Jennifer La Londe, founder and chief executive officer of The Bridal Dish, has joined House of Maya Bridal Salons as its new chief operating officer.

As founder of The Bridal Dish, La Londe built a wedding planning studio with licensed locations throughout Coastal Virginia, several of which are located inside House of Maya locations.

After 10 years of planning corporate events in the health care and pharmaceutical sales industries, La Londe launched her own event planning company Jennifer La Londe Events, in 2007, followed by The Bridal Dish in 2010.

An award winning event designer, a published author, entrepreneur and public speaker, La Londe is also the owner of Jennifer LaLonde Consulting, a business consulting firm specializing in brand growth and business development, as well as social media strategies, for companies specific to the event planning industry.

She owns and operates her businesses out of Virginia Beach, where she has lived since 2007.

After opening its first salon location in 2004, Maya Couture, House of Maya Bridal Salons has become a conglomerate of stores offering wedding products and services.

“The enormous growth of my company over the past two years required a deep analysis of business operations and a restructure, adding more upper management positions,” owner Maya Holihan stated in a press release. “It was apparent to me a chief operating officer would be imperative for the continued successful expansion of the company.”

La Londe joined Maya as a business consultant to the 35-employee company in March.

“Her presence was an immediate positive impact on the business,” Holihan said. La Londe accepted the position in July.

“With Jennifer as the COO, we continued the restructure and established an upper-management team consisting of a director of human resources and personnel, director of design and merchandising and a director of creative initiatives, and I was proud to be able to promote from within the company.”

“It’s important to me that House of Maya be a company that offers ongoing training, advancement, professional development, and a spirit of giving for its employees,” Holihan said.

The company has bridal salons in Norfolk, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.