Wedinspire’s main purpose has always been sourcing and shouting about inspiring wedding spaces around the world, be it boutique villas, trendy beachfront restaurants or elusive Chateau’s and it’s no secret the platform has a strong focus on unique destination wedding experiences, in fact the story behind Wedinspire actually derives from a couple simply wanting to get married abroad!

Q&A with Wedinspire Co-Founder, Charlotte

Co-founder Charlotte – one half of the husband and wife led team discusses how the exciting wedding platform began and reveals an insight into the faces behind the business.

Tell us about the idea behind the business…

The concept for Wedinspire transpired from the experience Mike and I had planning our own overseas wedding back in 2015. As a newly engaged couple we were full of energy and excitement and although we had no idea on where we wanted to get married, we had a handful of requirements including our main intention- to say ‘I Do’ with glorious sunshine in a modern outdoor setting.

Very quickly we found the planning process confusing and unexciting. We didn’t know where or how to begin choosing the location to say our vows, travel agents had very limited wedding options and searching online for inspiring, suitable venues was laborious.

Which left us wondering, what if a dedicated online platform could allow modern couples to discover exciting wedding concepts and ultimately market aspirational venues perfect for design focused weddings.

What was your wedding experience?

We wanted an intimate destination wedding, something unique, modern and somewhere to take advantage of a Mediterranean climate.

Despite our initial planning struggles, in September 2016 we did get married thanks to finding a hidden gem of a venue- the Sunborn Super Yacht moored in one of Europe’s most exclusive harbours, and it was on the upper terrace we exchanged vows, tucked into delicious cuisine and celebrated with our much loved micro-guestlist.

Friends and family were accommodated in a nearby hotel and we spent 5 days celebrating, relaxing, sun bathing and sightseeing. It was very us, we definitely threw out the wedding rule book and I can hand on heart say I wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding experience.

When did Wedinspire begin?

As newlyweds we began evaluating our own wedding planning experience and concluded that what we really wanted was to be in control of finding relevant venues right at the very beginning, so we began our mission to connect like-minded couples with dream venues and to give them access to speak to venues direct- after all they are the real experts in their wedding spaces.

Fast forward several years and we began growing our venue portfolio hand-picking inspiring options we knew couples just like us would love and through our minimalist editorial style, the site quickly began helping couples discover and book venues and wedding options, they had not previously considered.

Where does your passion behind weddings derive from?

Before starting Wedinspire I worked in the jewellery industry for 15 years,specialising in high end diamond jewellery, my expertise spanned from procurement and manufacture right through to design, sales and boutique management.

A high proportion of my time was spent liasing with pre-engaged and newly-engaged couples, designing and discovering their ideal engagement and wedding ring. The many hours of conversations inevitably involved discovering  a wide breadth of wedding planning experiences and hearing their excitement from such a happy snippet of their life was infectious.

There’s something hugely satisfying about weddings, watching a couple dig deep into their souls to create a day of love and personal commitment. I love the creativity and the fact each one is wildly unique!

What areas of the business do you specialise in?

I am an organiser, it’s what I’m good at, so you’ll certainly find me managing our extensive to-do-lists but alongside writing our editorial content I work with our venue owners, planners and managers to increase their exposure to our audience.

Mike is the ‘tech & business brains’ behind the business, with a career in digital design and development, and expertise in online marketing, his creativity and innovative thinking keeps the platform appealing to our desired audience.

What’s the most exciting part of directing the platform?

What drives our passion is the ability to present couples with an abundance of wedding options and choices, making them aware of incredible experiences that can be achieved. We aim to be at the forefront of future wedding desires and due to the shift in attitudes from recent world predicaments we certainly believe we are at the cusp of a brand new era of weddings – which is certainly exciting!

What’s the best thing about running a business with your husband?

The work-life balance for sure but then if you ask me the worst thing I could also say the work-life balance! We both have a strong passion for growing the platform and love the freedom of utilisng our creativity and expertise but for sure we work more than your average full time 9-5. In everything we are a team and I like to think after 10 years together we know our strengths and weaknesses which allows us to grow Wedinspire into the future.

What do you do when you’re not working?

Honestly at the moment sleep, we recently welcomed our second daughter into our family and life with a newborn and a toddler is a whirlwind adventure but one we are extremely grateful to be enjoying. When it comes to the weekends we love nothing more than enjoying the outdoors, be it countryside walks around our market home town located in the Midlands or heading to the coast- hopefully to enjoy some British sunshine!

What lies in the future?

Personally we both can’t wait to get back on the road and visit more of our incredible portfolio post pandemic. Top of my travel list are Ibiza and Florence.

We have an array of exciting plans for Wedinspire which we will begin to unveil this year but ultimately we want to continue bringing romance into wedding planning and allow couples to feel they don’t have to conform to tradition or a dated set of rules when it comes to their wedding.

In all our future endeavors we will consistently resort back to what it was that we wanted and were missing when trying to plan our big day to help future couples find their dream wedding experience.