What is the greatest love story ever told? Romeo and Juliet? Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler? Brad and Angelina?

Nope, none of those. The greatest love story belongs to you, and it's waiting to be written in a new platform we have rolled out on ThePilot.com.

The site is called Bride & Groom, and you'll find it on The Pilot's home page as well as under the Features tab on the home page.

Bride & Groom represents a new opportunity for the newly engaged and just-married couples to tell their stories in a unique way that takes advantage of the Internet and social media -- and convey all that in the paper, as wel l.

For years, The Pilot has offered couples an engagement notice and wedding announcement free of charge, and that's not going to change. We believe that significant moments in a person's life such as engagement and getting married warrant being in the newspaper. So we will still run submitted black and white photos and basic details from the couple.

But in this age of Facebook, Tumblr and other forms of social media, brides are embracing the ability to tell their own greatest love stories, and we want to be able to do that for our community.

A basic engagement notice doesn't capture the kind of detail and anecdote common in most relationships. When my wife and I got engaged, our notice sure didn't include the fact that I proposed on the carousel at the N.C. State Fair, or that I had to virtually twist her arm to get on the darn thing to begin with. And there was no mention that just after The Big Moment, we ran into a co-worker of mine who became, unknown to him, The First Person To Know.

See? The beauty is in the details, and these little jewels just weren't getting captured.

That's where Bride & Groom comes in for us. When you go to announcements.thepilot.com, you'll see how Bride & Groom offers couples a fuller opportunity to share great details of how they met.

What was the best date, worst date, where their likes overlap -- you get the idea. All of that is free online. For a small charge -- $75 for engagement, $150 for a wedding package -- you can also share that information in th newspaper, expanding on what you previously could publish. Even better, you have the freedom to tell it the way you want to without having to stick to a format.

Couples are able to spell out details about their wedding that you don't normally find in the more traditional announcements: The first wedding song, the funniest reception moment, details about the bride's dress and comments on the various wedding vendors.

These greatest love stories ever told appear not just online. The enriched details also will be published in the paper. We're expecting it will be a fun read, not just for those who know the couple, but for all readers.

As an added value, Bride & Groom also has content that can help couples and their families plan for the big day. The site is populated regularly with wedding-related stories that offer everything from trends in gowns to tips for cutting costs. The site will regularly include the "Budget savvy wedding of the week." It features one couple and how they planned the big event without a big bank account.

Or, if you're wanting to make your own reception sweets, there's stories like a chocolate mint cookie recipe for do-it-yourselfers.

When it comes to topics, Bride & Groom has details on everything from bachelor parties to writing your own vows.

And if you want more than just stories, there's a section for photos, where you can upload snaps from the big day, capturing those impromptu moments along with the big family group photos.

All this is just for starters. We will be expanding the opportunities as the service grows. Later versions of Bride & Groom will include opportunities or wedding anniversaries and other special events. The greatest love stories ever told don't just end after the honeymoon, after all.

John Nagy is editor of the Pilot. Contact him at john@thepilot.com or 910-693-2507.