When you’re thinking about buying something expensive, you most likely want to check it out first. Whether it’s an expensive watch or a new house, you’d typically expect to be able to look at pictures or see it in person.
According to Annie Voutsos, the same can’t be said when it comes to envisioning weddings, which, on average in the U.S., cost around $33,000. So if you’re thinking about spending thousands on your wedding, why aren’t you able to see what it looks like first?
Enter Voutsos’s solution: Iris Hall.
This dual Wilmington- and Toledo, Ohio-based company creates a software solution for wedding venues and their clients to 3D render the venue space and visualize the perfect setting. Additionally, the platform can integrate clients’ curated Pinterest wedding boards in order to create the most accurate representation for an ideal wedding.
“You definitely had no way to see how all of those individually expensive purchases were going to add up to one result,” Voutsos explained. “[Venues] can’t just talk them through what their wedding may look like. They have to be able to see it; they need that visual communication.”
Voutsos came up with the idea of Iris Hall after attending a wedding where when she walked in, she felt she had entered a different world. She wondered how a physical space and what someone can do with that space could feel so perfect, and how someone is able to translate the perfect idea to the perfect result.
With this idea in mind, she delivered a proof of concept of her software to venues, planners and rental companies in Toledo. She found that these businesses desperately needed this opportunity to present their spaces in a more personalized way for their clients.
After gaining some traction with the idea, she brought Brandon Walker onto her team, first as an advisor for Iris Hall and ultimately, as of this past August, as Co-Founder and CEO. Walker was previously senior vice president of sales for another Wilmington company, Untappd, and is currently an advisor for Raleigh-based Incolo.
How the software works
Iris Hall’s service essentially acts like an API or widget enabling wedding venues to show couples what their inspiration would look like once laid out in their space. Walker explained that their software can do this via digital lookbooks and libraries filled with wedding objects (such as chairs, linens, etc.) from local rental and vendor companies.
According to Walker, 92% of Gen-Z couples use Pinterest to curate ideas for their weddings. That’s why Iris Hall’s lookbooks are also designed to be connected to a client’s Pinterest board, giving them a more realistic visual of their dream wedding.
Venues, meanwhile, can use the startup’s 3D rendering solution by scanning their space with their phone, then sending that scan and dimensions of the space’s parameters to Iris Hall. Walker said they have a team of rendering artists that actually use the same engine (Unreal Engine, designed by Cary’s Epic Games) that the game Fortnite uses for 3D rendering.
Then a prospective bride or groom can connect their Pinterest account, provide a headcount, some information about their style, etc. and Iris Hall will take all of that information and produce venue-specific, on-demand lookbooks.
The end result is that by using Iris Hall, clients eliminate the need to schedule physical walkthroughs of what are typically empty venues, or rooms staged for other events. Instead, they can remotely visualize a space digitally curated for their event.
QUICK BITS
Startup: Iris Hall
Founder(s): Annie Voutsos (Original Founder) and Brandon Walker (CEO)
Founded: 2023
Team size: 5
Location: Wilmington, NC
Website: irishall.co/
Funding: Bootstrapped
“Iris Hall is just meant to be the sales asset that gets much closer to what the couples have in their mind’s eye,” Walker said. “Part of the reason something like this doesn’t exist for weddings is because venue teams are super understaffed, they have high turnover or they have somebody in charge who’s been doing it for 20 years who’s not looking for that change.”
Voutsos and Walker ask that any readers who have the ability make introductions to wedding and event venue owners, especially in Wilmington and Raleigh—which are the first two markets they plan to address. Their vision is to sign event and third-party vendors (rental companies, florists, designers, etc.) in these areas and to help them create an easier and better experience for themselves and happy couples alike.
“The vast majority of your wedding experience is spent in planning so the joy of your wedding is very much in getting there,” Voustos said. “Why make the planning painful when you can experience the fun of seeing your vision come to life and how it will all come together for your perfect and fun day.”
