We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Meghan Ely a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Meghan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

We’re starting to see an uptick in the number of wedding pros interested in diversifying their revenue streams to include education. Brands experiencing 10, 15, 20 years of success in the wedding industry are recognizing that they have the experience and knowledge base to help usher in the next generation of wedding pros. Furthermore, many are coming to realize that they’d prefer not to dedicate every weekend in season to events- instead, they’d love the chance to be a bit more selective with what they take on, knowing they have other income streams (such as coaching, courses and workshops) to help supplement. I’m seeing this shift impact my own brand, especially with my wedding industry speakers course, which launched 3 years ago. Registrations yearly continue to grow exponentially as wedding brands seek ways to share their expertise in front of their peers.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a long-time wedding publicist in the event space, having opened my PR agency, OFD Consulting, in 2009. My background was in weddings and events, having worked at a number of venues early in my career. My formal training was in public relations, and my love for the discipline always stayed with me. So 15 years ago, I decided to combine both my love for PR and in-the-trenches experience to offer a solution to wedding pros eager to get published.

Over the years, our work has evolved based on the shifting media landscape, as well as the needs of our clients. The majority of our work is focused on our wedding PR membership OFD Collective, which offers ongoing education, dedicated office hours and editorial opportunities emailed directly to members. We also offer wedding submission services along with support for industry speakers, many of whom are alumni from our course.

We’re proud of the work accomplished with our clients but I’d say we’re most proud of our strong editorial relationships. Writers know they can rely on us- we’ve worked on hundreds of wedding-focused articles throughout the years. If a wedding writer needs sources, they know we are the top place they can go.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I’m an educator at heart- whether I’m on stage, authoring an article or serving as a guest on a podcast. Above all, I want wedding pros to feel empowered to have a voice in the industry and it’s a thrill to be able to teach them, even if that means they take on PR themselves versus hiring our team. People trust that our intentions and I belive that’s one of the key reasons we have a strong reputation in the industry,

Likewise, I dedicate a fair amount of my time to serving industry associations. Over the years, I helped open the Richmond chapter of the National Association of Catering and Events, and I later served 9 years on the national board for Wedding Industry Professionals Association. These days, I keep busy as chair of WIPA’s Leadership Development Council as well as sitting on the Allied Council for the National Association of Black Wedding and Event Professionals.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

We mainly are in touch with our OFD Collective members virtually- we host weekly office hours where anyone can jump in with questions. In addition to celebrating birthdays and OFD anniversaries, we do keep an eye out for big client wins so we can send along our well wishes. Because I am a speaker, I do find myself at a number of conferences so when able, I do my best to set up opportunities for us to get together- I find that I’m particularly a fan of putting together OFD breakfasts so we can start our day together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ofdconsulting.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ofdconsulting
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ofdconsulting/

Image Credits

ACB Precision Focus
Megan Noll Photography
Sarah Roshan Photography
Tracy Autem Photography