Exclusive Interview With Wedding Row iOS App Publisher, Della MacNicholas

1 Please explain how your app was originally thought of and what were your thoughts behind the marketplace, specifically?
 
As the editor of The Wedding Row, My world is filled with weddings, everyday. I love how modern brides use the entire blogosphere to find inspiration and ideas while planning their big day. Today over 90% of wedding planning is started online and I wanted to create an app that would not only be useful but fun while keeping pace with busy brides on the go. I reviewed many of the wedding related apps, and there are some wonderful ones, but none of them offered the ability to store the inspiring ideas that brides come across everyday.

When I was getting married, I bought a wedding planner book. The book had sections that would hold pictures and torn out pages from magazines of ideas that I wanted to use in my wedding. Those days are long gone, today’s brides are technology savvy and BUSY! The app allows them to take images or save images from the Internet and then easily categorize them. It will also automatically generate style boards from each category or it will randomly select images from each category to create a virtual wedding that is brimming with all the inspiring ideas that the bride has collected. The boards can be edited, saved and shared. It also has other great features such as the budget tool and contacts section.  

2 Explain the design, how you came up with the colors and themes.
 
I had the luxury of working with the fabulous graphic team at Hoppmann Creative. They absolutely understood my vision for the app and then created the design. I wanted it to have it’s own identity while still being cohesive to The Wedding Row blog.  

3 Who do you see as the main target market for this app in terms of age, genre and expenditure?
 
Our main target for the app are brides planning their wedding. Brides that love to peruse wedding blogs and are obsessed with all things pretty. However, we have discovered that it is a fabulous tool for wedding vendors, such as event planners and photographers. These vendors can easily categorize images of their work, create style boards and then share them with their clients and potential clients. Creating a price point for the app was a challenge for me. initially, I thought of charging $4.99. Instead, I decided to lower the cost to $1.99. I wanted the app to be accessible to everyone.

4 How long did it take from the original planning to the production process of this app?

All in all it took roughly six months.

5 How do you predict sales to be, is there a good solid market for this style of app?

We have been very pleased with sales thus far. We were thrilled to be named in the top ten apps for photographers by The App Whisperer within the first month that it was released!! In terms of our market for the app, we could not be happier, brides all over the world are using the app.

6 What has been the hardest obstacle you have had to overcome regarding this app development?

For me, the toughest challenge to overcome was understanding the developer side. I created the concept and then worked with Woven Interactive to develop the app. Since I am not a programmer, I had a ton to learn about functionality and what would work or not work. I was consistently amazed when working with Woven to see my ideas come to life in the app.

7 Would you consider developing apps for third parties?

Since I am not a programmer, this would be impossible. But I would gladly work with third parties to consult about developing great concepts for apps.

8 What have you learnt from the App Store?

I have loved my interaction with the app store. It is fascinating to "behind the app curtain." What you learn very quickly from Apple is to have your app and information precisely in the format that Apple requires. If your app submission does not meet their guidelines, it will not be accepted into the app store.

9 Have Apple supported you well with your App development?

Yes, I was so pleased at how quickly all of my questions were responded to. Since I did not write the code myself or have any idea of how the process worked, I was very grateful for all the online support and tutorials available on the developer website as well.

10 What next, are you developing another app, would you go for the same genre again, if not which?

I have another idea for an app that I am very excited about. My next app will be geared to an entirely different audience, children. As a mother whose four year old had an ipad, I am a huge fan of great apps for kids. I am super excited about my next app.

11 What do you think about TheAppWhisperer.com?

I am a huge fan! Being new to the app development world facing a sea of competing apps out there in the Apple Itunes store, I am very appreciative of great websites that help spread the word about new fabulous apps.
 
Have we helped you? Immensely

Would you recommend us? Yes!
 
Have we been supportive? The App Whisperer has not only been supportive but also timely, two characteristics that I highly value.