From Matchmaker to Wedding Planner

First of all, I'd like to apologize for a mistake I made in yesterday's post about blogging. PR-squared has stayed very up to date with their blogging. They provide relevant and valuable information on social media frequently. I mixed up their site with another one, techprgems. Like PR-squared, I really do enjoy this blog and they have great information for newcomers or experts in social media. However, techprgems.com is the site that has not posted since August 20th, and we'd love to hear from them soon!

Onto today's post. Since I discovered mashable.com, I've been fully addicted to it. Today they had a post on how to plan a wedding on the Web. http://mashable.com/2009/09/08/wedding-planning/

For this service, you can do everything from planning your proposal, sending invitations, registering, picking a caterer, a vendor, creating a Website to keep guests informed about nearby hotels or your fiance's background, and even afterwards sharing your photos. Basically you can plan your whole wedding without even leaving the confines of your own home.

All of this is great if you're a Web-equipped individual, I won't deny that. But they help you plan the proposal? Where's the romance? What happened to the days of a fancy dinner, ring in the dessert and getting down on one knee? I'm not saying that's the only way to do it, but the point is that it's supposed to be personal and thoughtful. Brainstorming ideas with people you don't even know hardly seems like either of those.

Also, how are you supposed to pick a caterer while sitting on your couch. You can read as many reviews as you'd like, but when it comes down to it, don't you want to taste the meal you choose for all your loved ones to eat on your most special day? And it that cake is going in your face, you had better hope you like that whipped vanilla frosting or whatever you choose.

The Website seems like an excellent idea though, as a way of keeping guests informed. They can find maps, hotels in the area, maybe even predicted weather. But if my friend or cousin is getting married, I want to meet the fiance, not just hear about him or her on their Website. He's a new family member, not a new employee, so I'll skip the resume thanks.

I feel like I'm criticizing Web weddings too harshly. I think it's a great service and many people have successfully capitalized on it. It surely makes a lot of people's lives easier in a very stressful time. When it comes time to plan my own wedding, I'm sure I'll make good use of many of these applications. However, I won't get too carried away in making my wedding impersonal. What's next, an online bachelor party instead of going to the strip club?

That's my PR thought for the day.