Lexington, KY - Winter may not be the most popular time to get married, but for Kentucky wedding gurus Jacki Allen and Jaimeson Gann, the work never ends - especially at the time of year when 60 percent of engagements happen. The mother-daughter team has officially been a partnership for five years, and their enterprise has included publishing a magazine and creating Lexington's own bridal show, as well as planning weddings and events together.
Allen began her business in 1997, after working in corporate event planning for Toyota. For her, being a small business owner has meant wearing a lot of hats. Routine business activities such as keeping an artful website updated and staying on top of social media can take up a lot of time. In addition to being constantly on call for brides and publishing their magazine, Allen and Gann must be knowledgable on business topics ranging from taxes and bookkeeping to accounting and payroll.
Gann started helping her mother when she was in high school, both with the bridal show as well as the preparations for weddings. In 2008, she rejoined her mother's business, which was expanding to include the publication of the bridal magazine.
Gann said that their magazine, Jacki Allen's Kentucky Bride, offers something different to brides in Kentucky that they cannot get from other national magazines.
"I think that is why we do so well, because we still have that connection with the brides and we know what they are going to want to look for in a magazine," she said.
Allen has a hope that her magazine can help brides in Kentucky plan their own weddings.
"I really feel for young women who are not in this business and have no idea where to start, and who, from their perspective, do not have enough of a budget for a planner, and that is really the defining force behind Kentucky Bride magazine," Allen said.
Their other aim is to showcase Kentucky itself, as the interviews and bridal products they present are all from Kentucky companies. The women think it is especially fun working with brides who do not live in Lexington but want to get married here and who want to showcase Kentucky. Clients usually have some connection to Kentucky; often they are coming back home, or they met their spouses in Lexington or attended college here.
The pair loves to plan tours for guests and create great Kentucky welcome bags. According to Gann, there is no better place to get married.
"We are blessed with a beautiful backdrop," she said. "That is our biggest advantage."
Although they have heard that national averages indicate that many couples are putting off getting married in tough economic times, Gann and her mother have not seen a significant change in their business, she said. People are still getting married.
"One bride's priority could be her wedding gown; another bride's could be photography," Allen said. "So it still seems that whatever their priority is, they are still going to spend their money on that one thing that is important for them. And hopefully, with the help we give in the magazine, the rest of it can still be what they want it to be."
Allen and Gann want to present their Kentucky brides with realism. Roughly 1 percent of brides have no budget, while about 10 percent have great budgets, they said. People like to look at those expensive weddings and take ideas from them, but they need to be able to adapt those things to their own budgets.
Allen and Gann have become exceptionally familiar with wedding and party vendors through their work as wedding planners and through hosting the bridal show. These connections are vital to their business, which influenced the personal decision they both made to elope. Allen went to the Biltmore Estate with her husband, and Gann went with her husband and three family members to Vegas, since neither thought they would have been able to choose who to help them on their own wedding.
Their mother-daughter relationship has served them well, they said. Allen described it as a yin-and-yang relationship, where she has the big ideas and Gann stays much more focused and on point.
"You are not going to trust anyone else more than you are your family," Gann said. "The positive for me is being able to work side by side with another great creative mind."
Allen added, "The negative part of working with each other every day is that, sometimes extending to nights and weekends, our mother-daughter relationship is put on the back burner, and it is more business partners and work associates. So that is the biggest challenge we have."
On January 8, Allen and Gann will be revamping the Kentucky Bride Bridal Show into something more elegant, but still at the usual price, they said. The event, to be hosted at Spindletop Hall, will include greeting by valet attendants, red-carpet entry, signature cocktails, dancing demonstrations and more. Tickets are $10 for those that pre-register and $15 at the door. For more information, check the website http://www.HowCharmingEvent.com.