She invests in quite a lot of business. And she was my idol when I was younger. For my 16th birthday, I asked for an interior design course with Kelly Hoppen.

She had a job available to style her newly launched dot com stores, so I styled the one they’ve got in Westfield. I was on the edges, not really meant to communicate with the clients, but I heard one of their customers just talking, and I could tell that she needed more help. I carried her bags to the car, and we chatted the whole way.

I just said, look, I'm an interior designer. I want to start my own business. I want my own studio. I was working with Kelly on a business plan to take her dot com into people's houses to provide a virtual service. It was a little bit complicated because her name was on everything and people might be expecting her and not somebody underneath her like me. And so I said to this client, “This is what I want to do. I want to do full-time.” She said, “Well, give me your number. I'm working on a project at the minute, and I'll get in touch and we'll see if we can work together.”

And she did, and ten years later, we've just finished one of her properties in France.

I've worked on, I think it must be, five projects with her over the last 10-year period. All just from talking to somebody and deciding to be brave.

Nony

It’s a lesson for me as somebody who's growing a business. For such a long time, it was really hard for me to talk about it. I don't know why. But over the years, through every conversation, through every time that you're just talking about what you're doing, whether you're selling yourself or not, you unlock so much opportunity.

Becca Jordan

I totally agree with you. I actually feel sometimes that when you're not trying to win the listeners, you actually do because you just become a little bit more yourself.

All Becca’s homes are calming, luxe and full of texture

“The best advice that I could give to anyone who wants to start out, particularly with higher-powered, slightly more difficult clients, is to remember that everybody is always just a human.”

Character Traits for Success and Being Nice to Work With

Nony

What character traits would you say have led you to the success that you've achieved so far?

Becca Jordan

Sometimes, it doesn't always feel like success, but I don't know whether that's because I'm always looking for the next bit.

I have to stand back sometimes and remind myself how far I've come.

I think for me, and I'm not sure it's always necessarily a good trait, but I am an absolute perfectionist and details for me really, really matter.

But I think it's contributed a lot towards my success in the sense that I really do get to know people, and I really listen to details and the things that you might not think mean anything. Just silly things like what time you get up in the morning and what side of bed you sleep on.

It's the little touches that I'm able to add to our process, and I like to believe that every client, whenever we get to the end of a project, feels like we either could be friends or we are friends. I would never want anyone to sort of get to the end of a project and think thank goodness that’s finished.

I still keep in touch with them. My perfectionist side means everything needs to be spot on, not wrong, and not late.

Nony

Yes, not late.

A lot of vendors and business owners struggle with that.

Becca Jordan

Yeah, and there's a lot that is out of our control, particularly in the interior world, in a post-COVID and post-Brexit world, that we still hear excuses that shipping containers aren't here. The lead times have now extended from eight weeks to sixteen weeks, impacting everybody, not just me.

But I am the communicator with the client, and at the end of the day, if something goes wrong, I have to tell them, and I don't ever want it to seem as though it's because I haven't done something.

Working with Discerning Clients

Nony

In both of your fields, especially at the level that you operate, you must work with the most discerning clients. I don't want to use the word difficult; I would say particular clients who are probably used to excellence, the best, and everything on their terms. How do you navigate that? And what kind of advice would you give anybody out there working in fields like that?

Becca Jordan

There's so much emotion tied to tied to weddings. I think also you live in a home for a period of time, you get to enjoy it for at least a few months. It's unlikely that you will work with a designer and not stay in a property for more than six months.

With a wedding, it's a one-day to three-day or four-day event.

I think the best advice that I could give to anyone who wants to start out, particularly with those sort of higher-powered, slightly more difficult clients, is to remember that everybody is always just a human. Whether they've made something of themselves or not, try to put yourself into their shoes and their lives periodically throughout the planning process.

If you can put yourself into their life, you can start to understand how they're feeling. And while something, you might think: “Why on earth does this matter to you?” If you can put yourself into their shoes, you can start to understand and appreciate why it does matter.

One of my couples wanted Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, and they were struggling with the import, and then we finally got it. They were getting married at one of the Soho Houses, and they only had coupes for champagne; they didn't have flutes. The groom just did not like coupes, he didn't want them. We must have tested about 25 champagne flute options.

Understandably, when you are in that world, and you drink champagne all the time, and you've made an effort to get your favorite champagne imported, and you've also made the decision to pay for the corkage fees on all of those bottles from Soho House, you do then want to drink it out of a vessel that you actually like.

When you actually sit back and think, well, I'd be the same way.

Master bedroom mood board Becca proposed for our Zurich apartment

Home office inspiration Becca proposed for our Zurich apartment

Building a Team as a Solorpreneur

Nony

Do you have a team?

Becca Jordan

I have an accountant and a VAT assistant. I also have a permanent freelancer. She dabbles on and off because she works as a structural engineer, I think. If I've got that wrong, sorry, Anna. She's with me full-time when I need her. It depends on what her contracts are doing and how busy I am.

But then when I'm running a wedding day, I do have a team of freelancers that I work with on a regular basis that would always work a wedding with me and if you were working with me as a couple you would be familiarized with that team throughout the wedding planning process.

