Meet the Speakers

Candice Coppola

The Design Advantage: How Top Planners Win Clients, Charge More, and Build Demand

Candice Coppola is a business coach, author, and former luxury wedding planner who’s spent more than 15 years shaping the wedding industry from the inside out. As the founder of Jubilee Events, she planned and designed destination weddings around the world before selling her company to focus on coaching creative entrepreneurs. Today, she mentors wedding pros who want to elevate their craft, stand out with unmistakable style, and build businesses that are both profitable and purposeful.

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Meghan Ely

Navigating Luxury Wedding Submissions

OFD Consulting owner, Meghan Ely combines in-the-trenches event experience with a love of wedding PR to empower her clients to take their businesses to new heights. Her team’s publicity efforts are regularly honored by the Public Relations Society of America, and more recently, Eventex named her one of the most influential Wedding Professionals in the Industry.

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Brandee Gaar

% vs. Flat Fee Pricing: The Hot Take You Need to Hear

Brandee is a proven sales + profit strategist with a decade-long track record for helping wedding professionals transform their businesses from expensive hobbies to thriving careers.

She got her start in event planning, eventually opening her own business and quickly becoming the go-to vendor for Orlando bespoke weddings. After teaching more than 1,100 wedding industry vendors through her Wedding Pro CEO curriculum, she expanded her coaching team so she could support even more professionals in their career goals.

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Emily Foster

The Website Shift: Turning Your Site Into A Sales Tool

Emily Foster is the owner of Emily Foster Creative, a brand and website design studio based in Portland, Oregon and serving wedding pros worldwide. She helps wedding vendors and photographers stand out with high end branding, high-converting websites, and strategic marketing. When she's not designing, she's planning new episodes for her podcast, Engage Your Brand®, spending time with friends and family, traveling, reading, or heading to the gym.

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Renée Dalo

Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: How to Communicate with Confidence

Renée Dalo is an international keynote speaker, confidence and visibility coach, and award-winning entrepreneur with 13+ years in the wedding and creative industries. Named one of the 50 Most Influential People in Events (Eventex) and a CPCC-certified coach, she returns to Wedding MBA in 2026 for her ninth consecutive year. Renée is the founder of The Verve & Vision Club and the forthcoming author of The Coordination Cure. Her teaching blends humor, strategy, and actionable tools that help entrepreneurs show up, stand out, and succeed.

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terrica

Your First Five Design Systems: How New Planners Build a Signature Look and Sell It

Terrica, a celebrated event planner and entrepreneur, has shaped the wedding industry for two decades with her unique blend of Southern charm and metropolitan flair, featured in publications like The Knot and Martha Stewart Weddings. Beyond crafting unforgettable events, she empowers thousands of wedding professionals through her educational hub, focusing on pricing, sales, and client experience. Terrica champions diversity and inclusion, leading initiatives like Unity Through Community and mentoring for Wedding Pro’s Fellowship for Change.  

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wendy kay

Design Budgeting 101: Simple Systems to Price, Present, and Protect Your Work

Wendy comes from a television background where she produced and directed live television and called the shots - literally! After 8 years of 60 hour work weeks and feeling a disconnect the burnout was real and she decided she needed a change. Today, after 13 years of owning her own planning and design business, much of Wendy’s time is focused on educating other vendors on best business practices to transform their own businesses through honesty and “tough love”. Wendy has been deemed a Top Wedding Planner and Event Designer Worldwide by Martha Stewart Weddings, and Best Wedding Planner in America by BRIDES.

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Kawania Wooten, CMP

Luxury Networking: Confidently Connecting at High End Events 

Kawania H. Wooten, CMP brings a unique mix of experience and skill to her businesses, Howerton+Wooten Events and the Enlightened Creative. Her vast experience in the hospitality industry includes hotel management, casino and gaming, the culinary industry, and 30 years as a professional meeting and event planner. Kawania is an adjunct professor in the Hospitality, Tourism, and Culinary Arts Department at Prince Georges Community College.
Her advice has been featured in major publications, such as the New York Times, New York Post, Refinery 29, Wall Street Journal, EBONY, Headline News, Martha Stewart, and ESSENCE magazine. 

