Show notes:

The story of launching a UK wedding industry conference. I did it – I took a leap of faith and launched a wedding industry conference called ‘Wed Pros Live’. Next year my brand new wedding conference will be arriving in London – but how did it come about? What makes it different and what happens behind the scenes to make it happen? I share all in today’s episode!

Get your tickets to Wed Pros Live!

Time Stamps:

00:37 – Introducing Wed Pros Live 2026

06:53 – Announcing Wed Pros Live: A New Wedding Conference in the UK

09:08 – Creating an Inclusive Event Experience

17:58 – Introducing the Speaker Lineup

24:30 – Ticket Pricing and Sponsorship

Transcript:

Becca

00:00:00.080 – 00:33:51.770

Have you ever had an experience where you can see a gap in the market but you tell yourself you don’t have the time, the energy or the resources to fill it with your idea?

Well, that explains my situation because for the last five years I’ve said that I can see a gap in the UK wedding conference market and for a long time I’ve kept putting it off and waiting for someone else to do it.

Well, unfortunately no one else did it and I made the decision this year that it’s going to have to be me and and that is how Wed Pros Live 2026 came into existence. In today’s episode, I’m going to take you behind the scenes, talk to you about how on earth I’m going to bring this event to London next year.

I’m Becca Poutney, wedding business marketing expert, speaker and blogger and you’re listening to the Wedding Pros who Are Ready to Grow podcast. I’m here to share with you actionable tips, strategies and real life examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.

If you if you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you love, then you’re in the right place. Let’s get going with today’s episode.

People often say that big change and big things are going to happen in your business when you start feeling really uncomfortable.

And I’m going to start this episode by telling you that that is exactly where I feel right now as I stand here recording this in July with Wed Pros Live now announced to the world. I announced back at my networking event a couple of weeks back that I’m going to be bringing a brand new wedding conference to the UK in 2026.

In fact, if you want to put the date in your diary already, 25th March 2026, we’re going to be in London for Wed Pros Live. I’ve had this idea on and off for years, but I know how much time and energy and effort it takes to bring an amazing conference to life.

So why have I decided to do it? Well, what on earth is going on behind the scenes and why should you be there?

That’s what we’re going to be talking about in today’s episode because I want to show you behind the scenes.

Sometimes we see these things and we don’t really understand how they come into existence and I hope by sharing the vision for the event, talking about how it’s all come together and taking you on this journey with me, you’ll be able to understand, number one, why you should absolutely be there next March. But number two, why sometimes you just got to take life by the horns and.

And do it, do the thing you’ve been saying you’re going to do, even though it makes you feel really uncomfortable. So why is it that I felt that we needed to bring something new to the uk?

For a while, I’ve been frustrated at the wedding industry market in terms of in person events.

Now, obviously we had a period of time where in person events were absolutely off the table and over the last couple of years they started to come back.

But as I seek on industry stages across the UK and across the world, I can see that it’s a very different vibe when I speak at a UK conference to when I speak elsewhere in the world. I’ve been privileged enough to speak in countries such as Turkey, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic and of course out in America at wedding mba.

And there’s something about the excitement and the energy of those events that I just haven’t felt here in the UK the thus far.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s some great events and I really respect the amount of time and the people that are putting them on and it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go to them, but I just felt in my heart we need to create something new and exciting and bring a bit of Becca energy into the wedding industry here in the uk.

The other thing that frustrates me a lot about industry events and this isn’t just here in the uk, is often I find that people are giving up a full day of their time to attend a conference, maybe even multiple days, and yet the level of education they’re receiving isn’t always that great.

I’ll be honest, I’ve spoken on stages and yes, it’s gone well for me and people have enjoyed my session, but some of the sessions that have been on at other times, well, I wouldn’t bring those people in front of my audience because I just don’t think that they’re good at what they’re talking about.

The other thing that I see a lot in the industry is that we go to conferences and we have people stand in front of us to talk to us who have just run a business. Now, there is a lot we can learn from people who’ve run their own business.

Again, don’t get me wrong, and there’s lessons that we can learn, but someone who’s owned a business and done well is not the same as someone who’s Good at speaking on stage, and who’s got that kind of stage presence to teach you. And often as an audience member, we can become disengaged because they’re just telling us to do it like they did it.

But actually, as you’ve heard on this podcast many, many, many times, everyone’s journey is very, very different.

