This is the Transcript of the #WeddingMarket Chat on March 11th, 2015 with Angela Desveaux Founder, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of WedLuxe. The answers were made on Twitter so responses will appear different.

Angela Desveaux Biography

The Toronto-based WedLuxe brand includes a nationally distributed print magazine with East and West Coast editions, the WedLuxe daily blog (and companion web directory) and the annual WedLuxe WeddingShow now entering it’s 5th year.

WedLuxe Magazine launched in 2006 as a division of Cloud Nine Creative Inc., a multimedia company that is owned by Angela (who started her career as a graphic designer), and her husband Bruce Patterson. The magazine
was born from a desire to celebrate the design and style elements of luxury weddings within Canada. Angela has since expanded the brand considerably with a steady business vision and passion for the creative arts.

Today, the print edition of WedLuxe magazine has an annual readership of 250,000 and is the most celebrated bridal publication in Canada. WedLuxe has received international acclaim from industry tastemakers with a loyal following of Canadian,American and International readers. WedLuxe social media followers total over 370,000 at present, and grow at an average of 2500 additional fans weekly.

For more information about Angela Desveaux, please visit www.WedLuxe.com

 

Q1: How did get involved with wedding publishing?  

Answer
Angela Desveaux: I first fell in love with weddings when I was asked by my best friend to create her wedding stationery. That was almost 14 years ago! I launched @WedLuxe almost 10 yrs ago in Vancouver, BC to fill a gap in the CDN market. There was nobody else celebrating the luxury wedding industry in Canada back then!

 

Q2: Now you started out in graphic design first?

Answer
Angela Desveaux: YES I graduated from graphic design school 19 years ago! I was classically trained in layout, hand-illustration, photography and typography JUST before computers began to dominate the world! LOL I am grateful for this background as design and my background influences EVERYTHING we do with @WedLuxe.

 

Q3: How did the magazine @Wedluxe come about?

Answer
Angela Desveaux:  Just before launching @WedLuxe I had created my own line
of wedding stationery. My then-boyfriend (now huz!!) was also filming weddings.  Together, we wanted our businesses to reach a high end market and we were willing to spend money to advertise to that client but there was nothing specifically targeting that client.  We saw a need in the market so we created our own advertising vehicle! It wasn’t that wild of an idea considering I had designed several magazines for clients of mine designing it was easy but nobody prepared me for the challenges of running a mag! (very different than designing one! lol)

 

Q4: Now you work with your spouse in your company. How do you make it work?

Answer
Angela Desveaux:  It wasn’t always easy but we have been doing it for 10 yrs now and have found a system that works for us. The key to working with my husband has been to clearly define each of our roles within the biz. It was harder when we were both doing same tasks. The other thing that has worked for us is to have our offices on separate ends of our 1800sq ft office. 😉

Q5: Your bridal events are amazing! How long does it take to prepare for those events? 

Answer
Angela Desveaux:  Thank you! We start planning our show a year in advance! We design and brand areas of the show as experiences for instance we brand 3 or 4 areas every year. We always create
a cafe/restaurant space with a logo, menus, signage, chair decals etc the
cafe work can take a whole month or
two alone to conceptualize and design the paper goods and design components!

 

Q6: How do wedding pros get involved with your bridal event?
Answer

Angela Desveaux:  We are always looking for brands or companies to sponsor our ‘experience’ areas!  If you have a product or unique service you can email us with ideas at [email protected] anytime!

 

Q7: What is a typical day like at @Wedluxe?

Answer
Angela Desveaux: That depends on which of our staff members you ask and what time of year it is! 🙂 My days are mostly spent on biz development, meetings and inter-office communications.  Different times of year are more interesting than others. During production we are working on set quite a bit which is both awesome and tiring! My fav moments are when we are brainstorming concepts for the show!

 

Q8: What are the top wedding trends that you are seeing this year?

Answer
Angela Desveaux: Fashion-wise I think we’ll start to see cut-outs and more and more detailed floral appliqué on gowns along with higher necklines! i also think this is the year of the custom tux/suit
for the guys! Colour trends: for me, the most interesting palettes and decor schemes are going to incorporate more patterns, textures and depth of colour instead of a 1 or 2 colour ‘palette’.  I predict (and would love to see)
weddings with deep indigo, dark jewel-tones (merlot/deep emerald/rich navy) etc vs just one or colours which has been the trend for so long. I also think metallics are going to be huge – we’re having a love affair with copper right now! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q9: What are some of the differences between American and Canadian weddings?

Answer
Angela Desveaux:  In the luxury market, I don’t see too many differences in the design of US and CDN weddings, truthfully. That said I do think Canadian brides are more fashion-conservative than their US counterparts. The volume of weddings is very different! Did you know that we have approx same # of weddings in 1yr in CAN as Cali has in 1 mos!

Q10: How can wedding pros get their weddings published in magazines?

Answer
Angela Desveaux: Most importantly you have to SUBMIT a wedding to get one published! 🙂 Don’t expect to blog your weddings and have an editor contact you!  It’s really helpful to understand the subtle editorial differences between each mag on the market.  Each mag is looking for a certain ‘type’ of coverage and it’s ok to ask them for clarification!  Most pub’s need exclusivity so if you’re willing to hold off social media, etc you will have better chances of getting something printed.

