The Big News
October 2nd, 2008 @ 12:00 pm by Mrs. Bee
The big news that I hinted at yesterday? We’ve sold Weddingbee!
I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you guys about it sooner; we needed to wait until the deal closed. As soon as it did, I called as many Bees as I could to let them know the news in person. (Can you believe we’ve had over 100 Bees?!) While talking to the Bees, a number of the same questions came up – so I thought I’d answer some of those questions publicly as well.
Am I going to leave Weddingbee?
Nope, I’m going to stay on and continue editing and managing the site. Mrs. Penguin has been helping out with editing and applications for the last few months (thanks Pengy!), and she’ll keep helping out there. I’ll continue to focus on adding new features and growing the site.
What does this mean for Weddingbee?
Weddingbee will have access to more resources, like programmers and designers. That’ll help us launch more cool features faster! I’ll also be getting help on the business end of things, where I haven’t been focusing as much energy (e.g. selling ads, hosting servers, etc.).
At the same time, I’ve been assured that editorial decisions regarding the Bees and the content on the site are still in my hands. I’ll continue to ensure that the site maintains its editorial integrity. 
Why did we sell?
In a word: competition.
There are an increasing number of wedding websites (and wedding blogs) launching! It seems like every week, we get a press release about a new vendor review site or wedding social network. The wedding space has become very competitive in the past year, and will continue to become much more so in the coming years.
Earlier this year, we started to get emails asking if we would consider selling. A lot of the companies were big names in the wedding sector: magazines, media companies, and vc-funded dot coms! A number of the companies were deciding between buying an existing site, and building their own to compete with us. *gulp*
I’m very confident that Weddingbee has something unique to offer, but there’s just so much competition online now! We don’t currently have the resources we’d need to stay competitive and take Weddingbee to the next level. Partnering though, would give us a lot of resources to stay competitive and scale up a lot faster.
But most of all, it’s been a tough two-and-a-half years! Running Weddingbee has consumed my life completely; and I haven’t been able to really take vacations. Mr. Bee and BIL Bee have been working nights and weekends too (they have day jobs), so it’s been tough on all of us.
Who are you selling to?
We’re selling to eHarmony.
Huh, a wedding site and an online dating site?
Yah, that’s what we thought too! Most of our readers are past the dating stage, and are engaged or recently married!
But it turned out our initial thinking was backwards. eHarmony’s stats show that they’re responsible for more than 2% of all the weddings in America. That’s a lot of potential future Bees for the hive! That strategic fit is a big reason they got in touch.
Once we both realized the potential fit, we started talking. They were really flexible about me staying on, and were supportive of Weddingbee maintaining its own team and brand (viva la hive!). And the people I talked to were just really nice. It may sound corny, but I have a soft spot for nice people. It felt like a fit, and so after a long discussion… we got hitched.
eHarmony also purchased Project Wedding recently — you may have received an email from PW about this if you’re a member. We saw Project Wedding as one of the best sites in the wedding industry, so we’re really glad to be on the same team as them!
When I was in LA recently for my cousin’s wedding, I got the chance to meet with Project Wedding’s team: Margaret, Joe, and Srini. They’re all super nice, and I’m really looking forward to working with them. They said that the acquisition has gone well for them, so I’m optimistic about it going smoothly for Weddingbee too.
Am I somehow joining eHarmony.com as a part of the acquisition?
Definitely not. Your information will not be shared in any way with eHarmony.com.
Is eHarmony going to protect the information I’ve put into Weddingbee?
Absolutely. eHarmony will abide by the current privacy policy on Weddingbee and any changes to that policy in the future will be clearly communicated in advance.
Will eHarmony.com start sending me emails marketing their singles matching service?
No.
Will it start to cost money to join Weddingbee?
No, Weddingbee is and will continue to be a free, ad supported site.
Will Weddingbee continue to have same-sex or queer brides?
Absolutely. We have had same-sex and queer brides on Weddingbee in the past, and will continue to add more in the future (if you are interested, please apply here!).
What’s the plan for the future of Weddingbee?
I started Weddingbee to help other brides - that will continue to be the focus of the site. I really love the blogging format, and how it’s so personal and friendly.
Along those lines, I’ve been thinking about adding a new blog site to the Weddingbee family: this one focusing on blog posts by wedding photographers (and other vendors). We’ve been vigilant about not allowing vendors to blog on Weddingbee, as it would take us away from our roots as a brides-only site. But lately, I’ve been amazed at all the great wedding vendor blogs so I was thinking it might be cool to have a separate site where we feature the best posts by wedding photogs, cake bakers, florists and wedding planners. I’m hoping it’d be a fun addition to the Weddingbee family? What do you think?
That’s just one idea we’ve been playing with over here. Most of all, I just want to try and bring innovation to the wedding industry… while continuing to do my best to serve brides.
Speaking of which, I would like to give a huge shout-out and thank you to all the Bees who have helped build up Weddingbee into one of the top wedding blogs out there! I remember when Weddingbee was just a personal blog on Xanga… and then I asked some blog friends like Miss Ladybug, Ant and Butterfly to blog with me (can you believe I once knew every Bee from following their personal wedding blogs?). The first non-friend Bee was Miss Firefly. I met her on the Knot boards, and she subsequently started a wedding blog. Her blog was awesome so I asked her to lunch to beg her to become a Bee. Luckily she said yes!
I can’t believe that people actually apply to blog on Weddingbee now… and that we’ve had 15 generations of Bees on the site. A huge thanks to each and every one of you for all your love and support, from the first generation of Bees to the fifteenth!
