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 3 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 regularly engages with the community through Guides for Brides' TikTok account, while also attending and speaking at industry exhibitions, focusing on budgeting for wedding days. Furthermore, she has been the host of Guides for Brides - The Wedding Podcast since its inception in 2021.

As a October 2023 bride, Nikita thoroughly enjoys utilising her personal wedding planning 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.

Venue Consultant, Business Coach & High-End Customer Experience Consultant

Kelly is an events industry professional of over 25 years having previously planned 6-figure weddings for over 150 discerning global couples within her own wedding planning business.

A Wedding Venue Business Consultant since 2014 to many of the UK’s finest country homes, rural estates, unique London landmarks and luxury hotel groups, Kelly helps the teams behind those properties to thrive, to develop and nurture their offering, to grow sales, grow profit, enter new luxury markets and achieve ambitious goals with a combination of bespoke consulting and training options.

Kelly is a diversified business owner and a multi-revenue stream entrepreneur. A live-long learner and personal development devotee, she’s also a Master Coach & Success Coach to high-achievers, helping them to do the inner work to create their best life blend.

Kelly is passionate about psychology and the neuroscience of the human mind, along with how understanding ourselves and others and using this to build customer relationships is so powerful in creating next level customer experience, unstoppable sales and business success. This is the subject of Kelly’s session.

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 Expert on Telephone Engagement

Anthony Stears, the renowned "Telephone Assassin" and leading expert on Telephone Engagement, will be gracing the UK Wedding Conference with his expertise. Join him as he discusses the vital topic of preventing pipeline constipation and shares invaluable tips on generating leads, building confidence, and creating rapport over the phone.

With a passion for empowering businesses to enhance customer service levels and drive sales results, Anthony's approach is particularly effective for cultivating low volume, high-value sales leads that are typically unresponsive to cold calls. He also specialises in guiding account managers to "Up-Serve" existing clients, proving that exceptional service is the driving force behind successful sales, regardless of the industry.

If you're looking for ways to generate quality leads and connect with the right people without feeling like a natural "salesman," Anthony's blend of marketing and sales techniques is precisely what you need.

Join us at the UK Wedding Conference and discover the secrets to unlocking the power of telephone engagement. Gain valuable insights on nurturing customer relationships, elevating sales results, and preventing pipeline constipation.

Founder of Occasion Queens & Wedding Venue Consultant

Nina Beer is the founder of Occasion Queens, the pioneering company that brought On The Day Wedding Coordination to the forefront of the UK wedding industry. With 20 years of experience in events, she has honed her expertise over the last 7 years, focusing on weddings and successfully orchestrating over 400 beautiful celebrations.

As Occasion Queens evolved, Nina expanded her offerings beyond specialist coordination services for couples and into venue consultancy. After selling the company in 2023, she continues to provide freelance support to wedding planners as well as working with the brand to provide expert consultancy for wedding venues. She offers these locations guidance in launching new wedding services, revitalising existing offerings, and providing full event management support.

Nina's continued work directly with couples, venues and wedding suppliers gives her a unique insight that ensures the wedding venues she collaborates with are primed for success from day one. The range of her clients includes exclusive use barns, elegant manor houses, as well as renowned brands like Fullers Brewery and Hyatt.

Co-Founder of SW Events and The Asian Wedding Club

LaToya Patel is the co-founder of SW Events and The Asian Wedding Club. Specialising in Asian Weddings since 2012, she flawlessly orchestrates large luxury weddings and multi-day celebrations.

Her wedding planning expertise extends to diverse venues, from historic spaces to hotel ballrooms and charming barns, accommodating a wide mix of backgrounds and ceremonies. Beyond her role as a wedding planner, she is an entrepreneur and passionate wedding industry representative. With speaking engagements at esteemed events like the Bridelux Symposium and significant roles such as Chairperson for the UK Weddings Taskforce, LaToya is a highly regarded expert and advocate for the sector.

As a judge for The Wedding Industry Awards and Guides for Brides’ Customer Service Awards, LaToya sets a standard of excellence, continually elevating and encouraging those within the industry to deliver the very best service they can for their clients.

