Next month, I'm getting married. For reasons unknown to me, getting married costs money. Lots of money.
That's not a huge problem, and to be honest it's not overly surprising. It just strikes me as odd that an entire industry is built around charging exhorbitant amounts of cash for services identical to those offered to others at much lower prices - and people pay for it.
Yet it's not just the bride and groom getting ripped off when it comes to the big day - wedding guests are expected to buy gifts for the happily married couple (which, of course, I don't have an issue with) however these same guests are expected to purchase their goods from overpriced department stores from pre-selected gift lists.
Why, as a couple getting married, should we lock our guests (who are very generous in deciding to buy us something to assist with our new life together) into being ripped off when they buy us gifts?
This portion of the industry needs a change - and I'm working hard on it. I'm starting a new service for couples getting hitched, to let them give everybody more flexibility when it comes to bridal registries.
Couples will have more flexibility when it comes to selecting gifts they'd like to receive. Guests will have more flexibility when it comes to purchasing gifts. Most importantly, nobody will be ripped off.
My new service, which I'll be launching publicly soon, works. It works well. Hand-picked couples have used it over the past few months with fantastic feedback. I'm using it now for my wedding, again with fantastic feedback from guests.
Soon, you'll be able to use it too. Lets get some simplicity back into weddings.