UPDATED!!!!!!!!!! (Scroll down)I know that a number of wedding professionals read this blog so I am urging you all to read this recent post on the Perfect Wedding Guide website.
Maybe I am mistaken but doesn't the PWG derive most of its revenue from advertisements? Aren't there Florists, DJs, wedding planners, Bridal shops, reception sites and make-up artists paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars to advertise to brides in there regional guides?
Why then would the collective editors decide to bite the hands that feed them and publish garbage advice like this?
Sure you can DIY your entire reception and save lots of money. You'll also spend your entire reception running around putting out little "fires" as you go. iPod stopped playing in the middle of your first dance? No problem since it's the grooms iPod he'll just stop and head over to the boom box and reboot, so you can start over and try and salvage a memory that doesn't include a curse of Steve Jobs under your breath.
Have your friend do your make-up so that when you get all those digital pictures that your guests took with their cameras on automatic you'll look like a $2 street walker at 5am on a Sunday.
Collect flowers from a field behind your house? When you doing that for your June wedding? In the morning before the ceremony? You sure aren't doing it anytime before that unless you have an industrial sized refrigeration unit to store them in.
Shop consignment on your dress. Why not? Just be prepared for the astronomically high alterations bill from your local bridal shop. They aren't offering discount alterations on dresses they didn't sell.
Oh and my personal favorite hors d'oeuvres instead of a meal.(bet you thought I'd be more upset by the iPod didn't you?) Your guests will be joining you through at least one meal unless you are planning some sort of combined ceremony/reception that ends in 2 hours. Yeah finger foods will encourage them to linger and share your magical day.
With wilted flowers on the tables of a strangers house, while your guests struggle to dance to whatever you happen to have on your iPod playlist, as the seams on your thrift store dress burst open cause Aunt Millie is half blind and just doesn't sew like she used to.
That'll sure be a memorable event to say the least.
Seriously though I am calling on ALL WEDDING PROFESSIONALS to write/call/email the editors of The Perfect Waste of Money...er umm..the Perfect Wedding Guide and remind them that you pay their bills, and then tell them you will be canceling your ad because too many of THEIR readers are not becoming YOUR customers based on pitiful advice like this!
PWG Holdings, LLC
39 Skyline Dr., Ste. 1001
Lake Mary, FL 32746
PHONE: (888) 222-7433
FAX: (888) 933-3404
WEB SITE: www.perfectweddingguide.com
EMAIL: corp@pwg.com
Just for fun here's an iPod wedding for your evaluation.
My Comments regarding my discussion with Tammy and this email, which I only just received (via 3rd party it has not as of yet been sent to me personally) are forthcoming.Hi J.
I wanted to respond to your email below and follow up on the discussion we had this morning related to the below content.
First, I always appreciate strong points of view and applaud passion. As we discussed, NEVER at anytime would Perfect Wedding Guide in any way, shape or form do anything to intentionally harm anyone! Over the years our company has dedicated itself to serving wedding professionals all over the country and to serving brides and their needs. We do more to connect brides and business than any other media company out there. The tens of thousands of vendors we have worked with over the years have benefited and continue to benefit from the many channels we provide brides and business to connect through print, internet, leads, bridal shows, networking events and more. No one puts more into this mission that PWG!
With that said, I think that if you had taken the time to call me before you made assumptions about our motives and reasons for providing relevant content to brides, you would have found that first, I am accessible and responsive (as per our nearly 2.5 hour conversation) and would realize we have a greater goal in mind to provide good, quality content to brides. We don’t dictate that content, brides do and with ever increasing demands from our vendors to provide more brides – we can’t accomplish the goal if we DON’T give them what they want. True, Brides don’t buy advertising, but neither do vendors if we don’t have brides! There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t get compared to larger companies. In order to provide more brides to you, we have to provide the information they want and demand to maintain credibility with them. If we don’t, they seek it elsewhere, because as you know, there are plenty of resources for them to turn to such as social networking sites and blogs, where the crazy brides can really go to town unchecked. Does anyone really want those type of sites to become the primary path for wedding information and education for brides? I don’t think so. What was never mentioned in the email below is the many positive articles, networking events, educational seminars and webinars Perfect Wedding Guide produces and participates on all levels to help provide more accurate and helpful information to both Brides and Vendors. We are dedicated to connecting brides to businesses and have helped many businesses grow over the years!
We know that times are challenging and again, I have to point out that PWG does more to work with businesses like yourself to generate sales and revenue than most of our competitors. I believe that’s why the majority of negative responders to the article are coming from vendors that don’t actually do business with us. The vast majority of our advertisers understand and know our commitment to them. We live with them and work with them every day in the markets we serve. We have a vested interest in their success. I hope that in the future, a more productive path will be taken. Most of us want to do better. Most of us are dedicated professionals and work hard every day to improve our businesses and serve our customers.
