We have guys at WedNet too! And some WedNet history...
You would never know from our demographics that a wedding is for the bride and the groom! Upwards of 90% of our visitors are brides-to-be. Now, we're not into stereotypes but it seems that the old notion of the bride doing most of the wedding planning is at least supported by what we see. And we're happy to focus a good deal of articles on the women of the day. But, gents, fear not - we are pretty confident brides will find WedNet a great resource but we focus on the men too. For example, you'll find "WedRoles" pages for the Groom. as well as for the Best Man.
Why do I mention this? Well, by way of introduction, really. I am Mark Williams, the founder of WedNet. And how time flies! Technically, WedNet first went online in 1994. Now THAT is early for a web site focused on wedding planning. In fact, we believe we were possibly the first web site in the world dedicated to wedding planning.
The WedNet story is a family story. My late father, Brian, was a wedding videographer in England for the last 23 years of his life. My Mum (or Mom, for my American friends!) continues to sell wedding invitations today. Together, they created the Guild of Professional Wedding Services. Over Christmas 1993, I was visiting my family for the first time since moving to the San Francisco area with my dear wife, Jeanine. We got chatting about this wacky new thing called "the Internet" and I wanted an excuse to create a web site, since I was in the computer field. By the end of the discussion, we'd joined Mum and Dad's interest in weddings with my interest in technology - and WedNet was born. By February 1994 the site was up and running. And - although Dad has moved on to a better place - WedNet continues and we're proud of how we've helped brides and grooms over the years (in fact, we feel we have something to give back, hence our WedNet Giving campaign).
For a little context with WedNet's "subject matter", Jeanine and I exchanged vows in a church in my home town of Keynsham, between Bristol and Bath in England (parts of that church date back to the 1300's - we do history rather well in England!). We had our honeymoon in the Caribbean - a week in St Lucia and two weeks on a yacht in the Grenadines (just Jeanine and I, with a captain and a cook). We can't afford stuff like that any more. We have two girls now!
Our WedNet "family" has expanded now. Mum still helps out (maintaining our extensive WedNet Vendor Database) and Jeanine is active too. And we have others involved (like Lee who "owns" our blog) and you will hear from them soon. We're not some huge, venture capital-backed corporation with an agenda of serving shareholders. Our "agenda" is helping folks plan their wedding - plain and simple. So, you'll hear from Lee most often on the blog, bringing that feminine view that, well, isn't a strength for me!. But there are a few others involved and we hope you'll find we present a balanced and very broad set of articles / features to help you plan your own big day.
As Lee mentioned in her blog yesterday, we're eager to hear from you. In fact, I have my own question for the guys - what do YOU look for in a wedding planning site? Do we address your needs with our articles and what's missing? We're pretty nimble so let us know - feel to contact us.
Thanks for reading!
Mark