NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The headline and first paragraph of the release dated October 8, 2018 should read 9th Annual The Knot Gala (instead of 8th Annual The Knot Gala).
The corrected release reads:
9TH ANNUAL THE KNOT GALA HOSTS 1,000 OF THE WEDDING INDUSTRY’S TOP PROFESSIONALS TO CELEBRATE LOVE AND VOW TO END CHILD MARRIAGE
Leading Wedding Planning Brand The Knot Joins Effort to End Child Marriage by 2030 and Brings Together Wedding Industry to Support the Cause
The Knot, a leading digital wedding planning brand, hosts its 9th Annual The Knot Gala tonight in celebration of the professionals that make the wedding industry possible. Hosted annually at the historic New York Public Library to round out New York Bridal Fashion Week, the event itself gathers the wedding industry’s top professionals from across the country, and is planned and designed by top industry planner Amy Shey Jacobs of Chandelier Events. The Knot Gala 2018, unlike previous years, also marks the kickoff of an important initiative in the brand’s 22-year history: Tonight, The Knot is joining forces with VOW and bringing the wedding industry together to collectively support the mission to end child marriage by 2030.
“We believe your wedding day should be one of the happiest days of your life. Who you marry and how you marry is a personal choice, and we empower couples to always create their weddings in a way that is special and personal for them. I’m excited to celebrate The Knot Gala this year with the theme of Love Can Change the World. It reminds us that not only does this talented industry pull off incredibly inspiring, personalized weddings for each of the nearly 2 million couples who get married every year, but that the work they do is in the name of love,” said Dhanusha Sivajee, Chief Marketing Officer, The Knot/XO Group Inc. “As an industry, we have the chance to make a real global impact, beyond the individual impact we make on couples. Every year, 1.8 million couples get married in the US and the wedding industry helps them celebrate this joyful milestone. But each year, there are also 12 million girls who are married against their will before they reach 18. Their experience is much different. Child marriage is not a decision a girl gets to make. It is decided for her and takes away her right to choose if, when and how she wants to get married. Child marriage is an issue that happens not only outside the U.S., but right here in our own backyard, and there’s little to no awareness about it. As the leading wedding planning brand among couples and wedding pros, our team at The Knot has the largest platform, and with that, also the right opportunity to spread awareness and make real change on this important global issue. We’re excited to join VOW in rallying the wedding industry to support the mission to end child marriage by 2030.”
Statistically speaking, those 12 million girls who are married before the age of 18 annually translates to one girl being forced to marry against her will every three seconds, endangering her personal development and well-being. Child marriage happens around the world—even in the US—cutting across countries, cultures, religions and ethnicities. It undermines efforts to reduce global poverty and champion gender equality. To help put an end to this worldwide issue and human rights violation, The Knot is joining forces with VOW, an initiative empowering couples, companies, the media and the public to become partners in creating a world without child marriage.
"Earlier today we launched VOW to end child marriage, a global problem that has been too long ignored," said Mabel van Oranje, founder and chair of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage. "Our initiative taps the reach and economic power of the wedding industry to strengthen the global movement to end child marriage. By partnering with leading brands like The Knot, we will be able to fund high impact programs at the local level to create brighter futures for girls worldwide. Every year, millions of couples celebrate their love by getting married and millions of their family and friends celebrate with them. What if we could share this love to do something bigger?”
The Knot will support VOW’s mission through ongoing awareness and promotion on its industry-leading social media platforms, website and in its magazine. Additionally, VOW is the featured charity on The Knot Gifts Back proprietary charity registry program, allowing couples to attach VOW to their retail wedding registries and give back through their own weddings. With each registry gift purchase through The Knot, the company will donate a portion of that gift in the couple’s name to help end child marriage. All funds raised by VOW go to the Girls First Fund, championing local organizations working tirelessly to stand up for girls’ rights and against child marriage.
