Name: Sarah Glick & Sarah Pease of Brilliant Event Planning
Website: www.brillianteventplanning.com
About them: Brilliant Event Planning was founded in 2008 by Sarah Pease. Today, they serve New York City and Boston and plan weddings worldwide. They are known for making the extraordinary possible, whether it’s a fantasy wedding or a dream marriage proposal. Brilliant is the place were vivid imagination meets fierce organization, all under one roof.
What publicity have you received for your business?
Our very first feature looong ago was in Manhattan Bride Magazine. I’m proud to say, since then, we’ve been featured on CNN, The Knot, The Today Show, E!, Good Morning America, Fox, The New York Times, ABC, Anderson Live, Style Me Pretty, Brides, The New York Post, The Huffington Post, Glamour, HGTV’s Cake Boss, Elle, and The Wall Street Journal, to name a few!
I remember the first publication we got on the front page of was Style Me Pretty – there was definitely an office-wide cheer when it went live!
Ă‚Â Was getting publicity a deliberate part of your marketing strategy?
Yes. The wedding business is a word-of-mouth referral system, so name recognition is key. If you’re in the newspapers and magazines, online, and on TV, it increases your chances of being mentioned later on by someone looking to hire a planner.
Amen!Ă‚Â How were you able to get featured in some many press outlets?
We’ve always been very proactive about publicity. We started small with local blogs and magazines and as our company (and weddings) grew, so did our submissions and features. Of course, it helps to make personal connections with reporters to understand what we can do to make their jobs easier. And we always solicit feedback when a submission is declined so that we can learn what the outlet is looking for and improve for future submissions.
I think asking for feedback is a great tip! How has media attention changed your business?
It has helped in 3Ă‚Â significant ways: Ă‚Â One is to get the word out about Brilliant Event Planning.Ă‚Â Couples will see a gorgeous wedding on their favorite blogĂ‚Â or in aĂ‚Â magazine at their local bodega and decide to visit our website.Ă‚Â When they land on our website, the press placement logos help to reassure them that we are the caliber of planner they’re searching for and reinforces that we’re the best at what we do.Ă‚Â Finally, it’s also our experience that press begets more press… being featured in smaller outlets often results in attention from a larger outlet.
With all this experience, what advice would you give to wedding professionals looking to get publicity?
Publish, publish, publish! Set a goal to publish every event you do (no matter what size publication it ends up in).Ă‚Â Be sure to dedicate time and resources to accomplish it consistently – not just in the low season – and watch your press placements grow as you stick to your plan.
Some examples of the processes we have put in place are:
- ensure our client contract has a standard image-release clause
- request photographer selects within 2 weeks of the delivery of images to the client
- ensure the photographer knows we are planning to submit
- store all selects in a secure online gallery that logs the photographer name, client name and venue in an easily searchable & downloadable place
- schedule a blog post and gallery collage to publish on our site right after the media hit goes live
Sarahs, these are amazing and specific tips. Thank you for sharing!
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