Welcome to Wedding Empires, your ultimate resource for growing and marketing your dream wedding business. Founded by Jac Bowie, CEO of The Wedding Academy, our mission is to empower wedding professionals with the insights and strategies needed to elevate their businesses. Through our podcast and comprehensive resources, we provide expert interviews, actionable advice, and a vibrant community dedicated to excellence in the wedding industry. Whether you’re a planner, florist, celebrant, or photographer, Wedding Empires is here to support your journey toward building the wedding empire of your dreams.

Jac Bowie is a serial entrepreneur, media personality, and digital marketing expert, known for her talents in event production, instruction, and radio announcing. Currently spearheading The Wedding Academy, Jac seamlessly integrates her extensive business acumen, event management expertise, and digital marketing savvy into a myriad of projects including founding international women’s network Business in Heels and Australian wedding planning business, Darling Don’t Panic.

With over 15 years of experience orchestrating a diverse array of events, Jac has curated over 500 memorable experiences, ranging from book tours to elaborate burlesque shows. Her meticulous attention to detail, creative problem-solving skills, and penchant for crafting once-in-a-lifetime moments have earned her recognition as one of the top 15 wedding and event stylists in Australia with her events featured in prestigious publications such as Wedded Wonderland and WedShed.

Ben Connolly is a Queensland based, International Wedding Photographer, Speaker, Educator and Judge. With a unique vision and ability to use creative lighting techniques to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary, Ben has risen to Master of Photography in Europe & USA. Named Asia Wedding Photographer of the Year in 2020, 2021 & 2022 and International Cosmos Awards Top 5, Ben is also a Brand Ambassador for a number of National and International photography industry companies and a Flash Masters UK Hall of Fame Inductee in 2022

Ben’s passion extends further than just catching memories, he’s driven to think outside the box and seek out magic, one off photographs to create albums and visual stories to captivate those who choose Ben to bring their unique visions to life..