Planning a wedding is often one of the most stressful events students experience, according to BYU graduate and co-owner of Provo Bride Cassidy Gundersen.
'Planning a wedding can be so hard,' Gundersen said. 'We want to make it so brides can find everything they need in one place.'
Provo Bride, a website that allows brides to review local vendors, was originally formed as a BYU class project in November 2015 by Kelsey Flores after she planned her own wedding and discovered a need for a website providing information about local vendors.
From left: Kelsey and Richard Flores and Jordan and Cassidy Gundersen pose for a company photo. Provo Bride began as a class project for Cassidy and Kelsey. (Provo Bride)
As the website grew in popularity, Flores decided to create a Provo Bride team and asked Gundersen for help. Provo Bride has become Gundersen's part-time job since then.
'Our Instagram account is by far the our biggest traffic driver with more than 10,000 views a week,' said Janine Swart, BYU student and Provo Bride public relations intern.
Swart said the company now has five BYU interns using social media platforms such as Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook along with blogging to review vendors from Provo to Salt Lake City.
Brianna Bracey poses for her bridal photo after seeing similar poses on Provo Bride's Instagram. (Brianna Bracey)
'I would absolutely recommend Provo Bride to anyone,' said bride-to-be Brianna Bracey. 'I love their Instagram page. I got a lot of inspiration for my wedding from there.'
Bracey said she discovered Provo Bride on Facebook when it was still in the creation stage, and has followed ever since.
'I love the #marriagemonday posts. ... every Monday there's a post from a couple with a part of their love story,' Bracey said. 'It's a good reminder that more important than planning a wedding is planning a marriage.'
Swart said another thing attracting viewers to Provo Bride is the weekly giveaways, including anything from free ties to free videography.
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Gundersen said because Provo Bride is so new, the employees are still working to make the business meet their vision.
'Right now we are like a mobile bridal fair where you can meet all your vendors in one place,' Gundersen said. 'Ultimately we would like to offer wedding-planning consultations where we help brides find the right vendor for the right price.'
Provo Bride's motto is 'If your best friend were a professional wedding planner.' With this as their vision, Gundersen and Swart said they hope to make personal connections with brides to help wedding planning become more enjoyable than stressful.