And just replicating what someone else has done because they’re successful, or sitting there and listening to them talk to you about all these incredible things they’ve done doesn’t actually motivate you and move you forward. So why now then? I’ve had this idea for a while. Why now?

I think one of the big catalysts for me has been attending and speaking at Wedding MBA in the us. Wedding MBA is incredible. If you ever get the chance to go to Las Vegas, you, you absolutely should put it on your to do list.

It’s the largest wedding industry conference in the world with five to 6,000 attendees. And the energy there is electric.

Really admire about the amazing Shannon Underwood, who’s put on Wedding MBA for a long time with her family, is that she values education far and above most of the other conferences I’ve ever been to. She’s really, really selective about who she lets speak. She auditions people to speak.

She gets people to rate the speakers to make sure they’re staying on stage standard. And when I’ve attended for the last two years and been out to Las Vegas, that has really spoken to me.

The talks I’ve attended, the places I’ve been, the people who are there are the best educators in the world. And that’s why I tell people, get yourself to Las Vegas and go.

And having been at that and seen that it is possible to run an incredible industry conference with incredible speakers, I felt, okay, this really needs to happen now here in the uk. I know that people in the UK and possibly even Europe can’t always afford to fly out to Las Vegas. As much as I would love you to go.

And absolutely, if you can put it on your bucket list, please do.

But actually, I felt like we needed to bring something not the same, but something of a similar standard to London so that every person in the UK and further afield has the opportunity to go to a conference which is exceptional when it comes to educational support standards. The other reason I decided to do it now was because I’ve had a bit of a year off.

And whenever I have a year off of doing something major, something inside my brain starts ticking and says, becca, you need to do the next thing you know, I Wrote my book last year, Done is Better Than Perfect. And it was an incredible but exhausting experience. And so I said that in 2025, I was just going to sit back and not do something big.

Well, I guess I kind of cheated because sitting back and resting and not doing something big meant I had more time to think about what I could do next. And I guess because the event’s not happening till 2026, I technically stuck to it. So, yes, that is the other thing.

I think I got itchy feet and I realized I need to do something big and exciting. So the decision was made. Wed Pros Live would be coming to the UK in 2026.

And once I said that out loud to some of my team, I instantly felt terrified.

I don’t know about you, but whenever you do something that pushes you out of the comfort zone, you just get this uneasy feeling and you start thinking about all the worst things that can happen worse. What if it’s no good? What if no one wants to come? What if no one wants to come and speak at it? How am I going to ensure that it’s high quality?

Where on earth am I going to have it? How am I going to keep the ticket prices at a good price so that everyone can afford to go? Because that’s one of the ethos that I hold close to.

How can I make a conference that holds to my values, doesn’t lose me money, and is an event that everyone can attend? Well, the first thing I needed to do, of course, was to find a venue.

And I’m thrilled to announce that we’re partnering with the Royal Horse Guards Hotel in London for this event.

When the team there reached out to me about working together and I went to see the venue, I instantly knew in my heart it was the perfect place to do the first word Prose Live.

It is a stunning building, steeped in so much history, with beautiful wedding spaces, plenty of space for all of us, because I wanted to make sure we had enough space for lots of people to attend and to have different breakout areas.

But for me, there’s something iconic about that hotel, with its history being situated in central London, right by Big Ben, right by Buckingham palace, right by Trafalgar Square, and in the heart of theatre district. I cannot think of anywhere better to hold a Becker event.

Being in London, it does mean it’s accessible for people, whether that’s people flying in from outside of the UK to speak or to attend, or whether it’s coming to London from within the uk because there’s lots of Train routes, there’s lots of hotels and it’s easy for people to get to on public transport. So I’ve chosen my hotel and I’m thrilled about it.

And I actually announced the event live from my event that I did, the network event at the Royal Horse Guards Hotel. So some of you have also experienced it too.

So once I had the venue and I knew that was secured, I knew, right, this event really does need to happen. Now. We got the date in the diary. I wanted to do it midweek because again, I know in the wedding industry weekends are when we work more.

And so for me it felt right, right to do it midweek. It also gave some flexibility for people to be able to stay over the night before or after if they’re coming from further afield.

So my vision for the event was as follows. I wanted to make sure, as I said, I had absolutely top level education.

I also wanted to make sure that the event was inclusive, an inclusive fun environment. I pride myself in making sure they’re inclusive. I’ve been to many events where I don’t feel like they’re for everyone.