 

Q11: What are magazines looking for as far as photographs?

Answer
Angela Desveaux:  For us, we look for images that are vibrant, editorially-shot (ie not candids) and clear. We don’t publish images with filters or pics with tilted angles, or images taken with fish-eye lenses etc. images also need to be a mix of close up and scenic shots that show scale.  Images that capture dimensions are key! Nothing worse than receiving a pic of a 6 ft tall cake with nothing next to it to show it’s actual scale! More and more photographers are over-editing their submissions for us, assuming all we want are decor and detail shots. Please don’t forget to send in pics of guests interacting with decor/etc for human context. We adore when we can show the design of a wedding intermixed with guest enjoyment and real people! It’s also quite wonderful when reception photos are shot with a tripod – we can often spot the difference! 🙂

 

Q12: What are key ways that wedding pros can make their business more profitable?

Answer
Angela Desveaux:  Pitch more B2B work! Most wedding businesses have services that are not restricted to weddings! Diversify! I also think wedding businesses need to focus less on networking (coffee dates, lunches etc) and more on pitching new opps.  Organization, implementation of processes and hiring more staff are also gateways to more money. Re-engaging and reactivating your past client list is also often overlooked. Send monthly emails to clients even after the wedding!

 

Q13: What are some of the lessons you have learned by being in the wedding industry?

Answer
Angela Desveaux: It’s a small world. Everyone knows everyone and borders are invisible in this industry!  I’ve learned a lot about managing staff. Employment contracts are CRITICAL.  You catch more flies with honey! Seek out strategic partnerships and operate from place of abundance not scarcity.

 

 

Q14: What advice do you have for wedding pros just getting into the business?

Answer
Angela Desveaux: Be prepared to make a lifestyle change.  Evenings and weekends are no longer yours! It’s ok to start small! The best wedding pros in the business worked their way to the top over time not overnight. Don’t be afraid to get specific as to your target audience. Niche marketing is the way of the future!

 

Q15: How do you handle your social media on a daily or weekly basis?

Answer
Angela Desveaux:  We have a full time social media manager that handles our accounts. with almost 400,000 active fans it’s a full time job! 🙂

 

Q16: How are you growing your social media fan base at a rate of 2500 a week?

Answer
Angela Desveaux:  The key to growing an audience is frequent posting and using  hashtags on all accounts. We update our insta/fb/twitter/pint accounts at least 3 times a day (each) and stay very active.

 

Q17: Any important events or projects coming up?

Answer
Angela Desveaux: YES! We are currently working on 2 add’l divisions of @WedLuxe both of which will be announced ASAP. We’d also love to bring our show to NYC or LA within the next year or two! 🙂

 

Q18: What would you like everyone to take from this #WeddingMarket Chat?

Answer
Angela Desveaux: Hmm! Good question. I hope it’s clear how passionate I am about the business aspects of running @WedLuxe.  I’m also very grateful to be able to earn a living surrounded by design and beauty. Weddings = art.

 

#WeddingMarket Questions From Twitter:

 

@MonkSally What happened to your stationery line?

Angela Desveaux: We sold it for another year after launching the mag and back then I was scared of hiring so we didn’t have enough ppl to do both. I often wish we had kept the line going – I didn’t know how to properly grow and sustain a company back then!

 

@danieladegrassi When is your next Bridal Show and where? Are you planning any Bridal Shows in the USA anytime soon?

Angela Desveaux: YES you nailed it! We have waited for the right timing for years and now we feel like the time is right. next show is in Toronto on Jan 10th/2016 but we are considering doing one in NYC or LA. 😉 Stay tuned!

 

@MonkSally  Does TV programming influence design? Downton Abbey is somewhat past, but others period pieces on TV are evolving.

Angela Desveaux: Absolutely we adore Downton Abbey and anything period-piece ish! :)- we also love old books 🙂

 

@annaborgiastyle Do you have a vendors tailored newsletter we can sign up to? We’d love to stay in touch!

Angela Desveaux: YES please send an email to [email protected] and we’ll get you on “THE INSIDER LIST!” 😉

 

@AGeventpainter  I’ve worked with some high end clients that scoffed at photobooths & others that loved having one. What’s your take?

Angela Desveaux: All depends on the personality of the client for sure! 🙂 We’ve seen some unique and beautiful results!

 

@JLondonImages  I would love to submit an image in the future. Is there a contact name/email?

Angela Desveaux: YES! [email protected] and ask for the submission forms 🙂

 

@BridalBalance What were some of your initial challenges when you started the magazine?
Angela Desveaux: Lack of $$ and content was the biggest challenge in the early days!
@BridalBalance What were your solutions?

Angela Desveaux: We risked it all and EXPANDED when we were broke. maxed out our cc’s and went all in.  Was a sink or swim scenario 🙂 we swam! lol #necessityisthemotherofinvention

 

‏@Pea2Tree_events  What would you say made you stand out in the high end market? 

Angela Desveaux: I think it was attn to design and consistency that helped us stand out 🙂

 

@DreamyWeddings  We are now considering bringing on board a social media manager.

Angela Desveaux: If you can monetize the results of a larger audience it’s well worth it!