For couples
NearlyWeds brings Australian wedding venues and vendors together in one place. Find the right people, chat with them, book your date and pay, without juggling emails and spreadsheets.
Free for couples. No account needed to look around.
The big picture
NearlyWeds brings Australian wedding venues and vendors together, so you can find, chat with, book and pay the businesses for your day in one place. Every price is in Australian dollars.
Your date, location, guest numbers and budget shape your search results and build your planning checklist.
Search venues and vendors, filter by what matters to you, and tap the heart to save favourites.
Message a business with questions, then send a booking request for your date, with or without a package.
When the business approves, you pay a booking fee through secure Stripe checkout to lock in your date, then the remaining balance before the wedding.
After the big day, leave a review to help other couples.
On this page
Read it start to finish, or jump to the part you need. Button and screen names are the ones you'll see in the app.
Chapter 1 · Getting started
Open NearlyWeds and start browsing straight away. Search and filter every approved venue and vendor, switch to the map, and open any listing to see its photos, packages and prices, reviews, location, terms and cancellation policy.
Anything personal to you, or that contacts a business, asks you to sign up first: saving favourites, messaging, requesting a booking, seeing a business's phone and email, and checking availability calendars. Tap one and you'll see Create account and Sign in, or Not now to keep looking.
Create your account with your email and a password of at least 8 characters, confirm your email, then set up your wedding. You're brought straight back to the listing or search you were on, ready to save, message or request.
Good to know
Open the confirmation email on the same device and browser you signed up on, so NearlyWeds can bring you back to where you were.
Chapter 2 · Getting started
After you confirm your email, NearlyWeds asks a few questions about your day. Only your first name is required. Everything else is optional, saved as you go, and easy to change later in your Profile.
Your Home page shows days to go, bookings held, what's still to pay, checklist progress and your budget. Its Needs your attention list shows what's waiting on you, such as a booking fee to pay, changes to review or unread messages. Tap any row to go straight there.
Chapter 3 · Planning
When you finish setting up, your Checklist starts with NearlyWeds' wedding checklist: around 45 tasks, from setting a budget and booking vendors to sending thank-you cards after the day. Each task gets a due date counted back from your wedding date. Tasks for a service, such as booking a florist, are only added if you said you're looking for one.
Every task is yours to edit, reschedule or delete, and Add task adds your own. Tasks for a service show Find one in Browse, which opens Browse filtered to that category. Overdue tasks show in amber, and you can Snooze to next week.
Change your date or services later and NearlyWeds offers to Update checklist. Open tasks get new due dates and missing ones are added. Tasks you've finished, and tasks you added yourself, are left alone.
To marry legally in Australia, your celebrant will ask for some paperwork. Your checklist includes every step, with notes inside each task.
Gather your birth certificates or passports
Your celebrant needs to see an official birth certificate or a current passport for each of you, plus photo ID.
Find divorce or death certificates if either of you was married before
Only if it applies: the divorce order or the death certificate that ended the earlier marriage.
Get NAATI translations of any documents not in English
Documents in another language need a translation by a NAATI-certified translator.
Lodge your Notice of Intended Marriage with your celebrant Timing matters
It must reach your celebrant at least one month, and no more than 18 months, before the wedding.
Choose two witnesses aged 18 or over
Two adult witnesses must sign your marriage certificates on the day.
Sign your Declaration of No Legal Impediment with your celebrant
You both sign it with your celebrant before the ceremony, often at the rehearsal.
Notice of Intended Marriage
Your Notice of Intended Marriage must reach your celebrant at least one month (and no more than 18 months) before the wedding. If your wedding is less than a month away and that task isn't ticked off, your checklist shows a warning: contact your celebrant about a shortening of time.
Chapter 4 · Planning
Browse shows every approved venue and vendor. Search by name or description, choose Venues or Vendors, narrow to a Category such as photographers, and sort by Recommended, Nearest, price or Rating. Switch the View to Map to see where everyone is, then tap a pin.
Each filter shows as a chip under the search bar. Tap a chip to remove it, or Clear all to start again.
Tip
Tap Your date at the top of Browse to see straight away who is free on your wedding day.
Chapter 5 · Planning
A listing puts everything you need to decide in one place, from the photos and the From price at the top to the business's terms at the bottom. Sharing a listing sends a link to its public page, so family and friends can see it without an account.
Celebrants show a Registered marriage celebrant badge once our team has checked them against the Attorney-General's Department register. A celebrant showing Symbolic ceremonies only (not legally binding) can run your ceremony but can't legally marry you, so you'd need a registry office or a registered celebrant for the legal part.
Important
Read the Terms before you request. The cancellation policy is locked in on your booking when you send the request, so later changes by the business won't affect you.
Chapter 6 · Planning
Tap the heart on any business to save it. Your Favourites page shows how many you've saved, how many categories you've covered, the lowest price among them and your top rated pick. Sort them, or look at one category at a time to compare like with like.
You can message any business, whether or not you've booked them. Tap Message on a listing, or the chat button next to Request booking.
Tip
Save two or three options in each category, then message them all to compare availability and quotes before you request a booking.
Ready when you are
Browse approved venues and vendors now. Create a free account when you're ready to save, message or request.
Chapter 7 · Booking
A booking request asks a business to hold your date. Nothing is charged when you send it.
Your request shows as Awaiting approval in Bookings. The estimate is only a guide: the business confirms the final price and booking fee when it approves.
Good to know
Sending a request doesn't hold the date. The date is only held once the business approves your request.
If a venue can't hold your guest count, or your date is sooner than the business's minimum notice, you'll see a warning. You can still send the request.