I know you guys have put a lot of trust and faith in me over the years, and I promise to do everything I can to continue to earn that trust each and every day.
Please let me know if you have any questions about any of the above! I will do my best to answer questions, both in the comments and in follow-up posts.
Love,
Mrs. Bee
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189 Responses to “The Big News”
congratulations! I’ve been following weddingbee from the xanga stages, and hope that not too much will change, but I’m reassured by your post!
Congratulations Mrs. Bee! This is very exciting.
Wow!
I’m happy for you, Bee. This was an amazing site, full of helpful advice and incredible inspiration.
First of all, congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Bee for transforming a personal blog into the popular website and community Weddingbee is today!! That said, I (and I know a lot of the Bees) are concerned about E-Harmony’s anti-GLBT marriage position and have qualms about contributing (as a volunteer, no less) to an enterprise that will help make money for E-Harmony.
I’m continuing to blog because I hope that by supporting queer and LGBT issues in my posts, I will:
1) undermine E-Harmony’s corporate “identity” from within;
2) challenge and subvert a deeply heteronormative company, industry, and institution by demonstrating that beautiful relationships, marriages, and families come in all different religions, ethnicities, races, and sexualities; and
3) help create and maintain a welcoming space for all types of brides and grooms.
I have faith that Mrs. Bee will be vigilant in maintaining an independent editorial voice that will not be censored or co-opted by E-Harmony. In fact, I’m going to hold her to that promise. And I look forward to the day that E-Harmony changes its policies and becomes as welcoming and open as Weddingbee!
Congratulations! Now go take a much needed vacation
well congrats! it seems like it’ll be a great fit and you can finally take a vacation, which i’m sure you’re completely overdue for.
all I can say is “Wow”
This has been an amazing source of advice, inspiration, and laughter while planning the last few months and I’m sure it will continue to be for many brides. I tell as many people about it that I can! Congratulations!
Congratulations!! I hope the site stays the same for the most part!
I thought this was the news… I think it’s a good thing. It will bring more diversity to the board.
I like the idea of vendor blogs.
P.S. I didn’t realize eHarmony took that stance against same-sex couples.
Congrats (again) Bee!! I am so happy for you guys, and hope you enjoy a nice long vacation soon. Your work getting the site up and running & developing it into such an amazing resource is really incredible - kudos to you guys!!
Once again, congratulations Bee I’ve been so proud to be a part of this community and so happy to watch and help it grow!
I am glad to know that the site will be better supported and Mrs. Bee - I wish you every sucess. I will no longer read weddingbee. E-Harmony is simply not a business I would ever want to support in any way due to their christian right rhetoric and disgusting view of GLBT community. I am sad because I have always enjoyed this site - thank you for being honest with us readers.
Congrats! I’ve been reading forever (and hoping to become a bee someday!) and this is great news to expand the site and take some stress off of your shoulders!
I think you are due for a long, well deserved vacation! Congrats and here’s to more successes down the road! Cheers!
Congrats that is such great news! Start planning your well deserved vacation already!!
Congrats Mrs. Bee! I <3 WeddingBee!
@McG: eHarmony does not support gay matching on their website, and has been connected to Focus on the Family, which is very anti-LGBTQ.
Congratulations! This is seriously my favorite wedding site.
Congratulations! I’m very happy for you. I also am so glad to here that the site will essentially be the same with just some added features (which sound great by the way).
@Miss Hot Cocoa: I second that, Miss Hot Cocoa! I am an avid supporter of queer and LGBT rights, and am hoping that same sex marriage will soon be a legal option for couples in all states of the US. My sister is currently planning a same sex wedding in Canada, and I can’t wait for the day when they can become legally married in the US as well. (They are currently living in a state that does not recognize same sex marriages)
Wow! I hope this is everything you expect it to be and that it goes smoothly for you. I’m all excited/nervous for you, if that makes sense.
Congratulations, Bee! I’m so thrilled that you, Mr. Bee, and BIL Bee will be getting the support and resources you so deserve!
Weddingbee will truly only get better from here!
Congratulations Mrs. Bee! You deserve to get all the support possible for this fantasic site.
That said, I was always under the impression that eHarmony is not “Against” same sex marriage. They just don’t match same-sex couples because they don’t have any expertise in that area. I’m taking Mrs. Bee’s word that we’ll still be seeing GLBTQ weddingss and details around here.
Again, congrats to the Bee family!
I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mrs. Bee on her much-deserved success. I’ve seen first hand just how much both she and Mr. Bee put into making Weddingbee the amazing thing it is; they deserve nothing but great things to be born of it (including, I hope, a nice long vacation!). I know it is with Weddingbee’s readers’ best interests in mind that they have chosen to sell the site; with the resources of eHarmony behind it, there’s no telling what sorts of great features readers are in for.
And I’d like to say that my own experience in the hive has been incredibly rewarding, both personally and professionally - for that I am truly grateful.
That said, I’m afraid I will not be contributing to Weddingbee under the eHarmony mantle, until such time as the company extends its services to support same sex couple matching. I make this (admittedly small) gesture in support of the LGBTQ community, which I believe deserves recognition, validation, and advocacy across all political and cultural fronts…including internet dating.
As a courtesy to those readers whose support and interest fueled their creation, I have given eHarmony permission to keep published those posts which I have already written.
I look forward to the day I will return to Weddingbee, pens blazing, and I hope it is sooner rather than later. After all, a bug can only go so long without a dose of hive love.
