Claudia Hanlin’s company, the Wedding Library, is a leader in the bridal industry and is synonymous with high-end bridal vendors and celebrations. It all started with her vision to create a centralized place to bring together brides with reputable vendors. When Claudia was first married in the mid-nineties, her wedding sparked another life journey for the enterprising young bride, beyond her marriage commitment. She realized that planning a wedding was a “cumbersome process at best” and so, she decided to do something about it.
“I’ve been doing this for about 20 years, and in that time, my business model has evolved many times. At first, I created the Wedding Library as a better way of finding great vendors. Eventually, I was asked to actually plan weddings and from there, because I wanted a bridal-centric consulting space, I started to keep a collection of curated bridesmaid dresses, stationery and other items that I thought would work best for my brides. Before I knew it, the bridesmaid line grew and led to my bridesmaid boutique which became the flagship store for Amsale along with a dozen other well-known brands.
“At the height of this period, I was selling 5,000+ dressed a year as well as planning 30-40 weddings along with my team. It was also at this time that the internet really started to take hold and bigger players like The Knot and WeddingWire were introduced. I realized that it would be difficult to compete with them as a niche player, recommending vendors one-by-one in an in-person environment.”
“I knew it was time for me to evolve again. I first reshaped the Wedding Library to focus more on high-end weddings because I realized that I couldn’t be everything to everyone. Last year, I sold off the bridesmaid business and have now decided to do what I love the most about weddings: the design and synthesizing the decor, stationery, fashion, layout and even the couples’ registry gifts.”
Within the bridal industry, Claudia is a style-maker and influencer. Having been in the industry for two decades, she has had a hand in helping establish some of today’s celebrity vendors along with defining the luxury segment in general. “There is a huge difference in how brides are planning their weddings today versus 20 years ago,” she adds. “It used to be, when we had a brick and mortar store, brides would pop in at least once a week to talk, discuss ideas or shoot the breeze. Today, I’m lucky if I see a bride 5-6 times before the wedding. They are relying more on technology to communicate. Although I am still communicating with them via hundreds of texts, emails, google docs, sharing of inspiration boards and images, conference calls and Skype.”
This isn’t a bad thing, she explains, but advises brides that many bridal vendors, including herself, are creatives and their process often suffers if it’s rushed, or answers are expected in minutes. It’s something that people forget in today’s instant-gratification world.
Another major shift that Claudia has noticed is the move to being mindful of the environment. Whereas before, brides concerns revolved around proper etiquette, today, brides are insisting on creating their events in an eco-conscious manner. “I’m finding that brides are shying away from designs that are obviously wasteful, and are putting serious thought into how to recycle or reuse the leftover decorations and flowers from their event,” says Claudia. “It’s gratifying to see that the general mood is shifting to caring about each other and our shared world.”
She is also seeing more older brides getting married and comments that “older brides come with a great deal of perspective when it comes to planning their weddings. A more mature couple is looking to take care of her guests and make the experience more about friends and family than about themselves. Younger brides often focus on how their wedding is perceived to their friends and now, social media.”
“One isn’t better than the other, it’s a matter of different life expectations,” she adds. “And as a planner with so much experience, I understand how to treat each bride respectfully and cater to their needs.”
It’s Claudia’s experience and innovation that has kept her at the forefront of the bridal industry and now, she wants to share that knowledge with her peers. Claudia is regularly called upon as an expert on the industry and is asked to speak at various conferences and bridal events. “I want to teach brides how to work with a planner, what to expect in a quality vendor, how to make decisions about their wedding that they will be happy with and demonstrate how to keep a fresh perspective on the bridal business in today’s ever-changing society.”
Additionally, Claudia was the owner and producer of the popular Martha Stewart’s Wedding Party, a yearly bridal show that brought together around 100 luxury vendors personally selected by Claudia and over 1,000 brides in a fun and fashion-forward one-day bridal extravaganza.
Disruptor, planner, businesswoman and teacher are all terms that can be used to describe Claudia Hanlin, but perhaps the most important term of all and the one that has kept her a leader for two decades is innovator.
Claudia Hanlin will be a featured speaker at The Style Salon, a bridal event celebrating multicultural weddings. New York City, Oct 9th, 2019.
