After Raising $1.5 Mil, WedPics Poised to Become Go-To Wedding App

Social networks have made sharing every tiny event in our lives easier than ever. Plus, it just feels good to get 12 likes on an artfully styled shot of your fruit-infused breakfast cereal bowl. But now, a new app is poised to change the way we document one of the most important experiences in our lives — our weddings.

WedPics, a new online and mobile platform based in Raleigh, N.C., allows users to upload and share photos of the ceremony and the reception both in real time and after the fact. That means wedding guests, folks in the wedding party and the marrying couple itself now have a portal where the Big Day can live on long after the flowers have wilted and the tuxes have been returned.

It’s this kind of exciting innovation that’s helped WedPics raise $1.5 million in Series A financing, with N.C. investor IDEA Fund Partners leading the charge. For new startups that have begun to generate revenue but not net profits, Series A financing is the best way to secure more money for operations going forward.

What that means for users is that WedPics is poised to become one of the premier apps for social sharing when it comes to wedding celebrations. But why stop at weddings only? As TechCrunch reports, the company’s creators originally found an idea in Deja Mi in 2011 — a photo-sharing app designed to capture larger events — but decided to hone in on nuptials because it made more sense to focus on one specific use. Additionally, WedPics brings in the often scatter-shot photos and videos generated during weddings (often by folks who don’t necessary know each other) and places them under one digital roof.

On its side is compatibility with iOS and Android operating systems as well as online platforms, allowing WedPics a maximum reach. So far, that reach has netted an impressive 1 million unique users and 200,000 weddings — all of which has resulted in nearly 8 million photos and videos hosted on the platform. For right now, WedPics is free, though it offers couples personalized WedPics wedding invites to accompany its regular ones for between $20 and $40. Still, WedPics is a small venture, with only 15 full-time employees shaping its destiny at the moment.

Wedding venues, banquet halls and other locations might be helping sculpt the future of WedPics, too.

“I think there will always be a place for the traditional wedding reception,” explains Jeff Robinson, Director of Sales atDeerfield. “As we’ve seen seen during our eight years here at Deerfield, trends and other things change, just like any other business. But I can’t see virtual access replacing the traditional wedding reception, or replacing attending the traditional wedding reception.”

With contenders like Wedding Party and Appy Couple already thriving in the wedding social networking market, TechCrunch notes that WedPics might be facing some serious competition in the future. Nonetheless, that $1.5 million certainly gives the company a bit of room to spread its wings.