Well Mrs. Bee if you think it is the right thing for the hive, then I support you! Congrats!
I’ve been reading since October 06 so I’ve seen a lot of really great changes. Though I miss a lot of the intimate/small feel that Weddingbee had in the “old days” I’m really proud of what you’ve built and the amazing site this has become. My wedding has come and gone and I’m slowly transitioning from wedding blogs to home design and mom blogs but I still remember the day I discovered wedding bee.
You are right, there is a lot more competition these days…sometimes I feel like it’s too much. I kind of liked it better back when there were only 4 or 5 main wedding blogs out there.
But my question for you Mrs. Bee is…are you finally getting a decent salary?? I’ve often thought about how hard it must have been on you to start this blog back in the days when there was no advertising. I hope you get a regular pay check, benefits, and at least two weeks paid vacation each year. You deserve it!
This makes me very sad! On the one hand, I am happy that WeddingBee will be supported. On the other, I am saddened that it will now support an anti-LGBTQ business. I’m torn because I really love coming to Weddingbee, but I refused to give eHarmony my money a year ago when I was dating around (found my fiancé on okcupid!) because of their stance.
I seriously don’t want to give eHarmony anything either, especially not my business. I had been delighted to find same-sex couples on here, especially since they weren’t sequestered to their own section of WB, but rather part of the general group of bloggers.
Thanks for delighting me so much, ladies, for so many months. I’m saddened that I now have to leave your lovely site, but I have to, for my own personal convictions.
In that it means Mrs. Bee, Mr. Bee and BIL Bee will get some time off, make some money and reduce their stress, I’m happy about the sale of the site.
However, in selling to an organization which outwardly counters many of the diverse and compassionate viewpoints which have always been endorsed by Weddingbee, I think this partnership sends a terrible mixed message. If I were to continue to support Weddingbee, I would absolutely be supporting eHarmony and their values (both in theory and in revenue), which quite frankly disgust me. Unfortunately, I think this might mean that my hive days are over. Sad, this has always been my favourite wedding site.
Knot 2.0 here we go…. I am sure it’s a great thing for you personally and I congratulate you… however, no matter how much you promise that this site will stay the same I am sure we will see more and more corporate creep.
Congratulations Mrs (and Mr) Bee! I can only imagine what a HUGE decision this was for you.
@Miss Hot Cocoa: @Miss Taffy: Thank you for staying on at Weddingbee in hopes of inspiring a change within the eHarmony organization. I’ll admit that I felt disappointment in seeing eHarmony as the “money maker” behind WB, but I do not agree that avoiding organizations who do not share my beliefs is the way to change them. Kudos to those who want to change from within!
I too would like to congratulate Mrs. Bee on this, but sadly will also no longer be visiting and supporting weddingbee due to eHarmony’s LGBTQ policies. I wish you all every success, but have to stand by my morals. I’d be curious what Mrs. Gingerbread has to say about this.
I’m so honored and excited to be surrounded by such a creative and talented Bee family! Since being acquired by EH, Bee has had tons of new features and ideas in the works, and she is bringing them to reality so much faster than she ever could before. I know there were so many things she wanted to do, but just didn’t have the resources to bring these features to reality. I’m so excited to see where the hive is going…it’s gonna be awesome!
@BaghdadBride: Can you believe Bee took her FIRST Monday off in 3 years just recently, after I was hired on??? Hopefully with new resources that EHarmony can provide us, she’ll be able to take…maybe…ANOTHER Monday off soon!
mrs. bee, congratulations! i’ve been visiting the site since the beginning and still visit at least a few times a day, even though i’ve been happily married for three years i am so happy for you and for the success of weddingbee that has gotten you to this point! how exciting! i’m looking forward to seeing how the site will grow
Congratulations! I think this will be a great thing and I love that you will continue to support all types of marriage - let’s kill the eHarmony stance with love!!!
On a more personal note, Mrs. Bee, I don’t even know you but you and this site have inspired me daily. It’s helped me deal with tough issues and it’s given me BRILLIANT ideas which I freely have translated to fantastic projects for my PR/Marketing clients. It’s been a first-hand tutorial on how social interaction can happen online and the tools you’ve developed are ones I think you’ll see copied by ad agencies and PR agencies with increasing frequency.
Now, TAKE THAT VACATION! You’ve so much more than earned it!
@BA: I share your concerns and will be posting a response to this announcement shortly along with a couple of other Bees.
Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Bee!
@Mrs. Gingerbread- just read the above post. Well stated, as always. You are truly a model for how we should all behave.
Congrats, Mrs. Bee! I love Weddingbee! It’s been my favorite wedding site since my engagement. I’m sure the resources eHarmony brings to the table will only make the hive a better place.
Congrats, Mrs. Bee! This is great news for you, and I wish you well. I guess I never realized eHarmony’s stance on same-sex coupling. Mighty disturbing, I think, that any singles-meeting site these days would fail to recognize the significance of people who choose to date, fall in love with, and MARRY someone of the same sex. I look forward to the day when Dr. Neil Clark Warren himself sees this lack of regard for the LGBTQ community in the same way he (hopefully) and the rest of us sees the ban on inter-racial marriage that was only lifted 60 years ago– absurd, ridiculous, unfounded, unfair, disturbing, disheartening, sad…I could go on and on.
Congratulation Mrs Bee (and Mr Bee and BIL Bee)! What an accomplishment to take a Xanga blog to this level!
@Mrs. Cream Puff:
Oh I see… not good.
