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Weddings go hi-tech
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Most young couples are looking at websites as another option for inviting guests to their wedding
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PHOTO: SATISH, H
MARRIAGE VOWS A fairytale love story or an arranged marriage, wedding websites allow you to tell your story
Behind every perfect wedding celebration, there's lot of running around. And most important of all is the task of inviting people for the function, which starts with printing the cards, getting all the addresses in place and going to their houses to invite them. This does not include the innumerable calls one needs to make in that process.
Everyone wants to know where it all started and how. You can just imagine the plight of the bride and the groom who have to repeat the same story 100 times.
Is there a way to escape this? Technology can come to your rescue. How about having a website about your wedding, with all the requisite information and sending that link to everyone? Sounds interesting but a tiresome task? May be not.
Wedding websites
There are a whole lot of websites that help you make a personalised wedding website in the simplest possible manner. It lets you have your kind of website - the themes (from classic, bohemian to Indian), the colours, the number of pages and the kind of pages. You are free to write the content and upload pictures.
A wedding timer will give countdown to the Big Day and you also have an exciting opening page using Flash.
And yes, it all comes at a cost of about $10. Since most of these sites are based in the U.S. or U.K., the mode of payment is in Dollars, which in Indian Rupees will translate to about Rs. 500 per month. Though there are some sites that allow you to pay depending on the number of months you want it online, most of them work on annual basis. Many websites even allow to chose your personal URL, conduct polls and quizzes but at extra cost. And once the wedding it over, you can use that space to upload your honeymoon pictures and other family details.
Shilpi Agrawal, business analyst with an IT firm, is all set to tie the knot in February and found the idea of having a website not only enticing, but very practical as well. "I was just surfing the net to see what the various options available and that's how I came to know about these websites.
My fiancé Chirantan and me quite liked the idea as we could say much more this way than through the traditional cards. Also, unlike in card, which is either from the bride's or groom's side, we could keep this website common. Even my parents liked the idea so much that my mom had decided to send the link to her friends as well," explains Shilpi. Her site tells everything from their story, programmes to directions to the function hall and online RSVP.
"I am getting different kind of responses, most of them appreciative. Only 25 per cent have responded to the RSVP, as we still don't have that culture in India. Websites cannot replace the traditional cards, but is definitely a good option," she feels.
This concept has already caught up abroad, but in India it is still catching on. Namrata started her website, mydreamshaadi.in, about a year back and gets about 15 enquiries a month. "We came up with this idea to ease the stress in the information sharing part before, during and after the wedding. Though based in the U. S., I have a lot of Indian as well as NRI clients. Our projection is that in the next 18-24 months this website will become mainstream," she says.
General trend
Talking about the general trend she points out that the market share of visits to wedding websites has increased 15 percent, year on year, according to Hitwise, an online competitive intelligence service. The ones who are getting married soon are already taking to it. Aarthi Ramaswamy, a consultant, wants to have her site up for at least 45 days before her wedding date in June.
"I think it's a better idea for me as my fiancé is in the U.S and it will be easier to convey the news through the website. People can know all we have to say. Also, I think the websites look really beautiful." But the publicity the couple gets, she feels, has both positive and negative aspects to it. "Even those who needn't know will know through this," she feels.
MANGALA RAMAMOORTHY
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