We did pull the article in question before our conversation, but after our rather lengthy conversation, I believe we both walked away with a better understanding of our intent and your position. It is important to me to educate – that’s why I believe in the article, but I also believe we can make the article more powerful by providing the pros and cons of each tip. I agree, Brides need to know both the potential upside and downside to their decisions. I hope that everyone can agree that this serves all interested parties fairly and provides real, valuable content to the end user that is helpful.
I am truly sorry this article hit a nerve – it certainly was not intended to cause harm or create the illusion that professionals are not necessary. Obviously, an iPod cannot give the same entertainment value a DJ can, obviously if a bride provides her own flowers it cannot compare to what a professional will provide. We know the value of using professionals and we certainly have a long enough track record to prove that. But we also can’t ignore the huge movement towards D-I-Y and the need to give them good information. The truth is, it helps all of us create valuable talking points to address the D-I-Y bride and give the pros and cons to their decisions. I’ve seen other vendors make the very same recommendations to brides that were in the article, not to mention that every single wedding related publication and website had covered this topic. We can’t be so afraid to address the truth given 85% of all weddings (which is 1.85 out of 2.2 million weddings per year) spend the average or below on their weddings. 50% of all weddings (1.1 million) spend approximately half of the average. Our job is to make sure we are supplying ideas, tips and vendors for all brides of all budgets. If we do that, we will all get more in the end because we will have a larger market to reach. If we narrow that field, we limit the number of brides we can reach - and in this economy, most vendors need to be looking at all budget levels to survive (I said most, not all)!
I respect your position, I understand you passion and I think we came to a productive outcome. Talking to each other usually provides a more positive outcome than threats and hysteria. In spite of the reason we came to talk, I ended up enjoying debating and discussing the issue with you. Thank you for taking the time to do that.
Please let me know if you have any additional thoughts or would like to discuss this matter any further – I will make myself available. I hope you find this information relevant to share with your colleagues.
Tammy Elliot – President, Perfect Wedding Guide
Quick Stat:
6 comments:
I think most brides have more class and are more intelligent than to take that ridiculous advice. Unless they are from the Ozarks and marrying their brother or cousin.
Tony G DJ
You know I agree with you, I wrote a book about it. You have enlightened me about iPod use. I will have to edit that section!
They pulled it - great work!
I think PWG needs to stay relevant to reach brides and I think there are a lot of brides who are interested in creative ways to cut costs. In the end, I think the article will serve as good literature for brides who still want a reliable wedding vendor to provide service for their wedding. I think it's misguided to attack PWG, when brides are getting this kind of information in a lot of places. The wedding industry is one of the most resilient industries and even if it suffers due to a downturn in the economy, I think it's our job as professionals and owners to find a way to stay in front of our customers even as their needs and interests change. As an advertiser, I personally think PWG should repost the article. What's good for them (more readers) is good for their advertisers (more buyers).
First off this isnt an attack on PWG exclusively. We have made the same complaint against The Knot, The Wedding Channel, and others who have made the same ridiculous claims
An iPod cannot be your DJ. Quite frankly its an insult to me and anyone who does what I do for a living to suggest that this is the case. There's more to floral arranging than picking flowers and sticking them in a vase, etc, etc.
Secondly I am seeing an increase in business, not a decrease so that was not my motivaion.
Finally just because "everyone else is doing it." Is a pretty poor excuse for not presenting the cons along with these suggestions.
I spent 2.5 hours on the phone with PWG and in a nutshell this is a knee jerk reaction to trying to bump their traffic numbers to be able to compete traffic wise. I do not dispute that brides are seeking to cut costs, but to pander simply to increase your site traffic in an attempt to justify your rates to advertisers does not serve those advertisers in the end. Quantity of traffic is nothing. It is the QUALITY of that traffic that justifies my advertising dollars.
These articles are self serving to the advertisers and are in direct conflict with their advertisers intentions in placing ads in the first place.
Why does a site that charges professionals who provide these type of services want to attract brides who are looking to do without those same advertisers? What is the purpose of attracting that customer if you are not making the case that professionals are insurance that your wedding will be what you expect it to be?
Either way I simply put the information out there and each individual advertiser is free to make their own decision what serves their interests best.
I notice though (and I say this as a provider of Photo Booth rental services) that this particular service is not underfire. Nor was the second most expensive element in a reception...photography. Why no tips on how to save money in these 2 areas?
"These articles are self serving to the advertisers and are in direct conflict with their advertisers intentions in placing ads in the first place."
This should read ...
These articles are self serving to the publishers and are in direct conflict with their advertisers intentions in placing ads in the first place.
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