Cupid Hits Jackpot
The Sun Herald
Saturday April 16, 1994
IT's the third biggest single expense most people incur yet, unlike a house, car or even an overseas trip, there has been no independent, professional advice about a wedding.
After splashing out on the bridal gown, function room, honeymoon, invitations, reservations, alterations and celebrations, an average wedding costs around $10,000.
And about 100,000 weddings will take place in Australia this year in what is - before spending on gifts is taken into account - a $2 billion industry.
So it's not surprising that when Peter Black founded his Wedding Advisory Service he would play Cupid to more than 5,000 people within 18 months.
While he doesn't actually match couples, Mr Black does link would-be brides and grooms - and their paying parents - with various wedding suppliers.
The venture has been so successful that Mr Black of Sydney's Elizabeth Bay intends franchising the service throughout Australia within 12 months and is about to open stores in Brisbane and Melbourne.
He also plans to expand the service to business and has already arranged several company functions, including Christmas parties and seminars.
Mr Black, a former public relations consultant, stumbled across the idea in the US where it has been operating successfully for about seven years.
He spent a year researching the market and formulated a plan to bring the idea back home, opening his first store in the city two years ago.
The plan was simple: to supply a comprehensive information base on wedding suppliers at no cost to the public.
The 140-odd wedding suppliers registered with Wedding Advisory Services pay$450 a year to have their services listed.
Mr Black gets no commission when he recommends a wedding service and he investigates its quality before accepting it.
Wedding services are also reviewed regularly by Mr Black and customers are asked for feedback.
"People tell us the kind of the wedding they want and we recommend three or four quality services from which they can choose.
"It's then up to them to find which service is right," Mr Black said.
"They ring us for confirmation, they want to know what the place is like, what its track record it like.
"A lot of people do get disappointed because they spend all this money and they don't know what it is like until the day."
Wedding Advisory Services is essentially a "free library" or a "live bridal magazine", Mr Black said.
"Information about weddings is such a hard thing to get," he said.
"And for most people it's often their first wedding," he said.
"They may not have time to compare prices and find the best services. They might not be familiar with fees and may be unsure of what they should get for their money.
"Some of the ads are very misleading - you can spend a whole day going to a place and find out it is not what you were told."
© 1994 The Sun Herald