With each passing year, our society shifts deeper and deeper into the online world. With a simple click of a mouse, brides-to-be have been able to corral their wedding party through email exchanges, and grooms have kept guests updated on time and place through wedding websites. But as we navigate the sometimes tangled World Wide Web, we still continue to seek the utmost in convenience and user-friendly tools, particularly when it comes to planning a wedding.
| “The good news is that Equally Wed readers don’t have to wait at all!” says Dunlap. “They can go to appycouple.com and use this invitation code: APPY4EQW. This will allow them to immediately get started. And it’s free for them forever. But these codes are limited, so don’t wait!” |
Seek no further, friends, there’s an app for that.
Just recently launched, the Appy Couple app, available for Apple and Android users, provides multitasking brides and grooms on-the-go with an easy-to-use tool that blends the social interaction of Facebook with the organization capabilities of a wedding website into one beautifully designed application.
“The basic idea was if there’s a website for everything, why can’t there be an app? The natural first place to go was weddings—the most important and complex event of most people’s lives, and something that needs to have information shared with people all over the country, or all over the world,” says Susanne Dunlap, co-founder of Appy Couple.
New to the scene and not yet even grown out of the beta version, the groundbreaking application has attracted thousands, and has already reached couples on a global level. “Appy Couple caught on internationally more quickly than we anticipated, perhaps because we’ve built the app to be tradition, gender and location agnostic, and it’s being actively used in over 50 countries right now,” explains Dunlap.
Even though there are countless wedding application tools that brides- and grooms-to-be can download on their mobile journey to “I do,” this is the first to truly streamline all aspects of guest information into one cohesive, aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-use site, glamorously guiding guests from RSVPs to the registry. Along with the actual app, the package includes a free coordinating website, allowing you to create or update straight from your computer, and making it accessible for guests who haven’t yet jumped onto the smartphone bandwagon.
Newly engaged couples can request an app invitation from the website and, due to the high demand, can expect a waiting time of up to one week for a code to create their customized Web space. Though currently free to set up, once the company expands beyond beta in fall 2012, a setup fee will be put into place (though app downloads will always be free for your guests). However, Equally Wed readers are receiving a special service. “The good news is that Equally Wed readers don’t have to wait at all!” says Dunlap. “They can go to appycouple.com and use this invitation code: APPY4EQW. This will allow them to immediately get started. And it’s free for them forever. But these codes are limited, so don’t wait!”
Couples begin their interactive wedding planning by selecting one of over a hundred dazzling designs, categorized by color or style (vintage, contemporary, romantic, etc.), that best represents their theme, color palette or themselves, which can be altered at any point in time. And to coordinate with Pride Month, Appy Couple has introduced a line titled “Appy Pride,” featuring over 20 same-sex themes, ranging from whimsical to formal, edgy to romantic. “One size doesn’t fit all—for any kind of wedding,” explains Dunlap. “Your wedding is the most important event of your life, and everything about it should reflect who you are.”
Once the design has been put into place, you’re guided through a stylish step-by-step process to customize the information, adding images into the gallery or creating as many illustrated stories as you want, spotlighting how you met, the proposal and anything in between.
Couples enter their virtual guest list manually or upload it from a spreadsheet. The system can send an email to friends and family with your unique wedding code so they can access your app and your site, keeping the details of your big day private. For the VIPs, such as the wedding party, the bachelorettes or rehearsal dinner invitees, you can create specific groups to share events with, preventing awkwardness from those not invited to the pre-wedding soirees.
Every event you create, from pre-wedding showers to the bachelor party to the actual ceremony, can be completely tailored to the couple’s individual tastes and needs. Personalize it with a color palette and uploaded images, add songs straight from iTunes, and select who you share the information with. Keep guests in-the-know with notes specified to information on childcare, dress code and travel while a variety of widgets smoothly line the sidebars to offer them easy access to four-day weather information and Expedia for travel. Can’t decide between salmon or tuna tartare hors d’oeuvres at the reception cocktail hour? Leave it up to the guests to decide with a poll.
While the organization aspects are extremely handy, the ability to socially interact with your friends and family is what truly sets this app apart from other wedding planning tools. Guests can send virtual toasts to the couple with well wishes on the message board and post photos in the gallery as the wedding events unfold with Facebook, Twitter and email integration. And because everything uploads in real time, the moment a guest captures a picture, it’s updated for all to see, giving those invitees unable to attend a sneak peek of monumental moments, such as the walks down the aisle, the kiss as wife-and-wife and the first dance, mere seconds after they happen.
But not to worry if a crazy cousin uploads a not-so-nice photo from the bachelor party. Both grooms and both brides have complete control of their wedding site. “On AppyCouple.com, there is one admin account, which either member of the couple can use,” explains Dunlap. “In the app, both members of the couple get admin privileges, so they can approve access requests, view privacy settings, and delete photos or messages.”
Because this app is the first of its kind, the creators are eager to hear feedback from their users. “We’re rolling out some exciting features soon, and we want to hear anything and everything our users want to share about what would make their lives easier as they plan their wedding,” explains Dunlap. Though still in its early days, the app has already seemingly begun universally changing the way weddings are planned. We live in a world which revolves around social networking, and finally, we have been given a wedding tool that coincides with our app-savvy lifestyle.
