Wedding Planning and Management: Consultancy for Diverse Clients

Dr. Maggie Daniels (MaggieDaniels.com) is an Associate Professor and the Academic Program Coordinator for the Tourism and Events Management program at George Mason University (GMU). She has taught a wide variety of undergraduate courses over the past 20 years, including wedding planning as well as areas such as finance, events management, tourism planning, statistics, communication and research methods. In 2008, Maggie was named one of Modern Bride’s 25 Trendsetters along with icons such as Oscar de la Renta and Tiffany & Co. A recipient of the 2012 GMU Teaching Excellence Award, Maggie is a believer in experiential learning. She received her BA from Miami University of Ohio, her MA from the University of Georgia and her PhD from Clemson University.

Maggie has conducted extensive fieldwork-based research and has a combination of over 100 published papers, book chapters, professional presentations and technical reports to her credit. She partners with agencies in the Washington DC metropolitan area to assist them with event and tourism implementation and evaluation. Just a few of the media outlets that have featured her wedding and tourism expertise include ABC Nightline News, MSNBC, NPR, United Press International, Fox 45 News, the Washington Post, the DC Examiner, Washingtonian.com, the WallStreetJournal.com and SmartMoney.com. Maggie enjoys running, swimming, reading and travelling with her husband, Matt, and their son, Josh.

Carrie Loveless is the owner of Carried Away Events (CarriedAwayEvents.com), a wedding planning and event management company. She has more than 20 years’ experience managing corporate and social events ranging from large trade shows to intimate weddings. She has been a guest lecturer at the Rhode Island School of Design and adjunct professor at George Mason University teaching Wedding Planning and Management. Ms. Loveless received a BA in English Literature from Chestnut Hill College and an MBA in Marketing from George Mason University. She studied interior decorating and design at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC and the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, and floral arranging at the Judith Blacklock Flower School in London and U. Goto Florist in Tokyo.

Ms. Loveless is a national spokesperson and Chairman of the Board of Directors for WomenHeart, the national coalition for women with heart disease. A heart attack survivor herself, Ms. Loveless received her spokesperson training at the WomenHeart Science and Leadership Symposium at the Mayo Clinic in the fall of 2008. When she is not planning events and reminding women that heart disease is their number one health risk, she enjoys travelling and living around the world with her husband Bruce, an Admiral in the U.S. Navy, and their Wheaten Terrier, Dunkin.