Also just to clarify when I said “diversity” I meant more brides that I can identify with… I had no clue about eHarmony’s stance and I don’t really want to support that.
Granted, I’ve gotten a lot of ideas from this site but I think the novelty has worn off for me personally… kind of like Facebook. I mean I will pop in every now and then, but it’s just not the same now that all of my fav Bee’s are married. Sorry, I’m just being honest.
This is not a personal jab to Mrs. Bee or the others on the site.
Congrats.
As a reader I am very disappointed. I’m surprised that more of your readers are not — maybe they are and they are just not saying anything. The one unique aspect about this site was that it was personal, intimate, and run by someone who wasn’t part of a big mass wedding corporation. And while I agree that there is competition, selling out to the Martha Stewarts and Knots of the world really goes against what I thought WeddingBee was all about.
There really is truth to the saying if it isn’t broken don’t fix it! Not sure how long I will hang around as a reader here now, but I wish you much success. I hope that WeddingBee continues to support local vendors, artists, and REAL brides.
While I am very happy that the hard work and determination of Mr. & Mrs. Bee has paid off so well for them - literally - I am afraid that I am no longer willing to participate in this community, because I am unwilling to contribute to eHarmony’s ugly agenda. I do this in support of my many gay friends and family members whose rights are strangled every single day by the organizations eHarmony supports. (For the record, I also don’t shop at Wal-Mart, eat at Cracker Barrel, or provide my money or other support to other such organizations for similar reasons of social responsibility.)
While we do not pay anything to be members of Wedding Bee, eHarmony will make money from advertisers each and every time one of us loads these pages, and I refuse to contribute to the bottom line of a company whose ideals are so incredibly opposed to my own.
Adios, Bees.
Congratulations! It must be great that all that hard work paid off. Just curious, how much did you sell Weddingbee for?
I had always looked forward to putting in my application to become a bee; but now - not so much. I really liked how when I found your blog it was like I discovered something unknown to everyone (unlike the knot), and it had much more of a community feel to it. I had looked forward to helping other brides along the way but somehow knowing it will now be just a small part of a very large corporate idenity, it just doesn’t feel the same. Hopefully I am proved wrong, but honestly - I wish I hadn’t read this post.
I, was also very excited to hear that WB had been sold, as I believe that it will not only be better for Mr. and Mrs. Bee, but for the readers as well. Mrs. Bee is going to give everything she has to keep the format and style of WB that we have all grown to love.
I support the sale and will continue writing as long as I feel I have interesting things to say. I am saddened to read of so many people leaving the site. I love WB for the support it gives to both readers and writers, and I hope all of those leaving will find other support systems as well, as I think they can often be the saving grace in times of stress.
I hope Mrs. Bee begins to blog about her relaxing vacations very soon!
This is really sad. I’m excited that you’ve gotten this influx of opportunity and resources, but eharmony is really distasteful to me for a variety of reasons. I have really appreciated the wide range of personalities involved on the site, but this is definitely a deal breaker. Oh, why them? As others have noted, we don’t pay to use this site. But I can’t continue to support anything connected with them in any way.
I actually had started reading here because I didn’t like the setup of the knot, and I felt like this was a community that better reflected diversity and open mindedness. Now I have to move on again. Thank you to all the bees for all the wonderful ideas you’ve shared.
E-harmony has made a choice about not having gay/lesbian couples for their own company, while Weddingbee has gone out of it’s way to make sure that gay/lesbian couples are futured on their site.
Personally, I do not advocate gay/lesbian relationships. Does this make me a narrow-minded mean-spirited person? I would think not. I am a born-again Christian and I am called to love people, but that doesn’t mean that I have to completely trample my beliefs to please people. I still read Weddingbee even with gay/lesbian couples and the ladies who are gay/lesbian all seem lovely. I would not stop reading Weddingbee even if I don’t accept the lifestyle, these women are still human beings and deserve respect. I don’t believe one should abolish the whole Weddingbee site just because E-Harmony is not 100% behind gay/lesbian couples, everyone has different beliefs and feelings about different things.
Hey, I’m glad you have found a deal you like! You certainly deserve it - this is truly the best wedding site around, and I found it infinitely useful when I was planning my own wedding.
I will continue to follow Weddingbee with great interest - and wish you the very best.
Wow, I can’t agree more with the overall sentiment here.
It’s fantastic that you were finally able to get something other than kudos for your hard work, and must be a completely gratifying feeling, but this really does change the environment.
Sure, almost everyone would love a few more features, but that changes the environment of WB. I sure hope that the new enhancements don’t injure the brand you (and all the other Bees) have worked so hard to create.
As for EH’s standpoint on GBLTQ issues, I find that extremely disheartening. I too, do not want to contribute to furthering their ideals. As much as I’ve waited for the time I could send my application in to become a bee, I guess I’m going to have to re-evaluate my priorities — something I hope the parent corporation does as well.
Wow, that’s huge news! Congratulations! I’d say it’s about time for that vacation!
A lot of my initial thoughts have been addressed, and I am sorry to say that I will not read WeddingBee anymore because of this affiliation. I know this seems like the best move financially for the Bee family, but I am saddened and disheartened that WeddingBee will now be run by a company with an oppressive mission.
As a social justice advocate, I have struggled with planning my wedding because of all the heteronormative messages that are sent. Weddingbee has been a respite from that, and unfortunately that time has now come to an end.
