Jennifer Gilbert is the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of the 30 million dollar a year, New York based special events company Save the Date®. In the early 90’s Jennifer Gilbert revolutionized the event planning industry by flipping the traditional business model by offering Save the Date’s® services free to clients by marketing locations and venues, thereby becoming the destination for all event planners and vendors. It was this business savvy that earned Jennifer Gilbert the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award by Ernst & Young. This award was quickly followed by recognition in Inc. Magazine where Jennifer Gilbert and Save The Date® was named one of the “Great Companies Started” and then Jennifer Gilbert herself was honored with the Entrepreneur Award of Excellence from Working Woman Magazine. Since then, Jennifer Gilbert’s name and that of Save the Date® continue to command instant recognition and she is often quoted for her expert advice on everything from meeting to wedding planning in national publications from The Wall Street Journal and Business Week to People and InStyle. Gilbert was the key note speaker for the BIZ BASH expo, has spoken to the Columbia Business School Entrepreneurial class, as well as Fordham University’s Women in Business Leadership Day and is a sought after speaker.
Jennifer Gilbert is also often recognized on the street for her brief role as the event planner on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New York” and she has recently partnered with Bed Bath & Beyond, as their Wedding Planning Expert. Jennifer Gilbert’s most recent accomplishment is her new memoir, published by HarperCollins named, I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag: A memoir of a life through events, the ones you plan and the one’s you don’t landing her on the Today Show, Fox News, Live New York, The Marie Show, The Jeff Probst Show and many others. She has also been the featured entrepreneur for the coveted series Yahoo – Shine “Secrets to your Success.” And was honored as a speaker for the TED X conference held at Barnard University in December of 2012, and has been a repeated Judge in the final competitions for the National Federation for Teaching Entrepreneurship Organization. By sharing her story with these and many other outlets, Jennifer has become a source of inspiration for not only event planners, but also for women across the country, both in business and not. Jennifer Gilbert is a graduate of the University of Vermont and received a Bachelor of Science in Consumer Marketing with a minor in Business, and graduated the MIT Birthing of Giants Program. She lives in New York City with her husband, daughter and twin boys. Please click around this site to learn more about all things Save The Date® and Jennifer Gilbert!
