ImaginativePRO Blog

HOW LOVERLY.COM IS TRANSFORMING THE $160 BIL WEDDING INDUSTRY BY MAKING IT EASIER TO PLAN A WEDDING

ANYONE WHO'S PLANNED A WEDDING KNOWS THAT THE PROCESS HAS AS MANY PAIN POINTS AS IT DOES PLEASURES, TO THE POINT THAT IT INSPIRED LOVERLY FOUNDER AND CEO KELLEE KHALIL TO LAUNCH A STARTUP AROUND THEM.

Kellee Khalil never had a startup idea big enough to pursue. Then, just over two years ago, her sister got engaged.

She says in a video for the Daily Muse. 

"Talk about intense."

Already working together, the sisters were now planning a wedding, too--which, if you haven't heard, can easily snowball into a $20,000+ project with with a plethora of stakeholders.

Loverly.com Homepage (Click Image To Enlarge)

Loverly.com Categories page (Click Image To Enlarge)

Loverly.com Shopping page (Click Image To Enlarge)

Khalil had met her match: Could wedding complexities be solved? Could you simplify it by giving brides and vendors and retailers and brands a platform to connect on? Khalil thought so.  she remembers thinking.

"Why does this not exist?"

Then:

"Let's build it."

So a month after sis got married, Khalil took everything she had and jumped into the New York tech scene, launching Loverly.

 

In identifying an issue and leaping at its solution, she spins a new version of a familiar founder story--as Alexa von Tobel sought to solve the financial riddles of early adulthood with LearnVest and Alex Hawkinson wanted to turn your dumb stuff into SmartThings, Loverly shows that when you find your frustration, there's no time to lose.

Khalil asks.

"There's a limited window, right?  For each opportunity there's a clock ticking. Who's going to build it the best, the fastest, who's going to solve the problem?"

Click Image To Enlarge

With a beautiful redesign (search by color!), 30 million images viewed a month, and partnerships with the likes of Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and Etsy, Lovery is poised to do just that.

COMMENTARY:  Having been involved in planning a wedding (my own) and consulted for several wedding planners and caterring businesses, I agree with Kellee Khalil that an easier solution to the problem of planning a wedding is needed.    If you are smart, you will not tackle this job yourself, and hire a professional wedding planner.

I love that Loverly.com allows couples and newlyweds to share their wedding planning ideas on the site.  Having perused the site, there is an abundance of wedding planning ideas.  If it's been done, it is probably on Loverly.com.   Loverly.com makes it easier to find specific ideas, by breaking them into categories like "Gift" ideas below.

Loverly.com Gift Ideas Category (Click Image To Enlarge)

Loverly.com provides shopping users, and I assume it's not doing this for free, but getting a cut of everything sold through its website. Items include dresses, shoes, jewelery, wedding gifts, etc. Some of the vendors selling on Loverly.com include Ann Taylor, Kate Spade, Nordstrom, BHLDN, Nicole Miller, Oscar De La Renta, Jimmy Choo, to name a few.  

Courtesy of an article dated March 15, 2013 appearing in Fast Company  

MARK ZUCKERBERG MARRIES GIRLFRIEND PRISCILLA CHAN IN A SECRET WEDDING, 100 CLOSE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES ATTENDED

Mark Zuckerberg married long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan on Saturday, May 19, 2012 in a secret wedding in the backyard of their Palo Alto, California home.  (Click Image To Enlarge)

The Facebook billionaire, 28, topped off a remarkable week with a surprise wedding Saturday to college sweetheart Priscilla Chan, 27. A hoodie was good enough for his pre-IPO meeting with Wall Street investors, but Zuckerberg — either by his own choice or at the insistence of his fiancee — donned a big-boy suit, white shirt and tie to mark the occasion. Yes, some things are sacred.

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan wedding picture (Click Image To Enlarge)

The wedding announcement was classic Facebook: Zuckerberg simply updated his profile to: “Married Priscilla Chan.” The news had almost 850,000 “likes” Sunday evening.

Mark Zuckerberg announces marriage to Priscilla Chan on his Facebook page (Click Image To Enlarge)

The couple pulled off the stealth nuptials by inviting 100 guests to what they thought was a surprise party for Chan, who graduated from medical school at the University of California at San Francisco last Monday — which also happened to be Zuckerberg’s birthday.   He posted during the commencement ceremony.