You all may be interested in this excerpt from a 2005 interview with Neil Clark Warren, founder of eHarmony, by Salon.com about why eHarmony does not match same-sex couples (sorry its long):
“When I asked Warren about his refusal to serve same-sex couples, he listed several reasons for his policy. “First, we’re into marriage,” he said, pointing out that gay unions remain illegal in almost every state. He also doesn’t feel there is adequate research on how men can be matched up with other men, or women with women.
Businessmen have approached him and asked for his help in building a company designed specifically for gay couples. Warren was proud to tell me that he advises them to research the kinds of compatibility that make gay relationships last. “It did my heart good that these guys I talked to, these gay guys, have since said, ‘Neil Clark Warren was sympathetic.’ That meant the world to me,” he said. But it’s also pretty clear that eHarmony is not about to reverse its own policy. Warren is simply too torn on the issue.
When I told him that I found it sad that my gay friends don’t have the opportunity to take advantage of the eHarmony compatibility elixir of which he is so proud, he was quiet for some time. “I love the spirit with which you make that point,” he said thoughtfully. “And we do do a lot of talking about how we love the idea of being inclusive.” He paused again, sounding slightly shaken. “It’s just not an easy point! We’ve got thousands of years of history of the human race in which this was never treated as a marriage and there are a lot of people who think it’s just not going to have the same kind of stability over time.
“Where Focus on the Family and a lot of these other places come from is that there are six places in the Bible that say homosexuality is wrong,” he said. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. But then he continued: “On the other hand, in the Old Testament if you work on the Sabbath day and you’re guilty then you should be shot.”
I was surprised to hear him play out his internal debate so openly. Sure, he remained fairly benighted on issues of homosexuality, but I had to acknowledge he’s from a different time and culture. I wish that I’d been able to have a conversation this frank with my late grandfather, who was not exactly open to sexual, religious or racial differences — and whom I loved very much. How could I not appreciate the fact that Warren was at least engaging the topic? Far from dismissing homosexuality as an aberration, or suggesting that gays are going to hell, Warren brought up his best friend’s daughter, a lesbian who has two children with her partner. “She’s a dear person to us, and a very strong spiritual person,” he said. “And when I start seeing things like that, I think we’ve got to start to think about that maybe this can work.”
the original is here: http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2005/06/10/warren/index3.html
@ slb111: it’s about consumerism. As an internet user, you are a making companies like eHarmony money everytime you click open a page. Being a supporter of any cause - diversity issues or otherwise - means that you think critically about everything you do - who you give your business to, whose agenda you contribute to - actively or passively!
I have to wonder…Mrs. Bee said there were many companies interested in buying Weddingbee, why such a controversial choice…
I love this news!!! Congratualtions Mr. and Mrs. Bee. I think eHarmony.com is an upstanding company and despite all the people here hemming and hawing about how they will now leave due to their views, I think you’ve made a wise choice. What you’ve done with this site is very inspiring for bridal entrepreneurs like myself. All the best to you and may you take some much deserved time off 
Congrats Mrs Bee! Thanks for all your hard work on Weddingbee so far. I had no idea eHarmony was so controversial. I actually met my fiance on eHarmony. Regardless of controvery, I am still thankful that I met him and am now planning our wedding.
It’s also worth noting that although there has been much media frenzy about legalizing gay marriage, the population such laws effect is actually an incredibly small percentage of America.
If a person were to evaluate this purely on the basis of a business decision, losing the same sex readership for this blog pales into comparison with the new traffic that will be added as a result of partnering with a well established company with more traffic and higher page impressions.
I love wedding bee and look forward to seeing how it evolves. But I understand people who feel the need to make a personal statement by not visiting any more. It’s still bookmarked for me!
completely understand why you have to sell it.. really sad that it’s eharmony though.. i say i won’t be back, but let’s face it — it’s an addictive site. I feel like what will ultimately drive me away (but bring in a huge new audience) will be the corporatization. It always happens.. but again — I completely understand! take a vacation and enjoy your hard-earned success!
congrats Bee- I am glad your hard work is getting paid off!
In my understanding, the current bloggers are blogging for free on the weddingbee site - Will eharmony provide them with compensation from now on, since it is corporate owned now? I hope they could consider that- because your weddingbee bloggers deserve that also.
regardless - a big congrats to you!
I don’t really know what to think about this. Certainly Mrs. Bee and her family deserve to be compensated for what they’ve created! I heartily congratulate them… but, as Anon in comment 57 pointed out, if there were a multitude of offers, why choose one whose policy seems to go directly against what Weddingbee stands for (in my interpretation, anyway)? It seems like a slap in the face of LGBTQ participants, readers, and supporters.
I’ve loved Weddingbee, and catching up with posts has been a gleeful part of my morning routine for some time, but the site will inevitably change with this decision. The fact that bees (Mrs. Gingerbread, Mrs. Lovebug, maybe others) and readers have already announced their departure signifies this. I think I’m in the “we’ll see what happens” camp for now but the choice to go with eHarmony is disheartening.
@nykola: Just because the LGBTQ community is a minority means it’s okay to discriminate against them!? Please clarify.
I would to add two quick things.
1) While I understand that many of my co-bees are approaching this acquisition with a “Let’s tackle those eHarmony board members from within!” policy, for me, to do so would feel a little like voting for McCain because I want to make headway on reproductive rights. This is not to criticize anyone’s decision to stay…it’s just that to me, it doesn’t feel like the right way to make a statement.
2) I also just want to point readers to the post immediately following this one - Mrs. Gingerbread, Mrs. Cream Puff, and Mrs. Sweet Tea have very eloquently pointed out a number of important considerations regarding eHarmony’s policies. I urge everyone to read what they have to say.
