With so many appointments to book and people to meet, planning a wedding can feel like a full-time job, as Mee-Jung Jang knows all too well. She was working as a corporate attorney in Manhattan when she got engaged, and her wedding-planning experience was a challenge, to say the least.
“I was forced to call all these vendors, and they never got back to me,” she says. “I thought it was ridiculous. A bride who works full-time doesn’t have time to book vendors during the day.”
Because of her experience, Jang had the idea to launch an online platform that enables women to book appointments with wedding vendors at all hours of the day and night. And that’s just what she did: Little Dress Book, soon to be named Voncierge (for “virtual concierge”), makes planning a wedding much more convenient for working brides.
The website launched in New York City in 2012 and quickly expanded to 18 other cities, including Dallas. Here’s how it works: To register, you submit your wedding date, budget and dress size. You can search for vendors — bridal salons, florists, stationers, bakeries, officiants, photographers, venues and planners — in your city and schedule appointments with them. If proximity is important, you can also filter the vendor list by neighborhood.
Under the My LDB tab, you can see a list of all your confirmed, requested and past appointments. You can also keep track of all your favorite vendors and wedding dresses under the My Loves tab; simply click on the red heart at the corner of the photo. And, unlike most wedding websites that feature gowns, LDB shows prices and where to buy, so if you find the dress of your dreams, you know exactly what it takes to get it.
The website caters to brides, but it is an excellent resource for anyone planning an over-the-top party. Jang says LDB also benefits event planners, because they do all of the bookings for their clients.
Although many wedding vendors have been in business for years — and therefore are used to paper date books — Jang and her team make sure everyone listed is “responsible and willing to use the system.”
To participate on the site, vendors pay a fee every for every appointment booked. But the service is free for brides.
For once, convenience won’t cost you. And saving your sanity is priceless.
Little Dress Book founder Mee-Jung Jang.
