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ONEWED ENHANCES WEDDINGPREPARTY.COM: NEWLY EXPANDED SITE VIRTUALLY CONNECTS BRIDE, GROOM & GUESTS

Wedding Planning Website Enriches Social Networking Platform with New Communication Tools and Party Planning Features

Chicago, IL (October 1, 2009) /PRNewswire/ — OneWed.com, the wedding planning website with the largest online directory of local wedding vendors, is giving wedding parties a new reason to celebrate. The new features of Wedding Pre-Party cater to everyone involved in the big day, from the bride-to-be ready to post the engagement news on Facebook, to the maid-of-honor planning the bachelorette party, to everyone in between!

Unlike a traditional wedding website, WeddingPreParty.com introduces social wedding planning, bringing the bride, groom and guests together online to connect and communicate. Once invited by the engaged couple, participants in WeddingPreParty.com can post tips, make toasts, upload photos and see status updates from the future bride and groom. As an additional benefit, Facebook users can log-in to WeddingPreParty.com using Facebook Connect and choose to publish their activities back to their Facebook profile.

The new and enhanced features of WeddingPreParty.com include:

  • Party planning - anyone included in the couple's WeddingPreParty.com site can use the new party application to plan, manage and throw a celebration. From bachelorette parties, to bridal showers, to engagement parties, to wedding weekend festivities, the application allows the host or hostess of the event to send customized invitations to selected guests and poll the attendees on everything from dates to venue to gift ideas. Instead of a long email chain coordinating the details, all the information and discussion can live on the party's private page, including live graphics to show up-to-the-second polling info, as well as comments and conversation between guests. The party application even conveniently emails participants with reminders and last-minute changes to the event. After the event, the site will automatically create a photo album for all guests to upload photos-all in one central location, instead of through multiple photo sharing sites.
  • Wedding announcement on Facebook - the bride and groom can "announce" their wedding to their Facebook news feeds with a link to a specially designed page featuring: a photo of the couple, the wedding date, the wedding city and state, a link to their wedding website for friends to log-in, and a list of photos showing which wedding guests are participating in WeddingPreParty.com.
  • Facebook integration - guests of the bride and groom's WeddingPreParty.com page can publish their activities back on their personal Facebook profile, including status updates, links, photos, wedding toasts, tips and wedding advice.

Additional benefits of WeddingPreParty.com include:

  • Invite-only access to the bride and groom's site to maintain privacy
  • A customized and interactive wedding checklist to help the bride and groom oversee tasks. The couple can also delegate items to other guests active on the site
  • Photo albums of wedding pre-parties, wedding inspiration ideas and the couple uploaded by the future bride and groom and guests
  • Ability to view pictures and profiles of the other wedding guests in advance and virtually meet attendees before the big day
  • Opportunity to send the bride and groom messages with "tips," "toasts" and "truths"

"The new and updated features of WeddingPreParty.com make the wedding planning process even more social and streamlined," said Jennifer Napier, VP of Marketing for OneWed.com. "We're embracing the best aspects of social networking platforms to provide brides, grooms and wedding guests with everything they need to communicate and connect online before the big day!"

In celebration of the newest features and additions to WeddingPreParty.com, OneWed is launching a special Off-the-Charts Wedding giveaway to reward one lucky couple (and their wedding party) with all the items they might not have budgeted for during the planning process. The package features 15 prizes in all, including: A Luxury Included® Honeymoon from Sandals Resorts, Bridesmaids' Dresses from The Dessy Group, Tuxedos from Savvi Formalwear and Wedding Rings from Whiteflash.com.

Visit www.WeddingPreParty.com to get the party started!

About OneWed

OneWed provides the largest searchable online database of local wedding vendors, with honest and detailed ratings and reviews. Founded in 2003 and re-launched in December 2008, OneWed boasts a directory of over 200,000 vendors nationwide and provides a wealth of tips, advice, and creative suggestions to help any couple personalize their wedding experience. In July 2009, OneWed launched WeddingPreParty.com, a virtual way for couples to start the celebration early and keep in contact, while building excitement before the big day. Additionally, the site features OneWed's Savvy Scoop Wedding Blog, online wedding checklist, and free wedding websites. Couples can continue to look to OneWed for everything from engagement rings to wedding dresses to honeymoon planning. OneWed can be found online at www.OneWed.com, www.facebook.com/Wedding.Planning, and www.twitter.com/OneWed.

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