Wrapit Wedding Industry Awards launch today

Wrapit announces the first Wrapit Wedding Industry Awards, in association with Condé Nast Brides and Wedgwood, today. The Awards will recognise excellence across 12 categories within the wedding industry voted for by brides and grooms.

The 12 categories are: Bridal Dress Retailer, Bridal Dress Designer, Bridal Accessories, Wedding Venue, Wedding Planner, Florist, Photographer, Wedding Cake, Wedding Stationery, Wedding Caterer, Entertainment and Hair & Beauty.

Each category will have five finalists, which will be selected based on the quality of votes received. The focus of the awards is on great customer service, not the size of the business, so any supplier - big or small, new or well established - has a chance of winning. The finalists will be announced in January 2007.

The winners will then be chosen by the panel of judges - consisting of Pepita Diamand, Wrapit's founder and retail director, Brides' editor Deborah Joseph and Nick Robinson, Wedgwood's managing director Europe & UK wholesale.

The winners will be announced at a fabulous Awards champagne reception in February 2007, which every supplier who entered the competition can attend.

Pepita Diamand says: "We are thrilled to launch the Wrapit Wedding Industry Awards - it's something we know both the industry and couples will welcome. There are so many great companies out there who deserve to be recognised for their exceptional customer service, but often it's the big players who get all the recognition. We are delighted that Brides and Wedgwood support this initiative and want to make sure that everyone has a chance to prove that they are the best in their field!"

All wedding suppliers need to enter the Awards before their customers can vote for them and they have to have offices or an outlet in London or the Home Counties. They will need to demonstrate that they provide 'outstanding service', 'excellent product quality', 'great value for money' and that they have 'the willingness to go that extra mile'.

It's £60 to enter, which entitles the supplier not only to have an opportunity to become a finalist or winner, but also gets them two tickets (£30 each) for the Awards champagne reception. Entrants will be supplied with marketing literature to encourage past and present customers to vote for them on the website. The closing date for entries is Friday 8th December 2006 and all reviews must be received by the 22nd December.

To apply check out: www.wrapitawards.co.uk.

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Judging Panel:

Pepita Diamand, Founder & Retail Director, Wrapit

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Pepita began her career in fashion journalism before moving into the internet media industry. In 2000, she saw an opportunity to combine her style credentials with her technical expertise and one year later the Wrapit virtual department store and wedding gift list service was born. Five years on, Pepita is a leading style advisor to the bridal media and has recently been selected for the Management Today list of '35 Women under 35' to watch.

Deborah Joseph, Editor, Condé Nast Brides

Deborah has been the editor of Condé Nast Brides since May 2006. Previously, she worked on the Lifestyle section of the Daily Mail and was associate editor of Glamour for four and a half years. Not only is Deborah the editor of the UK's leading bridal title, but she also got married recently in her hometown of Manchester. She is definitely the expert on all things bridal!

Nick Robinson, Managing Director Europe & UK Wholesale, Wedgwood

After studying product and furniture design, Nick started his career at Habitat, followed by a move to Conran-Habitat in New York. He then joined Le Creuset, the French cookware brand, as MD of their international division. Ten years later, the temptation to get back in to retailing proved too strong and Nick rejoined Conran as MD of The Conran Shops worldwide. Nick joined Wedgwood in 2004 as MD of UK/Europe.



Wrapit plc has 14 showrooms nationwide - in London's West End and Wandsworth, Beaconsfield, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Canterbury, Darlington, Glasgow, Harrogate, Liverpool, Manchester, Northampton and Norwich. It launched the most advanced wedding list website in the world in May 2001. This can be found at www.wrapit.co.uk

Through its 'virtual department store' Wrapit offers a wide product range. Couples can choose from over 400 brands and over 40,000 products, including all the leading brands as well as more unusual gifts. Wrapit prides itself on providing exceptional service. Each couple gets a personal consultant who provides help and advice from the beginning to end of the process.

This is supported by the online facility, which allows the couple to create and manage their list online although many prefer to create their wedding list with the help of their personal consultant over a glass of wine in the relaxed atmosphere of a Wrapit showroom.

The website also makes life easier for the guests, who can view, choose and purchase a gift online at any time and from anywhere in the world. Wrapit also caters for those guests who do not wish to buy online and copies of the list can be sent out and gifts bought over the phone or in person.

Pepita Diamand is happy to give tips & advice and talk about style trends. For a regular copy of Pepita's Top 5 monthly gift selections see contact details below.



For further information and images, please contact Silke Lohmann, Wrapit PR department on 020 8877 6385 or 07932 618754 or slohmann@wrapit.co.uk.