Fifteen years ago, I Do Magazine began as a simple idea. Heather Tiffany was working on the popular Around Town Magazine when creating a wedding edition was suggested. Heather responded with a challenge: if enough people were interested, she’d create the magazine for good.
Fast forward to today, and I Do has evolved beyond print. Heather, the founder, works closely with her marketing expert Natasha Fisher to deliver a vast array of services. They began hosting wedding exhibitions around thirteen years ago and now cover Sheffield, Leeds, Doncaster, and the East Midlands with big plans to move into more areas.
“It feels very secure for all our staff, especially with parking and onsite security.”
Aside from the magazine and wedding exhibitions, I Do offers an online wedding directory. Wedding suppliers can choose from a variety of packages to advertise in the directory and promote their business to couples planning their wedding. Heather and Natasha are also proud to support smaller wedding fair organisers with their hosted wedding fayre promotion packages. This includes extensive promotion of wedding fairs online and through their large email database of engaged couples, as well as distributing I Do branded goody bags and the I Do Magazine out to these events.
Annual awards celebrating the wedding industry
One standout aspect of I Do’s journey is their annual wedding awards, which celebrates 10 years this year.
Natasha explains, “The I Do Wedding Awards are free to enter and are voted for by happy couples whose wedding day suppliers have helped create. Suppliers receive votes against five criteria from the couples they’ve served in the last year. We then average out the votes based on the criteria and declare a winner. As there’s no judging panel bias and is purely voted for by happy couples, it’s one of the fairest wedding awards out there. It also means that smaller businesses can compete on an equal playing field with larger ones.”
Why I Do said yes to The Business Village
I Do Magazine found a new home at The Business Village in December 2023. The facilities, networking opportunities, and convenient location were all major draws. The inclusion of a shower, bike store, and 24/7 access only added to the appeal.
Heather explains, “It feels very secure for all our staff, especially with parking and onsite security.”
The Business Village’s inclusive policy for allowing dogs also played a pivotal role. When Heather first enquired about space, they ended up going elsewhere because dogs were not allowed in the offices. But, when she reached out again more recently, she found the policy had changed.
“I was working at home with Luna, my soft-coated Wheaten Terrier, so the main stipulation was whether an office took dogs. We’d wanted to move into The Business Village from the start but had to find somewhere that Luna could go. I was so pleased when I learned The Business Village had changed their policy. I now have a second dog, Skye, who comes to the office too.”
“It’s those small things that make running the business much easier.”
Along with the benefits already mentioned, Heather talks about the advantage of having other tenants nearby.
“We currently use Phase 5 for our internet services. It’s cheaper than getting our own broadband, but the onsite support is really handy too. They popped into our office the other day to tell us about a problem we didn’t even realise we had. It’s those small things that make running the business much easier.”
www.ido-magazine.co.uk // www.ido-weddingexhibitions.co.uk
The Barnsley Business Village provides small businesses with a supportive environment that nurtures business growth with a wide range of meeting and office space. For more information, visit: www.business-village.co.uk.