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Name: Carats and Cake
One-Line Pitch: It's an intimate social network created for newlyweds, wedding enthusiasts and dream-wedding planners.
Why It's Taking Off: The platform offers a dedicated space for personal wedding photos, vendor information and venue details.
There's something magical about wedding photography. Pictures of the small details — the glimmering accents on a dress, cleverly written seating charts, the handmade bouquet and table settings — are sometimes what couples cherish the most.
For the founders of this New York City-based startup, a proper home for these sentimental photos was missing online. And so, Carats and Cake was born.
Carats and Cake is a platform for a bride and groom's favorite wedding photos. Newlyweds can create Wedding Pages to share moments from their dream weddings. Brides can upload pictures of the dress, the groom's shoes, the perfect wedding hair, the engagement ring and anything else that stood out on that special day.
"It's a platform for newlyweds to talk about their weddings and be able to show off what they did and share their knowledge," Carats and Cake CEO Jess Levin told Mashable.
Since users can tag pictures with vendor details, such as the florist's website, new brides-to-be can reach out to the vendor for her own upcoming ceremony and reception. It goes beyond wedding inspiration.
"We're solving the problem for brides-to-be to take a photo, find that vendor and use them in their own wedding," Levin says. Photos and companies are searchable by category, including shoes, dresses, florists and jewelers. Brides-to-be can pull their favorite photos onto a private inspiration board.
Unlike Pinterest, users will be able to scroll through pictures from real local weddings to find venues or vendors they can schedule for their own wedding.
Users can sign into the platform by integrating their Facebook, Twitter or mail client accounts. On Carats and Cake, users can choose to see solely the vendors and services that their friends have used in their ceremonies. That way, you'll be able to ask your friends for more details about a venue or vendor.
"If you can contextually see what a newlywed has done with her whole wedding and see she's friends with someone you know, that makes it such a more valuable prospect," Levin says.
For the wedding startup, it's all about creating an online experience for newlyweds and brides. As fashion has been "digitally revolutionized," the wedding industry is next in line to see that shift.
"The wedding space is sort of the last frontier, in my mind, as far as a big consumer focus goes, that is starting to grow into that and employ technology," Levin says.
The founders estimate that out of 40,000 couples who tie the knot each week, the general public only gets to see scenes from about 100 weddings online and in monthly bridal magazines. Carats and Cake wants to give newlyweds a chance to share their special day, plus open up an entire realm of wedding inspiration to brides-to-be.
Which social networks or websites have you used to plan your wedding? Tell us in the comments.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Ryan Polei
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