Ever wondered how bridal gowns land in your favorite wedding magazines or how they end up being showcased in bridal shops? Let's unravel the mystery with our guest, Kate Walters from Coded Agency, a full-service marketing agency with a significant influence in the bridal industry. She discusses how influential marketing strategies help designers make a mark and sell their gowns -shedding light on the power of media relations, influencer marketing, and event services in getting those awe-inspiring dresses discovered on social media and placed in bridal shops.
We also take a detour into the realm of bridal media outlets, focusing on the process of getting wedding gowns and weddings featured on esteemed platforms like The Knot, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Over the Moon.
Kate also shares her invaluable advice for brides looking to get their weddings highlighted on these platforms.
Special series season in partnership with Coded Agency ___
Coded Agency has over 10 years of experience with New York Bridal Fashion Week ranging from runway shows, press presentations, to designer-hosted dinners and one-on-one media market appointments. Our agency expertise far exceeds the traditional agency understanding of the bridal industry and our representation has consisted of global bridal brands to boutique designers and everything in-between.
About Kelly: Kelly knows how incredible a well planned wedding can be. Every moment counts and every decision plays a part. Wedding planning should be fun and as easy to do as possible. Besides planning weddings, Kelly travels the globe as an industry speaker. Kelly is a Martha Stewart Top Wedding Planner & this podcast won Brides magazine and WeddingWire's best podcast.
Hello and welcome to this versus that. Making wedding decisions with Kelly McWilliams. This podcast is for you if you're making a wedding decision and want to know what to consider before saying I do to all the things that will make your wedding experience a great one. I'm your host, kelly McWilliams, and I'm so glad to be a part of your wedding planning journey. In each episode, you can count on me and my expert wedding co-hosts to give you everything it takes to make the best decisions for the wedding that you're dreaming of.
Speaker 1:
And we're back. I don't know why I keep saying that I haven't gotten anywhere. This is a very special episode because this is so behind the scenes, like three steps back from what you guys always see when you go shopping or when you watch the runway shows. This is my interview with Kate Walters from Coded Agency, so I brought her on really like hoping to kind of explain to you like how, what you, how we get from the designers who work so hard to make these gorgeous gowns for you to the gowns showing up in the salons for you, in the bridal shops, and one of the ways that that happens in one of the ways that people get familiar with them, is through a press agency. So Coded PR I'm sorry, coded Agency is the one to brought me here and everyone that the majority of the people that we're talking to are their clients, and so they're going to talk a little bit about you know how to get your wedding featured in things, but I just want you to know that it's it's people like Kate and these agencies that make sure that the designers become known, and because if they're not known, then they don't end up in the shops and that's where you find all of your dresses and you know all the inspiration that you see. You know, you know within social media and in the press and like on. You know Bridescom and Martha Stewart and Over the Moon and all of these places. This is how they get found and I just, I really am now just obsessed with this company and the people, the ladies that run it.
Speaker 1:
It is absolutely astounding so, but I love what they chose to talk about during this interview. I thought it was so kind of them to be thinking of you and what you might want to hear about. So enjoy, as a reminder hundreds of people walking by, there's models and designers and racks flying through, and the coffee shop 15 feet away, but here Melange de Wauquist is awesome. I'm so excited to be in this environment and so just pardon any background noise that you hear, because it's all real deal.
Speaker 1:
Kate, thank you so much for coming. Thank you first for having me here in the Code of PR lounge. We're so delighted you're here. Oh, I love it. It's been so much fun meeting all the designers and asking them the questions and having these conversations. I want to talk about Code of the Agency, but can we talk about how Code of the Agency real quickly fits in with the whole, like how it leads into what our brides, who are listening to this, get, like how it starts from you guys and works its way down through, like Melange de Wonca, the designers? Yeah, very quickly.
Speaker 1:
And then I want to talk about like how they can end up in winning magazines because everyone like so many brides want that yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:
Well, we're a full service marketing agency and offering media relations influence for marketing event services.
Speaker 2:
We have a presence in LA and New York, as well as in France, and we're privileged to work with some of the most talented bridal designers and entities in the industry, melange de Wonca being one of them, and they're really a platform for designers to grow and sell, be discovered, land on brides and an opportunity for brides to really find their perfect dress for their perfect day.
Speaker 2:
So our role in that is oftentimes through media relations for influencer marketing, working with content creators to get beautiful dresses and looks out there for people to discover on social media. Or if you're engaged and you suddenly realize I'm obsessed with the knot and brides and green wedding shoes and over the moon and all of these media outlets that are dedicated to all things bridal, if you're seeing designers there, it's likely that an agency like ours has helped facilitate that placement. So we help the editors that are out there in the market looking at all the collections. We give them reasons to cover our designers and to have them featured there so that brides can then go and learn more or walk into a boutique and say, do you carry Willowby my waters, or I'm looking for them, because they found you that way, right exactly Through their discovery process of them looking for their wedding looks are going to be OK. Honestly, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:
I don't know.
