Why Enter The Wedding Industry Awards?
- Mar 2
- 3 min read
A throwback to winning Highly Commended at The 2025 Wedding Industry Awards!
TWIA (The Wedding Industry Awards) recognises and rewards excellence in the wedding industry. It’s the only regional and national client-voted, expert-judged awards in the UK. And for those reasons, along with many others, I entered the 2025 Wedding Industry Awards.
Actually, truth be told, I was intending to wait to enter TWIA 2026, as I felt that the 2025 awards was too early in my business and I wanted to build up more of a client base before I put myself out there to be judged and critiqued.
However, one of my lovely couples, that I painted for in 2024, nominated me after their wedding, which was a total surprise and truly flattering. It was at this point that I decided to go for it.
The entry process consisted of setting up my profile, detailing my business and adding photos of my services. I then needed to ask couples who had used my service to vote for me, leaving feedback across a number of pre-determined categories. Whilst that happened, I also had to answer a number of thought-provoking questions such as ‘What is your company ethos?’, ‘How do you set yourself apart from others in the industry?’ and ‘Where do you see your business going in the next 12 months?’.
I actually really enjoyed the process, as it allowed me to analyse certain areas of my business and consider how I could make it more luxurious and bespoke as well as set ambitious goals for the year to come.
Once eligible couples had voted it was over to a panel of industry experts to consider and compare all entrants in each category. Sadly, there is no live artistry category (YET!) so I entered the Special Touch category; a space for other business alike who don’t fit neatly into the other categories but offer something extra to a couple’s day. Due to only being in Year 1 of business, I also qualified for the Newcomer Category!
TWIA had over 1600 entries for the 2025 awards and entrants were split into 10 regional areas across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - I was representing in the South Central region.
The date had been set for the Regional final, tickets were purchased and sparkly clothes were acquired. The evening was a mixture of excitement and nerves but one thing I knew for sure, was that no matter the outcome, everyone in that room would be celebrating and supporting their fellow industry suppliers. The wedding industry really is one of the most supportive, inclusive and joyous places I have had the pleasure of working in!
The Special Touch category came around quite quickly and Bee Bridesmaids and Chloe Alexandra were announced as Highly Commended. Then Emma, of Make Your Mark Events, another live painting provider, was announced as the winner!
I then had the agonising wait for the Newcomer category as this was the final one of the evening. Then, Damien Bailey, founder and host of TWIA, announced the last Highly Commended winner: me, The Live Wedding Painter!
The next 5 minutes went by as a bit of a blur as I made my way up to the stage to be congratulated, photographed and receive my certificate and I’m so glad that I have photos and videos from that moment that I can look back on. Just seeing how happy complete strangers were for me, once again, reinforced how amazing the wedding industry is!
I gave a short interview after the awards ceremony and spoke about why I entered and what it means for my business and then I got to network with all the other nominees and winners.
I celebrated with a little tipple of Disaronno (other spirits are available 😉) and messaged my nearest and dearest.
It took a while to fully sunk in that I’m an award-winning wedding supplier, but I am so grateful for being nominated and proud to share my new accolade!
Thank you to Matt Rock Photography for all of the official photos on the night!
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