XO GROUP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Deputy Editor
- Deputy Editor of the Knot
Esther is the Deputy Editor of The Knot. She currently leads all content on The Knot Wellness, focusing on financial, relationship, and mental wellbeing.
She oversees The Knot's travel vertical (honeymoons, destination weddings, bach parties), as well as overarching features and trends.
She proudly serves on the Advisory Council of VOW For Girls, focusing on ending the injustice of child marriage around the world.
Hannah writes and edits articles for The Knot Worldwide, with a focus on real wedding coverage.
Hannah has a passion for DE&I and plays an integral role in ensuring The Knot content highlights all voices and all love stories.
Judy Heumann is an award-winning activist and author whose latest book, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, is a story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn't built for all of us. The icon sat down with Senior Weddings Editor Hannah Nowack for The Knot Fall 2022 and opened up about her own wedding. She also shares the questions couples should ask themselves while wedding planning to ensure their celebration is as accessible as possible.
Job Titles:
- Executive Editor
- Executive Editor, the Knot the Bump
Lauren manages, writes and contributes to the strategy of The Knot's print editorial content.
Lauren oversees The Bump's editorial strategy and execution.
Lauren has a degree in magazine journalism and lives in New York City with her husband and two children.
It was multi-hyphenate Drew Barrymore who played an unlikely role in their relationship. "Drew has been instrumental in our love story," says Ross. "I came to New York to visit Wellinthon, and she asked me to come on her show for a day." The production team then requested he return a week later, then again to stay on for the season. "We were like, 'I guess this means I'm supposed to be here.' So we got an apartment. I don't know that we would have been on such a fast trajectory if Drew hadn't given me work in New York."
Editor's Note: Listen to Ross and Wellinthon's "getting ready" playlist on Spotify as they share exclusive wedding details below.
She's also been a confidante in the planning process. "I have immense guilt that people are flying to our wedding. Drew said, 'Just do it where you want to do it, and the people who are supposed to be there will come,'" says Ross. "I just want to make sure people have a party when they're there." This includes Barrymore, who is also a founder of Flower Beauty and will be a flower girl at the wedding.
"It just came up as we were talking about the wedding [on the show]. And she was like, 'Well, who's the flower girl?' I was like, 'You want to do it?' And she was like, 'Wait, are you being serious?'" recalls Ross. "And I was like, 'Wait, are you being serious?'" She was serious.
After they both lost their mothers within two years, the couple bonded over the emotional fallout. "When Ross went through it first, I wanted to make sure I was [with him] the whole time," says Wellinthon. "Then the same happened to me."
In September 2021, Wellinthon's mother died. "I was very much like, 'I need to process this.' I need to understand what's happening," he recalls. "I got to the point where I said to Ross, 'Babe, I think I really need to see a grief counselor.' Now I share with him the things [the therapist and I] talk about in those sessions. It's been cathartic and therapeutic in the sense that he's gaining from what I'm sharing. And vice versa."
Sydney McLaughlin's success on the track has earned her millions of fans over the years. Two of her biggest arrived alongside her at our cover shoot: her parents. Mom and Dad ran too and introduced Sydney to the sport when she was just 6 years old. She fell in love and the rest is, well, history (and history making). Running has always been an outlet for the star and a way for her to express herself. In the last five years she's turned pro, won two gold medals, set a world record and gotten engaged to former NFL player Andre Levrone Jr. But if you ask Sydney, the best is yet to come.