Ready for something new? How about two Women of Influence at once? These particular women, Kami Huddleston and Ashley Murphy, have been business partners for almost two decades. That’s a long time. Twice as long as the Beatles were together. Three times longer than the Spice Girls. Longer than many marriages. Longer than some species of trees live.

Together, they’ve built Wed Society, a company supporting the wedding industry through beautiful, locally focused print publications, social media, websites and in-person events. Between them, Murphy and Huddleston have five children, two husbands and a franchise system that now stretches across 24 markets nationwide.

The wedding business, as it turns out, is a very good business. In 2023, there were more than two million weddings in the United States, and by 2024, the average cost of a wedding surpassed $31,000. The industry encompasses some 350,000 businesses, from florists, photographers and planners to drone shows and champagne carts. Wed Society shines a light on all of them—connecting couples with the most trusted vendors in their local markets; telling the stories behind the most beautiful and innovative weddings around; and celebrating the artistry and dedication that go into celebrating one of life’s biggest moments.

Both women are competitive, driven and unafraid of risk. Murphy, who oversees operations, strategy and growth, is the steady architect behind the systems that make the business scalable. Huddleston, the creative force, leads the brand’s design and marketing, shaping the look and feel of everything from the magazines to the social campaigns.

Their partnership works because their strengths are opposite but complementary. “We’ve always said that we do our best work when we’re operating in our own lanes,” Huddleston says. Murphy agrees, laughing, “I think we’ve proven that opposites really do attract—at least in business.”

Together, they’ve taken a local idea and built a national brand that continues to scale. To help guide that growth, they brought on franchising expert David Lewis, who previously led franchising for Express Employment Professionals. Wed Society’s current valuation has surpassed $10 million, and in 2024, the company finished its Series A funding round, followed quickly by a Series B that is almost complete. Their long-term goal? To grow to 100+ franchise markets across the United States … and eventually to expand internationally.

It all started nearly 20 years ago over cocktails in Oklahoma City’s Deep Deuce neighborhood. Two young women—both newly married, both full of ideas—were commiserating about how hard it had been to plan their weddings.

“It was the 2000s,” Huddleston recalls. “Ashley was drinking a Flirtini, and I had a margarita. We had the same conversation every bride has had at some point—that it was way too difficult to find good, trustworthy vendors.”

There was no single place to browse inspiration or see who the best local wedding professionals were. Back then, the wedding industry was fragmented; word-of-mouth and phone books were still doing most of the heavy lifting. “We just thought surely there could be better,” Murphy says.

Both women attended Oklahoma City University, where they’d met years earlier and planned their own weddings just weeks apart—both marrying at the OCU chapel and standing in each other’s weddings.

“Looking back, our lives have always run parallel,” Huddleston says. “We were friends, brides, new moms, business partners—all at the same time.”

After that fateful cocktail conversation, they decided to act. Each invested $4,000, which was a bold move for two women in their 20s with no publishing background and no guarantee of success. They built a small website, printed business cards and mapped out what would become the first issue of Brides of Oklahoma.

“I had always wanted to design a magazine,” Huddleston says. With her design background and eye for aesthetics, she tackled the creative side while Murphy handled logistics and operations. Both were deeply involved in sales. “We were just making it up as we went,” she laughs. “But we knew there was a gap in the market, and we were determined to fill it.”

Their first issue, released in 2007, was a whopping 272 pages—a staggering size for a debut publication. It featured real weddings and local vendor profiles, all focused on connecting couples directly to professionals in their area. The response was immediate and enthusiastic.

Within a year, they expanded into Dallas-Fort Worth, followed by Austin and then Houston—each new market launched with the same care and local focus that made the original a success.

Along the way, they embraced every new technology that could amplify their reach. “We started blogging from day one, before blogging was really a thing,” Huddleston says. They built early social channels, hosted launch events and created industry gatherings to connect wedding professionals in person. “Those relationships were everything,” Murphy adds. “Our community was—and still is—the heart of what makes Wed Society work.”

As their markets multiplied, so did their team … and their families. They learned to balance new babies with deadlines, travel and photoshoots, often working late into the night. “We were building our families and our business at the same time,” Murphy says. “It was a constant juggle, but we were passionate about what we were creating.”

“The rebrand was both practical and strategic. We knew we were scaling beyond state lines, and we wanted a name that felt timeless, inclusive and big enough for where we were headed.” –Kami Huddleston

By 2022, they were ready for a major evolution. What had been regional titles—Brides of Oklahoma, Brides of North Texas, Brides of Houston, Brides of Austin—were unified under a single, national identity: Wed Society.

“The rebrand was both practical and strategic,” Huddleston explains. “We knew we were scaling beyond state lines, and we wanted a name that felt timeless, inclusive and big enough for where we were headed.”

That decision proved pivotal. The streamlined brand set the stage for franchising, and when they opened the opportunity, the response was overwhelming: More than 10,000 people applied.

Wed Society now supports its carefully selected franchise owners with an all-inclusive model. “They don’t need publishing experience,” Murphy says. “They bring their local expertise and relationships, and our internal team handles the rest—the print design, tech stack, production, distribution and national marketing.”

It’s a model that empowers entrepreneurs to own their markets while maintaining the high creative and editorial standards that define the brand. “Our mission has always been the same,” Huddleston says. “To connect couples with the best local vendors and to elevate the businesses that make wedding dreams come true.”

Today, Huddleston and Murphy continue to dream big, proving that ambition and authenticity can go hand in hand. “Franchising has allowed us to take everything we’ve learned over the last 20 years and share it with others who are equally passionate about this industry,” Murphy says.

And through it all, their partnership remains the constant: two women, one shared vision and a friendship that has outlasted trends, technology shifts and even the occasional chaos of life.

“We’ve always believed that when you build something with heart, it lasts,” Huddleston says. “This company started as a way to solve a problem for engaged couples in Oklahoma. Now, it’s become a movement that’s helping elevate the entire wedding community.”

If history is any indicator, they’re just getting started. And if we were betting people, we’d put our money on Huddleston, Murphy and Wed Society to keep rewriting the rules of the wedding industry—one beautiful celebration at a time.

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