You know, there’s some events which are very much aimed at the top end luxury part of the market, which is great, but if you don’t feel like you fit in that, then you can feel like you’re not particularly welcome. I’ve been to other events that are very much for beginners. They’re very basic.

And again, that means that people are a bit further on in business and just want a bit of inspiration. Don’t feel welcome.

I’ve been to other events which are incredible but aimed particularly at venues or at celebrants or at DJs and therefore, if you don’t fit into those categories, you can’t really attend. So for me, the ethos was I want this to be a room where everyone feels included.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been in business five minutes or 10 years or 30 years. It doesn’t matter which part of the industry you work in. It doesn’t matter if you’re a solopreneur or whether or not you’re part of a team.

It doesn’t matter whether you service the highest end clients, multimillion pound weddings, or whether you do DIY weddings.

You are welcome at Wed Pros Live and there will be a place at the table for you and there will be things for you to take away in your business, to learn and to grow. Fun was one of my big words on my vision board for the event.

As I said before I came a bit away, a bit deflated about the fact that when I go to the States or I go abroad to speak, there is so much fun. People don’t take themselves too seriously.

There’s lots of music and whooping and cheering, there’s just a high level of energy, there’s lots of social aspects to the event.

Everyone’s really friendly and chatty and whenever I attend conferences here, the British way, I guess we all are like, it is to be a bit serious and to take it very seriously. And for me, it’s just not me. If you know anything about me, I’m not particularly serious.

Yes, I care about being serious in business, but I want to make sure we have fun and a laugh along the way and I definitely don’t take myself too seriously. So fun was also on the plan. And the final thing is I had this idea that I wanted to create some kind of help desk zone.

I’m actually going to call it my backstage business crew. So a little bit of a nod to my stagey background because I know as a wedding business owner and as a venue, you have to wear a lot of hats.

And sometimes when I do one to ones with people or talk to my members, we talk about different pieces of technology, we talk about getting an accountant, we talk about insurance, we talk about pensions, but often that’s not high on our agenda and sometimes we just want to ask people questions and we don’t really know where to start. Maybe you’re listening to this.

You think, I don’t have a pension, I don’t know where to start or yeah, I think my insurance policy might be a bit high, but I don’t know if I need to change it or if I can get it lower or. I’ve been doing my own tax return, but now I probably do need to get an accountant involved or.

Becky, you always say about automating your business, but there’s so many choices out there. I don’t know which technology to use and I see that. I see lots of you struggling with those questions.

And so part of my vision for the event was to ensure that we had an area where you could get real life people to answer your questions.

So my backstage business crew, which would normally be known as an exhibition area, but you all know how much I don’t like boring exhibitions, is going to be where there’s going to be 12 to 15 businesses who are going to be part of it from various parts of the industry.

And the ethos of that area is, yes, of course, they’re there to talk to you about their solutions, but ultimately they’re there to answer your questions. I am all about making sure I have the right people at my events and so there is no open invitation for anyone to exhibit.

When people reach out to me about being part of the event, I’m going through in depth conversations with them, if I don’t already know them, to work out whether or not they’re the right fit for for you. I want people who will answer the most basic question in a simple way and not make you feel silly for it.

I want it to be an inclusive environment where you feel like you can go and ask them questions without being sold to. And that is what the idea is behind my backstage business crew. So we already have some people that are definitely going to be part of that.

So we have our headline sponsors, Wed Pro By Wedding Dates. They’re a great CRM company. They’re going to be there. I’ve got an amazing copywriter, Jenny Hawkins, who’s been a guest on the podcast.

She’s going to be there talking about her copy services and answering your questions.

My media partner for the event is Guides for Brides and so a member of their team is going to be on hand to talk to you about directories, directory listings, how to get the most out of Guides for Brides if you have a listing with them and they’re going to be on hand to help answer your questions. I’m going to be joined by the amazing Anshika from Eternity uk, another great tech platform.

Anshika is going to be speaking on stage as well, all about technology and how to reach Gen Z couples. You guys know how much I love working with Bright Beers and they are also going to be in attendance on the day in that help desk zone.

For those of you that have maybe got big needs or maybe you’ve got lots of automations that you need doing. So I’m really keen to have a variety of people in the room. So it’s not just one size fits all.

If you are looking for a piece of tech, there’s two or three options for you there, so you can go and chat to them, ask your questions and find out what is actually right for you. Because what’s right for one person won’t necessarily be right for another person.

