Marina Birch

Marina Birch is an event designer and founder of Birch Design Studio, located in Chicago.

Early life and education
Birch was born and raised in New York City and spent time overseas in London as well as Asia, India and Africa. She is a fluent speaker of French, Italian and Spanish. Birch graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in art history.

After working for a time as an art gallery professional, Birch moved from Manhattan to Chicago in 1998, where she studied interior design at the Harrington Institute of Design.

Career
Marina Birch founded Birch Design Studio as an interior design firm in 2000. In 2003 she turned it into an event planning company, focusing on a "personal approach" to design of the overall experience. The studio's events include weddings, Chicago social events and charity fundraisers.

Process
Birch Design Studio provides creates a concept for each event, incorporating the décor, food and entertainment. The studio's consultative process consists of two meetings and takes two to three weeks to complete. Clients are given an "assignment" of reading from a wide selection of magazines, and are then asked to mark images they like or dislike, in order to help translate their vision for the event.

In 2008, Birch Design Studio designed the first annual fundraiser for musician Rob Thomas' Sidewalk Angels Foundation in 2008, also featuring Chris Daughtry, which raised more than $350,000.