We just came back from attending theĂ‚Â Wedding MBA 2014 Conference in Las Vegas, and unlike the old adage, what happened in Vegas will not stay in Vegas, because we’d like to share some highlights!
We started off the trip by attending the launch of WIPA Las Vegas, the Vegas chapter of the amazing Wedding Industry Professionals Association. We heard an honest and inspiring presentation from the publisher of Canada’s luxury wedding magazine WedLuxe Angela Desveux, who told us about some exciting news that you’ll all be hearing about in 2015.
The first day of the Conference began with a presentation from The Knot founder Carley Roney, who gave a run through of wedding trends over the last two decades and what to look forward to next (including 2014 seeing the biggest average budget for weddings!). The room was full to the brim, with what must have been several hundred people. After her session, we had a great chat with Carley and the CEO of the newly launched HoneyBook, Oz Alon.
In fact, this year’s conference was heavily focused on technology and how it’s transforming the wedding industry. The founders of WeddingWire, which had a big presence at the conference with its Back to the Future mobile, presented several times throughout the conference and attendees learned about SEO, blog strategy and social media.
We also heard great presentations from the editor-in-chief of Martha Stewart Weddings and photo editor of The Knot who spoke about how to publish real wedding albums along with our friend and Two Bright Lights founder Siri Eklund.
After a long day of sessions, we needed to let loose, so here we are in our 1980s attire at The Knot’s Rock of Ages party, createdĂ‚Â by our talented friend and extraordinaryĂ‚Â wedding planner Brit Bertino.
While the majority of the attendees at the conference are just starting out in the wedding industry, the conference gave us a chance to meet with the top wedding industry influencers as well as make new friends.