As our Chief Business Officer (CBO for short), Elina Vilk is dedicated to making every couple’s wedding planning journey easier and more accessible with the Pearl wedding planning platform. She sat down with Bonnie Habyan of the Worth Knowing Podcast to discuss her childhood, work-life balance, and her vision to simplify wedding planning and make bride’s lives easier with Pearl by David’s.
Meet Elina Vilk: The Woman Behind Pearl by David’s
Elina Vilk’s journey from a Belarus-born immigrant to the powerhouse marketer behind mega-companies like Hootsuite, Meta, and PayPal was shaped by three key lessons:
- Work Harder Than the Rest: Consistently going above and beyond in every role shaped Elina’s career from the start.
- Take Strategic Risks: Like they say, you gotta risk it to get the biscuit! (Or, the super cool marketing career?)
- Create Your Own Opportunities: Taking initiative and paving her own path were crucial aspects to Elina’s success!
In 2024, Elina brought her passion and expertise to David’s Bridal, where she now leads our dream of making Pearl an all-in-one wedding planning platform for engaged couples.
Why Balance is Key to Wedding Planning Success: Elina’s Tips
Much like holding a high-level career and caring for a family (which Elina is no stranger to, she shares), wedding planning requires a work-life balance! It’s unsustainable to be all work and no play—trust us, we know!
To make wedding planning (and life, in general!) easier, Elina encourages brides to:
- Ask for help (and know it’s okay!): Reach out to friends and family, assign tasks on your Pearl Planner checklist, and find vendors you can trust to keep things moving without micromanagement!
- Take breaks when needed (and we promise, they will be!): Make time for regular self-care, schedule a pre-wedding staycation, or pop a bottle of bubbly and watch your favorite romcom!
- Lean into creative solutions: Ahem, an all-in-one wedding planning platform like Pearl!
How the Pearl Wedding Planning Platform Takes the Stress Out of Planning
“It’s an amazing time to get married, and there’s more inspiration than ever before!” Elina says. “Almost like there’s too much. The pressure is greater than ever with social media. It’s a lot for brides today, I think.”
Elina’s vision for the Pearl wedding planning platform is simple: to take the stress out of wedding inspiration and planning and help you focus on what matters most—marrying the person you love! From your first spark of inspiration to finding trusted vendors and managing your wedding checklist, Pearl brings everything together in one place. With our easy-to-use platform and powerful AI, Pearl helps connect florists, photographers, caterers and more with engaged couples across the country! Saving YOU all that time, stress, and energy (bye-bye, Bridezilla!).
With Pearl by David’s, you can:
- Find and book trusted vendors from one platform
- Manage your wedding budget and timeline in real-time
- Eliminate confusion with vendor reviews and recommendations
- Keep track of all your wedding details in one place, stress-free!
Join the Pearl Wedding Planning Platform Vendor Marketplace
For vendors, Pearl makes connecting with couples easier than ever. Sign up for the Pearl Vendor Marketplace to start growing your business with the number one wedding brand in the country (no joke—90% of brides across the United States head to their local David’s Bridal store for inspiration).
Want to hear the rest?
Listen to more of Elina’s story on the Worth Knowing podcast here!
