This is the transcript of the #WeddingMarket Chat at Engage 15 in Cancun, Mexico on June 10, 2015. This special #weddingmarket chat with special guest Colin Cowie, Mindy Weiss, Anja Winikka and Rebecca Grinnals. The answers were made on Twitter so responses will appear different. This event was sponsored by The Knot.

Join Our Wedding Market Chats For Wedding Professionals Every Wednesday at 10:00PST, 1:00EST, and 6:00GMT (UK time) with the #WeddingMarket Hashmark On Twitter. Learn something new to help your business grow every week. The chats are hosted by Wedding Market editor Julie Albaugh (@juliealbaugh).
 

From Left to Right: Anja Winikka, Rebecca Grinnals, Colin Cowie, Julie Albaugh and Mindy Weiss.

Photo by Sarah Albaugh

Q1: What makes #Engage15 unique from other wedding conferences?

Answers

Anja Winikka: Engage is the only luxury wedding event that brings together the highest caliber of wedding pros to create and engage!!

Mindy Weiss: Engage is the only luxury wedding event that brings together the highest caliber of wedding pros to create and engage!! I look forward to #Engage event twice a year…I love to speak and I love meeting all the best in the industry! Truly a vacation and college all in one!

Colin Cowie: #engage15 is the best wedding industry event bringing the top wedding professionals together.

Photo by Sarah Albaugh

Q2: What did you present at #Engage15?

Answers

Anja Winikka: Today I presented lots of little tips and tricks to blogging, promoting, and optimizing your website and content.

Colin Cowie: I focused on how the industry has changed, how smart the consumer has become, how technology works for and against us.

Q3: What was the best #Engage15 presentation?  

Answers

Anja Winikka: I loved @danesanders presentation. Make a New Year’s resolution for next year and practice it this year!

Mindy Weiss: I really enjoyed @lisavorce talk….I felt confident that we are ALL in the same boat.

Colin Cowie: Enjoyed listening to @MindyWeiss @davidadler and @jeffleatham – great speakers at #engage15

Rebecca Grinnals: One favorite presentation included @danbharris from ABC News on the power of meditation for creative businesses.

Dan Harris From ABC News
Photo by Love Life Images

Q4: Who usually attends the #Engage15 wedding summit? 

Answers

Anja Winikka: There’s an amazing mix of designers, planners, florists, photographers, videographers here at #engage15 — all styles!

Mindy Weiss: I love the attendees and am so excited to meet new people. Photographers, florists, hotel and of course wedding planners

Colin Cowie: Familiar faces, top industry professionals and a good opportunity to have fun and learn.

Rebecca Grinnals: 325 Global luxury wedding industry pros attend #engage15 from 13 countries and 28 states + 43% are first time attendees!

Q5: What are the parties like at #Engage15? 

Answers

Anja Winikka: Over. The.Top. Every party has a theme and there’s always a surprise element that gets even this crowd’s attention.

Mindy Weiss: The parties are ridiculous! Creative! Inspiring! Delicious Food! Drink! A_MAZ_ING!

Colin Cowie: The parties are #engage15 are ridiculously fun, fabulous, lavish, chic and abundant. It’s like attending a big wedding.

Rebecca Grinnals: Our parties are designed for optimal connection filled with lots of fun- we have amazing creative partners!!!

Engage 15 Gala
Photo by Love Life Images

Q6: What are the top wedding trends that you are seeing this year? 

Answers:

Anja Winikka: Scene-setting venues with black-tie details; color is coming back; low-back wedding dresses and crop tops too!

Mindy Weiss: Like brides who bring so many wonderful picture of inspiration. Love the interesting side dishes my clients are serving.

@WedProItaly Side Dishes?

Mindy Weiss: Like a special recipe of maybe something                         traditional …or homegrown dessert you may serve.

Colin Cowie: Mixed metals are popular, the Photo Booth, phone charging stations, mixologists to keep the party well fueled!

Rebecca Grinnals: #engage15 Mixed Metallics are big! In fact the suggested attire for tonights Gala here @NIZUC_Resort is mixed metallic.

Q7: What original wedding concepts did you showcase or see this year?

Answer

Anja Winikka: Drones will change your wedding video and look like Steven Spielberg showed up to film it.

Q8:  What are the top things brides & grooms are looking for in their luxury wedding experience?

Answer

Anja Winikka: It’s all about creating a wedding that is so YOU.

Q9: How have wedding budgets changed?

Answers

Anja Winikka: Nationally, wedding budgets have gone up and are at an all-time high.

Colin Cowie: Clients are spending more money again, the brides and grooms are looking for added value and they are shopping around.

Rebecca Grinnals: We hear from our #engage15 attendees and speakers that budgets and business are both UP UP UP! But so are expectations.

Photo by Love Life Images

Q10: Who are the key stakeholders in the decision making process for weddings?

Answers

Anja Winikka: Most of the time it’s the couple making the decision (not just the bride!).

Mindy Weiss: My Bride and Groom together are making the decisions for the wedding.

Colin Cowie: Groom is more involved than ever before! It’s their first joint statement of style and a great way to get started.

Q11: Who influences these key stakeholders?

Answers

Anja Winikka: The media (blogs, Pinterest) is hugely influential in the style and decision-making process.

Mindy Weiss: Bride and Grooms are influenced by so many different media sources, mags, blogs and Pinterest.

