Brittney LeBlanc
4/20/2010
Half of the guests invited to the summer wedding of Alana Dalglish and Blair Sutherland have already RSVPd without mailing in a response card - or receiving a posted invitation for that matter.
The couple opted to create their own personal wedding website allowing the 120 guests to view the invitation and RSVP for the June 25 ceremony online.
When they mailed out their Christmas cards, Dalglish, 33, and Sutherland, 32, included save-the-date magnets for the wedding with the web address, asking guests to RSVP on their site since no paper invitations would be mailed out.
Dalglish, a registered massage therapist, said the decision to go the digital route stemmed from a number of factors, including wanting to keep the wedding as eco-friendly as possible and to reduce postage costs. Sutherland, an IT specialist, said not having to worry about monitoring the mail for RSVPs was also a plus.
But there's more to their website than just fielding guest replies. Dalglish and Sutherland have posted details on how they met, mini-biographies of members of their family and wedding party, and even a section inviting visitors to submit and share recipes.
They keep friends and family in the loop with other events in the lead-up to the wedding. They're holding a fundraiser to benefit a village school in Mexico, near the eco-resort where they'll be spending their honeymoon. Individuals can donate to the cause online. There are also plans in the works to have a live feed of their nuptials.
Dalglish said they see their group of friends as a community, and wanted to give them - as well as those not able to attend their ceremony - a chance to be actively involved in their celebration. Using online tools allows them to share more information than they could in a paper invitation and helps makes communications easier in the process, she noted.
``For me, I wasn't sure if it would be worse having the website because it's sort of easy for people to forget about it,'' she said in an interview from Mississauga, Ont., west of Toronto. ``But because we're updating so much, we're constantly emailing people saying, `Hey, we've updated this page on our website, check it out,' and we're constantly getting feedback from our friends.''
The couple is among a steadily growing number incorporating the use of what some have dubbed ``wedsites'' as value-added and, at times, integral tools in helping plan and share information leading up to and including their big day.
Dalglish admits their parents were initially ``really resistant'' to the website idea.
``They were just like, 'I don't know, people might not be able to handle it,''' she recalled. ``And we're like, 'Trust us, it's going to be totally fine' - and it has been.''
The site also keeps the couple on their toes to ensure they keep the details current, Sutherland said.
``It's really been an integrity tool for us,'' he said. ``The second we put the website up, right there, there's no way we can procrastinate.''
Michael Benson and his then-fiancee, Jennifer, were looking for ways to cut back on costs for their 2002 wedding and save on postage in the process. So Benson, who owned a software development company at the time, decided to build an online form for their guests to fill out as a way to collect RSVPs.
After several couples approached them at their wedding to ask if they could use the form for their own upcoming nuptials, the couple knew they were on to something, Benson said.
From there, they started an RSVP service based on that initial form. Soon, couples were asking to relay additional details to their guests.
``There's so much information to communicate with a wedding that we soon had requests coming in to add more photos or to be able to talk about the bridal party and we quickly realized we need to build a much larger and flexible system,'' Benson said from Edmonton.
Their venture eventually blossomed into WedQuarters, which assists couples looking to create their own personal wedding websites.
After selecting from pre-made layouts, couples can customize their sites by uploading music, embedding video and even posting polls on everything from where they should go on honeymoon to what flavour of wedding cake they enjoy.
``Everybody's looking for a way to make their wedding stand out and to be truly unique,'' Benson said. ``It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so people are looking for ways to enhance that.''
Having information posted about the couple is also helpful for guests because often one side of the family may not know the bride or groom all that well, he noted.
``It's a way for you to really catch everyone up to speed on your relationship and how you met, and the sort of information you won't be able to communicate at the wedding because your time is limited.''
``It makes sure that there's no strangers at the wedding. Everyone can sort of get to know the bridal party and bride and groom. It allows people to really showcase their relationship, show off their photos and, I think, it just helps to just make it a much more special occasion.''
For couples concerned about security, they can opt to password-protect select pages or the entire site and can keep surnames off, Benson said.
People spend $30 for a year-long account, but Benson said they've had some couples who have been with them for more than four years, transitioning their sites to posting information about work and their kids, he said.
``People just find that this is great way to keep everyone up-to-date with their lives together.''
Tracey Manailescu recalled a couple whose wedding she helped plan in Toronto last October, and how their website was particularly beneficial to keep out-of-town guests in the loop, many of whom were coming from Vancouver.
``I personally think that it really adds a personal touch to the wedding,'' said Manailescu, vice-president of the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada and manager of Toronto-based The Wedding Planners, a wedding co-ordination firm.
In addition to learning more about the couple, it can also be helpful to disseminate information if they're incorporating cultural traditions or rituals, she noted.
``If they're having a Greek wedding, they're going to talk about the Greek traditions, or if there's a Chinese tea ceremony, they're going to have an explanation up there on (the site) ... why the bride is disappearing for a half-hour at a time so she can come back in these beautiful costumes,'' Manailescu said.
Dalglish and Sutherland are already thinking ahead to future plans with their site after the wedding. They'd like have an online photo gallery and forum for guests to be able to share their experiences from the day.
``I think we've sort of seen it as this is the beginning because with the website, it's never-ending,'' said Dalglish. (Lauren La Rose,Canadian Press,blb)
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