And then in the interiors business as well, it's the same. I have my electrician, I have my decorator, and I have my contractors, who I work with pretty much exclusively. It doesn't always work when we're doing remote projects. They are obviously in and around the London and Surrey area.

But I do prefer working with them because I can control them completely. They've worked with me for years and I've given them so much work that they know me and they know what I would expect. My expectations are incredibly high, and so they wouldn't dare leave a project without making sure that it was to my level.

An Interior Designer vs. Decorator

Nony

I always thought that an interior designer was a decorator. What's the difference?

Becca Jordan

Well, you're right, the decorator physically does the work. So physically paints. Physically puts up the wall. Physically puts up the install.

So, I'd select everything and make all of the choices and come up with the full color schemes, color palettes, what's going where, whether that's paneling, wallpaper, or just standard paint. But then the decorator would actually physically put it in. You don't want me physically putting it onto your walls.

I've painted my own home, but I would not touch anyone else's!

Becca Jordan at the wedding of a friend

Becca Jordan with her husband, Josh and daughter, Lyra

“ [My daughter was born] at three a.m. and I had a phone call with my electrician at seven o'clock because he was going to one of our projects. I pushed a wedding website live that morning and then sent the rest onto my team to make tweaks because the invitations were going out that day. And then I had my three days off!”

The Impossibility of Work-Life Balance and a Crazy Birth Story

Nony

Our viewers and readers always want to know how women who are running businesses are also able to achieve success in their personal lives.

I hate the question of balance because work-life balance is such a cliché, but how do you do it? You are working on global events, different time zones, managing a lot of vendors and people, and then you have a husband and a child.

Becca Jordan

It's really tough. I think sometimes, weirdly, sometimes it makes me feel really emotional. So I'll try not to cry.

But it's tough.

I do genuinely feel sometimes like I don't do a good enough job at either. I’m not fully present at work, I'm not fully present at home.

I do see my daughter, she's two and a half now, and she can speak and she passes me my phone and she's like, “Mommy, do you need your phone? Are you working today?” And she asks me if we can go to my office because she's been working with me since she was born.

For people that don't know my personal story, I had three days maternity leave.

Nony

Tell us the story

Becca Jordan

She came three weeks early.

I was at a meeting for the wedding that I saw you at. We were in final stages with the couple, meeting with the florist to finalize the details. It was the last meeting that I had in my diary. I was always planning on working after that period of time, but the last actual sort of out-of-the-house, of-the-office meeting.

I had to sit down and the bride, she said to me, are you okay? You never sit down. And I was like, I'm fine, I'm fine. I just need two minutes. It was 31 degrees Celsius, so hot for London.

I got home that evening, went to pick up my husband from the station and and I just sat down, ate dinner, finished and my water broke, just like they do in the movies.

And she was there! She was with us within five hours from that point.

Being a Mother and a Business Owner

Becca Jordan

It was very, very quick but I wasn't ready. And you know, when you run your own business, she arrived at three a.m. in the morning and I had a phone call with my electrician at seven o'clock because he was going to one of our projects in Hampstead. So I needed to brief him about what needed to happen.

I pushed a wedding website live that morning and then sent the rest onto my team to make tweaks because the invitations were going out that day in the post.

And then I had my three days off!

I then worked at my computer in my living room. I moved it to the living room so that I didn't have to go very far for the first two weeks. I was back on site two weeks after giving birth.

My husband did my maternity leave. He had seven weeks with her and then she went to nursery at 12 weeks. So from the seventh to twelfth week, she came with me and she went all across London to all of the projects that we were working on. She went on a site visit to Syon Park where our wedding was, she was held by electricians and contractors and my clients and all whilst I was trying to do everything with them.

So she's very used to working with me. And sometimes I think, you know, I think it was when she hit her first birthday, I sort of had this realization of I've missed so much of her small life by working too hard, but I had no choice. I needed to and we had clients that were depending on me and projects that needed finishing.

I think we're finally starting to find more of a happy medium. And I now have Fridays with her every week.

Nony

But there is something beautiful about her doing it all with you. I know that it wasn't easy for both of you and I know that you had a lot of guilt, but I think there's something wonderful about saying, just come along!

Becca Jordan

Exactly and I think it's all for her, really, isn't it? That's what you know I want, and we want to show we want to show them that women can do well. I'm not sure if she'll follow my footsteps but I'm hoping that she'll at least have the same work ethic.

Nony

Exactly. And what an education she's going to get, watching her mom run businesses.

Neutral foundations enhanced by vibrant, colorful art

Neutral foundations enhanced by vibrant, colorful accessories.

Advice for New Homeowners or Renters

Nony

What tips would you give somebody who was maybe decorating their first apartment or home on their own and didn't know where to begin? What would you say is the most important thing for them to think about?

Becca Jordan

So I think the biggest mistake that people make is not having a bit more of an idea of what they want to do. So I'd say try to start to have a basis of a scheme. What I usually say to everyone to do is sort of select by process of elimination. So if you're doing your living room. Find ten images of living rooms that you really like. Then narrow down to three, then find out what of those three images you like. You'll probably find that those three images have a similar color palette throughout them. I think that's a really good place to start with anyone that's feeling overwhelmed.

