Grace Coughlan Connell is founder and president of GraceConnellDesigns.com, a high-end design firm of printed materials for luxury weddings and special events.

A native of New York, Connell was nominated for Modern Bride magazine’s Trendsetter of the Year
2010, and the subject of a business segment on Martha Stewart Television/Best of Weddings DVD. A noted wedding expert by The Wall Street Journal, Connell’s firm has been a 12-year design resource for Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Martha Stewart Weddings and Elegant Bride magazines, among others. Connell earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and a master’s in arts
education from the College of New Rochelle in New York.

She initiated and ran a M.O.M.S. (Ministry of Mothers Sharing) program for St.
John’s Parish in Darien, Connecticut, and volunteers her Sunday mornings as a seventh grade CCD teacher for Assumption Church in Westport, Connecticut. She also volunteers her time designing and implementing art and art history enrichment lessons for the Westport Public Schools. 

Connell is a fifth generation Irish American who traces her roots to counties Cork and Offaly.  “Looking back, with Irish perseverance and a faith in God, ‘I have arrived,’ as Sister Marie Kathryn Naab, SJ, would have expressed. This is what I consider to be my Irish heritage — to value imagination and craftsmanship, seek to understand other’s stories and strive for excellence.” Coughlan and her husband John Edward Connell have three children.

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