Our Story
We built Noviabecause we needed it.
Hi, we're Cath & Daan. Novia started the day after our wedding, when we realised just how hard the planning had been. So we built what we wished we'd had.
The day itself
The most beautiful day of our lives.
No exaggeration. Surrounded by every person we love, in a setting we'd dreamed of for years. Speeches that made us cry, dancing that didn't stop, and a sunset that couldn't have been better if we'd ordered it.
We wouldn't change a single thing about that day.
Then there was the planning
Loved planning it. Hated parts of it.
We did most of it ourselves. That part was special. Every choice felt personal, every detail meant something. We loved that.
But there was a lot we didn't love. Vendors who wouldn't share prices until after a long phone call. Quotes in different formats from every vendor. Tracking deposits across spreadsheets, WhatsApp threads, and screenshots of bank transfers. Questions we couldn't Google. Vendors we couldn't verify.
By the time we sat down for our first dance, we had a list of things we'd wished existed.
Things we wished existed
The list we made the morning after.
Real prices, upfront
Not "POA". Not "from R— please enquire". Actual numbers we could compare without three weeks of email tag.
A platform that curated vendors for us
So we knew who to trust before we sent the deposit, not after.
One place for everything
Quotes, invoices, payments, messages, the guest list, not five apps and a Notes file.
Real protection on payments
Hold deposits with Novia, release after delivery. The way every other industry already works.
Tools built for South African weddings
In ZAR. With our cultural conventions. Not bolted on from a US-first platform.
So we built it
Novia is the help we wished we'd had.
We publish the rates vendors give us and never invent one. Every booking is protected by a payment hold. Every couple gets the planning toolkit we needed and didn't have.
We're building this for couples like us: couples who want the day to be theirs, keep control of every choice, but not lose six months to spreadsheet wrangling and chasing quotes. You decide. We do the running around.
If your wedding is coming up: we hope this saves you the wishlist we wrote.
Your day, your way
Plan with the tools we wished for.
Answer 7 questions about your wedding. The Dream Builder suggests up to 5 venues that fit your plans.