A wedding ceremony is one of the oldest traditions. Every culture around the world celebrates a union of love. We have seen wedding ceremonies evolve throughout the years; from a traditional religious wedding to a destination wedding, an engagement photo shoot to a wedding video presentation. In the digitized world, the wedding industry has taken yet another turn. There are many wedding platforms on the Internet that offer service for planning a wedding. These platforms offer value co-creation between consumers and vendors/merchandisers.
Recently, especially in the US, wedding websites have become very popular among the couples. The wedding platforms allow consumers to create their own wedding website, free of change. The customized wedding website contains useful information for the guests; such as the venue and themes of the ceremony and reception, the events surrounding the wedding (i.e., Bachelor/Bachelorette parties, the bridal shower, the rehearsal dinner, etc.), and the accommodations and attractions in the area where the wedding takes place, which are useful if the wedding is in another city where guests are not familiar with. The guests can also view gift registries, share/view photos with the bride and groom, suggest songs to be played at the reception or even RSVP the events. Furthermore, the bride and groom can tell their stories to their guests through this wedding website.
Besides the customized website, the platforms also offer tools to help one organize one’s wedding. They offer information about venues, vendors, attires, photographers, decorations and so on. With this information offering, the platforms generate their revenues. Companies that want to participate on these platforms need to pay a campaign fee. Another possible option is to put advertisements on the websites.
The concept of the website is very smart since the information can be shared with so many people at one time and when there are some changes, the hosts only need to put the announcement on the website, instead of repeatedly inform everybody. On the other hand, guests may feel overwhelmed by all the information offered by the bride and groom. And could this eventually take away the “magic” of marriage when you share too much of your personal space with the world?
Sources:
(2)http://www.mywedding.com/mw_style_13/index.html
(4)http://uw.theknot.com/admin/choosedesign/
(5)http://www.xogroupinc.com/xo-group-advertising.aspx
Consumer Value Creation 