I’m also in talks with an accountancy firm to come and talk about small business accountancy, even large business accountancy, to talk about making tax digital and to answer your questions on that. And I’d love to have someone representing the insurance part of the market market or the pension part of the market.

And there’s going to be more people in that help desk zone that I haven’t yet decided on.

But that is going to be an incredible, valuable resource that’s going to be open throughout the day at wedpros Live, where you can go in and ask your questions.

I was inspired to do this because years ago I went to an event hosted by Theo Patis and I noticed that he did something not quite similar, but he had areas where you could go and ask people about questions like business bank accounts. And I loved how easy it was. And so for me, I wanted to create a wedding industry specific version of that to give you the best use of your day.

If you’re coming to a daytime event, a conference like Wed Pros Live, that means you’ve got to take a day out of your business to work on your business.

And so if you are going to give me a day of your time, which is super precious, or you’ve got to find childcare, or you’ve got to stay overnight, I want to maximize that opportunity for you. And that’s why the backstage business crew for me is a crucial part of the event. So that’s my vision.

We’ve got my venue next up top level education was top of my list. Now I am very privileged that I’ve built a huge network of incredible speaker friends over the last few years.

When I’ve been out speaking at events, when I’ve interviewed people on my podcast, when I’ve had people into the members lounge, I actively keep in touch with people. I’ve made so many incredible education friends.

So when it came to thinking about who I wanted to speak at my first event, I knew actually the bigger problem was that there’s far too many people that I would like to speak that we could possibly fit on one day. So if you’re listening to this and you’re thinking, I wish Becca had asked me to speak, please, no, it wasn’t because I didn’t want you to.

My list was probably four times the length of the amount of slots that I’ve got. And therefore, if that is you and you’re thinking that, reach out to me, let’s talk about maybe 2027. But I had to narrow it down.

And so I wrote a list of the people that I thought, if I could have anyone on my stage that I know in the industry who I think is going to be right for the UK right now, who would it be? And I wrote down my names.

And then because I thought, I’m just going to reach out and see, I thought I’m just going to send them an email, say that this is what I’m planning and just see what response I get. In my heart, I thought, these people are big names in the industry and they’ve got to fly a long way to come. I’ve never run this event before.

Are they going to want to do it? Probably not. So imagine my surprise when every single one of them came back and said yes. I couldn’t believe it.

They said yes, Becca, because we know that you’ll put on a good event and we know you’ll bring great people and we know it’ll be fun and we get a chance to visit London. So the speaker lineup for Wed Pros Live is Stella. And again, there’s a lesson in there for all of us.

I could have talked myself out of asking my friends to come and speak because there were many barriers I put in my own way where I thought they wouldn’t want to do it. But ultimately the relationships we fostered, the way we’ve worked together and their enthusiasm for the industry meant actually they want to come.

And I’m thrilled that they’re going to come. So the speaker lineup was incredibly important to me.

Every single speaker has been chosen, handpicked by me because they have something that I know they can teach you. I also know that they’re incredible speakers. They’re not just good at what they do, but they’re great at speaking on stage.

They’re going to keep you engaged, they’re going to keep you energized and they’re going to make sure you receive top level education where you’re going to have practical, actionable things to take away with you by the end of the day. So the day is going to start with me. I’m going to be the.

I’m going to be my own keynote speaker because I can and I’m going to be talking about what’s going on in marketing in 2026. And then throughout the day we have a variety of keynote sessions which are going to be happening on the main stage.

We’ve got a couple of breakout sessions where there’ll be choices where you can choose which room to go to and then we’re going to have panel discussion as well. So let me talk you through some of the incredible speakers and trust me, there are still more to come.

These are just the ones I’ve announced so far, so obviously you’ve got me. So that goes without saying. That I will be there and hopefully you’ll enjoy what I have to say that day.

I’m very excited about it and I plan to walk on to a spy skills track just to give you a feel of the energy of the day and where we’re going.

Then next up, I’ve got my gorgeous friend Megan Ely, who owns OFD Consulting out in the US now, to give you some context, Megan is one of the headline speakers of Wedding mba. She does multiple talks. She does the big trends talk. And what she doesn’t know about PR and weddings isn’t all worth knowing.

I am absolutely thrilled that she’s going to be coming to my stage and she’s going to be talking all about the state of the wedding industry and how we can mobilize our wedding businesses and make the most of it. She’ll also be around all day to answer your questions, to chat to you about PR and about how to get published in magazines.