Big changes for the Bee.
I too am sad. I liked weddingbee because it wasn’t a part of the mega wedding world, and it was such a wonderful, accepting, tolerant and respectful community.
So long, folks. I will miss you.
Congratulations! I’m a relatively new reader (in the past 6 months), so I have no clue about the more humble beginnings of weddingbee (though I would’ve loved to have stumbled across the hive sooner!). WB has been such a wonderful resource for me - not only in obtaining knowledge on DIY projects and technical wedding stuff, but also because it’s a community of diverse, intelligent and beautiful brides and grooms to be. That being said, I am concerned for most of the reasons stated above. I fear that the diversity and inclusiveness of WeddingBee that I so greatly value will be compromised by the agenda of the new parent company, eHarmony. I didn’t know anything about eHarmony’s policies until today. What I have learned thus far is very disappointing. At this point, I’m not sure if I will continue to read WB.
This might be a weird question, but are the bee bloggers going to get paid? I think that they should. Without their posts no one would visit the site. If weddingbee as a whole is making money, I think that the bees deserve to get a little reward for their contributions.
:sigh:
I am sad that WeddingBee will not be funded by a corporation, but I am pleased for the Bees, and very proud of their accomplishment.
I am an eharmony bride. I signed up for for three months on one of their discount promotions, and met my fiance, and as much as I hate to say it, the commercials, at least in our case, are correct. We are perfectly matched. Do I dislike their anti-gay, religious zealot tendencies? Yes. I wasn’t aware of the full extent of them when I signed up, and if I had not already met my fiance, I would have closed my account.
I truly hope that the blog will stay the same. This is my most loved wedding website, and I have felt a connection with the Bees. I am sad to see some of them leave, but I understand and respect their reasonings, and I hope they will provide us with their personal blog links so we may continue to follow their journey.
For the same reasons as others have already mentioned, I’m out too. To refuse to support eHarmony, and so I’ll remember WeddingBee as a unique site, before it turns into another WIC look-alike. I’ll keep giving support to sites like offbeatbride.com and indiebride.com… join me there! =)
Congratulations to the Bee family!
That being said, how can you possibly think that any business promoting love (of any type!) and stable relationships and marriage is “evil.” Really. Our society promotes so many ills… and here is a company trying to help people find love. I don’t think JDate is evil in that it promotes the exclusionary relationships of Jewish people. Nor do I loathe CatholicMatch.com. I can’t be a part of either site, but oh well!
WB won’t exclude anyone from blogging… I mean we have lesbians and Mormons and Muslims together in harmony here! Does anyone else see that? I’m feeling the extra love today now that the ‘Bee is being hosted by a company that is really all about successful relationships and finding your soulmate.
Gosh, the more I read comments the more torn I am. I love this site and all of the bees but I really don’t want to support an anti-LGBTQ organization at all. However, I wonder is it better to walk away from someone who opposes you or to continue speaking your mind about the issue? I say let’s get MORE diversity going. As a newer reader, I was personally wondering why there aren’t more African-American brides and what about more international brides? I’d love to learn about customs of other cultures.
My small suggestion - let the readers pick a few new bees. Offer up a selection of people across the board and let us vote on who we want to hear from! Let’s make a statement with who we select.
Of course I meant Weddingbee WILL be funded by a corporation.
@Mrs. Cream Puff: I would like to hear the answer to this as well. Also, Nykola- just because gay marriage isn’t legal in all the states does not mean that weddings are not taking place. Many same sex couples are planning destination weddings abroad or in a legal state here in the US, and many others are performing weddings here despite the fact that they are not recognized by the government. Even so, excluding the LGBTQ community because they won’t bring much “traffic” to the site is just an excuse for discrimination.
I heard about the sale right around the same time I joined up as a blogger. I have to admit that I didn’t know that eHarmony took this stance on LGBT families. At the time, I just thought it was a transition from independent to commercialized. Now that I know that there’s another issue at play…I’m conflicted. I’ve been a bee blogger for a short while, but I’ve been in the weddingbee community for a long time and I love the brides I’ve come to know through the site. Like others, I’ve found this community to be more friendly and less artificial than those of other wedding boards.
However, I’m saddened that eHarmony chooses not to support same sex couples. I am bisexual myself and although I have found my life’s companion in someone of the opposite sex, it is frustrating to think that my wedding would not have been supported by the company if the person I had met had been another woman. At the same time, I know that my plans would have been welcome at Weddingbee and I don’t want to “abandon ship” - depriving other brides of the diversity that I love about this site.
I guess I have some thinking to do…
One last request…. ladies who are leaving the hive : please tell us where you are going!!!
While I 100% understand your decision to leave, I would still love to hear about the rest of your life’s journey.
“the population such laws effect is actually an incredibly small percentage of America. If a person were to evaluate this purely on the basis of a business decision, losing the same sex readership for this blog pales into comparison with the new traffic that will be added as a result of partnering with a well established company with more traffic and higher page impressions.”
Dear Nykola,
Over 10% of the population is gay or lesbian. More than that is bisexual, pansexual or somewhere on the Kinsey Scale. You are also not calculating the number of readers and bloggers who are advocates of same sex marriage. If only queer people were fighting for same sex rights then no laws would ever change. Luckily the queer community has many many supporters who will continue to fight for rights, both on WB and off.
