More than 2 million weddings happened in 2015, according the Wedding Report. What do they all have in common? A stressed out couple. Between handling two families, finding a dream dress or getting the best caterer, wedding tasks can quickly pile up.
Wiithyu organizes your wedding planning all in one place. Better yet, it allows you to assign tasks (with due dates!) to yourself and other family members. You can also share messages, add file attachments and easily collaborate on activities together. No more group calls or long email threads.
CEO Renee Walsh saw this gap in the tech sector of the wedding industry. She set out to revolutionize the way we handle the little details on the biggest day of our lives. A marketing veteran, Walsh moved from D.C. to Atlanta and left the corporate world to jump into entrepreneurship.
Now, Walsh and her team of six are celebrating the one-year anniversary of her fully bootstrapped business. Here, she talks to Hypepotamus about her revenue model, how her personal experience drove her mission, and why you should get your bossy aunt to use Wiithyu.
The Pitch:
Wiithyu is a web-based app that helps make planning your wedding fun, easy and efficient. You can view and manage tasks, customize templates and collaborate with your planning party in real-time, all in one place.
What problem are you solving?
In the past everything you needed to plan your wedding was either stuck in a personal binder, texts or in an inbox somewhere and there had to be a better way to sift through message, organize lists and view important details. We want to bring the joy and excitement back to wedding planning and Wiithyu is that solution. Our goal is to carry the joy and excitement you feel from the time you say, “Yes!” all the way through to your “I do!”.
Since your entire family may be using, how user-friendly is Wiithyu?
That’s the beauty of Wiithyu, it’s not complex. We’ve designed Wiithyu to be easy to use and even simpler to set up, but it still has all of the necessary features and functionality that any bride would want and need to plan her wedding. One of the greatest things about Wiithyu is that everything is customizable.
We’ve set up everything brides need to get started which is typically the hardest part, and we’ve done it in an easy and well thought out way. We like to say “Wedding planning never looked so good!” Every bride and every wedding is unique, and we wanted to make sure that anyone using Wiithyu can make it as they need it to be. Now, there’s a way for her to organize and share information in a really sleek, fun-to-use app.
Please describe the market/industry impact:
The wedding industry is $300 billion world-wide, the United states owns $55 billion. There are so many things when planning a wedding that require time, energy and monetary resources, but nothing that offers a way to efficiently plan. The impact of using Wiithyu is cutting down on time, which can equal cost savings to the engaged couple. Plan your wedding in 90 days instead of 9 months. It can be done, I know because I’ve done it.
Revenue Model:
Free for 30 days, then Wiithyu costs $8 per user/per month.
How’d you get the idea for it?
A co-worker of mine was getting married and said she wished that she could use a collaboration tool to make planning her wedding easier instead of sending emails. Then, Wiithyu was born. I immediately went home and did research, created a pitch deck and began to design the app — what it was, who it would serve, what functionality it would have and the rest is history.
Who are your competitors and how do you stand out?
For the sole purpose of what this app does, there are no competitors. It’s really exciting to be a trailblazer and a front-runner, but now it’s time to get the word out and bring awareness to the name Wiithyu. Wiithyu stands out because we’re not your typical tech or wedding company. We’re sophisticated and have some edge, which is very reflective of who today’s brides are.
Wiithyu also stands out because I’m also the target audience. I’m getting married in October and so I understand, I know what brides have on their plates. So having that perspective and real-life experience greatly enhances our ability to offer features/functionality that brides want.
How does ATL weave into your story?
I moved to Atlanta 5 years ago from Washington, DC. I never expected that Atlanta would be the #1 city for startup businesses or a technology hub, especially for women. There is an abundance of talented women in this city and I’m very proud to be a part of this community that is kicking butt in the industry and redefining what it means to be a “person in technology.”
