OneWed

OneWed is a wedding planning website that provides the largest searchable online database of local wedding vendors, with user-generated ratings and user reviews . Founded in 2003 and re-launched in October 2008, OneWed features a database of over 200,000 vendors nationwide. Launched in February 2009, OneWed’s Savvy Scoop Bridal Blog also provides editorial content including wedding ideas, tips, advice, and suggestions to help users personalize their wedding experience.

OneWed is headquartered in Chicago, IL, and is a privately owned company by the investment firm Lake Capital.

In June 2008, Lake Capital purchased the site from the previous owner and installed Troy Henikoff, CEO of OneWed. Prior to OneWed, Henikoff co-founded SurePayroll.com, an Internet based payroll service bureau focusing on companies with under 100 employees. Before SurePayroll, Henikoff was at Jellyvision, Inc., recruited specifically to build a software development capability from scratch. He serves as a board member at Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and is an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University.

Products and Services

Online, local, searchable database of over 200,000 vendors

OneWed provides the largest searchable online database for wedding vendors (including wedding photographers, caterers, bakeries, bridal shops, wedding singers, DJs), accompanied by user-generated ratings and reviews. The database is searchable by zip code, city or state, and these local search preferences can be searched within a specific mile radius of the search area. Vendors who wish to be listed on OneWed can choose a free listing option, or select a paid option to ensure preferential exposure in search results.

OneWed’s Savvy Scoop Wedding Blog

OneWed launched the Savvy Scoop Wedding Blog in February 2009. The blog also features regular weekly postings from wedding bloggers. Each week, the blog hosts a Savvy Steals giveaway, in which a product is rewarded through a contest entry to one reader each week. Each week’s featured product receives the OneWed Loves It! seal of approval.

Online Wedding Checklist and Timeline

OneWed revealed the online wedding checklist and timeline in April 2009. Once users register with OneWed.com, they can start tailoring their checklist to reflect their personal priorities and needs. The list contains over 70 expert-suggested tasks from OneWed’s Guide for the Savvy Bride. In addition, each task can be organized by date, owner and priority. Users can also keep tabs on their progress by adding comments in the special notes section. The site also offers OneWed’s Guide for the Savvy Bride, a free, downloadable guide with planning tips and checklists.

Free Wedding Websites

OneWed debuted free wedding websites in March 2009. These free sites feature over 70 designs from three wedding stationery companies: Wedding Paper Divas, Luscious Verde, and Hello!Lucky. These websites can be customized and updated by users, and used to share wedding information with family and friends online.

Style Galleries

OneWed features image galleries for four wedding categories: wedding dresses, wedding shoes, wedding hairstyles, and wedding cakes. These style galleries contain images from wedding designers and vendors, with the intent to provide inspiration for selecting the most fitting designs for wedding day looks and details.

Wedding Forums and Bridal Community

OneWed hosts an interactive bridal community with chat forums. These social networking forums provide an opportunity for OneWed users including brides, newlyweds and wedding professionals to connect with other users on a variety of wedding-related issues and inquiries.

Honeymoon and Destination Wedding Planning Tools

OneWed has partnered with iExplore to provide destination wedding and honeymoon planning tools. Users can glance through the tripfinder, browse the travel guides, and use iExplore’s Adventure Consultants to help personalize their planning experience.

Shop on OneWed

From wedding bands to groomsmen gifts to bridesmaid shoes, OneWed’s Shop offers galleries of products and accessories in almost every category of wedding planning. For men, women, and children, these galleries feature photos and product descriptions, as well as the option to purchase directly from the brand.

Advice from OneWed

OneWed’s advice features a variety of wedding planning topics along with free tools to help manage and navigate the planning process. Tools and categories include budgets, checklists, timelines, ideas, inspiration, traditions, etiquette, beauty, health, style, fashion, showers, parties, the wedding party, and more.

Bridal Shows, Searchable by State

OneWed provides state-by-state listings and descriptions of bridal shows and wedding expos.

External Links:

OneWed (http://www.onewed.com)

Savvy Scoop: OneWed’s Bridal Blog (http://www.onewed.com/blog/savvy-scoop)

OneWed Free Wedding Websites, Online Checklist and Timeline (http://www.onewed.com/my-wedding-planning/)

OneWed’s Forums: (http://www.onewed.com/chat/)