Head of Strategy at Guides for Brides. Conference Host.

Nikita is the Head of Strategy at Guides for Brides, with a marketing agency background and 5 years of experience in the wedding sector. She joined Guides for Brides in early 2020 and along with Guides for Brides’ director, Alison Hargreaves, was heavily involved with communicating the work of the UK Weddings Taskforce with couples and businesses.

She is a renowned industry expert and has been invited to speak at prestigious events such as The Hotel Marketing Conference, The MIA's Wedding Conference, and the Bridelux Symposium. Additionally, Nikita has been a guest lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, sharing her knowledge of the wedding sector with the events industry’s up and coming talent.

Nikita is a well-known personality among brides and grooms in the UK. She thoroughly enjoys utilising her experience to assist couples and enhance the Guides for Brides website. For wedding businesses, Nikita offers a fresh perspective, enabling them to view their sales and marketing strategies from the standpoint of potential clients.

Founder and Director of Guides for Brides

Alison is the founder of Guides for Brides, BeyondWeddings, Big Day Agency and several other wedding marketing platforms, representing, assisting and advising many of the UK's wedding venues and venue groups.

Her platforms attract over 5 million page views per year and Guides for Brides alone has 170,000 social media followers, giving valuable data and insights to help wedding venues get the best possible return on their marketing activities.

She was a founder member and Deputy Chair of the UK Weddings Taskforce, supporting venues throughout the pandemic with regular webinars while putting pressure on the Minister of Justice to allow outdoor weddings and supplying data to the government to support unrestricted weddings.

Wedding Industry Marketing Expert

Becca Pountney is the UK’s leading wedding industry marketing expert. Using her experience from owning her own wedding business combined with her previous career in media working for Endemol, BBC and Heart Radio, Becca now teaches business owners how to go from feeling invisible to totally irresistible and fully booked in their wedding business in her clear, down to earth, practical style.

Becca is no stranger to the events industry having built an award winning wedding blog and consultancy business from the ground up in 2016.

Becca is known for transforming the fortunes of businesses within the highly competitive wedding and events sector and has worked with over 1000 businesses through her courses, membership and speaking.

Becca’s mission is to inspire wedding professionals that it is possible to turn their passion into a profitable business doing what they love.

Leading Wedding Industry Sales Consultant

Kelly Mortimer is one of the world's leading voices when it comes to wedding industry training, sales & revenue.

Having personally worked at and led teams for global brands such as Claridge's in Mayfair, opening the 5* Rosewood London and Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park. Dealing with celebrities, royalty and even the late Queen Elizabeth.

Learning her craft on the ground at resorts in the Caribbean, selling 6 weddings per week before moving into the ultra-luxury end of the market with wedding budgets of up to £1million. She fully understands all levels, price points and angles of this unique industry.

Later increasing revenue by £Multi-Millions across a portfolio of 45 hotels and leading 50 wedding coordinators before starting her company in 2017.

 Now a well known speaker, trainer & consultant for wedding businesses globally.

Co-founder & CEO of Britebiz

Events & business are Eamon’s passion. He is a serial entrepreneur and is now committed to helping others grow their businesses. Eamon holds a Degree and Masters in Science followed by Professional Accountancy qualification with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Before focusing on the events industry, he also worked with Microsoft, Dell, and Zoho CRM.

After his corporate training, Eamon decided to follow his passion and has worked in weddings, production, entertainment and events for over 20 years, co-founding three successful companies. He is a public speaker and active podcaster.

An outdoor and sport lover, when not hanging out with his family, you could find Eamon playing his favorite song on guitar or piano. Eamon has worked professionally as a musician/vocalist, DJ, and has even done stand up!

Managing Director and SEO Expert, Versantus

Matt is the Managing Director and Digital Strategist at Versantus, a web development agency based in Oxford. With 25 years of experience in building and promoting websites, he has collaborated with industry leading clients in their fields, including HMV, Twinings, Rotary Watches, Silver Spoon, and Oxford University, to create bespoke digital strategies that genuinely resonate with their audiences.

Matt has a passion for helping Versantus' clients craft customer centric experiences that boost brand visibility and improve sales and leads. He studied Statistics and Data Analysis at university, meaning everything is rooted firmly in data and evidencing results. His background in applying this knowledge to conversion rate optimisation has helped clients realise measurable results and success.

By understanding each client’s vision, Matt aims to elevate their online presence and drive meaningful engagement. Matt is currently embracing AI tools, including Sora and ChatGPT, to provide a fresh perspective on navigating the digital landscape. He is excited about how these innovations can unlock new opportunities for businesses to stay competitive, enhance customer experiences, and grow their digital reach.

UK & Ireland Sales Manager at WedPro by WeddingDates and Former Wedding Planner

Alix is an experienced and dynamic speaker with over 15 years of experience in the wedding industry. She is passionate about helping venues provide personalised experiences for their couples.

Having delivered hundreds of weddings and received recognition from industry awards bodies, Alix clearly understands the day-to-day challenges faced by both wedding coordinators and general managers.

Alix regularly engages with wedding venues across the UK and Ireland engaging on strategies to boost revenues and WOW their couples. Her focus is on streamlining processes, saving time for busy teams and ensuring the delivery of memorable experiences.

Head of Consumer at Press Box PR

A seasoned journalist and PR professional, Katie has extensive experience working across both industries. Starting out as an entertainment journalist, Katie has been a part of the editorial teams at leading UK and international titles across their showbusiness and lifestyle news desks, with eight years experience as a reporter and editor at the likes of MailOnline, Daily Mail Australia, Metro, The Sun, Fabulous Magazine, MTV, OK! Magazine and Reveal Magazine.

In 2021, Katie moved over to PR to head up the Consumer department at Press Box PR, turning her attention to creating engaging and newsworthy campaigns, driving brand fame and boosting online performance for a variety of brands and clients looking to target consumer-led mainstream media.

Website Copywriter and SEO Strategist

Jennie Hawkins is your go-to website copywriter and SEO strategist for transforming indecisive browsers into your next booking. By writing compelling, persuasive copy that connects and converts, Jennie helps wedding vendors turn their website into a powerful 24/7 salesperson.

With over 15 years of experience—including roles in the digital teams at Tesla and Aston Martin—Jennie also brings her marketing expertise into the wedding industry.

She crafts web copy and messaging that appeals to emotion but is also sales-focused, strategic and data-driven.

With a digital-first mindset, she stays on top of the latest online trends from inside and outside the wedding industry.

Her mission? To help clients spend less time on time-consuming lead chasing and sales calls so they can get back to what they love most: creating Instagram-worthy wedding experiences (while their website copy does the wooing).

Strategic Director at The Conduit

With over a decade of experience in strategic leadership, event management, marketing, and operations, Jonathan has honed his skills in creating environments where collaboration and innovation thrive.

Jonathan began his career at LEGOLAND Windsor as Park Events and Production Manager. He then moved to Heritage Venues, where he developed Commercial and Operations at Lillibrooke Manor and later at Stanlake Park Wine Estate. Following this, he joined Various Eaters PLC, managing Commercials across 17 sites and five brands.

In his current role as Commercial Director at The Conduit, Jonathan leads initiatives that foster meaningful relationships and drive effective outcomes.

His approach is rooted in empathy, creativity, and a deep commitment to fostering connections that drive real change—all while maintaining a focus on commercial success.

Deputy Lifestyle Editor at Hello! Magazine

Nichola has spent over 8 years working in journalism and joined HELLO! in 2019. She is responsible for the weddings vertical, which has seen exclusive coverage of celebrity engagements, weddings, and the launch of HELLO!'s Bride Guide newsletter.