Plymouth mum turns passion for weddings into business success

Mum-of-two Katie Williams has turned the experience of planning her wedding into a successful business, by launching a wedding planning app for local brides-to-be in Devon and Cornwall.

After being made redundant from a career in sales and marketing, Katie decided to go self-employed and took the opportunity to become part of a national franchise to launch the Wedding Partners app in Devon and Cornwall.  The App links brides with local wedding suppliers, wedding fairs and provides helpful planning tools.

Katie, who lives in Plympton said: “When I was planning my wedding, I spent hours flicking through bridal magazines, meeting with potential suppliers and cutting and sticking ideas into a scrap book – I wish that I had a resource that showed all of the relevant suppliers in my area from the comfort of my mobile phone.

“This is exactly what the Wedding Partners app does. Not only does it help local brides pick their perfect supplier but suppliers get access to a captive and location appropriate audience.”

Katie now runs one of the most successful franchises of the business - which was launched last year by Yorkshire businessman Ian Sykes - with more than 70 suppliers signed up in the Devon and Cornwall area.

The free-to-download Wedding Partners app enables brides-to-be to search, on their mobile phones, for local suppliers of everything related to weddings, from venues to florists and caterers and source local wedding fairs.  It even features handy planner tools to record personal wedding details and manage budgets.

The Wedding Partners app has already been downloaded thousands of times and features listings from more than 1,200 suppliers in Scotland, the North of England, the Midlands, London and throughout Southern England.  The App looks set to expand into more counties in the coming months.

Ian said: “The Wedding Partners app is different because it connects brides with their local suppliers instantly. Couples can spend hours scouring the internet in the search of inspiration, relevant suppliers and planning tools for their wedding. Our app can offer all of this in one place with access to local, trustworthy suppliers at the touch of a button.”

The Wedding Partners app is available on Apple App Store and Google Play. For more information visit the website www.wedding-partners.co.uk.  

Contact Ian Sykes (ian@wedding-partners.co.uk) for more information about becoming a franchisee.