You may remember that in May I found out that I won “Best Stationery & Decor” as part of The Loverly List for 2024. Loverly calls themselves “the ultimate do-it-yourself event planning platform” for weddings. They also have over 700K followers on Instagram, so yeah, they’re a big deal! But just to be clear, I’m not even part of Loverly. I don’t subscribe to it and it’s not like I’m a member. This objective recognition was all thanks to nominations from my amazing brides, vendors I’ve worked with, and others who admire my creations.
From the Loverly website, “The Loverly List is a prestigious recognition program designed to celebrate the top wedding professionals in the country and internationally. It honors those who excel in trust, professionalism, creativity, dependability, and quality of service in the wedding industry.”
This year Loverly received over 40,000 nominations, and I was chosen by them as one of the winners! I find this extremely humbling, and I was so grateful to be recognized for my work! Since I was chosen as a winner, I was invited to the 2024 Loverly List Northeast winners party in NYC on October 9th! I was also invited to attend some of the shows for New York Bridal Fashion Week (as Be Inspired PR works with both Loverly and NYBFW) - which was sooooo cool! Also, apparently once you've been invited and attended, you can get into more shows in the future - woo lucky me!
I honestly felt like I was living my Sex and the City life! I’ve always wanted to live that NYC life where everything seems so fabulous. But in reality, to live fabulously in New York City, you either have to be super rich or have connections. I’m so happy I had connections for this! It was really cool to be there representing my business that I started from scratch. This was my day, and I made sure to take it all in and enjoy it from start to finish!
Julie Vino Bridal Show
My day started at the Julie Vino show, and I ran into some industry friends which was amazing (hi 👋 Deekay Events, Jessa Schifilliti, and Gilded Lily Events). Julie Vino is considered an up-and-coming bridal designer, and I loved every. single. dress! I would wear every single one. The models were truly awesome. They were super engaging and they wanted us to get good pictures! Afterward, we had a coffee break (duh!), and then we went to another show near the border of Nolita and the East Village.
Rime Arodaky Bridal Show
The next show was by Rime Arodaky and it was held outdoors at the Church of Transfiguration. This church was actually featured in an episode of Sex and the City! It was super theatrical with amazing music. All of the models were real brides who had worn her dresses in their own weddings. It was incredible, and I can’t even imagine what it took to get a permit for that location. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had!
After the show we had a delicious dinner at Freemans in the East Village before heading to the Loverly party!
Loverly Best of the Northeast 2024 Party
This party was both humbling and incredible! It was held at SAINT, a really cool spot near the corner of 2nd Ave and St. Marks Place. The outside had beautiful lighting, so naturally I had to take a picture in front of it.
We were greeted with so many goodies. There was a photo booth, signature cocktails, and even a calligrapher doing hot foil samples. They also had this secret Halloween-themed dungeon area. I was even interviewed, and I’m excited to see when that comes out! I ran into so many people that I knew, as well as people I’ve only known through Instagram. It was such a fun day!
Loverly’s CEO, Kellee Khalil, gave a heartwarming speech about how over the past 12 years she’s grown her business from nothing to what it is today. That really resonated with me. Even though working for yourself can be extremely hard, moments and days like this remind me how amazing it is that I work for myself and that all of my decisions have pushed The Jess Press forward to where it is today. I’ve come a looooong way from commuting to NYC daily to work for someone else to now getting to go into the city to have my accomplishments celebrated. And that is something I’m incredibly proud of!
I told my husband Nick that it was one of the best days of my life!
Let’s Chat About Your Wedding!
I can't wait to connect with you about the prospect of working together for your special day! Please fill out my contact form here so I can learn more about what you're looking for! Thank you!