Speaker 2:
It's like actually how it all happened Like magic, and I've been here for 22 years, not here obviously, but in this industry, so that's so cool to learn that.
Speaker 1:
Ok, so you bring it to them. So often I hear as a wedding planner Kelly, how do I get my wedding in a magazine? How do I? Well, there's not too many magazines left, unfortunately. I do miss essays, but how do I get my wedding on something like Over the Moon or on bridescom or anything like that?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I mean there's a couple of different ways to do it. It really depends on the outlet that you're targeting Everything from an engagement story in that section of the New York Times to real weddings being covered at places like the Knot or bridescom, martha Stewart weddings, all those online platforms. To the smaller blogs like Over the Moon I say smaller, but they have a really depth in the bridal industry, so their reach is just as valuable as something with millions of followers.
Speaker 2:
So it comes either through an agency like ours and oftentimes we're lucky enough to work with a designer who also then happens to get engaged and so we work with them to have their wedding placed. Other times, brides can submit their own weddings. There's a really fun platform called Love Stories TV that loves video content oh, I've seen that.
Speaker 2:
And you can submit to have your wedding there. It's a great place for inspiration too. You can just check out a ton of different videos of different actual, real weddings. The one advice I would give is, when you are exploring this process, make sure you're taking care of your vendors and that you are crediting all the people that made your day possible and those websites. They want to know who was your event planner, who was your caterer, who did your flowers, so just be prepared to provide them with that context. If you're trying to get your engagement story placed, you need beautiful content of that engagement. That could happen in a local magazine in your town, or it could be something on a bigger scale.
Speaker 1:
So it's all possible, Because we were talking earlier, and weren't you saying that even New York Times covers things like that, Like there's so many different opportunities, especially starting in the beginning with engagements and things like that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, typically within New York Times they want a New York connection.
Speaker 1:
So they want it to feel local.
Speaker 2:
But if you've got a great story, people love a love story.
Speaker 1:
So get yours out there.
Speaker 2:
That's awesome.
Speaker 1:
Something that. So you guys, the coded agency, built this podcast studio in the large of one. Like how walking, I feel so famous. Just sitting here, there's a curcowalls and you guys have heard the coffee I'm going through the last couple of days, but also leave up this little table in here. I wish you guys could see this. With the shoes, it's from Famous Footwear, right, and so they have this whole wedding line of shoes that I did not even know, when I think they have Famous Footwear. I think we're going into the sneakers you know running or something like that but they've got heels. I've got the destination shoes, the cowboy boots.
Speaker 2:
That's fun, right? Yeah, it's so fun, so fun.
Speaker 1:
So even that is something that you guys they're applying to yours, yeah. Yeah, so, and just like even bringing that in here. So it's something else that the vinyl swan owners can think about, like, ok, it's going to be paired with, even if you keep in their shop to send up and say, hey, oh, you can get this with Famous Footwear or whatnot. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and our, our bridal editors that are coming through and meeting designers this week. You know it's really a chance for them to consider Famous as a resource for the stories that they're telling. And, oh, famous is a great destination. They have all of the brands that our brides are going to recognize. They have tons of options for the entire family, from the little flower girl to the mother of the bride and to all the events. You know, whether it's your shower or your land is for your honeymoon.
Speaker 1:
So it's a great, great resource. Well, I'm so glad you're coming today. Thank you again for having me here, and this is a delight, oh, thank you, you make it so easy.
Speaker 2:
Everybody has left this boot thinking like, wow, that was so easy it is so easy because we're just talking about I mean these weddings.
Speaker 1:
I mean he doesn't love weddings and I know that you guys do more than just weddings, but we appreciate you and now that I understand and everyone else now understands how this all comes down the hill, you know. So, thank you, we really appreciate your mark in the market. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. Bye-bye, I'm so glad to be able to share my wedding experiences and expertise with you, and that my co-hosts are so giving it theirs. We truly do want you to have the best time at your wedding, and our hope is that this podcast is helping you to make your engagement time while planning your wedding that much easier.
Speaker 1:
May I ask a favor of you? If this is the case, would you just take a moment to leave a review of this podcast on your listening platform? It helps people just like you to find the podcast and to also find out their answer so they can make decisions. I would also absolutely love for you to give this Versus that podcast a shout out on your social media. You can find us at this Versus that wedding podcast on Instagram and, if you would like me to help you with a specific question a wedding decision? Please by all means ask. Send me a DM. I would love to hear from you and maybe, just maybe, even have you as a wedding cast on a future episode. How fun. Here's to another great wedding.