3 ideas are worth a look.
For event and wedding planners, selling to independent event and wedding planners. We explored 6 ideas and searched for each one. 3 already exist.
Already exists, so we dropped them
- SeatingSyncSeatPlan.io already does shared drag and drop seating with live client updates and version tracking. seatplan.io
- DayOfCueTimeline Genius and TimelinePro already share vendor-specific timelines with real-time collaboration. timelinegenius.com
- DepositTrackerThe Private Wedding App already tracks vendor deposits, balances, and due dates in one place. theprivateweddingapp.com
VendorQuoteCompare
Forward messy vendor quotes and get one normalized comparison sheet so you can pick the best price without retyping.
- Who pays
- Independent event and wedding planners
- The problem
- Planners get quotes in PDFs, emails, and texts with different line items and formats. They retype everything into a spreadsheet to compare, which takes hours and still misses apples-to-apples differences.
- The gap
- Existing tools like The Private Wedding App let you score and compare vendors you manually enter, but none parse incoming quote documents and normalize line items automatically. The gap is the extraction and normalization step, not the comparison UI.
- Already out there
- The Private Wedding App Vendor Manager theprivateweddingapp.com
Lets you save vendors, score them, track quotes, and compare side by side. Requires manual entry of every quote detail.
- Beebizy tracxn.com
Online event vendor discovery platform for party planners. Focused on discovery, not quote normalization.
- The Private Wedding App Vendor Manager theprivateweddingapp.com
- People asking for it
- Overwhelmed with vendor options reddit.com
User says they have no idea how to compare vendors effectively and has been using Excel.
- Avoiding generic quotes and upcharges reddit.com
User questions why vendors are contacted for quotes before final decisions, implying quote comparison is messy.
- Wedding vendor comparison spreadsheet guide weddingdreamplanner.com
Guide exists because people manually build spreadsheets to compare vendors on the same criteria.
- Overwhelmed with vendor options reddit.com
- The big assumption
- Planners will trust an automated parser enough to skip manual retyping, and the variety of quote formats is tractable without constant human correction.
- Test it this week
- Ask five independent planners to forward three real vendor quotes each. Manually normalize them and send back a comparison sheet. See if they say it saved them time and would pay.
ClientInfoRelay
Collects all client details in one form and pushes the right fields to the right vendor, filling the gap between venue sales handoff and planner.
- Who pays
- Independent event planners
- The problem
- When a venue hands off a signed client to a planner, the client details live in the venue's system, the planner's inbox, and a dozen vendor threads. Planners re-ask the client for the same information and manually forward pieces to each vendor.
- The gap
- HoneyBook and Monday.com manage workflows and contacts but do not solve the specific venue-to-planner handoff or the field-level routing of client data to different vendors. The gap is a structured intake that maps fields to vendor roles and pushes only what each vendor needs.
- Already out there
- HoneyBook honeybook.com
All-in-one management tool for event planners. Handles contacts, invoices, and workflows but not venue handoff or vendor-specific field routing.
- Monday.com monday.com
General project management for event teams. Not built for client intake or vendor data distribution.
- JotForm event planning template jotform.com
Form builder with an event planning template. Collects data but does not route fields to different vendors.
- HoneyBook honeybook.com
- People asking for it
- How do you manage all your weddings in one place reddit.com
Planner asks how others keep budgets, timelines, vendor communications, and client approvals organized.
- Event workflow handoff failure gomomentus.com
Article states handoffs fail because data lives in a separate tool from the one doing the next step, requiring export and reupload.
- How do you manage all your weddings in one place reddit.com
- The big assumption
- Planners will adopt another intake tool when they already have forms and email, and venues will cooperate with a standardized handoff format.
- Test it this week
- Build a simple form with conditional field routing using a no-code tool. Ask three planners to use it for one event and report whether it reduced back-and-forth.
PlannerPaperwork
Generates and stores the venue required COI, permits, and vendor COI paperwork for each event so nothing is missing on load in day.
- Who pays
- Independent event planners
- The problem
- Planners chase vendors for certificates of insurance, check that the venue is named correctly as additional insured, and track permit deadlines. Missing paperwork can stop load in.
- The gap
- TrustLayer and other COI tracking software exist but are built for enterprises, venues, and property managers, not independent planners managing multiple small events. They are priced and designed for insurance compliance teams, not a solo planner with ten events a year.
- Already out there
- TrustLayer trustlayer.io
Automates COI processing for events. Built for venues and hosts, likely priced for larger operations.
- COI Tracker tracxn.com
Software for tracking certificates of insurance. General purpose, not event-specific.
- Docsumo COI tracking list docsumo.com
Lists COI tracking software for event planning and venue management. All appear enterprise-focused.
- TrustLayer trustlayer.io
- People asking for it
- COI for events guide elev8.la
States missing additional insured information is a common problem and small typos cause rejections.
- How to request a COI from vendors vertikalrms.com
Guide shows the detailed request language planners must send to vendors, indicating a manual and error-prone process.
- COI for events guide elev8.la
- The big assumption
- Independent planners handle enough events with COI requirements to pay for a dedicated tool, rather than using email templates and a folder.
- Test it this week
- Interview five planners about how they currently manage COIs and permits. Ask if they would pay for a tool that auto-requests and validates COIs per event.