She is just truly wonderful. Next up, we have Leah Weinberg. Now, some of you managed to meet Leah when we did an impromptu networking event at the end of last year.

Again, Leah calls herself a recovering wedding planner. She has a background in wedding planner planning, but she’s gone back to her original career of being in legal. So she’s a founder of Weinberg Legal.

She’s an attorney and as I said, she’s also a recovering wedding planner and she’s written a book.

Now I’m really excited about the session that Leah is going to be doing because it’s something quite different and not a topic we often talk about, but so, so important. Her session is going to be called what’s the Worst that Could Happen?

And it’s going to be all about stories of real stories from the wedding industry that she knows and and how as wedding businesses, wedding venues, law and legalities and contracts are going to help us avoid the same things happening to us. It’s going to be a funny session, it’s going to be a fun session, but it’s going to have some serious messages in there, too.

Next up, another great educator friend of mine and another one of these top speakers from the US Is Renee Dallow. Again, she came and did my networking event on a panel with me at the end of last year. Renee is fabulous.

She’s a much loved educator out in the U.S. and again, she has the energy, the enthusiasm and the stage presence of a professional speaker because she is one. She’s also a wedding planner at Moxie Bright Events. And I cannot wait for you to hear what she has to say.

She’s going to be talking to you all about how to maximize profits with atomic habits.

So she’s all about real action but also balancing that with self care and looking after yourself and getting into some good habits so that you don’t hustle and burn out. So as you can see already the speaker lineup is incredibly stellar and there are still more to come.

So next up we also have Kira who is from Wedding Day. So this is my headline sponsor for the event. But if you don’t know, I love working with Kira.

I’ve interviewed her on my podcast multiple times and one of the things I love and I talk about all the time is the Wed Pro survey that they put out as a business every year where they talk about, they interview couples and they do a big survey and then they come back and they give us stats about what’s going on and often I use those stats in my presentation. So things like how many couples are using TikTok at 33% is is a stat that I get directly from that survey.

Well, the really exciting thing is is that Kira is going to be at the event in March and guess what happens in March? The survey comes out and so we are hoping to be privileged enough to hear the absolute latest figures live in London.

So that is going to be a session. Absolutely not to be missed.

Some of my other speakers on the day who are going to be part of the different breakout rooms, I’ve got the amazing Nikita Thorne from Guides for Brides. What she doesn’t know about directories, marketing and strategy, well, it’s not worth knowing.

And she’s also actually joining me out in Las Vegas this year to speak at Wedding MBA as the only other UK speaker. So again, great speaker. She’s gonna have great stuff to say.

I’m also going to be joined by Anshika who I mentioned earlier, who’s going to be talking all about tech savvy, Gen Z and how we need to be embracing technology. There are still more speaker slots to be announced and those will be updated as and when they’re confirmed.

There’s still some little bits of details that I’m having to do behind the scenes. One of the other things I want to do on the day is have a Wed Pro panel.

I’ve done this occasionally before on my virtual events and it always works really well.

The panel will be hosted by me and it will be made up of some of the best people in in the wedding industry who are still actively working in the industry.

So not necessarily People that worked in the industry and are now become speakers and educators, but people who are still hands to the ground working, but also are great at talking about what they do. I’ve had so many of these kinds of people on my podcast, and so it’s kind of going to be like one of my podcast episodes.

There’s going to be four or five panelists from a range of different places across the industry, and I’m going to be talking to them about, well, what’s working for you right now? What are you doing in your business right now? What’s bringing you money right now? How are you increasing your conversion rates?

What isn’t working for you? What mistakes have you made? What. What’s going well?

And we’re going to dive deep into those stories, and I know that that will be a fascinating conversation and it will be something that we all want to pay attention to. Okay, so we’ve got the venue. I’ve spoken to you about how I found the speakers.

The other part of this event was making sure that I find sponsors, because, as you can imagine, if you want to know what it’s like to put on an event like this, with the vision that I have, I don’t like things easy. And so it’s quite expensive to put on an event.

And so one of the ways I realized that I could try and help offset that cost on the ticket prices was to bring in sponsors. So, again, I’ve built a range of industry connections over the last decade. And so I wrote to some of my friends and I told them the opportunity.