To create The Knot Gala, The Knot selects some of the most innovative and creative wedding professionals to show off their talents and help create exciting, never-before-seen wedding details and entertainment. This year’s theme, developed by Chandelier Events, is Love Can Change the World, and will invite guests to enjoy a journey around the globe, experiencing various cultures, food and entertainment throughout the night.
"I'm excited to welcome the wedding industry to tonight’s global exploration devoted to LOVE, the most enduring power in the world. Guests will buckle their seat belts and enjoy the journey at our very own world’s fair by The Knot. It’s our night to celebrate our differences and toast to our combined humanity, vivid imaginations and bold innovation. More than ever before, love has no borders. Love has no boundaries. LOVE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD,” said Amy Shey Jacobs, Founder and Creative Director, Chandelier Events.
About The Knot
The Knot is the nation’s leading multiplatform wedding resource offering a seamless, all-in-one planning experience—from finding inspiration and local vendors to creating and managing all guest experiences, wedding registries and more. The trusted brand reaches a majority of engaged couples in the US through the #1 wedding planning website TheKnot.com and #1 iOS and Android mobile app The Knot Wedding Planner, The Knot national and local wedding magazines, and The Knot book series. Since its inception, The Knot has inspired approximately 25 million couples to plan a wedding that’s uniquely them. The Knot is the flagship brand of XO Group Inc. (NYSE:XOXO), which helps couples navigate and enjoy life’s biggest moments—from getting married to moving in together and having a baby. Visit The Knot online at TheKnot.com and follow on social media: Facebook.com/TheKnot and @TheKnot on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or our future financial performance or estimates regarding third parties. These statements are only estimates or predictions and reflect our current beliefs and expectations. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the estimates, projections or forward-looking statements. It is routine for internal projections and expectations to change as the quarter progresses, and therefore it should be clearly understood that the internal projections and beliefs upon which we base our expectations may change prior to the end of the quarter. Although these expectations may change, we will not necessarily inform you if they do. Our policy is to provide expectations not more than once per quarter, and not to update that information until the next quarter. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation, (i) our operating results may fluctuate, are difficult to predict and could fall below expectations, (ii) our ability to accurately measure and monetize the level of offline store level traffic attributable to an online digital campaign conducted on our sites, (iii) our business depends on strong brands, and failing to maintain and enhance our brands would hurt our business, (iv) our ongoing investment in new businesses and new products, services, and technologies is inherently risky, and could disrupt our ongoing business and/or fail to generate the results we are expecting, (v) if we are unable to continue to develop solutions that generate revenue from advertising and other services delivered to mobile devices, our business could be harmed, (vi) our businesses could be negatively affected by changes in Internet search engine and app store search algorithms and email marketing policies, (vii) we face intense competition in our markets; if we do not continue to innovate and provide products and services that are useful to users, we may not remain competitive, and our revenue and results of operations could be adversely affected, (viii) our transactions business is dependent on third-party participants, whose lack of performance could adversely affect our results of operations, (ix) fraudulent or unlawful activities on our marketplace could harm our business and consumer confidence in our marketplace, (x) we may be subject to legal liability associated with providing online services or content, (xi) we may be unable to continue to use the domain names that we use in our business, or prevent third parties from acquiring and using domain names that infringe on, are similar to, or otherwise decrease the value of our brand or our trademarks or service marks, (xii) risks related to the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the definitive agreement, (xiii) the failure to obtain Company stockholder approval of the proposed transaction or required regulatory approvals or the failure to satisfy any of the other conditions to the completion of the proposed transaction, (xiv) the effect of the announcement of the proposed transaction on the ability of the Company to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with its customers, suppliers, vendors, advertisers, distributors, partners and others with whom it does business, or on its operating results and businesses generally, (xv) risks associated with the disruption of management’s attention from ongoing business operations due to the proposed transaction, (xvi) the ability to meet expectations regarding the timing and completion of the proposed transaction, (xvii) the potential impact of the consummation of the proposed transaction on the Company’s relationships, including with employees, customers, suppliers, vendors, advertisers, distributors, partners and competitors, and (xvii) other factors detailed in documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
