A Southeast Asian company is taking the wedding industry by storm. Using technology to their advantage, Bridestory connects wedding professionals to couples across the globe in the most convenient way possible. It is the leading wedding marketplace in the region.
“Wedding vendors are very good at what they do, however, not all of them can market their brands in an appropriate way, which is an important factor for success. Bridestory is here to solve that problem,” said Kevin Mintaraga, Chief Executive Officer of Bridestory.
The platform works both as an inspiration site and a directory of wedding professionals. Through Bridestory, couples can get inspirations from a catalogue of works accomplished by professionals. Bridestory also enables wedding professionals to expand their reach by providing an avenue for couples around the world to contact them easily.
After launching in January 2014, Bridestory has garnered the trust of couples and vendors in its home country, Indonesia, as well as from neighbours such as Singapore and Australia.
Over 15,000 vendors from 39 countries, including 12,000 hailing from the Southeast Asian region, are doing business with the help of Bridestory. Vendors are categorized based on their expertise, be it dress and attire or photography, among others. Bridestory already has 200 local vendors shortly after launching their Philippine website (www.bridestory.com.ph) last August.
“Bridestory has a good reputation overseas for featuring the best wedding inspiration for readers and serving as a channel for different suppliers to feed the needs of particular clients,” said Sheena Caburog of Mayad Studios, who signed up in August.
”We expect for Bridestory to continue upholding the same here in the Philippines, inspiring couples to get the best for the best days of their lives,” Caburog added.
Mayad Studios have been commissioned to photograph weddings around the world including ones in Fiji, Africa, India and London among others.
Bridestory is the right partner for vendors aiming to seize the opportunities of the growing digital market, adds Mintaraga.
“We signed up with Bridestory because of the market and its potential. We don’t usually join bridal fairs so we only get to promote online,” said Chyv Reyes of MangoRed, a photography studio in the Philippines.
MangoRed photographed the weddings of Kitchie Nadal and Carlos Lopez and Iya Villania and Drew Arellano.
According to Similarweb, a traffic estimator tool, Bridestory has become the most visited wedding website in Southeast Asia by August 2015, with more than 500,000 visits per month.
A tech company at its core, Bridestory provides their vendors with invaluable electronic data.
“We give real time leads with contact and measurable marketing. We have experts on digital marketing and we invest on optimizing the vendor’s online presence via digital marketing tools,” said Mintaraga.
The company has just launched their very own vendor app, Bridestory Pro, which enables vendors to manage and promote their business in Bridestory through mobile devices.
Bridestory Pro allow vendors to view their profile statistics, receive notifications regarding inquiries from users, manage such queries, manage their subscription, and update their business profile information.
With Bridestory, vendors can promote their products globally and receive inquiries from prospective clients. Vendors will be able to self-upload and update their portfolios to the site. In addition, there is a vendor tagging feature with which vendors can ‘tag’ others who they collaborated with on a project.
“Bridestory is a great platform because when couples find something, they can easily see the vendor in the tag and they can connect with them,” said Reyes.
Bridestory also owns an international blog and a social media network with a global audience of more than 2 million. Wedding inspirations submitted by both couples and vendors are featured daily in these channels.
Weddings are becoming more “imaginative, creative and personal” all at once said Caburog. Through Bridestory, vendors can show couples their unique touch.
With Bridestory, wedding professionals can help more couples around the world make their special day, the best there is.
