We're in the News: New Media News

Visit NewMediaNews.com. More of Jill & Pete in the news Online Wedding More than two million brides say "I do" each year, generating $32 billion in annual retail sales for the wedding industry. For many, planning for the big day takes months, sometimes years. But now, thanks to technology, wedding planning got a whole lot easier. Jill Fennewald manages the website for the giant computer chip-maker Intel. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, but plans to marry her fiancé, Peter Kocher, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Unfamiliar with the city, the businesses, and services available there, Jill found a novel way to plan her wedding. "Since it's my job to manage a website, it's the first thing i think of -- gosh, what am I going to do? I know, I'll go online. "When we first got engaged," Jill says, "I spent an incredible amount of time online just surfing and trying to find everything that was out there...I've got quite a list of bookmarks." She's not alone. According to the largest online wedding website, The Knot, as many as 11 percent of couples getting married do some or all of their planning on the Internet. "It's just so all in one place...you sit down and you have this vast resource...literally at your fingertips." Jill uses the Internet as a communication tool and a browsing tool to see what's out there. She was amazed at the wealth of wedding-oriented websites she found based in Wisconsin. "I found the website that would help me out the most -- The Union Station -- and it's actually a Milwaukee-based wedding website...I couldn't believe it." Jill found just about everything online, from a caterer to a photographer. She even reserved the church she's getting married in -- a church with a rich family history. "This is [Pete's family's] church. His grandmother donated money to have a stained-glass window restored. It's very special to them -- they all get married there. So it's a very wonderful, and traditional, and special place for them all -- and now for me, too." On her special day, Jill will wear a classic white dress that she picked out while surfing the Internet. Now, weeks before the wedding day, Jill uses the Internet not so much as a research tool, but to keep her guests informed through a personal wedding website. "It's just very simple, we try to put everything up there that people could want. We also made the same thing in paper form, because only about 20 percent of our friends and family are actually online and have e-mail or access to the Web." Jill's wedding planning experience hasn't been completely wrinkle-free. Her grandmother sent a set of antique crystal from the '30s -- around the depression era -- for a wedding gift. Eight of the 10 pieces broke in the mail. So where did she go to find a solution? "I stumbled on Internet malls just for antiques, and a lot of them have pictures. I was able to hold up the glass next to the screen and see which of these might be this pattern." Jill sent out 70 e-mails to antique dealers, collectors, and fine stores. So far, she's gotten back 20 replies. "I haven't actually turned up any pieces, but I have some people who've said, 'Oh yes, we'll put you in our database. As soon as it comes in, we'll let you know.' So I'm crossing my fingers." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jill is now a happily married woman. She goes by the name of Jill Fennewald Kocher. As for the antique crystal that broke in the mail, Jill recovered most of them. She bought the pieces at a Wisconsin store she found online. See article at NewMediaNews.com.