People are very sort of quick to say, “Don't look at Pinterest, don't look at Instagram. You can never afford or create those homes.” I think it's right to the extent that we're sometimes bombarded with new trends and new interior must-haves to follow. But I'd say start with that simple process of elimination.

Making Smart Splurges in Home Design

Nony

If somebody can only maybe afford one splurge on their home, what would you suggest it be?

Becca Jordan

It’s such a good question. I think, I mean, it depends on how high the splurge is, but I always think if you're in a home that you're going to stay in, bespoke cabinetry or some element of built-in cabinetry is definitely a place to splurge. Because I think with the right cabinetry, the right storage it can really transform a space.

But of course that wouldn't apply to a rental. I think if you're in a rental, I'd probably splurge on the largest item of furniture that was going to be within the room to create the most impact.

If you've not got much of a budget and you've got, you know, sort of just quite a large open plan room with nothing in it, if you splurge on the largest item, say like a U-shaped sofa or an L-shaped sofa or sectional, that's going to immediately create this really big impact. Whereas, if you were to splurge on a table lamp, it could get lost in and around everything else.

If you're an art collector, that's quite a nice place sometimes to put in oversized art. It creates a really big impact. With one piece of oversized artwork, you can get that real wow factor.

Prioritizing Elements in Wedding Planning

Nony

What would you say if a person had to make a decision on, where to splurge versus save and still have an impact on their wedding?

Becca Jordan

It's a little bit trickier with weddings because it comes down to what you want or need as a couple.

For me, for example, I’m floral-obsessed. So, for me, I would say go for it with the flowers because if I was walking into a room

and there was just an abundance of flowers, I would be wowed.

But some people would maybe see other areas of the wedding in that way. So for some people it might be the catering.

For others, it's music.

I'm the first to say that the only music I have on my phone is the free U2 album that comes with it. I just don't listen to it.

Music for me wouldn't be something; but for some people, music is life.

So for them, bands and a DJ and, or not just a band, but maybe music throughout the whole of the day. So making sure you've got something at the ceremony. Maybe that's your harpist or string quartet moving onto maybe a walking jazz band for the drinks. Then they've got surprise singing waiters during the dinner and then an acoustic duo or another band.

So I think, I suppose, the advice would be to splurge where you are, in the area that you feel most connected.

Nony

Yeah, that's a really good point because I remember having to make those calculations, too, when we planned our wedding, and my husband and I had different things. I'm like you; I wanted the flowers, but the food was so important to him.

Becca Jordan

There's always compromise, isn't there? Sadly we can't have it all.

Luxe wedding designed by Becca, shot by Benjamin Wheeler

“There is no room for error with a wedding. The deadline is the deadline. It's happening whether you're ready or not. So you have to be ready.”

Defining Success and Future Goals

Nony

You talked a little bit about how your definition of success keeps changing. How do you define it now?

Becca Jordan

I think really it would just be to be doing what I'm doing now on a larger scale.

It’s always been a little bit of a dream of mine to grow a team, but still keeping it intimate and small because I do still want to have an element of control because I think that it's the attention to detail that really makes it what it is.

I've always thought that one day I would have a studio that was on a high street in the middle of Surrey that had a room set up on the ground floor, and everything that was in it would be able to be purchased whilst you were there.

Clients would come and we'd have the same set-up on a floor for weddings. I don't know whether it's even a dream that I can make into a reality, but I think it's the little steps to get there.

Nony

What's next for you?

Becca Jordan

My goal right now has been to grow my Instagram following. And so I'm working on doing that because I sort of think, well, I'm never going to be able to reach my end goal if I haven't got a higher online presence and audience.

At the moment I will only take on one wedding per year. It's as much as we can manage alongside all of the interior design projects that we have to give the couples the attention that it truly deserves.

There is no room for error with a wedding.

The deadline is the deadline. It's happening whether you're ready or not. So you have to be ready.

Whereas there is a little bit more flexibility with the interior's world. So I can take on a lot more jobs and I can push things.

Becca Jordan

I would never make clients aware that their work was being moved around for something else to take priority. And that's something that I really pride myself.

I do like to think that all of my clients think that they are the only client that I'm working with.

That's the energy that I want to give.

But I would like to be able to get to a stage where we can take on more than just one wedding in a year because we've grown the team slightly. So I suppose that would be my end goal and I'll make it happen some way.

End

Nony

You will. I believe you because I've already told you, I've watched your online presence grow tremendously and worked with you personally and seen your weddings.

I'm happy to introduce you and your work to more women because I think that you're pretty incredible and really easy to get along with as you said. So thank you so much for speaking with me today and sharing your business.

How can readers find you?

Becca Jordan

I’m on Instagram at House of Three London. And I also my website is www.houseofthree.co.uk. I tend to just stick to the two.

Thank you so much for having me. I've really enjoyed chatting to you.

Becca Jordan in her office

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