"We took on the marketing process itself, " says McLaughlin, who had spent five years as a programmer for Eli Lilly and moonlighted selling his homemade wedding-planner software over the web.

FORBES: Junk Mail Bytes It

She started the first wedding planning firm in 1993, Very Truly Yours, after meeting a wedding planner in New Jersey and taking a summer course on the subject at Columbia University.

FORBES: The Woman Behind India's Celebrity Weddings

It seems that my wife Carleen and Sara soon became best friends with every gown designer, caterer, florist, baker, tent person, rock band, photographer, wedding planner, hotel, restaurant, transportation company, liquor store, priest, electrician and plumber in the region!

FORBES: Wedding Bells, And Cash Registers, Ring In China