Q12: How have mobile phones changed the wedding industry?

Answers

Mindy Weiss: Mobile phones well , we see a lot of hands in the sky during the ceremony! be kind and wait til the party.

Colin Cowie: Cellphones are totally disruptive at ceremonies, people spend too much time sharing and capturing and are not present.

Q13: How do you use real weddings to reach brides & other key stakeholders?

Answers

Anja Winikka: Real weddings are key to reaching your audience. Use all of those photos on all social to encourage discovery.

Mindy Weiss: Real Weddings are inspiring for all of us planners as well.

Mindy Weiss
Photo by Love Life Images

Q14:  How are brides using @Pinterest & @Instagram in the wedding planning process?

Answers

Anja Winikka: Couples are finding inspiration and their vendors via Instagram hashtags and well thought-out Pinterest captions.

Mindy Weiss: Instagram and Twitter are fab for not only design ideas but I always share who helped with the process.

Colin Cowie: Couples are using @Pinterest & @instagram as a source of inspiration to articulate their vision.

Q15: How important is it for your Website to be mobile friendly? 

Answers

Anja Winikka: More than half of couples are finding their inspiration and vendors on their PHONES!

Mindy Weiss: Happy that most apps are making an effort to make them mobile easy!

Colin Cowie: Almost 60% of all visits to our site are from mobile devices vs desktop. Important to be mobile friendly.

Rebecca Grinnals: Having websites be mobile friendly/optimized is one of the most important updates that wedding pros need to make TODAY! We are thrilled to have launched our brand new mobile friendly website for #engage15 @engagesummits – http://www.engagesummits.com 

Q16: How can wedding professionals do a better job in offering more customized services?

Answers

Mindy Weiss: We are all about customizing every event! Too many of the same guests attend the same events.

Rebecca Grinnals: The days of wedding packages are over-Wedding pros must find a way to personalize their experiences and offerings for clients

Q17: What types of brides are choosing the cropped bridal gowns? 

Answer

Anja Winikka: Fashion-forward women.

Q18: What are the top wedding color themes? 

Answers

Anja Winikka: Blush is the new ivory.

Mindy Weiss: Top wedding colors I’m seeing are a lot of white and green touch of blush or grey.

Colin Cowie: Baby pink is the new ivory….that with mixed metals is a color trend.

Colin Cowie and Rebecca Grinnals
Photo by Love Life Images

Q19: What is the most innovated product or service in the wedding industry right now? 

Answers

Colin Cowie: One of the coolest new ideas is to watch fireworks through 3D glasses. Never saw this before.

Rebecca Grinnals: We had really neat 3D glasses at our #engage15 welcome party that turned our fireworks show turn into hearts! So fun!

Q20: What were the most important topics discussed at #Engage15? 

Answers

Anja Winikka: Creating structures around pricing and operationalizing those ideas so that these creative souls can get back to work! Tell your story. Couples are attracted to authenticity.

Mindy Weiss: Clients are very well informed in our wedding world..dont assume client knows all the prices repeat prices along the way!

Colin Cowie: Clients are very focused on budgets and wanting added value. They are smart, educated and well informed.

Q21: What would you like everyone to know about #Engage15?

Answers

Mindy Weiss: Engage, and I swear not being paid for this, is the best experience, gathering I have spoken at .I’m a guest, LOVE #weddingmarket

Colin Cowie: Without doubt #engage15 is the gold standard of wedding events. By far the best!

Rebecca Grinnals: We have also just announced #engage16 @TheBreakers for June 12-16, 2016 – registration will open on September 1st.

Colin Cowie, Mindy Weiss and Jeff Leatham at the Engage 15 Gala

Photo by  John Cain Photography

Questions From The Wedding Market

@DreamyWeddingsk What were some of your tips about optimizing your website?

Answers:

Anja Winikka: Simply put, pay attention to your URLs. They should be search-friendly and include the word “wedding”!

@TaylorWed Are there special requirements for planners to attend Engage – such as # of yrs in biz?

Answers:

Mindy Weiss: Any planner can attend …there are many newbies and they just absorb info like sponges!!!

Rebecca Grinnals: There are no requirements to attend – we welcome anyone committed to their luxury wedding business!

Anja Winikka, Patricia Dixon and Dhanusha Sivajee from The Knot at Engage 15 Gala.
Photo by  John Cain Photography

@DreamyWeddingsk How do you tap into the #LuxuryWedding market? any suggestions?

Answer

Mindy Weiss: I often find that the guests of the wedding may be a luxury client so make your event always amazing.

@AGEventPainter At the luxury level, do clients still try to get a better deal than your first offer?

Answer

Colin Cowie: ABSOLUTELY every client is looking to pay the BEST price and get added value. We work harder for less!

@HappyHanky What is the #1 trend that you are loving this wedding season?

Answer

Colin Cowie: How Instagram has become so important at all weddings, both planning and celebrating.

@DFWEventsinc Any top “discovery” hashtags you recommend?

Answer

Anja Winikka: Think: color, venue names, styles, and use the word “wedding”!

@Danieladegrassi How can Pros sign up for the next #engage15 summit?

Answer

Julie Albaugh: Find future dates at @engagesummits and http://www.engagesummits.com. See the highlight video down below

ENGAGE! NIZUC from Julie HIll on Vimeo.