Wedding marketplace Bridestory 3 months after getting acquired by Tokopedia

Indonesian wedding services marketplace Bridestory made headlines when it was acquired by one of the country’s largest ecommerce platform, Tokopedia, in June 2019.

This acquisition began with a discussion on the potential for collaboration between Bridestory co-founder and CEO Kevin Mintaraga and Tokopedia co-founder and CEO William Tanuwijaya in late 2018. As both companies share similar values, passion, and mission, talks of partnership eventually led to the Tokopedia’s “proposal” to Bridestory.

Photo credit: Jeremy Wong

On its 10th anniversary, Tokopedia said that the company is evolving beyond ecommerce to become a “super ecosystem.” That means Tokopedia wants to build a complete infrastructure to support and collaborate with all users, merchants, and partners, growing and driving change in the Indonesian digital economy together.

With that said, Bridestory’s acquisition was an important milestone for Tokopedia in achieving its mission. It was the first full acquisition made by the unicorn, at least from what’s publicly known.

“The acquisition gives great opportunity to broaden our service scopes and we’ll be able to accelerate the business much faster,” Doni Hanafi, co-founder and chief operating officer of Bridestory, told KrAsia in a recent interview.

Addressing high market demand

Indonesia’s wedding industry holds much promise as there are at least 2 million couples planning their big day every year, Hanafi said.

According to research firm Splendid Insight, weddings in Indonesia are worth US$7 billion in consumer spending, signifying massive opportunities for industry players.

Bridestory was founded in 2014 by Mintaraga and Hanafi. The idea came from Mintaraga after he went through the hassle of planning his own wedding.

Imagining the big day was easy, with plenty of pictures and ideas one can find on social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. However, the challenge was to find the right vendors that could make the dream come true, said Hanafi.

“There’s a shifting trend when it comes to wedding planning in Indonesia. Years ago, parents tended to dominate the entire wedding preparation. But today, the couples-to-be want to be directly involved in handling every little detail of their wedding, so they become quite selective in choosing vendors. Therefore, references and reviews about vendors are important to help them make informed decisions,” he said.

Through its web portal and mobile app, Bridestory links up couples with wedding organizers, venues, caterers, and all the other relevant service providers. It also has a wedding consultation service called Hilda, which blends feedback from a team of real-world wedding consultants with AI to advise couples about anything, from creating their wedding ceremony’s concept to choosing the suitable vendors.

“A wedding is a happy moment, so we want to give the couples a stress-free wedding planning experience with our one-stop solution,” Hanafi said.

Bridestory not only provides convenient services for the couples, but also helps service providers develop their businesses. “Many of our vendors are small enterprises or freelancers who do not have a formal business entity, so it was not easy for them to market their services or products. By joining our platform, they have easier access to customers.”

Life after acquisition