“I’m so proud of you, Dr. Chan :).” 

But the surprise was on their friends: The wedding had been in the works for months, a friend of the couple told the Associated Press; the fact that it came one day after Facebook debuted on the stock market was entirely coincidental.

Details quickly leaked out, although none of the guests were willing to be quoted on the record.

• The ceremony took place in the backyard of the newlyweds’ Palo Alto, Calif., home.
• The bride wore a white dress with a lace overlay and received a simple ruby wedding ring designed by Zuckerberg.
• Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong sang, according to the Mercury News. 
• Dinner came from the couple’s two favorite restaurants, Palo Alto Sol and Fuki Sushi. For dessert, there were Burdick Chocolate “mice” (tiny chocolate truffles in the shape of mice), which they ate during their first date. (Awww.)

What’s most impressive (aside from Zuck’s suit) was that they managed to keep it under wraps. Celebrity weddings usually leak out from a guest or vendor, which makes a secret A-list ceremony like John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s so rare. Chan and Zuckerberg used the classic bait-and-switch tactic employed by Julia Roberts for her Fourth of July marriage to Danny Moder in 2004: Invite all your friends for a party, then spring the wedding on them. All your loved ones in attendance, but no advance gossip.

The Chinese-American bride grew up in the Boston suburbs and began dating Zuckerberg when they were students at Harvard. Zuckerberg, scheduled to graduate in 2006, dropped out to run his company; Chan received her undergraduate degree in 2007. She spent a couple years teaching science before entering medical school, where she specialized in pediatrics — and inspired Zuckerberg to promote organ donation on Facebook. (Read more about Priscilla Chan, tech’s newest first lady.)

Mark Zuckerberg poses with Priscilla Chan after her Harvard graduation ceremony (Click Image To Enlarge)

Although the two have been dating for nine years, Chan was famously not depicted in the 2010 film “The Social Network,” (click to see my blog post) the cinematic account of Facebook’s creation. The movie opens with Zuckerberg’s getting dumped by a girlfriend, which allegedly sparked what would become his social media explosion. The movie included a few random groupies, but no serious love interest — a better dramatic narrative than the real story: Zuckerberg and Chan have been in a serious relationship throughout his spectacular rise to worldwide fame and fortune. (Another reason, ladies, to give those college geeks a shot.)

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan pose in the kitchen of their home in Palo Alto after preparing Thanksgiving Day dinner for a small group of friends  (Click Image To Enlarge)

Public reaction to the marriage ranged from hilariously obvious to genuinely funny and even kind of mean.

Steve Case tweeted.  

“Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg weds on day after IPO #aweektoremember.”

Daily Show head writer Tim Carvel tweeted:

“Congratulations, Mark Zuckerberg! As a gift, I got you the names of all my friends, a list of my favorite movies, and some photos of me!”

And there were plenty of folks who wondered whether the newlyweds had a prenuptial agreement. Reps for Zuckerberg didn’t respond to requests for comment, but anyone worth $19 billion who gets married in a community property state would be an idiot not to have a prenup. Zuckerberg, love him or hate him, is no idiot.

Donald Trump, unaware of the impending wedding, speculated about Zuckerberg’s future on CNBC on Tuesday:

“They get married, and then for some reason over the next couple of years they get divorced and then she sues him for $10 billion and she hits the jackpot.”

Trump thinks the new Mrs. Zuckerberg should get much less:

“I’m notoriously cheap with these things, I think if she made $1 million, that would be very good.”

But it was old-fashioned love, not money, that Zuckerberg’s sisters cared about: Arielle wrote,

“Now I’m the only unmarried Zuckerberg. . .”;

Randi posted,

“This week = :) :) :) :)”

COMMENTARY:   I have been poking fun at Mark Zuckerberg and his girlfriend Priscilla Chan since I found out that he had a girlfriend.   I won't poke fun on this very special occasion. Congratulations to Mark and Priscilla, and may you have a very happy marriage that lasts foreverrrr.  

Courtesy of an article dated May 26, 2012 appearing in the Washington Post