The pandemic served as a crucial inflection point for virtual wedding startup Wedfuly.
As the money from its wedding planning services dried-up during the early days of Covid-19, founder and CEO Caroline Creidenberg said the outlook was grim for the Denver-based startup.
“All of that money got spent early on and we were going to go out of business,” she said.
Thanks to a well-timed pivot and an influx of customers, Wedfuly now has more stable footing and is set to appear on the Nov. 5 episode of ABC’s "Shark Tank." The panel of investors includes Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John, Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec.
Wedfuly launched in 2017 to offer virtual wedding planning services to engaged couples. When the pandemic hit and money got tight, Creidenberg made a pivot, taking the company into the virtual wedding space.
The company did its first virtual wedding in March and partnered early on with Zoom on the streaming side. A month later, Creidenberg realized the magnitude of the opportunity in front of her.
“In April of 2020, the lightbulb went off for me that this actually solves a lot more issues than just pandemic-related wedding issues,” she said.
From there, Wedfuly built out its software platform and found a swell of interest from couples. To date, the company has worked with nearly 1,000 couples to share weddings with 200,000 guests from around the world.
The company offers comprehensive virtual wedding services, from emceeing the event to handling multimedia elements and guest management. Wedfuly has also started offering livestream options at in-person weddings to allow guests to attend the wedding even if they aren’t physically there.
After a busy beginning to its virtual wedding journey, Creidenberg said things have slowed down to a more manageable pace in recent months and allowed her team to assess where the market will settle going forward.
The key for her team will be continuing to provide an alternative option to traditional, often expensive weddings.
“We’re excited to continue working with our hub clients, couples that feel like the wedding industry doesn’t fit their needs, and slowly chip away at this monster of an industry,” she said.
Ahead of their national television appearance, the Wedfuly team doesn’t remember who or when they applied to "Shark Tank," with Creidenberg calling it a big void in the company’s memory.
Despite that surprise, Wedfuly is gearing up for the increased interest the show will bring by shoring up its website and offering a booking promotion for viewers.
“We’re mostly focused on not letting our website crash,” she said.