It breaks my heart to her that Weddingbee has been sold to eharmony. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will be able to visit or post on the message boards any longer.
anon: I totally agree with what you said. Thank you for pointing out that this is not about whether or not a person respect one’s beliefs that are different from their own.
Bee readers: Although I feel it’s a persons individual right to believe and support whatever they’d like, by continuing to visit this site, it creates more visibility and $$$ for the sites owners. As long as eharmony is the owner, every time you visit, they make more advertising revenue.
Mrs. Bee: Congrats on all of your well-deserved success! Thank you to you and your team for all of your hard work! Good luck!
congratulaions!!!!
I’m sad that Mrs. Bee would have to say something like, “I’m very pleased that eHarmony has allowed me to publish these concerns on the site.”
Congratulations Bee! I feel so privileged to be a part of the blog and I can’t wait to see where this partnership takes us.
congratulations Mrs Bee! Maybe soon we’ll see commercials for weddingbee.com!! =)
Congratulations Bee! This sounds like a great opportunity. And thank you for your continued commitment to keep WeddingBee true to its roots!
I agree with most of the comments before mine that state while I’m glad you’ve made a good business decision for yourself and your future, I won’t be reading any longer. I am a strong advocate of equal rights and think companies that go out of their way to exclude LGBTG couples are disgusting and I won’t support them. So, I’ve enjoyed my time reading here, but I think this is it. Good Luck.
Bee, I’ve watched weddingbee go from a personal blog to something everyone around the world will flock to for wedding support and inspiration. I’m SO happy that this is happening. The site will be even bigger and greater, and I have complete faith that weddingbee is going to remain just as personal and wonderful as it has always been.
Think of all the brides you’ve helped out over the years. Think about how many more you can help now! I’m excited to see where weddingbee is headed.
Congrats again, i’m so proud of you. I LOVE YOU!!
First off: Congratulations on the sell! I understand the amount of time you’ve put into weddingbee and the stress and frustrations it may have caused in your personal life. I just want you to know that I really enjoyed reading all your xanga blogs before wedding bee and have kept up with it until now.
Second: I’m disappointed that weddingbee has been sold to eharmony. I’m not as passionate about the LGBT community as other but I do support marriage equality for all. I guess it came at a good time, since I’m married and have been skipping the posts (especially since the “read here” option was take off). Before, I use to read each post word for word. *sigh* Oh well.
Best of Luck to weddingbee!
@ehh5000: I do not think that the Bees should be paid, as I think it will only contribute to the rampant consumerism that many assume will begin to develop because of the sale. Right now, we bees (and potential bees) are blogging because we love it, and our motivation lies in our desire to share and be a part of a community. If the motivation was based on monetary compensation I fear that the quality of the posts and the posters would move in a different direction.
Congratulations Mrs. Bee! Wishing you the best, I know you will do your best to keep the integrity of the site
This is very sad news.
It’s good-bye for me, hive. I have enjoyed the bloggers on this site, but have struggled with the idea that one person has benefitted from their creativity and expertise, and I can see that now, that same ONE person is going to be compensated for the hard work of others. Combining that with the unfortunate news of the company to which you were sold (many people have expressed my exact sentiments about the distasteful and morally disturbing views of eHarmony), I am no longer a reader.
It’s kind of like ” I liked that band better before they got big” haha Good for Mrs. Bee! She deserves this, and I couldn’t be happier for her and the bee community. As for it being to eHarmony, no, they don’t support LGBT’s on their site, and I believe it is for both business reasons and personal views. They base their business model on being able to match people with more information and whatnot, and that is because they have done so much research on what makes men and women tick. I have a lot of friends who were on match.com and kept getting paired with losers (no offense to match.com’ers) and after switching to eHarmony they found the guy they married in a matter of months. They know what they are doing. And with LGBT, they don’t. They could start to research it, but for personal reasons they don’t. It’s their company
Anyways, I will keep reading, and again, congrats to Mrs. Bee!
Whilst I am very happy for the resource changes a move like this will bring and the positive impact this will have in the lives of Mr & Mrs Bee I do not feel that I can any longer support Weddingbee.
This makes me so sad as Weddingbee and the Bees were all inspirations for my wedding.
I wish you luck in the future but I won’t be visiting until E Harmony recognizes that we are all equal.
Count me among the disappointed and leaving, for various reasons.
It was nice while it lasted.
Congratulations Mrs. Bee. I am happy for you personally.
Congrats to Mrs. Bee your sucess is amazing.
At the same time it is disheartening to learn of the sale. I love reading the bee posts and learning from other brides and had looked forward to potentially becoming a bee one day. I personally don’t care if Weddingbee gets new program applications or vendor resources, if I wanted those things I could go to the knot/the wedding channel/project wedding/any other corporate site. Weddingbee was special in that it was not those things, it seemed to be community oriented, honest, welcoming and not in it for money. I’m sorry but the way I see it, you just lost the very unique quality that made this website an amazing, invaluable resource.
At first I was happy to read about Mrs. Bee’s success. But as I read through eharmony’s history and the comments listed here, I become more and more disgusted that you would sell the website to a morally bankrupt corporation.
Goodbye, Wedding Bee. I’d say I miss you but there are many socaily concious wedding blogs out there.
Can somebody start a weddingbee2 less the corporate identity?
“Just because the LGBTQ community is a minority means it’s okay to discriminate against them!? Please clarify.”