UK & Ireland Sales Manager, WeddingDates

Alix is an experienced and dynamic speaker with 15 years experience in the wedding industry.

Eight of those 15 years were spent as a wedding planner across exclusive use country houses, hotels and event caterers. 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. Her focus is on streamlining processes, saving time for busy teams and ensuring the delivery of memorable experiences to couples.

Recently announced as Winner of Best Hotel Technology Product (under 100 employees) at the Boutique Hotelier Awards in London, in October 2023 WedPro by WeddingDates is the most recent addition to the WeddingDates toolkit. A comprehensive suite of tools, WedPro will streamline operations including managing wedding enquiries, calendars and bookings, generating reports, and providing easy communication with couples. Overcoming capacity and conversion challenges WedPro helps to boost revenues through data insights.

Outside of work, Alix has 2 young daughters and is keenly interested in child development and different pedagogical approaches.

Founder, Sustainable Wedding Alliance

Michelle is the founder of the Sustainable Wedding Alliance, a purpose driven organisation driving sustainable change in the wedding industry. The Alliance works with businesses of all sizes to help them to understand sustainability, what it means for them, and how they can develop long term sustainable strategies that will benefit people, profit and planet.

Businesses that become members are assessed on their sustainability processes and procedures, and receive a personalised action plan to make appropriate changes. Membership also includes accreditation, for those businesses who achieve a minimum standard.

She is an Associate member of IEMA and holds a Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management.

Michelle is passionate about creating a more sustainable wedding industry, through education, support and accreditation.

In addition, Michelle also runs Fusion Events and Weddings, with a focus on organising environmentally conscious events and weddings for clients across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire.

Digital PR Strategist at Impression

Emma is a Digital PR Strategist at Impression, drawing from her four-year background in both agency and in-house settings. Her background spans both traditional and digital PR, which she utilises throughout her clients' PR strategies.

Emma's passion lies in catering to luxury consumer brands, where she thrives on implementing reactive strategies to position her clients as credible experts in their industry fields.

Notably, her approach has led her clients to secure coverage in renowned national and lifestyle publications, including The Independent, The Telegraph, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Hello magazine, and more.

Sam & Steve Photography; Experienced Wedding Photographer and Sales Expert

Meet Steve Vaughan - a seasoned wedding and event photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. Steve has been in the wedding photography industry since 2012. Throughout his career, he and his partner Sam have captured the love and joy of countless couples, shooting an impressive 25 to 35 weddings annually.

Before diving into the world of photography, Steve had an impressive career in the corporate world. Armed with a degree in Chemistry, he spent over 25 years excelling in corporate sales, sales management, and general management in Laboratory Instrumentation. His expertise even led him to manage and run exhibition stands in various international cities, including New York, New Orleans, Chicago, LA, Orlando, London, Paris, and Berlin.

Throughout his photography career, Steve has witnessed the immense potential that wedding fairs hold. His ability to effectively capitalise on these events has significantly contributed to his thriving photography business.

Steve will be speaking all about his experience in this area, helping wedding business owners and venue teams to sell more weddings when they attend wedding fairs and national exhibitions.

Marketing Manager at Versantus

Luke is an experienced Marketing Manager, currently heading up the Marketing team at Versantus, a Website Development and Marketing Agency in Oxford.

With a decade of experience leading teams agency side, Luke has enjoyed success building traffic and converting leads for businesses across a breadth of B2B and B2C industries. Luke plays a key role in helping new businesses find their feet and establish themselves online, and also taking businesses with a more established online presence to the next stage.

Luke's early background behind the camera in the film industry eventually led him to explore the world of YouTube, where his editing and eye for detail expanded to content creation. Realising the value of great, engaging content, Luke joined his first marketing agency in 2015 where he quickly honed his skills in SEO, Paid Advertising, eMarketing, and Social Media engagement. Luke has successfully delivered successful campaigns for all manners of businesses, from driving new business for landscape gardeners to promoting the public image of BTEC courses. He now runs orchestrates the in house marketing strategies for Versantus and their global portfolio of clients.

Having joined Versantus in 2023, Luke now works closely with the Guides for Brides marketing team, helping them continue to deliver their hugely successful Guides for Brides digital platform.