Planning a wedding has been a lot of fun, but I get the feeling it’s a bit different now than it was when my parents got married. My mom planned her wedding in 2 months and did everything face to face with her vendors. Now, as she helps me plan my wedding for next summer she is really surprised by how much I can get done online through various websites and through just emailing a vendor.
Wedding planning has moved almost completely online; for most things I don’t even have to speak with a person- I can book things completely online. While some things like finding a venue are all still something you would go to see, other items such as, finding an someone to marry us, a band or a dj, dress shopping for both myself and my bridesmaids, picking out the tuxes (not the fittings), and purchases like cocktail napkins and invitations can all be done online.
The Knot is a website that specializes in helping brides (and grooms) plan their wedding. There are online discussion boards where brides to be can ask the opinions of other brides on decisions they are trying to make- and these brides don’t hold back! They provide real wedding examples of ceremonies, receptions, and invitations which is a helpful resource to help someone get creative with their own wedding. They also have online videos from everything to dress shopping, do it yourself invitations, to honeymoon ideas. They have a wedding shop where you can purchase favors, gifts for bridesmaids, and reception décor. If you are planning to register for gifts you can synch your registries from multiple stores to one site http://www.giftregistry360.com/. You don’t even have to walk into a store to register for gifts anymore- it can all be done online.
I personally prefer to meet with my vendors to see what their ideas are and to make sure it blends with how I see our wedding day. I can’t imagine having booked my band without having gone to see them perform and then meeting with the contact person to discuss the details. I’m an event planner as part of my professional job and I like to know the details and plan for what could go wrong. So for me while it’s great to be able to read online reviews from other brides I still like to personalize it with an in-person meeting.
Wow! This is such a great topic that shows how the world has transgressed over the years with technology and wedding planning. There are so many good examples of how this relates to other topics and areas in the world but this one is very interesting. Weddings are insane now a days and I bet there is a many opinions from Future Bridezillas i mean lovely brides about how they feel working with online databases and hardly any human interaction for this type of event. Very cool topic!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Thomas Friedman's lecture when he talks of how Southwest has you working for them and on top of that you are even paying to work for them! Congratulations Jen on your engagement!!
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