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Megan Gillikin

Before They Inquire: The Content Strategy Behind Booking Full Weekend Clients

Megan Gillikin is a former luxury wedding planner turned educator and coach with more than 17 years of experience in hospitality and the events industry. She moved from Marriott’s hospitality world into owning and growing a multi–six-figure planning company, which she later sold to a member of her team.
She’s the founder of The Planner’s Vault, an online education platform that has supported thousands of wedding planners through practical tools, templates, and coaching since it’s inception in 2020. She’s also the host of For Real, a top-ranked podcast where she shares honest conversations about boundaries, burnout, client experience, and building a sustainable business.

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Maria Bayer

Selling Wedding Weekends: Package, Price, and Position Multi-Day Experiences 

Maria Bayer is a high-ticket sales coach and creator of Irresistible Selling, the go-to program for wedding pros, service providers, educators, small business owners, and coaches who want to confidently book premium clients and become leaders in their industry. With over $25 million in sales, Maria helps clients charge premium rates, shorten their sales cycle, and build lasting wealth - all without chasing or feeling salesy. Her clients frequently 2–10x their sales using psychology-backed strategies, while transforming how they see themselves and their business.

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Braden Drake

Updating as You Upsell: What Your Contract Needs

Braden is a California licensed attorney and tax professional. His tagline is your gay best friend here to help you get your legal and tax shit legit. Braden works primarily with online and creative small business owners through his law firm, Not Your Average Law Firm, where he and his team provide 1-on-1 services, memberships, group programs, and courses.

Braden is the author of the Unf*ck Your Biz book. When not doing business things, he is a CrossFit and weightlifting enthusiast and home cook.

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Feyisola

From Planner to Creative Director - How to Elevate 

Feyisola is a wedding and event planner of over 15 years, and business coach of over 7 years. She combines her background in Computer Engineering and project management with her planning and design skills to help wedding pros and creatives build more profitable businesses using simple, repeatable systems. Her company, Statuesque Events has produced events across the country and internationally, which have been featured in many publications including TheKnot, Essence, Washingtonian Weddings, Munaluchi Bride, BRIDES and many more.

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Ashley Ebert

Stop Hiring Out of Panic: How to Build a Team That Actually Books You More Weddings

Ashley Ebert is a wedding-pro scaling coach who believes building a wedding business shouldn't feel like a constant uphill climb. After growing and selling her own wedding planning company for over a million dollars in 2025, she now teaches seasoned pros how to scale through connection, not hustle.

Ashley's all about real conversations, smart strategy, and reminding people that rest is actually productive. When she's not coaching, you'll find her at Disney with her family or cozied up at home in Minnesota with her husband and daughter. She's a people person at heart and believes the magic isn't in the hustle, it's in how deeply you care for the humans in front of you!

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Irene Katzias

The Collaborative Design Process

Irene Katzias is a seasoned wedding planner, designer, and industry speaker with over a decade of experience creating high-end, hands-on wedding experiences. As the founder of Irene + Co Events, she specializes in storytelling-driven designs that bring couples’ visions to life. A TEDx speaker and thought leader in the wedding industry, Irene is passionate about fostering collaboration, elevating standards, and sharing her expertise. She currently serves as the Director of Programs for WIPA Utah and WeddingPro Educator 2025. Her work and insights have been featured in top publications, including Carats & Cake, The Knot, and Rocky Mountain Bride.

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Sara dunn

The AI Hype Machine: How to Get Recommended by ChatGPT

Sara Dunn is the go-to Wedding SEO expert for planners who want to rank higher on Google and AI search without the tech overwhelm. As the founder of Sara Does SEO, she offers done-for-you services, coaching, and courses built on her proven Wedding SEO Framework. A sought-after speaker and educator, Sara’s strategies help over a million searchers connect with wedding professionals each year.

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Jordan Xu

Boundaries and Balance: Managing Client Expectations

Jordan Xu is the Founder and Principal Planner & Designer of Emily Jordan Events, an award-winning wedding and event planning company with locations in Atlanta and North Carolina. With over 13 years in the industry, Jordan helps planners skip the trial-and-error phase and step into confident business ownership with systems, boundaries, and support through her education platform, Jordan Xu Edu. Through her coaching and speaking, she works with driven, passionate planners across the country who are serious about success, but still want to have fun along the way. She teaches planners how to protect their energy, time, and joy because sustainable businesses are built by people who aren’t constantly burnt out.