And again, I was thrilled at how many people wanted to get on board, both to support me as a person, but also because they could see that the UK needed something like this, and they were excited to get on board and be part of it and to be in the room with all of you. So, to my sponsors, thank you. If you’re listening to this and you think, oh, I’d like my business to be part of that, I’d like to support you, Becca.

I’d like to be a sponsor. There are some sponsorship opportunities still available. Do reach out to me and chat to me, and we can see whether or not it’s a good fit.

So we got the venue, we got the speakers, we’ve got the sponsors and the backstage business crew.

The next thing I needed to do was sort out tickets because, let’s be honest, a wedding conference is great, but if no one comes, it’s just going to be a very expensive day out for me and my speakers and Like I said at the beginning, one of the things for this, for me, about this event is I wanted it to be inclusive and I wanted everyone to be able to come. So setting my ticket prices was incredibly high.

Now, many people will know that often I’m told that I’m too cheap, and sometimes people say I’m too expensive, but often people say I’m too cheap and I should charge more.

But despite the fact that I’ve grown in success over the years and I work with more and more people over the years, I still don’t want to lose that ethos that everyone’s welcome at the table. And I know when you first start out in business, it’s expensive and actually you need the training more than anyone else does often.

And yet it feels unreasonable when ticket prices are in their hundreds of pounds.

And so I wanted to make sure I had a range of ticket prices at a range of levels with a range of different offers, so that everybody felt they could get what they needed out of the event and that no one felt like it was out of reach. So our base ticket price is the one that I hope that every single person realize that they’re getting an absolute bargain if they go for.

It is a basic ticket. It is literally just going to get you into the event and into access all those areas and that backstage business crew.

I’ll also chuck in some tea and coffee along the way. And we’re ending the day with a signature Becca cocktail and mocktail.

Whether you like it or not, we’re going to be having pink Becca themed drinks, which I’m very excited about, to bring in that fun element and to end the day on a high. So standard tickets, this is my lowest ticket price. Is it just £97? I wanted it to reflect the high standard.

I don’t want you to see this as a cheap event because the standard of this event is not cheap. But at the same time, I wanted to balance it with being affordable. And so every single person should be able to afford £100 to get into this room.

With these people, it is an absolute bargain. So do realize that this is why I’ve done that. Price, it’s not cheap or low cost because it’s not good.

It’s low cost because I want it to be accessible to everyone. Then there’s two tiers above that. So the standard ticket is 147.

Now, this is the one I think most of you should go for because it includes food and everyone needs food during a conference. There’s going to be an Amazing hot buffet lunch halfway through the day as part of that ticket. And you’ll be welcome to stay around for that.

If you just go for the standard ticket, there’s no food included, you’ve got to go out into London to get your food, which again you’re very welcome to do. But if you want the convenience, the networking, the chat, all of that kind of stuff, then the middle ticket 147 is for you.

And then right at the top there’s an option for, for you if you want the VIP experience. And this is 197. We actually only have, I think six, maybe seven of these left is nearly sold out. We started with 30.

So the VIP experience is going to give you the access to all of the talks, but there’s going to be lots of add ons as well. So first of all, we’re going to give you front seats for the keynote talks with desks.

One of the things I love when I speak at international events is that often the speak, the attendees, especially near the front, have seats that have desks so they can still write and listen to the talks at the same time.

Now we’ve managed to get enough desks so that all VIPs can sit at a desk seat, which is going to make making notes throughout the day much, much easier.

So you’re going to get a close, not front, front row, but, well, you can if you want, but right at the front close seat and a desk, you’re also going to get access to our VIP lounge, which is the Churchill Bar.

This is going to be a quieter space where there’s going to be a tea and coffee Station exclusively for VIPs is where you’re going to find the speakers hanging out for most of the day because it’s going to be a quieter area and it means you can network with the other VIPs on a close knit level. We’re also going to be having as VIPs a sit down plated dinner with the speakers.

So I’ve got all these amazing people coming from all around the world who are going to be spending most of their day in the VIP lounge or on the stage.

And you’re going to have the opportunity to sit down and actually eat with them, chat with them, ask your questions to them over a beautiful plated lunch at the Royal Horse Guards Hotel. Finally, of course, you’re going to get a VIP goodie bag because VIPs deserve some treats, which I’m really excited about. A VIP tote bag.

And we’re going to throw Some networking drinks just casually the night before the event. So if you are coming down from further afield or you can get into London early, I will invite the speakers along to that.

There’s no guarantee they’ll come. I will be there though.

