South Africa's premier digital wedding magazine, vendor marketplace, and all-in-one planning platform.
SA's #1 Wedding Platform
THE STORY
What Is Real Brides?
Real Brides Magazine began as South Africa's most loved wedding publication — a trusted source of inspiration for brides-to-be across the country. Today, it has evolved into a comprehensive digital ecosystem that connects every participant in the wedding journey: couples, their wedding party and family, guests, vendors, professional planners, and readers — all within one platform.
Each party has a dedicated, purpose-built touchpoint that feeds data back into the shared wedding. Couples plan and manage budgets, tasks, and timelines. Guests RSVP, request songs, and upload selfies without any app download. Vendors receive direct leads with full context and track their performance with built-in analytics. Wedding party members collaborate in real time with role-specific permissions. And readers discover real South African love stories through a curated editorial pipeline.
We don't just inspire — we close the loop on the entire wedding experience, from first engagement to the last dance.
FOR VENDORS
A Marketplace Built for Wedding Professionals
From discovery to enquiry to insight — everything a SA wedding vendor needs to grow.
50+
Approved Vendors
20+
Categories
9
Provinces
5
Listing Tiers
Built-In Analytics
Profile views, enquiry funnel, response times, and category benchmarks — unlocked from Bronze upward.
Free, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum — each unlocks more gallery slots, visibility, and feature placement.
Self-Managed Accounts
Vendors log into their own dashboard to update listings, manage galleries, and respond to leads in real time.
Editorial Exposure
Featured vendors appear in real weddings, magazine issues, and the curated brides directory.
Hyper-Local Discovery
Province- and city-level search means couples find the right vendor for their venue, not just the biggest brand.
WHAT'S NEW
June 2026 Release — Sprint 7
The largest feature drop in the platform's history — shipped across one sprint.
PLANNING
Budget Category Chart
Horizontal planned-vs-actual bar chart per spending category — colour-coded over/under budget. The first visualisation of its kind in an SA wedding planner.
PLANNING
RSVP Deadline Enforcement
Couples set a cutoff date from the Guest screen. The guest portal automatically shows a "RSVP is now closed" lockout after the deadline. A countdown banner keeps the couple informed.
PLANNING
Broadcast Template Library
6 pre-written message templates built into the Broadcast screen — RSVP Reminder, Ceremony Time Confirmed, Running Late, See You Tomorrow, Parking Info, and We're Married! Tap to fill, tap to send.
PLANNING
DJ Playlist Export
One button compiles the finalised Must Play and Approved song list into a formatted text document and opens the native share sheet. No more photographing screens to hand to the DJ.
GUEST PORTAL
Our Story + Venue Contact
Couples write an "Our Story" section — their origin story, engagement, or anything they want guests to know — displayed as a themed card on the guest portal. Venue address, phone, and website now tappable directly from the portal.
REGISTRY
Thank-You Tracking
Each gift claim now shows a "Thank / Thanked" toggle in the registry manager. Couples can track which acknowledgements have been sent without needing a separate spreadsheet.
VENDORS
"Replies Quickly" Badge
Vendors with an average first-response time under 24 hours now display a response-rate badge on their directory card — ⚡ Replies quickly or ⏱ Replies in ~Xh. Computed nightly from conversation data.
AI
AI Wedding Concierge (Premium)
Full wedding context — budget, tasks, vendor bookings, mood board, province — injected as system prompt. Budget rebalancing, vendor suggestions, vow drafts, SA-specific answers. Built. Rate-limited. Premium-gated.
ONBOARDING
Merged Role Picker
The Bride/Groom sub-step is now shown inline on the same screen as the main role selector — no second page, no extra tap. Signup friction reduced by one full screen.
THE PLATFORM
Three Pillars, One Ecosystem
Magazine. Marketplace. Planner.
Editorial Magazine
Beautifully curated magazine issues, expert articles across 8 categories, and real South African wedding stories — all published through an admin editorial pipeline with author attribution.
Vendor Marketplace
A curated directory of 20+ vendor categories across all 9 SA provinces. Vendors manage profiles, galleries (tier-based), and respond to direct couple enquiries — all from their own dashboard.
