Wedding professionals, your moment for global recognition has arrived! The Wedding Academy proudly introduces the Global Wedding Excellence Awards (GWEA) – our inaugural celebration of exceptional talent throughout the wedding industry.
After mentoring over 8,000 wedding professionals across two decades, we've witnessed the extraordinary passion, creativity, and dedication that defines this industry. Now, we're creating the spotlight you deserve. Whether you're a planner crafting flawless events, a photographer capturing timeless moments, or a newcomer bringing fresh innovation, GWEA offers the perfect platform to showcase your excellence to the world.
The awards span eight global regions including Asia, Africa, Europe, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East, with categories covering every specialty from planning and venues to floristry and entertainment. Our unique process combines public appreciation with expert evaluation – after applications close April 30th, public voting will determine finalists before our distinguished panel selects winners to be announced July 1st, 2025.
Winning means more than just bragging rights. Recipients gain powerful industry validation, extensive media coverage, marketing opportunities, and official badges that differentiate you in a competitive marketplace. Most importantly, it's your chance to be recognized for the magic you create behind the scenes every day.
Ready to take your place among the best? Submit your nomination at weddingacademyglobal.com/awards today. With over 100 entries already received, this promises to be a landmark event celebrating wedding professionals worldwide. Your extraordinary work deserves extraordinary recognition – join us in this celebration of wedding excellence!
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Episode Transcript
Hi everyone.
It's Jack here doing a littlespecial episode by myself,
because I have some really,really big news to share with
you all.
I am absolutely beyond excitedabout this.
If you're in the weddingindustry, this is pretty big.
For the first time ever,wedding Academy are rolling out
(00:24):
a global awards program thatcelebrates the absolute best in
our industry.
It's called the Global WeddingExcellence Awards, or for short
GWEA, and we are kicking offright now.
The nominations are open forthese inaugural awards.
So if you've been hustlingbehind the scenes, creating
(00:46):
magical moments and makingdreams come true, and you've
ever thought I wish there was away to get recognized for all of
this hard work, well this isyour moment.
So, the GWEA awards we'recreating these to celebrate
excellence, innovation andtalent, and also up and coming
talent as well.
So, amongst a whole range ofawards that we are going to be
(01:10):
giving out, one of them is BestNewcomer, which is great, really
exciting for those of you whoare just getting started.
We're going to be shining thespotlight on planners, venues,
florists, caterers,photographers, djs, celebrants,
entertainers you name it.
For over 20 years, the WeddingAcademy has mentored and trained
over 8,000 weddingprofessionals worldwide, so
(01:31):
we've seen firsthand how muchpassion goes into this industry
and now it's really time to giveyou guys the recognition you
deserve.
So let me fill you in on how itworks.
Nominations are now open andthe best part is you can
nominate yourself or someonethat you think deserves it.
All you need to do is go to thewebsite weddingacademyglobalcom
(01:55):
and there's an option on themenu called awards.
If you go there, there's aquick little form.
You fill out the details forthe person that you're
nominating.
Now what happens after that isthe person that you've nominated
will get an email and if theywant to accept their nomination
and progress to become anapplicant, that's where they'll
sort of fill out all the rest ofthe details for their
(02:17):
application.
So things like telling us abouttheir business, uploading
examples of their work, sharingclient testimonials, business
uploading examples of their work, sharing client testimonials
showing there's also a lot ofother questions around, sort of
you know, highlights of theirbusiness and challenges that
they've worked through.
So it's really about findingthose businesses that have gone
(02:37):
the extra mile, have reallyresonated with their clients and
and maybe have gone throughsome challenges in order to get
there.
So, after the nominees arenotified by email, they've got
until the 30th of April tocomplete their submission.
Now there is a small entrancefee I think it's $99 US and
(03:01):
that's obviously going to coverour expenses to be able to put
on this awards.
So all the applications need tobe in by the 30th of April.
The next day after that, publicvoting is going to begin.
So there's a dedicated websitepage and all of the people that
have become official applicantswill be on there in.
(03:24):
It sort of looks like a photogallery, I guess where the
public will be able to go in andvote for their favourite.
