It used to be that “word of mouth” was limited to our circle of family and friends, but thanks to the Internet, that circle has widened to include reviews from journalists, bloggers and even strangers — through sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor.
Suffice it to say, these days it has become so easy to try out a new restaurant, salon or product, armed with the knowledge that you know what to expect. Sometimes it lives up to its reputation, sometimes it disappoints, but more often than not, it manages expectations. Which already means a lot.
So just imagine how valuable reviews can be when it comes to monumental, usually once-in-a-lifetime events like weddings.
When Cathy Lao was planning her Manila wedding to Jon Lim in 2008, she was based in New York and had to rely on recommendations from her sister and friends, as well as web, e-mail, and wedding forums in choosing wedding suppliers.
As she hedged, choosing suppliers based on customer feedback worked wonders. All their suppliers pulled through to give them a wonderful and hassle-free wedding.
But it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Cathy recalls, “While I was preparing for my wedding, I had a hard time searching for vendor reviews. Some of them could be found in blogs while others were embedded in the conversation threads in forums. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if we could aggregate all of these reviews by vendor in one place?”
This inspired her to create Bridetastic.com.ph, a website for brides that aggregates reviews and has become an easy and efficient way to read about other brides’ experiences with vendors and learn from them.
As an added feature, sort of like a Facebook for brides, Bridetastic gives its members the ability to upload pictures and videos and tag the vendors responsible for rendering the service. This way, brides have visual proof to go along with their reviews.
A Labor Of Love
Unlike most web entrepreneurs who put together a team to get their site up and running, Cathy, who graduated from Cornell University with a Master of Engineering degree in Computer Science, personally did the programming for the website herself while on maternity leave.
“I got a few people to help design the logo and website but I programmed everything else. It took me a year to finish it because I could only work on it at night and during weekends,” Cathy shares.
Along with her husband Jon, who takes care of the marketing aspect, they forfeited almost all of their holidays just to work on the site. “This site really is a labor of our love,” Cathy vows.
To spread the love, Bridetastic has also established a partner site in Canada, Bridetastic.ca, and intends to launch in two other markets soon.
The couple’s goal is to launch Bridetastic to as many countries as possible because they understand that this is a need that brides from around the world share. According to Cathy, “We usually import different brands and concepts to the Philippines. Jon and I think that it is time that we export something of our own to the world.”
From Bridezilla To Bridetastic
Barely out of beta testing, the site has indeed become quite a valuable resource for future brides. Exit Bridezilla, enter Bridetastic. With over 2,500 vendors to choose from, and over 1,200 reviews from the hundreds of brides who have joined the site, there is indeed a wealth of information to be found. There is no excuse to choose haphazardly as long as a bride has done her research.
Vendors are organized by category, i.e. bridal gowns, cakes and desserts, caterers, ceremony locations, event stylists, florists and so on, guaranteeing that an overwhelmed bride will not miss out on an important supplier. These vendors are then ranked based on bride reviews, and future brides have the option to go for what’s popular, or the one that best fits their personality or budget.
Another interesting feature, apart from the very useful vendor reviews, is the Q&A section called “The Café” where brides are encouraged to post questions to fellow brides.
From legitimate questions like “What is a CENOMAR?” to practical ones like “Where to buy plastic covers for invitations?” and even fashion situations such as “Should you go with open toed or closed toed shoes?” — no question is too silly to ask.
The Bridetastic community understands the concerns and questions that each individual bride faces, and there is always a member willing to give advice or share tips.
Ultimately however, Cathy and Jon want Bridetastic to be known for being the best source of authentic wedding reviews. Suppliers stand to gain from joining the site too, allowing them to establish an online presence across a wide spectrum of brides.
“Weddings are such happy and memorable experiences that we are just glad to know we are able to contribute something to the couples. And I’m pretty sure we will be able to take advantage of the reviews ourselves — when we plan for our renewal of vows!” Cathy enthuses.
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To learn more about Bridetastic go to http://Bridetastic.com.ph.