Wedding Planner Suite
15 integrated modules — budget with category visualisation, guests with RSVP deadline enforcement, tasks, timeline with conflict detection, seating, payments, songs with DJ playlist export, team management with broadcast templates, exports, and more — purpose-built for the South African wedding market.
PLANNING SUITE
Everything a Couple Needs
35 screens. Zero spreadsheets.
Budget Management
16 wedding categories, estimated vs actual spend tracking, payment recording with status, and SA industry-standard budget split calculator.
Guest Management
Full RSVP lifecycle, meal choices, dietary tracking, plus-ones, table assignment, side allocation (bride / groom / mutual), and guest-to-user linking.
Task Management
Priority-based tasks with categories, due dates, assignment to team members, cost estimation, and threaded comments for collaboration.
Day-Of Timeline
22-event SA wedding template with ceremony-offset auto-calculation. Hair & makeup to send-off — every minute planned.
Seating Planner
Create round, rectangle, and long tables. Assign guests, track capacity, summarise dietary requirements per table for your caterer.
Song Requests & Playlist
Guests request songs before the big day. Couples approve, reject, or mark must-play — a curated playlist built by your community.
Payment Tracking
Record every payment with method (EFT, card, cash), status, vendor linkage, and budget item association. Nothing falls through the cracks.
Role-Based Permissions
19 wedding roles with 9 fine-grained permissions each. The couple controls exactly who sees budgets, tasks, guests, and timelines.
Export Suite
Export guest lists, budget breakdowns, timelines, and seating charts as spreadsheets and PDFs. Vendor-ready in one tap.
Guest Portal — No App Required
Guests receive a shareable link or QR code and get instant access to wedding details, the day-of timeline, a full RSVP form (meal, dietary, plus-one, message), a song request feature, and optional selfie verification — all without downloading the app or creating an account.
No download needed
QR code ready
Mobile-first
Real-time sync
Selfie verification
FOR VENDORS
A Marketplace That Works
Direct leads. Real couples. Measurable results.
Profile & Gallery
Showcase your work with tier-based image & video galleries across 20+ categories.
Direct Enquiries
Receive couple enquiries with wedding date, guest count, and contact details — reply directly.
Reviews & Ratings
Build credibility with verified reviews from couples who booked your services.
Dashboard Analytics
Track enquiry volume, review scores, and wedding associations from your vendor dashboard.
Tiered Listings
Free, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers — each unlocking more visibility, gallery capacity, and built-in analytics.
SA-Wide Reach
Listed across all 9 provinces. Couples filter by location, category, and price range.
SMART TOOLS
Six Purpose-Built Calculators
SA wedding industry data baked in.
Cake Portions
Servings per tier size
Drinks Calculator
Wine, beer, spirits quantities
Seating Planner
Tables needed from guest count
Budget Split
SA industry % breakdown
Timeline Builder
Day-of schedule generator
Stationery Calc
Invitation & print quantities
Built for Every Love Story
Real Brides Magazine is a bridal-focused publication, but our platform welcomes and celebrates all people — regardless of sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, spiritual belief, age, disability, or any other characteristic. We honour the rich diversity of love and commitment in South Africa and beyond.
Every feature of the platform — planning tools, vendor directory, guest management, editorial submissions — is available to every user on an equal basis. Our Terms of Use mandate zero tolerance for discrimination.
TECHNOLOGY
Modern, Scalable Architecture
One codebase. Cross-platform. Enterprise-grade infrastructure.
Cross-Platform
Built with React Native and Expo for a seamless experience across devices.
Real-Time Sync
Supabase-powered real-time subscriptions — all collaborators see updates instantly.
Row-Level Security
Every database table secured with granular RLS policies. Your data, your rules.
Progressive Web App
Mobile-first responsive design hosted on Firebase with global CDN delivery.
OPERATIONS
49-Screen Admin Console
Full editorial, vendor, user, commerce, and ops management.
