Currently weddings are a $300 billion dollar global industry employing over 800,000 people in the United States alone. And now, with the recent legalization of gay marriage in all 50 states, the marriage business is set to gain another $2.5 billion dollars annually. So if technology has made our lives easier, more efficient, and more cost effective, what has it done for the wedding industry to help create that magical day?
Randi discussed how to disrupt your own wedding with the latest in wedding technology with Naa-Sakle Akuete, who nailed her dream wedding by spending only $10,000, and Carolyn Gerin, the co-founder of the WedTech Summit, an annual wedding and technology conference.
NAA-SAKLE AKUETE
“My now-husband and I met on OKCupid so we were more used to the internet facilitating our daily lives.”
“We were looking for locations but they wanted $15,000. So the first thing we did was go to Airbnb. You can use the app to find places that cater to events and bring your own food to.”
“A wedding planner would’ve been our entire budget.”
“After we went the Airbnb route everything else fell into place.”
“When you rent a space, both Airbnb and the host are insured—I think.”
“I was afraid of bothering people too much so I sent out a save-the-date and an invite through Paperless Post. If I were to do it over again, I would’ve followed up more.”
“I have friends who went the traditional paper-invite route. It’s beautiful but it’s so expensive.”
“The website we set up was through TheKnot.com but I would use Squarespace if I had to it again.“
“Our registry was on Amazon and most of our friends have Prime so it was pretty easy. Plus they have student pricing.”
“TaskRabbit is essentially the Craigslist of services. We set up tasks for photographers for only a few hundred dollars.”
“We hired a cook for the Sunday brunch and a cleaning crew all through TaskRabbit.”
“I haven’t done grocery shopping in a year because I use Instacart.”
“For the wedding we used Costco, which was nice using Instacart because we don’t have a membership.”
“I didn’t hear about Instacart until a month before our wedding. It revolutionized our wedding.”
“When JCrew had the 75% off sale my dress was already sold out, so I bought it on eBay.”
“My husband still makes fun of me for using a Google spreadsheet. But it helped us keep everything on time.”
“We met on OKCupid. It’s fun because they ask you a ton of random questions. They also let you filter things specifically.”
“Eu’Genia Shea is named after my mother who was already in the shea butter business.”
“After telling your parents and friends about your engagement, the first question anyone’s going to ask you is what’s the date?”
“Talk to your partner about the budget. My husband asked why we needed lights. Things as basic as that cost a lot of money.”
“We borrowed a couple GoPros and set them up around the house but it ended up looking like security footage.”
“We assumed everyone had their own phones and could take their own photos. PictoBook gathered the photos and made us a wedding book.”
“We used Spotify for music. Anytime we heard a song that would make us dance we’d add it to the playlist.”
“If you have a hashtag wedding then you’re taking guests out of the moment since they have a task.”
“Google Maps has an option to track your friends. So I could track my mom or husband. Not in a creepy way.”
Find out more about Naa-Sakle HERE.
CAROLYN GERIN
“Weddings are a very traditional industry and is one of the last industries to meld tech into it.”
“Wedding brands, event planners, vendors all come together at the WedTech Summit.”
“Platforms like Honeybook and AislePlanner take the brutality out of event planning.”
“Wix.com saves the engaged couple from asking a bunch of questions like where’s the wedding, the registry.”
“Bridal analytics on how digitally engaged couples use tech are helping open the wedtech space.”
“We’re Ground Zero for same-sex marriage. It’s going to open the wedtech marketplace in a huge way.”
“Pinterest is really driving gay weddings because everyone is putting together original boards.”
“An anti-bride is about having fun and doing what you want with your own style. One-size-fits-all weddings are a thing of the past.”
“If you’ve got Branson money and want to shoot yourself into space, then that’s pretty out of the box. But weddings shouldn’t put you in the hole.”
“You need to be solving a problem in the wedding space. Take the stress out of the wedding.”
“Millennials want to take their needs online. Weddings need to adapt to that.”
“JCrew was ahead of the game with wedding dresses. You could be a size 12 lactating mom or a size 2 Bikram girl, and JCrew has that.”
“First pick a date around the location then build your website.”
“Video drones are a huge trend at weddings.”
“I like saving time. All of what I’ve seen saves time.”
“Sometimes people share unflattering photos, that’s annoying.”
“I like hashtags because people can find your wedding.”
“EverNote is my everything.”
The WedTech Summit takes place Feb. 22nd & 23rd in Maui of 2016. Buy tickets HERE.
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ next week when Millennial reporter Dan Schawbel talks how to market to—and for—Millennials. Only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 Wednesdays at 9am PT/12pm ET. Call in at 1-800-WHARTON with your questions!!
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