Scott said: "I wanted to learn some techniques for web
sites and I thought I would use our marriage as an example. "It was originally
for friends and family. We have relatives who live quite far away and
we wanted to share the details such as times for the church. "For
some unknown reason it started going round different message boards and
forums."
The site was featured on the Lycos top ten web sites list and
Scott and Helen were thrust into the limelight.Strangers began to email
them through the address Scott had posted on the web site. Some people
even thought it was a reality television show. "I was sitting at work
and I suddenly started getting all these emails through," Scott said. "There
were literally three every ten minutes or so."
The site was a hit with Americans who were fascinated by the big traditional
English white wedding which Scott and Helen were planning and Scott was
interviewed by a US radio station in New Hampshire. When British people
started logging on, Scott and Helen decided to take off the details of
when and where the ceremony would be held for fear of strangers turning
up. Helen said: "I was really worried. I thought, I am not having all
these people turn up. "Even so, there were two people at the church who
we had never seen in our lives."
There are other wedding web sites on the internet but it is the detail
and professionalism of Scott and Helen's site which they believe has
attracted so much attention. It features almost every detail of the big
day, from photos to the guest list, wedding cake and invitations. It
takes visitors right through the landmark moments of Helen and Scott's
relationship from the first time they met and the touching account of
Scott's proposal to Helen on the London Eye to the edited versions of
the stag and hen nights, an account of their wedding day and their honeymoon
diary.
Helen and Scott first met when they were working as temporary Christmas
staff at Marks and Spencer. A year later, on Scott's 18th birthday, Helen
made her move while he was working as a DJ at the Escape Club in Brighton.
All men preparing to pop the big question should take a leaf out of
Scott's book. He hired a Cupid's Capsule on the London Eye, telling Helen
he had won a competition to get them a free flight. With staff in on
the act, a champagne waiter on hand filming the moment and people watching
in glass capsules either side, Scott got down on bended knee to propose.
But he denies he is a born romantic. "I am not usually so romantic to
be honest. That was the one time in my life I have been," he said. "There
were lots of emails from people saying they were reading it with a tear
in their eye. People have been saying, 'I wish my husband had proposed
to me in that way'."
The couple's wedding was followed by a marquee reception with a barn
dance at Tottington Manor, Edburton, near Henfield, before a honeymoon
in Jamaica. Scott said: "Quite a lot of people who sent us emails before
the wedding emailed back afterwards and said congratulations." The web
site also serves as a virtual wedding keepsake for the couple. Scott
said: "It is a good thing to look at if we want to show our children
or grandchildren." Helen added: "Friends and family think the site is
fantastic. "It has been really nice for my great aunt and uncle. They
could not make the wedding day because my uncle was ill. They have been
able to look on the web site before we got the album and video."
Television programme You've Been Framed even contacted them and asked
them to send any funny video clips of the wedding. Scott said: "As a web
designer I wanted to go further and see how I could get more out of it.
I never realised it would get so much attention." Scott plans to keep the
site live for six more months but will eventually take it off the internet
and keep it for themselves.
Web surfers will not be able to follow the couple through their married
life on the internet - Helen has put her foot down at the suggestion
they should record the birth of their children.
by Deborah Tucknott The Argus |
The PROPOSAL 