Chapter 8 · Booking
Every booking shows a status badge in Bookings and on its own page, plus a Next step that tells you what's waiting on you. Use Show to switch between Active and Past bookings.
Each booking page shows the Total, what you've Paid, the Balance due and Days to event, with a Reference starting EA- to quote to the business. Its What's booked card keeps the package, price and inclusions exactly as they were when you sent the request, even if the business later edits or removes that package.
You've sent the request and the business hasn't answered yet.
Next step: Nothing yet. The date isn't held until they approve.
The business has said yes.
Next step: Pay the booking fee before the deadline to secure your date.
Your date is secured.
Next step: Pay the remaining balance before it's due.
Nothing more to pay, unless you accept extra items later.
Next step: Enjoy the lead-up.
The wedding has passed. Fully paid bookings become Completed the day after the event.
Next step: Leave a review if you'd like to.
The business has suggested a new price, a new date, or both.
Next step: Review them and tap Accept changes to carry on. The booking goes back to Approved.
The business can't take the booking. Any reason they gave is shown.
Next step: The booking is closed. Look at your other favourites.
Cancelled by you or the business, or released because the booking fee wasn't paid in time.
Next step: The booking is closed. Any refund follows the rules in Cancelling and refunds.
The event date went by while the booking was still waiting on something.
Next step: Message the business if that looks wrong.
Chapter 9 · Booking
Plans move. When a business suggests a new price or date, adds an extra, or asks for your final guest count, it shows on your booking and in Needs your attention, and you decide what happens next.
A business may adjust a booking, for example to give you a custom quote or move the date. The status becomes Changes proposed.
Check the updated total, booking fee and date, read the business's What changed note, then tap Accept changes. The booking goes back to Approved.
Not happy? Tap Message to talk it through first. Every proposal is kept in the Change history card.
A business can add an extra item, such as an extra hour of photography. It appears under Extras to review with its description and price.
Tap Accept with the amount, for example Accept $250.00, to add it to your total. Extras are only added once you accept them.
Already paid in full? A Pay additional items button appears so you can pay for them.
Some businesses, especially venues and caterers, ask for your final numbers a set number of days before the wedding. Your booking then shows a Final numbers card with the date they're Due by.
Tap Confirm final numbers, enter everyone attending, adults and children, and tap Send final numbers. For a per-guest package, fewer guests means a lower price and more guests a higher one.
If the new price is lower than you've already paid, the difference is refunded to your original payment method straight away. It can take 5 to 10 business days to appear.
Good to know
We email you and the business an updated booking summary whenever you accept changes or extras.
Chapter 10 · Payments
All payments go through Stripe's secure checkout. NearlyWeds never sees or stores your card details.
Once a business approves your request, you pay its booking fee: a percentage of the total, set by the business, and part of the total rather than an extra on top. If the business has its own terms, read them and tick to accept them; the pay button stays greyed out until you do. Then tap Pay booking fee, pay on the Stripe page and come back. The status changes to Booking fee paid.
Mind the deadline
The Payment card shows when the booking fee is due. Businesses usually allow 72 hours. If the deadline passes, the booking is cancelled and the date is released.
The rest is due a set number of days before the wedding, shown on the listing's Terms and as Balance due on your booking. Pay it any time before then with Pay remaining balance.
NearlyWeds doesn't charge couples anything. You pay each business's own prices, with nothing added on top. Businesses pay NearlyWeds 5% of each payment made through NearlyWeds, on their side. How pricing works
Chapter 11 · Payments
You can cancel a booking that's awaiting approval, approved, has changes proposed, or is part or fully paid. Open the booking, scroll to the bottom and tap Cancel booking.
Before anything happens, NearlyWeds works out your refund and shows what you've Paid, the Refund now, the amount Kept by the business and the Days until the event. Tap Confirm cancellation, or Keep booking if you've changed your mind.
Important
Cancelling can't be undone. Nothing paid yet? Cancelling a request costs nothing.
Each business sets its own policy, and your booking keeps a copy of it from when you sent the request. Open it on the booking page to read it in plain words. The further from the wedding you cancel, the more you get back.
Many businesses start from one of these presets, and some set their own numbers. Always check the timeline on the listing.
If a business stops replying, doesn't turn up, doesn't deliver what you agreed or has closed, tell us. If the business can't deliver, the NearlyWeds team can cancel the booking and refund everything you've paid.
Please ask us before disputing a payment with your bank. A chargeback takes weeks, while we can usually sort out a refund much faster.
Chapter 12 · After the day
Once your wedding has passed, you can review each business you paid in full. Your checklist even has a task for it: Leave reviews for your vendors.
Your name is shown with your review on the business's listing. You can edit or delete it later, and if the business replies you'll see it under Reply from the business.
Why you can trust reviews
Reviews can only be left for bookings that were paid in full, and only after the event date. Spot one that looks fake or inappropriate? Tap Report review under it.
Chapter 13 · Your account
Let us know. Reports go to the NearlyWeds team, who review them. Choose a reason (Spam, Inappropriate, Harassment, Fake or misleading or Other), add details if you like, and tap Submit report.
Good to know
Blocking stops messages but doesn't cancel a booking. If you need to cancel, do it from the booking page. If you feel unsafe or something is urgent, also contact us through Help & support.
Chapter 14 · Your account
Businesses see the details you share with them in messages and booking requests, plus your wedding details in conversations, so they can help you plan. Card payments are handled by Stripe, and NearlyWeds never sees your full card number.
Help along the way
Step-by-step answers for every screen, and a real team when you need one.
NearlyWeds works in your web browser today, on a computer, tablet or phone. The phone apps are coming soon.
Your next step
Browse approved venues and vendors now, with no account needed. Sign up when you're ready to save, message and book.
Free for couples. No account needed to look around.
