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The Wedding List of your dreams is now a reality thanks to UEL entrepreneur

Monday 14 February 2011

Donna Plakhtienko

It’s Valentine’s Day on Monday and love is in the air, but for those who decide to take things that stage further and tie the knot, the inevitable question of where to have your wedding list will surely arise.

The wedding list is a service that the majority of department stores have offered since time immemorial; but now, thanks to UEL ‘mumpreneur’ Donna Plakhtienko (pictured above), and her company Don’t Ask Don’t Get; you can have your list anywhere and everywhere.

Don’t Ask Don’t Get is an online service which allows users to create a wish list of gifts; put together using any online store or even out on the high street.

After registering onto the free site you are given a ‘cheeky monkey’ icon which sits on your browser’s bookmark bar. You can then ‘grab’ any item from any online store you are looking at simply by clicking on the icon; this then puts all of the relevant information about the product onto your wish list.

Furthermore, for iPhone users, when you are out shopping you may see something that grabs your attention. A free app allows you to add the item to your list simply by scanning the barcode onto the phone.

Another characteristic of the iPhone app, is that when you add a product to your list, it automatically finds the top five places where the item is cheapest online, so it can save gift buyers a lot of money, too. When you’re happy with your list you can then share it with guests via email, Facebook and Twitter.

Donna said, “The idea of wish lists is becoming bigger, a number of stores are releasing them but, of course, these are exclusive to the store. The unique thing about mine is that you can add anything from any store. Most of these kinds of services are linked to a particular store or retailer, while Don’t Ask Don’t Get is completely impartial.”

Donna has been based at the University of East London’s Knowledge Dock Business Centre since June 2010. She says she was inspired to start up her own business after attending the Knowledge Dock’s ‘Be Your Own Boss’ scheme, which allows aspiring entrepreneurs to develop a business idea and then gives them three months free office space in the University’s HotHatch Business centre.

Keen to find out more about the support on offer at Knowledge Dock Business Centre, Donna was referred to the employability team who organised a couple of student interns for her. She said of the scheme, “If I had not decided to base myself here I think my progression would have been roughly in the same direction, but I have got here much quicker. I have had time to sit and focus on the business without distractions and the help from the interns has been invaluable.”

Of course, the wish list principle can be applied to any special occasion, such as birthdays, Christmas or anniversaries. Donna explains what inspired her to come up with the concept: “last Christmas people kept asking me what they should buy my daughter; I ended up going around shops taking pictures on my phone of anything I liked. At the time I thought to myself wouldn’t it be great if there was some way to let everyone know online without having to send things to individual people.”

So, if you’re getting hitched in 2011, sign up with Don’t Ask Don’t Get and put together a wedding list with no bounds, you’ll get what you want and your guests will thank you for making their job easier and saving them money, too. 

For more info you can visit the Don't Ask Don't Get website or download the app from the App Store

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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