@MissCreamPuff and MissTaffy
I’m not going to get into a debate about whether it’s right or wrong for eHarmony, a privately owned company, to go after the market share of their choosing. There are companies whose practices specifically rule out black people (of which I am one) and as a result, I choose not to give them business…that’s my prerogative; just like it’s their prerogative not to service me. Love it or hate, it’s the irony that makes America great. Discrimination notwithstanding, what I don’t do is go around declaring war on them for refusing to service me. An aside: Far be it for me compare the plight of African Americans to that of the LBGTQ community because that in itself is offensive to me. I only use that to illustrate a point.
This is America folks. Private businesses are entitled to do whatever they choose. Discrimination happens every day. I reckon some of the companies you know and love have blatant discriminatory practices. That is short end of the stick that comes with living in a nation where we have far more freedoms than anywhere else in the country. Life could be much worst for us all.
And I am one of the biggest social injustice advocates you will ever meet. But when it comes to social injustice, where I start to get uproarious is when discrimination creeps into the public sector. Now if eHarmony was a publicly traded company, a non-profit, or a gov’t funded entity, I might give a listen to the complaints being posted here. But until then, I understand everyone’s concerns and you are entitled to them, but I don’t think the future of weddingbee is anything but bright as a result of this decision. I respect everyone who wants to leave’s right to do so.
@353459 From a business perspective, 10% isn’t much relative to the other market share. Given the economy, I’d say it’s a great opportunity for someone to get entrepreneurial and capitalize on that 10% market share. As far as the other readers leaving, time will tell if the site suffers. But I’d bet in its favor. I’d invest.
SELL.OUT.
Worst=Worse. Bugger.
Congrats Bee! It has been long deserved for you!!!
I’m curious if the powers that be behind WeddingBee anticipated such a backlash against this decision. When you decided to sell the website, had you considered the fact that it went against many of the qualities that define it? Did you consider that you would not only loose some of the Bee’s who make the website what it is, but the readership and following?
First, I want to congratulate Bee, Mr. Bee, BIL Bee, and Penguin for all their hard work. The success of the site is due to your diligent work, editorial integrity, and creative ingenuity. You deserve a much needed vacation!
One of the reason I started blogging was that in an industry overrun with heteronormative narratives Weddingbee started to rewrite those narratives. It allowed all brides regardless of race, color, gender expression, sexual orientation, creed, class, or faith to tell their stories without censorship.
To be honest, I am torn.
On one hand, I see eharmony’s acquisition of Weddingbee as a step toward change. I completely agree with Hot Cocoa. Having Bee stay to on and continue editing and managing the site, without interference, is a step in the right direction toward change. I too will hold Bee to the promise of maintaining an independent voice that is not censored, and I look forward to the day eharmony changes its policies to be inclusive of the GLBT community. I hope by continuing to blog and tell my story, without censorship, that I can be an instrument for change.
However, I am skeptical. Can change really occur from the inside out?
I think the sale of Weddingbee to eharmony is a great experiment in that possibility. So, for now I will stay on.
First, congratulations Bee! You deserve all your success. Your hard work and dedication to the site are evident to everyone.
However, I am conflicted about this. As a Canadian, I generally don’t think about or am not as aware of the policies of American companies. While e-harmony is available in Canada, the most popular dating site here is Canadian owned and has same sex matching. Having read the evidence that has been discussed on the boards and then doing my own online search about e-harmony, I am not sure if I will return to WB. I love the bees, I come here frequently to read the new posts and have read all the archives of bees past. All of their stories offer inspiration. I really want to continue to share all this community has to offer, but do not want a company with these practices to profit from me. I am not sure how much can be “changed from within”. I am torn.
For those readers who are leaving the site, I’m truly sorry to see you go, but I understand and support your decision. You can see my posts under the aegis of my own blog: http://doublyhappytoo.blogspot.com/. I hope you’ll continue to be a part of my wacky journey to the chuppah.
Congrats Mrs. Bee and the rest of the “behind the scenes” crew! I have truly enjoyed being apart of such a great site and community! I wish I could remember how I stumbled upon this gem, but I can not!
I also want to thank everyone who has enlightened me on the business practices of eHarmony. I’ve never used an on-line dating site nor did I know what their company stands for. As a consumer, I probably should know what each company I purchase things from stands for, but I do not.
I will continue to be a Weddingbee member. It’s been a great resource and I know it will continue to do so. Although I do not agree with what eHarmony stands for, I do agree with what Weddingbee stands for. That, in itself, is enough for me to continue to contribute and go through the journey with the remaining Bees and other members!
For those leaving, if you have your own blog, please leave the address so we can continue to follow your journey!
Congrats again Mrs. Bee!
I am a longtime Weddingbee reader and I am very happy for Bee. I hope that Wedingbee reaches a greater audience, and that it remains as personal and diverse as it always has been.
As for myself, I am not sure that I will continue reading Weddingbee, because I cannot support a company that does not support marriage equality, and also because one of the main appeals of Weddingbee to me was that it was outside of the wedding industry.
Such bittersweet news… I am so happy for the Bee family and want to see Bee’s incredible website get the attention it deserves, but I am deeply saddened by Weddingbee’s new affiliation with a company I disapprove of.
Congrats, Mrs. Bee! You may have mentioned this earlier, but when will the change take effect?
Congratulations!
I’d be a big proponent of a vendor-driven blog…what a wonderful idea. I’m sure you’ll get a ton of interested business bloggers who want to jump on the bandwagon (count me in too)!
it’s official! congrats!! i’m really happy for you personally. hugs.
so happy for you! and so deserved. i am happy to have weddingbee grow in such an exciting way!!