So if you want to come and have drinks with me in a smaller group before the event and get your event off to a good start, then again, the VIP option is for you. So just to reiterate, there’s three ticket options available.

The basic at £97, which every single one of you should be able to afford to invest in your business. The the one, the standard ticket with food, the convenient ticket 147.

Or if you want to go all out and treat yourself for just 197, you can go VIP and get all those additions. And if that is you and you want to do that, do it fast because like I said, there’s only six or seven of those available.

So we put the tickets out there. Tickets are already sold. We’ve sold over 50 tickets already.

And bearing in mind the event isn’t till March, I couldn’t be happier when you put like something like this on. It’s scary.

It’s scary to see the numbers, to see the invoices, to see the deposit I’ve got to pay, to see how many people I need to sell tickets to in order for this event to be a success. And so the fact that already over 50 people have said, yeah, we’re coming, brings me so much joy.

And so if I could say anything to you, if you are on the fence, if you’re thinking about coming next March, or if you know you’re coming next March and just haven’t booked a ticket yet, do your friend Becca a favor and book your ticket because every ticket that gets booked, I can take a breather, I can take a sigh that we’re getting closer to breaking even. For me, of course I would love to make profit on this event, but this is a much bigger thing for me.

I want this to change the trajectory of conferencing in the uk.

I want this to be a new experience that people desperately want to go to because they know that amazing people are going to be in the room, they know they’re going to get incredible level of education and they’re going to have fun along the way as well. So putting on a conference is not for the faint hearted.

There are many things to think about and there are still many things that I know that I need to do. So why should you come? Well, hopefully after You’ve heard all of that. You hear how passionate I am about why you should come.

But here are three very specific reasons. First reason you might come is that you or your team are stuck in a rut and need a bit of an energy boost.

I promise you, you will leave that room enthused and excited for another year. The creativity is going to be sparked in you.

Your notepad is going to be brimming with new ideas and you’re going to have a full cup of renewed energy and of course, a cocktail in time for the wedding season. Sometimes that’s all you actually need, to get in a room with other like minded people and to have sparks of inspiration.

Sometimes just one thing that someone says from the stage can change the trajectory of your business and your mindset. That’s happened to me before. And so if you’re not in the room, you’re not even going to get the chance to experience that.

The second reason is that if you or your team are hungry to learn, connect and grow, this is perfect for you.

If you’re a solopreneur, if you’re a venue team, if you’re a wedding industry pro and you’re serious about staying ahead of the curve, we know that technology is constantly changing, we know marketing is constantly changing. There are new things happening, couples are changing and we have to keep staying ahead.

We never know everything and we can’t take our foot off the gas because there’s new people coming into the industry all the time.

So if you’re serious about learning from the best and being the best, then you want to be in the best room you possibly can and that’s where it’s going to be.

And the third reason you might want to come is if you’re seeking new ways to drive growth and profitability because you’re going to walk away with real strategies. Again, if you know anything about me, there’s no fluff. There’s no fluff in my world.

I want you to have positivity, yes, but really what I want you to have is actionable strategies that are going to help you increase your sales, streamline your processes, stand out to your couples and your income and your profit to be where you want it to be. So if that is what you’re looking for again, I absolutely want to see you in that room in London.

Running this event is terrifying and I am going to try and keep you up to date with the journey as we go through because I’m sat here in July. March feels a long way away, but it also feels just round the corner. And this is an exciting moment, but it’s also a terrifying moment.

I hope that lots of you will come on this journey with me. If you enjoy listening to this podcast week in and week out.

If you like the people that I bring onto this podcast, imagine being in a room with those people to ask your questions.

And imagine being with other like minded wedding pros who are going to encourage you, lift you up, and who are championing your business and trying to drive it forward. Everything I’ve done from day one in my Becca Pountney business has been with you all in mind.

I’m constantly looking at how I can move the needle for you. How can I make sure you get access to the best people, to the best education, so that you have the best chance to shine.

And this is how I’m going to be doing it in 2026.

So I hope that you’ll consider being in the room if you’ve got questions about any of it, if you want to get involved from a sponsorship point of view, if you want to apply to be a speaker for 2027, chat to me, reach out to me, send me a dm, send me an email. I’d love to hear from you, but most importantly, make a day, get it in your diary and get your ticket for 25th March 2026.

I guarantee you won’t regret it. The only thing you’ll regret is if you don’t come. I’ll see you next time.