When Jody and Craig decided to get married, an electronic invitation was immediately dispatched worldwide. The message read: `Please attend our wedding at www ...`

The Internet may seem like an unusual venue for a wedding, but when your family and friends are dispersed across the globe, you cannot help seeing its attraction. Personal `wed` sites are all the rage in the UK and the United States, and while the concept is still in its infancy in South Africa, techno-literate couples are catching on fast.

Craig and Jody Rubenstein met in Vancouver, Canada, two years ago. Job prospects had encouraged Craig, a 26-year-old mechanical engineer, to emigrate from South Africa a few months before, and when their eyes met across the living room of a mutual friend, the rest - as they say in the movies - was history.

With their diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds, Jody and Craig were, in a manner of speaking, proto-types of the nineties `global shrinkage` phenomenon. So when they finally got engaged, Jody, a web designer by profession, decided to put her skills to use in an effort to spread the word to family and friends. The result was amazing.

First, an announcement was e-mailed to a list of over 30 families, inviting them to access the couple`s personal `wed` site. A click on the accompanying address promptly led guests to a homepage where a picture of the happy couple was displayed. Another click and guests were treated to the story of how they met, as well as all the juicy details that led to an emphatic `Yes` from Jody.

Each month, the couple sent e-mails out to all the names on their list, reminding guests to check the site for new info. Those who did were rewarded with an up-to-the-minute progress report on the various stages of their wedding planning.When the couple finally tied the knot in June this year, numerous messages of congratulations bolted from one PC to another. And within weeks after the honeymoon, `e-guests` were able to feast their eyes on the wedding photos that were posted online, along with a handful of lively snap-shots from their romantic Hawaiian rendezvous.

Says Jody, "Having our site on the Internet was brilliant. It brought everyone so much closer, and I got to know members of Craig`s family I`d never met before. Even those who were unable to attend felt as though they could participate in the celebrations".

And the best part? It hardly cost them anything at all. Compared to the cost of a ticket abroad, or the boundless expense of sending photographs via snail-mail (which is unpredictable at the best of times) a personalised `wed` site turned out to be the most cost-effective method of keeping in touch.

It`s becoming an irrefutable fact, just as video killed the radio star, the home computer has shrunken the globe into a congenial, multi-cultural village.Given the current `less-than-stable` climate of South Africa in particular, the splitting up of families and friends has become an occurrence we encounter almost weekly. So it`s easy to see why the trend to have a personal home page is gaining so much momentum worldwide. The Internet is a portable medium, and an invaluable communication resource. Also, what better antidote could there be for the unbearable pain of separation?

"I thee web...?"Local web site designers
Mike Lanesman: www.icon.co.za/~photocd/
e-mail: Photocd@icon.co.za
AndrT Pretorius - safricaweb@iafrica.com
Options abroad (Although not situated locally, these services are still available to South African couples)
www.worldwideweddings.com or e-mail Bonnie Buckner at info@worldwideweddings.com
www.waycoolweddings.com

Bonnie Buckner manages an American-based company called worldwideweddings.com. Since the opening of business in March 1998, she has recorded an average growth rate of 80% per quarter - an expansion that she attributes mostly to word-of-mouth referrals.

Bonnie believes that the reason for this surge of interest in online wedding albums is related to an increasingly mobile society - the majority of which are young, high achieving, computer-smart couples.

"Not only is it a cost-effective alternative to having photos developed and mailing them to loved ones, it also eliminates the time factor," she adds, "one of its greatest attributes is that it`s immediate. It also crosses time barriers, is unlimited by geographical boundaries and is unlikely to get lost along the way."

According to Bonnie, the cost generally ranges from $99 to $199, depending on the services required and the amount of pictures wanted, and because of the vast reach of the Internet, worldwideweddings.com are able to offer their services to couples around the world. "Couples can either scan images and e-mail them to us, or send photographs via snail-mail and we do the scanning. Most packages begin at 10 photo`s, but this is unlimited, depending on the couple`s budget."

Continued in Wed` Sites in cyberspace 2 of 2...

Article source: LifeWorld