User Management
Vendor Approval
Article Publishing
Issue Management
Submission Review
Review Moderation
Subscription Tiers
Advertising Platform
Contact Inbox
Platform Analytics
Audit Trail
System Alerts
Ecosystem Stats
Notification Engine
Media Library
Gamification Console
AI Concierge Monitor
Community Q&A Moderation
Campaign Engine
Cashflow Dashboard
Email Automation
Expo Events Manager
Off-Platform Vendor Pipeline
🇿🇦
Proudly South African
Every detail is crafted for the SA wedding market:
9 provinces in vendor & location filters
SA Rand (R) currency formatting throughout
Industry-standard SA budget percentages (40% venue/catering)
Wedding-day timeline templates with SA customs
20+ vendor categories common in the local market
POPIA-compliant data protection
DIFFERENTIATION
What Sets Real Brides Apart
Magazine + Planner + Marketplace
No competitor combines editorial credibility, a full planning suite, and a vendor marketplace in one product.
Three-Tier Role Architecture
Auth roles (user/vendor/admin), profile personas (bride/groom/planner/family), and per-wedding roles (19 distinct roles with 9 permissions each) — the most flexible permission model in the industry.
Guest Portal Without Download
Guests RSVP, view the timeline, request songs, and upload selfies via a simple link — no app install, no account creation.
Real-Time Team Collaboration
Brides, grooms, planners, bridal party, family, and vendors all collaborate in real time with fine-grained permission controls.
SA-First, Not SA-Adapted
Every calculator, template, and default is built from South African wedding data — not retrofitted from a US product.
Editorial Pipeline
Admin-approved articles, magazine issues, and real wedding stories provide genuine editorial value — not user-generated noise.
Full Ecosystem Coverage
Every party in the wedding — couples, guests, vendors, wedding party, planners, and readers — has a dedicated touchpoint that feeds data back into one shared wedding.
BUSINESS MODEL
Multi-Stream Revenue
Four proven monetisation channels.
Vendor Subscriptions
Five tiers — Free, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum — each unlocking more visibility, gallery slots, analytics, and priority placement.
Premium Wedding Upgrade
A R249 once-off upgrade for couples that unlocks exports (PDF, CSV), florist briefs, photographer shot-list sharing, and registry sharing.
Advertising
In-app ad placements managed through the admin advertising platform. Banner, interstitial, and directory placements.
Magazine & Content
Digital issue distribution, article partnerships, and sponsored editorial content.
Vendor Enquiry Leads
Direct lead generation from couples to vendors with full wedding details — high-intent, high-conversion contacts.
AUDIENCE
Who Uses Real Brides
A multi-sided platform serving every stakeholder in the wedding ecosystem.
Couples
Brides, grooms, and partners planning their weddings — from first engagement to honeymoon.
Wedding Parties
Bridesmaids, groomsmen, family members — collaborating on tasks, budgets, and logistics.
Vendors
Photographers, venues, florists, DJs, caterers — showcasing their work and receiving direct leads.
Planners
Professional wedding planners managing multiple weddings with full team collaboration.
Guests
Wedding guests RSVPing, viewing schedules, and requesting songs — all without an app download.
Readers
Wedding enthusiasts browsing magazine issues, articles, and real South African love stories.
Fast Facts for Press
Founded
Real Brides Magazine, evolved into a digital platform
Web (PWA), iOS-ready, Android-ready (React Native + Expo)
Languages
English (multi-language roadmap)
Currency
South African Rand (R) — natively formatted
Compliance
POPIA-aligned data protection, RLS-secured database
Pricing
Free for couples · R249 once-off Premium · Vendor tiers from Bronze
Complete Feature Index
15 sections · 220+ features · Competitor-modelling ready
BRAND ASSETS
Logos, Colours & Screenshots
Request the full asset kit by email.
Rose 500
#F43F5E
Rose 300
#FDA4AF
Editorial Black
#0A0A0A
Paper
#FAFAFA
Export Press Kit (PDF)
Email for High-Res Assets
The exported PDF includes story, vendor highlights, May 2026 release notes, fast facts, brand colours, and contact details. Email us for logos, screenshots, and founder bios.
Media Enquiries & Partnership
For press enquiries, advertising opportunities, partnership proposals, or to request high-resolution brand assets, please contact: