Questions, answered

NearlyWeds brings Australian wedding venues and vendors together in one place, so you can find, chat with, book and pay the businesses for your day without juggling emails and spreadsheets.

It's for weddings in Australia, and all prices are in Australian dollars. Every business is checked by our team before couples can find it, and a planning checklist built around your date keeps the rest on track.

Yes. NearlyWeds doesn't charge couples anything. Browsing, saving favourites, chatting with businesses, sending booking requests and using your planning checklist are all free.

When you book, you pay the business's own prices through NearlyWeds, with nothing added on top. The business pays NearlyWeds' fee out of what it receives. See how pricing works.

Yes. Open Browse to search, filter and sort every approved venue and vendor, including on the map. Open any listing to see its photos, packages and prices, reviews, venue details, location, terms and cancellation policy.

You'll need a free account to:

• save favourites
• message a business or send a booking request
• see a business's phone, email and availability calendar
• use the Available on a date and Near my wedding filters

Once you've signed up (and, for a new account, set up your wedding), you're brought straight back to the page you were on.

Every venue and vendor is checked by the NearlyWeds team before it appears in Browse. We review each listing's details, photos and packages, the area a vendor covers or the number of guests a venue can hold, and its ABN and payment setup. If an approved business later changes its name or category, its listing comes back to us and stays hidden until we've checked it again.

A few more things help you choose with confidence:

• Reviews can only be left by couples who booked that business and paid in full through NearlyWeds, after the wedding.
• Celebrants show a Registered marriage celebrant badge once we've checked them against the Attorney-General's Department register. A celebrant marked Symbolic ceremonies only (not legally binding) can run your ceremony but can't legally marry you.
• Venues answer the same set of questions about pets, children, wheelchair access, wet weather options, accommodation and more, so you can compare them fairly.

If something on a listing doesn't look right, tap Report this business at the bottom of it. Reports go to the NearlyWeds team.

Open the business's listing and tap Message in the Contact section, or the chat button next to Request booking. You can message any business, whether or not you've booked them, and every conversation stays together in Chat.

Quick replies such as "Is our date free?" and "Ask for a quote" help you get started, and you can send photos, like inspiration or a floor plan, that only you and the business can see. Once you're signed in, a listing also shows the business's phone and email.

Include your date, guest numbers and anything special in your first message, so the business can reply with the details up front.

Yes, once you're signed in. Each listing has an Availability calendar showing free and busy dates, and you can tap a date under Pick your date to use it in your request.

In Browse, the Available on my wedding date filter shows only the businesses that are free that day. Tapping Your date at the top of Browse does the same in one step. Dates a business has marked as busy can't be chosen in a booking request.

1. On the listing, tap Request booking, or Request this package on a package.
2. Check the Event date and Guest count, which are filled in from your wedding details.
3. Choose a Package, or Ask for a quote if you'd like the business to price it for you.
4. Add any notes, check the estimate, then tap Send booking request.

Sending a request costs nothing and doesn't hold the date yet. The business can approve it, decline it or propose changes. Once it's approved, you pay the booking fee to secure your date.

• Awaiting approval: you've sent the request and the business hasn't responded yet.
• Approved: the business said yes. Pay the booking fee before the deadline to secure your date.
• Changes proposed: the business has suggested a new price or date for you to review.
• Booking fee paid: your date is secured. The remaining balance is due before the wedding.
• Paid in full: nothing more to pay, unless you accept extra items later.
• Completed: the wedding has passed.
• Declined or Cancelled: the booking is closed.

Each booking also shows a Next step, so you can see what's waiting on you.

The business can propose changes, for example a custom quote once you've talked through the details, or a new date. Your booking then shows Changes proposed, with the new total and the business's note on what changed. If you're happy, tap Accept changes. If you're not sure, message them to talk it through first.

A business can also add an extra item, such as an extra hour of photography. It's only added to your booking once you accept it. Every proposed change is kept in the booking's Change history.

Some businesses, especially venues and caterers, ask for your final guest numbers a set number of days before the wedding. When they do, your booking shows a Final numbers card with the date they're due, and you tap Confirm final numbers to send them.

If your package is priced per guest, the price is worked out again when the business accepts your numbers. If the new price is lower than what you've already paid, the difference is refunded to your original payment method. If it's higher, your Balance due goes up. The card's History lists every change, with the guest numbers and price before and after.

Numbers can be sent once the booking is Approved, up to the day before the wedding, and we remind you 7 days and 1 day before they're due. If the business doesn't ask for final numbers, message them to talk the change through.

When you set up your wedding, your Checklist starts with around 45 tasks, from setting a budget and booking vendors to sending thank-you cards after the day. Due dates are counted back from your wedding date, and tasks for a service are only added if you said you're looking for it. You can edit, reschedule or delete any task, and add your own. No date yet? Tap We haven't set a date yet and your checklist stays undated until you add one.

It also covers the legal paperwork for marrying in Australia, including your Notice of Intended Marriage, which must reach your celebrant at least one month (and no more than 18 months) before the wedding.

Reviews on NearlyWeds can only be left by couples who booked the business and paid in full through NearlyWeds, and only after the wedding date. The reviewer's name is shown with each review, and businesses can reply publicly.

If a review looks fake or inappropriate, tap Report review under it. Our team looks into every report, and reviews that break the rules may be hidden.

Not when you send a request. Payments come in two parts:

• The booking fee: once the business approves your request, you pay it before the deadline shown on your booking. Businesses usually allow 72 hours. If the deadline passes, the booking is cancelled and the date is released.
• The remaining balance: due a set number of days before the wedding, shown under Terms on the listing and as Balance due on your booking. You can pay it any time before then.

We email you reminders before the booking fee window closes and before your balance is due.

It's the first payment towards your booking, and it secures your date. Each business sets its own booking fee as a percentage of the total. You'll find it under Terms on the listing, and as an estimate when you send a request.

The booking fee is part of the total price, not an extra charge on top, and it's paid to the business through NearlyWeds. Whether you can get it back depends on the business's cancellation policy: it's non-refundable unless the policy says it's refunded on the same terms.

Every payment goes through Stripe's secure checkout. Open the booking, tap Pay booking fee or Pay remaining balance, and complete payment on the Stripe page that opens. NearlyWeds never sees or stores your card details.

If the business has its own terms and conditions, you'll be asked to read and accept them before you pay. Every payment gets its own receipt, which you'll find under Receipts on the booking, ready to save, print or share.

It depends on the business's cancellation policy, which you can read under Terms on its listing before you book. When you tap Cancel booking, NearlyWeds shows what you've paid, the refund you'll get and the amount kept by the business before you confirm.

• Refund percentages apply to what you've paid so far, not the full price.
• The booking fee is non-refundable unless the policy says it's refunded on the same terms.
• Refunds go back to your original card and usually arrive within 5 to 10 business days.
• Cancelling a request before you've paid anything costs nothing.

You're refunded everything you've paid, including the booking fee, whatever their cancellation policy says and whenever it happens. The refund goes back to your original card and usually arrives within 5 to 10 business days.

For businesses: the app shows what will be refunded before you tap Confirm cancellation. The refund comes out of your Stripe balance, and NearlyWeds' fee on it is returned to you.

Tell us. Open the booking, tap Report a problem with this booking, choose what went wrong and tap Send to NearlyWeds. It becomes a support request linked to your booking, and we'll reply in the app and by email.

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.

Not for your booking. The cancellation policy is locked in when you send your request, along with the package you chose and its price, and the business's terms you accept stay on the booking. Later changes to the listing don't affect you.

If the business wants to change your price or date, it has to propose the change, and it only applies once you accept it.

Booking fees and balances paid through your booking are covered by the business's cancellation policy, come with receipts and stay in your booking history. If you pay a business outside NearlyWeds, you lose the protection of its cancellation policy and refunds.

It's returned to the business in proportion. When a refund is made through NearlyWeds, for example when a couple cancels, the business cancels or final guest numbers lower the price, NearlyWeds' fee on the refunded amount goes back to the business, along with a credit note for the amount returned.

Yes. NearlyWeds issues the business an invoice for its fee each time a couple pays, and a credit note when a refund returns part of the fee. They're listed under Invoices on the Earnings page, ready to print or save as a PDF.

For your bookkeeping, Earnings also has a Fee statement of what NearlyWeds charged each month, and the Payments page exports every payment as a CSV with the gross amount, NearlyWeds' fee and your net.