A couple who clicked (From The Northern Echo)

A couple who clicked

1:43pm Tuesday 27th December 2011 in Lifestyle

Internet entrepreneurs from Teesdale are offering brides the chance to create the wedding of their dreams and even to bring it in under budget. Sarah Willcocks checks them out.

AFTER months spent huddled around their computers, husband and wife team Collette and Julian Clamp, from Staindrop, have just launched what they claim is the country’s most comprehensive wedding website.

Aimed at taking the stress out of wedding planning, tellthebride.com arms couples with all the information needed to plan the big day, with the facility quickly to search through venues, suppliers and wedding packages.

Although the couple say the venture has been a lot of hard work and long hours, Collette and Julian are used to working as a team.

“Plenty of our married friends have asked how on earth we live and work full-time together, but we work really well with each other,” says Julian. “Very soon after we met, before we got married, we were working together, first in Italy and then in Sweden.”

Julian, who has worked as an IT consultant since 1998, says that the hardest challenge was creating a site that was practical and useful. “We had the skills to do a website and wanted to create one for a long time,” he says. “We noticed that the wedding industry had changed so much since we got married 11 years ago. Our own wedding was in a small church in the Yorkshire Dales with a reception in the village hall. It was all very simple.

We had been working in Europe at the time and were only back in the country for a short period so we had just eight weeks to organise it.”

While Julian tackled the technical side of the website, Collette, who also has a background in IT, turned her skills to the visual design.

Although on the face of it, the site is straightforward and intuitive for users, Julian says that creating the technical apparatus behind the site was no easy task.

With thousands of wedding dress images, accessories, flowers, venues and cakes to choose from, creating a site that includes checkbox filters and comparison tables was a priority. But it was also one of the most complicated and time-consuming jobs. It took 18 months for Collette and Julian to build the site, regularly working up to midnight.

Creative brides will love the online mood board where they can bring together all the elements of a day to remember, from the colour scheme and the dress down to the favours on the table.

Collette says: “tellthebride.com is essential for busy bridesto- be, and is designed to save them time and stress, whilst helping them arrange the wedding they want at a price they can afford.”

If money is an issue, tellthebride.com has secured more than 500 wedding packages and special offers so that brides can identify the right deal for their budget. “In the current economic climate, many people find the cost of a wedding prohibitive,” says Collette. “We’ve had a fantastic response from venues and suppliers wishing to promote their packages.”

For brides in a hurry, finding a venue with immediate availability is just a click away; saving brides from having to phone round all the venues in their area.

Expert advice is also on hand with brides being given access to top designers, including celebrity cake-maker David MacCarfrae, whose creations have graced many a Royal Wedding banquet. “David has really got behind the website, and been in raptures about it,”

says Julian. “It’s really encouraging to get that response within the industry when frankly there are thousands of sites out there, but they are not doing very much. They’re not offering value for money or inspiration but just show you the supplier’s business name and phone number. We wanted to create a real showcase.”

Other big names involved with the site are Charlotte Byrne, the events manager from River Cottage HQ, vintage shoe designer Rachel Simpson and dress designer Suzanne Neville.

One of the most popular site tools with users is the dress search. Brides can narrow down the hunt for the perfect gown, searching by style and cut, such as a sweetheart neckline or empire-line skirt.

One of the highlights for Julian and Collette so far has been meeting some of the wedding dress designers. “As designers they get contacted a lot so to get a positive reaction from them was always going to be the hill to climb, but we got a really warm response,” says Julian.

With the hit rate increasing every day, Julian and Collette say that it has been worth every minute spent in front of the computer. “We are getting such good feedback from both suppliers and brides,” adds Julian. “It makes us feel like we’re definitely doing the right things.”

• For more information about tellthebride.com phone 0191-645-2135 or visit tellthebride.com • For David MacCarfrae’s Cakes of Distinction (davidcakes.co.uk) call 0151-931- 3331, to contact Suzanne Neville email info@suzanneneville.com and for shoemaker Rachel Simpson call 0121-773-8122.

Rockliffe Hall, events@rockliffehall.com