So you'll be able to open upeach business, have a look at
their submission and share it or, of course, vote for that
person.
There will be some limitationsin that you can only vote for
(03:44):
one person per category.
So it's going to be a wholemonth for public voting.
That's going to be from the 1stto the 31st of May.
So for you guys who are theapplicants, this is your chance
to really rally your fans andyour clients and get people to
vote for you.
Now, at the end of the month ofmay, there's going to be a top
10 in each category which willbecome finalists.
(04:07):
So you will be able to alwayssay in 2025, I was a finalist
for the gwea awards.
We will be giving yourecognition that you can keep to
celebrate even that achievement, and then those top ten will
move to a judging round wherewe're assembling right now an
expert panel who will have onemonth pretty much the month of
(04:31):
June to go through the finalistsin each category and vote for
their chosen winner.
On the 1st of July we're goingto have the 2025 winners will be
announced and, trust me, youguys are going to want your name
on that list.
So I guess let's have a littlechat about why.
Why would you want to enterthis competition?
(04:52):
So I know that so many of areout there working your magic,
but here's the thing beingamazing at what you do isn't
enough if people don't knowabout it.
So winning or even being afinalist in the GWAA Awards is
an absolute game changer foryour business.
It's going to give you industryrecognition.
You're going to stand out andyou're going to have that badge
(05:12):
and that title to be able to putbehind you on your emails, your
websites and whatnot.
You're also going to getexposure across our global
platforms.
We're going to be highlightingnot only the winners, but also
the finalists and thesubmissions, so it's a really
great opportunity to put yourwork and what you do out there
on a global scale.
There will be prizes for thewinners.
(05:33):
There'll also be media features, marketing opportunities and,
of course, an official badgethat you'll be able to showcase,
and it's a chance to let youraudience support you, so your
biggest fans will finally beable to show you how much they
love your work.
Now, in terms of the categories,there's a lot, so let's break
it down.
(05:53):
There are eight differentregions, first, that you need to
know about.
We've got Asia, we've gotAfrica, europe, canada, united
States, australia, new Zealand,middle East I think I haven't
forgotten anywhere.
There's eight.
Anyway, hopefully we'recovering most of the world.
(06:14):
Now, in terms of awards, thereis a stack of ways that you can
win one of these awards.
So, best newcomer forbusinesses operating less than
12 months.
We also have wedding planner ofthe year, wedding stylist of
the year, florist of the year,wedding venue of the year,
wedding photographer of the year, wedding videographer of the
(06:35):
year, year wedding photographerof the year, wedding
videographer of the year,wedding stationer of the year,
wedding caterer of the year, andso on.
There's actually quite a fewcategories and each of these
categories will be able to bewon in that particular region.
So the title that you wouldtake home is wedding planner of
the year USAding Planner of theYear Europe, etc.
(06:56):
So, look, it is our first yeardoing this event.
So, whilst I do have really,really, really big plans for
this, I know that it's going totake time for it to get off the
ground and really get knownaround the world.
So I really appreciate yoursupport.
(07:18):
Go and check it out.
Go to weddingacademyglobalcom,go to the awards page, have a
look.
It'd be great if you can go inand nominate some businesses
that you want to support, or goin and put in your own
nomination.
We'd love to see your namespopping in there.
We've already had a hundredentries since we went live a few
days ago, so I am really pumped.
(07:39):
I think this is going toabsolutely go off Now.
If anyone wants to sponsor orprovide prizes, we are still
looking for regional sponsorsand prize contributors.
So if you're interested, dropme an email on jack J-A-C at
weddingacademyglobalcom.
All right?
So this is your moment.
(07:59):
This is your absolute time toshine.
So, whether you're juststarting out or you've been in
the industry for years.
The GWAA Awards are here tocelebrate you and the work that
you do to make weddingsunforgettable.
So nominate someone or yourselftoday, tell your story and let
the world know how incredibleyou are.
I'll be back with more soon interms of updates, but for now,
(08:22):
go and get that nomination in.
This is Jack Bowie signing off,and I can't wait to see your
name on the nominee list.
Cheers, guys.
Bye.
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