Built for the people who make events happen

When my Dad passed away, I decided that a year later — on the anniversary of his death — I'd host a poker event to raise money for charity in his memory. What I didn't realise was just how much of a headache that would turn into. I was ringing round venues to check pricing and availability, then asking if they did catering, then ringing DJs to check their availability and compare prices, all while trying to work out if everything actually lined up. It was a success in the end — but I remember just wishing it had been simpler.

Not long after, I found out friends were going through the exact same thing, just on a much bigger scale — planning a wedding, juggling deposits, and trying to make sure the shortlist they'd built for catering, DJs, entertainment and fireworks all actually lined up with their date.

The idea kept coming back to me over the years — a platform that worked for everyone involved, not just one side of the booking. The problem was always cost; building something like this used to be far out of reach. Technology's caught up since then, and that's how Venunique came to be: one place where venues, vendors and customers can organise and communicate with everyone, with ease.

The maths never sat right with me either. A venue charges £5,000 for a wedding, and by the time a booking platform takes its commission, the venue might keep £4,000 of it — or less. That's not a platform helping a business grow. That's a platform taking a cut of someone else's hard work.

So I built Venunique around one simple rule: vendors and venues keep 100% of the price they set. Our small fee is added on top for the customer to see upfront — never taken out of what a business has already earned.