Lifting the Veil on Engage! Summits: Where the World’s Best Wedding Industry Pros Gather for Inspiration

Inside the one-of-a-kind luxury event planning master class where and Diana Ross and Kesha performed!

Four times per year, the world’s most sought-after wedding industry professionals gather together at Engage! Summits held at stunning locations around the globe from Paris to the Amalfi Coast where they collaborate, create and draw inspiration.

The most recent Engage! Summit held at the storied Nemacolin resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania from June 3 - 6, brought together 350 industry pros including planners, luxury properties, photographers, videographers, designers, producers, hair and makeup professionals and more where attendees openly exchanged ideas, information, and strategies for facing the challenges of the luxury wedding industry.

Created in 2008 by co-founders Kathryn Arce and Rebecca Grinnals, “We task the most creative minds in the industry with curating an event experience unlike any other,” Grinnals tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“Each Engage! has a guest creative director who drives the décor and sensory experience, with a strong sense of place anchored by the host property or region. Then we layer in headliner entertainment, innovative tech advancements, new ideas in mixology and the culinary world, and when it all comes together, our guests hopefully experience things they’ve never seen before.”

Arce and Grinnals first met more than 25 years ago when they started and helped build the iconic Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings at The Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. After working together and “making magic” at Disney, the duo departed and embarked on a new adventure consulting around the world to help hotels, resorts and tourism departments maximize their wedding businesses.

“While doing that we realized that there were no events or opportunities for those serving the luxury wedding industry to meaningfully connect, be inspired, and collectively improve the way they showed up for their clients,” says Arce. “ There was nothing out there to support them in building their own businesses. And thus, the idea of Engage!.”

At the time, “Our hope was to connect like-minded wedding and event professionals and create more open and honest conversations, all with the goal of helping those in the luxury wedding industry provide better experiences for their clients and run more successful businesses themselves,” says Grinnals.

Adds Arce: “We created Engage! Summits to be an event that we wanted to attend, both as speakers and attendees and create a space where everyone who works in this industry can gather to share ideas, inspiration and to connect with each other. They all work so hard to make wedding dreams come true for their couples and are always the ones in the back corner of the ballrooms late at night making sure everything is perfect.”

“At Engage! they get to be the guests, to enjoy an opulent event from start to finish, being entertained and enjoying the finest decor, culinary delights and dance with wild abandon and it is so cathartic for everyone! Through these ways to meaningfully connect these top industry professionals get to forge new partnerships and collaborations which expand their global network of top tier talents. It is so gratifying to see how many amazing relationships have happened because of Engage!”

Last week, attendees descended upon Nemacolin, the award-winning, luxury destination resort, tucked among the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, for the sold out 45th Engage! where creative director Ed Libby of Ed Libby & Company created breathtaking installations across the sprawling 2,200 acre property supported by logistics planning from Tracie Simon of le Feast.

From a ‘Woodlands Welcome’ celebration to a whimsical ‘Flights of Fancy’ party and finally a stunning gala held in a cathedral nestled in the woods, Libby and his team, (whose corporate clients include Patrons of the Art in the Vatican Museums, the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the Super Bowl and the New York Stock Exchange) brought each event to life with innovative creation and design.

“Hosting an Engage! Summit is an honor for a destination wedding property like Nemacolin,” Maggie Hardy, Nemacolin owner and CEO said in a press release. “We are thrilled to be acknowledged by the most well-respected organization in the industry for our whimsical events and dedicated associates who make every wedding and special celebration here an unforgettable experience.”

Day one kicked off with a champagne welcome upon arrival before attendees headed into the epic gifting lounge experience (a staple at every Engage!) expertly curated by TPD Design House, where  each person took home gifts including custom denim jackets, luxury body products, delicate stationery, and chic totes.

Craft cocktails and a beautiful lunch followed on one of the properties terrace’s before the group gathered for the event’s opening session where celebrity event and wedding planner Marcy Blum, (whose clients include LeBron James, Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent, and Bill Gates' daughter Jennifer Gates and Nayel Nassar) took to the stage to share her knowledge and experience, followed by Josh Spiegel, CCO and founder of Birch Event Design.

The evening ended with a stunning “Woodland Welcome Party” that featured a surprise performance by Kesha and a custom drone show by Sky Elements Drones. The artistic drone company made history that same night taking Simon Cowell’s second golden buzzer on America’s Got Talent.

Day two’s general session included a candid conversation with founder of Drybar and a N.Y. Times Bestselling Author, Alli Webb, planner and designer Todd Fiscus whose clients include Gwen Stefani and Tony Romo, plus well as Shafonne Myers of Aisle Society and Pretty Pear Bride among others.

Later, dinner was spread out across Nemacolin’s many restaurants with attendees dining in intimate groups before ending the evening at The Chateau's terrace for the 'Flights of Fancy’ party where Elan Artists performers took the stage amid twinkling clouds and ornately designed hot air balloon decor.

Gurminder Banga and Simrin Dhillon shot portraits in front of vintage airplanes for their Banga Booth,while Dennis Kwan took beautiful black & white portraits from the 888 Portrait Experience.

The third and final day included breakout sessions with Victoria Dubin and Amanda Dubin of Victoria Dubin Events, Harmony Walton, founder of The Bridal Bar, and Joe Mineo of Joe Mineo Creative among others.

More high profile attendees included Lynn Easton of Easton Events, AJ Williams of AJ Events, Photographer and author Genevieve de Manio, (whose new book Silver: Wedding Photographs comes out Sept. 1), Lindsay Landman of Lindsay Landman Events, Jennifer Stein of Destination I Do and author Priya Parker.

The events photography team was led by Corbin Gurkin with Paul Morse, Afrik Armando, Kylee Yee, Bo Shim, Serena Jae, Ryan Greenleaf, Joel & Justyna Bedford and Roey Yohai. Venues in attendance also included Auberge du Soleil, Southall Farm, Belmond and the Four Seasons.

The Summit culminated with a breathtaking black-tie gala held in a cathedral surrounded by the property’s towering trees and greenery where Diana Ross belted out hits spanning her 54 year career. SOP House facilitated the headliner entertainment.

Reflecting back on the very first Engage! Grinnals says it’s inspiring how the event has blossomed.  “Our very first Engage! event took place in Celebration, Florida in June of 2008. It was a one-day event that included lunch and had 75 attendees and minimal decor, no entertainment, and we couldn’t imagine at the time how big it would grow,” she says.

"Celebrity wedding planner and author, Marcy Blum and celebrity event designer and author, Preston Bailey, were our keynote speakers. The opportunity for attendees to interact with them, ask business questions, and get insights into how they ran their businesses was priceless.”

Now, 16 years and 45 Summits later, “Engage! has grown and evolved beyond our wildest dreams or expectations,” says Arce. “We have been so lucky to travel the globe hosting events in the most spectacular locations: Paris, London, Dubai, the Amalfi Coast, Ireland, Morocco, Lake Como, The Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Mexico and more! We are so excited to head to Africa in September for a once in a lifetime four-day event in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.” (The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island will host this year’s final event in December.)

“We are so proud of how many deep, lasting friendships and successful business relationships have been made from the incredible people who’ve gathered together from around the world since 2008,” says Arce.  It’s also been a thrill to have our families travel with us and be a part of the magic of Engage!”

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