hamptonBRIDE Celebrates North Fork Launch Party, Offering Hyperlocal Guide to East End Weddings

hamptonBRIDE.com, an online resource focused exclusively on weddings in the Hamptons, Montauk and the North Fork, was created to connect engaged couples with venues and vendors rooted in the region. Founded by longtime East End resident and digital marketing professional Kerry Wilkie, the platform brings together a curated directory of wedding professionals, planning tools and editorial content designed to reflect the distinct character of East End celebrations.

The North Fork launch party, held at The Lin Beach House, drew close to 100 members of the local wedding industry, including venue operators, wedding planners, caterers, florists, photographers and other creative professionals. The evening served both as a celebration of the platform’s debut and as an opportunity for industry members to connect and collaborate.

“We thought we might have 40 or 50 people attend,” Wilkie said. “To see nearly 100 vendors and venues come together in one room showed us how much this was needed out here.”

Launched in October, hamptonBRIDE was developed in response to what Wilkie described as a lack of truly local wedding-planning resources for the East End. While national platforms offer broad listings, she said they often overlook the region’s geography, culture and the weekend-long nature of many East End weddings.

“Couples getting married here aren’t just planning a ceremony and reception,” Wilkie said. “They’re planning a full wedding weekend, and that involves welcome drinks, restaurants, rehearsal dinner spaces, after-parties, activities and accommodations. We wanted to create one place where couples could find all of that, specifically for the East End.”

Wilkie, who runs a digital marketing agency and has lived on the East End for nearly three decades, said the idea for the platform had been developing for years. The concept gained momentum as she and her husband planned their own wedding and later fielded questions from family members planning to marry in the area.

“It was surprisingly difficult to pull everything together,” she said. “There wasn’t a single resource that allowed you to see what was available, compare options and understand what might fit the kind of celebration you wanted.”

hamptonBRIDE allows couples to search venues and vendors by location — including the Hamptons, Montauk, and the North Fork — and by category, such as planners, photographers, florists and rental companies. Users can create accounts, save favorites and return to them as they refine their plans. The platform also highlights locations suited for rehearsal dinners, welcome events, after-parties and farewell brunches.

Wilkie emphasized that hamptonBRIDE is not a wedding planning service, but rather a thoughtfully curated platform that introduces couples to the venues and talent that define the East End wedding experience.

“We’re not planners,” she said. “We’re providing the platform that helps couples find the pieces they need, whether they’re working with a planner or doing it themselves.”

Since its launch, the platform has gained traction among both couples and industry professionals. According to Wilkie, hamptonBRIDE has already generated hundreds of referrals to local venues and vendors, while its social media content has reached more than 175,000 views in a single month.

“That kind of engagement tells us couples are actively looking for trusted, local guidance,” she said.

The North Fork launch event highlighted that local-first approach. Hosted at The Lin Beach House, the evening showcased a collaboration of East End wedding creators, including Lauren Lombardi Events, True Elizabeth Flowers, Matchbook Distilling Company, Ace Party & Tent Rental, The Treatery, Disset Chocolate, Santa Cruz Photography, Vocals By Lauren, East End Sticker Vend and SV Content Ltd..

The Lin Beach House, a historic property recently renovated by owners Leslie Merinoff Kwasnieski and Brian Kwasnieski, served as both the venue and a featured example of the types of wedding-weekend locations hamptonBRIDE aims to spotlight. The property offers accommodations and event space designed to host intimate, multi-day celebrations.

“For many vendors, this was the first time they had all been in the same room together,” Wilkie said. “Watching people connect, exchange ideas and talk about future collaborations was incredibly meaningful.”

Wilkie said one longtime party rental professional told her it was the first event of its kind she had seen in nearly three decades working on the East End.

Building community within the wedding industry is a central goal of the platform, Wilkie said. In addition to hosting launch events, hamptonBRIDE has created private online spaces for vendors to collaborate and share resources, and plans to continue hosting smaller, industry-focused gatherings.

The platform is also expanding its content offerings. A hamptonBRIDE podcast, hosted by seasoned photographer Janelle Brooke, featuring conversations with local venues and vendors about trends, planning insights and the realities of hosting weddings on the East End, is set to launch this spring, along with a companion YouTube channel. Five episodes have already been recorded.

Looking ahead, Wilkie said additional launch events are planned for the Hamptons and Montauk in the coming months, as the platform continues to grow its regional presence.

“Our focus is staying hyper-local,” she said. “Everything we’re building is about the East End — the people who work here, the places that make it special, and helping couples plan weddings that truly reflect that.”

As hamptonBRIDE continues to expand, Wilkie said the mission remains unchanged: to serve as a trusted, community-rooted guide for couples planning weddings in one of the region’s most sought-after destinations.

“We’re here to stay,” she said. “And we’re committed to doing this the right way — by supporting the creatives, building a community and making the planning process easier and more meaningful for couples.”

Visit hamptonbride.com for more information.