Elle is a freelance lifestyle writer and editor with a focus on weddings and bridal. She contributes regularly to The Knot and Brides and occasionally to The New York Times Vows section, and oversees content for Modern Luxury Weddings magazines in Chicago and nationwide. She’s been covering culture, fashion, dining, lifestyle and celebrity for glossy print magazines and online publications for more than a decade.
Elle lives in Chicago, Illinois—her adopted hometown since moving there from Ohio in 2007—with her husband and three kids, and though she’s been a long time, still loves exploring the city. She also loves to read and give book recommendations (peep her Insta profile for book recs!) and flex her creative muscles through art and organization.
Experience
Following college internships that gave her a taste of journalism, Elle’s career truly began when she became editor of SPLASH magazine, a lifestyle glossy that ran in the Sunday Chicago Tribune. For SPLASH she interviewed celebrities for cover stories—Kerry Washington, Susan Sarandon, Taylor Kinney, Martha Stuart, Taraji P. Henson and many more—and orchestrated photo shoots, including helping on one with Meghan Markle (right before she became the Duchess of Sussex). She learned the ins and out of fashion and lifestyle journalism, and began dipping her toe into bridal.
When she took over as editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Weddings Chicago magazine, she quickly become an expert in the bridal space, sitting front-row at fashion shows during Bridal Fashion Week in New York; interviewing top designers like Monique Lhuillier, Jenny Yoo and Carolina Herrera; and covering the real weddings of influencers, celebrities and athletes alike. She has shared her expertise on panels with organizations like The Bridal Masterclass, appeared on talk TV and radio for Chicago stations WGN and WCIU, and had her work published in The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune; Chicago, CS and Michigan Avenue magazines; Modern Luxury Weddings magazines across the country; The Knot; and Brides.
Education
Elle moved to Chicago from a small town in Ohio to attend DePaul University, where she majored in Journalism and minored in Art + Design. She loved the exposure to big media publications there, as many of her professors worked for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. While in college, Elle was a member of Alpha Phi sorority, and she interned for Michigan Avenue magazine (in addition to nannying)—which was her fortuitous introduction into the world of print and digital lifestyle journalism.
