Trying to find that perfect – and unique – wedding venue might just be a bride’s biggest challenge.
As any bride-to-be (or friend of a bride-to-be) will tell you finding a wedding location, which is an exact expression of all things you and your loved one aspire to, isn’t something you take on lightly – or leave to chance.
First off, you can expect to spend hours frantically searching online.
This activity seems like it will net good results – eventually – but precious wedding-planning hours can, and are, lost as frantic searching of bridal blogs or scouring friends’ Facebook pages for that venue that hasn’t been done to death by every other bride out there nets virtually nothing in the originality stakes.
But before panic sets in, the Internet delivers again in the form the Wedshed – an type of airbnb created specifically for wedding venues, and the good news is it’s about to launch in New Zealand.
Amy Parfett and Melany McBride, the Australian-based innovators behind Wedshed say they came up with the concept for their business after they faced with this exact same problem a couple of years ago when a mate had contacted the pair asking for help with her wedding search.
Finding their Google wasn’t really delivering the kind of results they were hoping for, the pair hit on an idea that would to connect would-be-brides with people looking to rent their unusual or underused properties.
Inspired in part by their travels through Europe and staying in Airbnbs, Amy and Melany came up with this concept together to give potential wedding-venue hosts a chance to showcase their private properties for wedding-related events
The friends worked on the site for six months before the getting it up and running, and in March 2015, the WedShed was launched.
The pair says the venture is their way of making sure weddings are about the people and not the spectacle.
“WedShed is our way of helping like-minded and loved-up humans find awesome venues in which to say some nice words, share some rings, enjoy a glass of something delicious and have a boogie.”
The Australian site has about 150 diverse listing – from airplane hangars, to boats, whiskey distilleries, woolsheds and a former prison.
The site’s co-founders say they’re planning to launch the website in New Zealand in the next three months.
“We’ll be teaming up with a wide collection of unique venues right across the country that couples can find and book for their weddings.
“Couples can quickly and easily search for New Zealand venues across both the North and South Island, filtering by location, venue style and the different facilities the venue offers.”
There are also plans for some special wedding planning workshops where the girls will be dishing out advice, and offering assistance to couples organising their weddings.
