Third Wave Fashion // JULY 2013 // THE WEDDING TECH ISSUE | Page 24

M OV E R S & S H A K E R S KELLEE KHALIL Lover.ly Anyone who has ever gone near the wedding planning process knows it can be excruciatingly grueling and time consuming; from the stress of finding the perfect dress or the reception location to the time spent coordinating themes and color palettes, all the tiny details can drive a future bride or groom crazy. About a week into working for her sister’s Wedding PR firm, Kellee Khalil was thrown into the deep end: she was asked to be maid of honor for her sister’s wedding. Normal weddings are challenging enough, but Leila Lewis was a wedding publicist and every move she and Kellee made towards the big day was being tracked. In the process of it all, Kellee began to wonder aloud why there wasn’t a platform available that brought together brides, vendors, retailers, and brands in one place to share and connect ideas. is was the spark she needed, and only a month aer her sister’s wedding, Kellee moved to New York to start Lover.ly, the world’s first wedding search engine and cloud scrapbooking model to house all things necessary for that very special day. Founded in fall of 2011, the company was able to raise half a million dollars in seed funding by February of the following year. As the site continued to grow in usership, Lover.ly launched a mobile app to accompany its online experience. Unique in its curation process, addictive by its exquisite imagery, and tech oriented to boot, we thought we’d reach out to Kellee to find out more. Unique in its curation process, addictive by its exquisite imagery, and tech oriented to boot, we thought we’d reach out to Kellee to find out more. // 21