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 Whitney Hodges

How Marketing-Savvy Wedding Planners Are Rising to the Top of Their Markets (and Beyond!) with Strategic Digital Advertising

Whitney Hodges is the co-founder of Wedding Industry Ads, a boutique digital advertising agency helping wedding pros attract high-quality leads through Google Ads and Meta Ads. With a background in luxury hospitality, she leads a team that makes strategic, data-driven advertising both approachable and effective. She and her business partner, Daniela Justus, developed their signature offers—the Google Search Accelerator and Meta Ads Accelerator—to help wedding planners show up where it matters most with campaigns built for visibility and ROI. Known for her clarity, creativity, and collaborative approach, Whitney is passionate about helping planners grow beyond organic marketing and referrals by building lead generation systems that run behind the scenes, 24/7.

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Becca Pountney

 What the social media has happened?!

Becca Pountney is known as the UK's leading wedding industry marketing expert. After a successful career in television and radio marketing, and experience running her own wedding business, Becca has spent the last decade helping wedding venues and professionals stand out and get booked with her marketing strategy, courses and membership program.
Becca’s hugely successful podcast - “Wedding Pros Who Are ready to grow” recently won the Best Business Podcast of the year award at the British Podcast Awards - beating off competition from huge media outlets including The Times, The Economist and Bloomberg. This huge achievement is a testament to Becca's desire to show that the wedding industry is a serious industry

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Emily Rochotte

Marketing to Gen Z Couples: How They Buy And Where to Reach Them

Emily Rochotte is a social media strategist, SEO blog writer, and marketing educator. With over a decade of experience in the industry working with wedding pros and publications on their marketing, she knows how to help you build brand awareness and grow your business with the help of engaging content that speaks to your ideal client. She is passionate about empowering small business owners to feel confident about their marketing. 

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Amber Peterson

How to Market Design Services Without a Portfolio of Work 

Amber Peterson is the CEO of Planners Lounge, an education platform that helps new and aspiring wedding planners build profitable, sustainable businesses. With more than a decade of experience in the wedding industry, Amber has worked as a wedding planner, educator, and business mentor, supporting planners at every stage of their journey—from launching their first services to refining systems, pricing, and client experience.
Before coming to Planners Lounge, Amber built and ran a successful wedding planning business and later founded and led a regional wedding professional organization, giving her deep insight into both the creative and operational sides of the industry. 

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Lauren Grove

Using Instagram in 2026 for Wedding Planners

Lauren Grove has been an innovative force in the wedding industry for over a decade. As the founder of wedding publication Every Last Detail and now the CEO of the wedding marketing agency, Lauren Grove Interactive, Lauren has helped countless wedding pros navigate marketing to reach engaged couples. When she's not immersed in the world of weddings and marketing, she enjoys cherishing moments with her high school sweetheart, their two lovely daughters, and their new puppy, Betty... likely while listening to Taylor Swift.

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Brandy Blackford

Put Down the Fire Extinguisher - Build Timeline That Don't Combust

Brandy Blackford is a wedding planner, advocate, and educator who works in the space where real wedding days actually happen. She’s known for protecting the client experience and the professional team—because great weddings only work when both are supported.
As the owner of Sweet I Do’s and a leading educator within Refine for Wedding Planners, Brandy focuses on timelines, systems, and decision-making that hold up under pressure. She’s not blindly team client or blindly team vendor—she’s the calm, grounded presence coordinating the chaos so everyone can do their job well.
Her work is shaped by real wedding days, real pressure, and real people. 

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Tanisha Lee

Modern Mood Board: Using Tech to Streamline the Design Process

Tanisha Lee is a passionate Event Planner and the owner of Soirées by Lee. With over 15 years of experience in the industry, she has a true heart for others and loves to help small businesses grow. As the founder of Collectively Wed, an online community for wedding and event professionals, she teaches business owners how to implement automation, event technology, systems, and processes to take their businesses to the next level. She also serves as a co-founder of START, a small business education collective focused on providing hands-on mentorship. Tanisha draws on her Hospitality & Tourism Management Certificate from Florida Atlantic University and her Marketing studies at Winthrop University to guide event professionals in growing their businesses with practical strategies and personalized support. 

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