Privacy Policy

Weddify is a South African online marketplace that connects engaged couples with wedding venues, vendors, and service providers across all nine provinces. We operate as a facilitating platform — your trusted space to browse, discover, enquire, and plan. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use our website and services.

Weddify is committed to safeguarding the privacy of every person who interacts with our platform. We comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA), which is the governing legislation for personal information protection in the Republic of South Africa. Our obligation under POPIA is to process your information lawfully, in a manner that does not infringe your right to privacy.

By creating an account, browsing our platform, or submitting an enquiry through Weddify, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, please discontinue use of the platform. We encourage you to review this policy periodically, as we may update it to reflect changes in our practices or in applicable law.

We collect personal information that you provide to us directly, as well as certain information that is generated automatically when you use our platform. The categories of information we collect include:

• Account data: When you register, we collect your full name, email address, phone number (optional), and the role you select (couple, vendor, or venue). This information is used to create and manage your account.
• Listing data: Vendors and venues who create listings provide business details including trading name, description, service categories, location, pricing ranges, and photographs. This information is published on the platform as part of your public listing profile.
• Enquiry data: When couples send enquiries to vendors or venues, we collect the content of those messages, the date and time of submission, and the associated account details. This enables us to facilitate communication between both parties.
• Guest-list data: Couples who use our planning tools may add their wedding guests. For each guest, this can include the guest's name, email address, phone number, RSVP status and any message they send, group and table or seating assignment, and any dietary requirements, allergies, or meal preferences (including those of a plus-one). This information is provided by the couple about third parties in order to plan and manage their wedding. Some of this data — in particular dietary requirements and allergies — may reveal or imply information about a person's health or religious or cultural beliefs, and we treat it with the additional care that special personal information warrants under POPIA.
• Weddify Memories data: Where a couple creates a shared photo camera, we collect and store the photographs and video that wedding guests upload through the camera link, together with the name a guest supplies when contributing, any captions or notes, and technical details of the upload. These images are personal information of the guests who appear in or submit them and are retained on the couple's behalf.
• Store and order data: When you buy or sell through the Weddify store, we collect the details necessary to process and fulfil an order — including the items ordered, the order and payment amount, the buyer's and recipient's name and contact details, and the delivery or shipping address to which physical goods are sent. Payment card details are handled by our payments provider and are not stored by Weddify.
• Usage data: We automatically collect information about how you interact with our platform, including pages you visit, listings you view, search queries you make, your IP address, browser type, device type, and referring URLs. This data helps us understand usage patterns and improve the platform.
• Review data: If you submit a review of a vendor, venue, or store product, we collect your written feedback, your star rating, and the date of submission.

In the ordinary course of our operations we do not set out to collect special personal information as defined under POPIA (such as a person's religious or philosophical beliefs, race or ethnic origin, or health or sex life). However, information a couple supplies about their guests — most notably dietary requirements and allergies recorded for catering — may reveal or imply details about a person's health, or their religious or cultural beliefs. Where we hold such information we process it only for the wedding-planning purpose for which it was provided, apply appropriate safeguards, and do not use it for any other purpose.

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes, each of which is necessary to operate and improve the Weddify platform:

• Service delivery: To create and manage your account, display vendor and venue listings, process enquiries, and facilitate communication between couples and service providers. Without processing this information, we cannot operate the core functions of the platform.
• Communication: To send you enquiry notifications, account updates, platform announcements, and, where you have consented, marketing communications about new features, featured listings, or promotions relevant to your role.
• Platform improvement: To analyse usage patterns, conduct A/B testing, identify technical issues, and make data-informed decisions about new features and improvements. This analysis is carried out using aggregated or anonymised data wherever possible.
• Security and fraud prevention: To detect and prevent fraudulent or abusive behaviour, protect user accounts, and maintain the integrity and safety of the platform.
• Legal compliance: To meet our obligations under POPIA and any other applicable South African legislation, and to respond to lawful requests from regulatory authorities or law enforcement.

We do not use automated decision-making or profiling in ways that produce legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.

Under POPIA, we must have a lawful ground (referred to as a "condition for lawful processing") for every category of personal information we handle. The following grounds apply to our processing activities:

• Consent: Where you have actively agreed to the processing of your information — for example, when you create an account, you consent to us using your details to operate that account. Where we send marketing communications, we rely on your explicit opt-in consent. You may withdraw consent at any time by contacting us or unsubscribing from communications.
• Contract: Where processing is necessary to fulfil the services you have requested. For example, processing enquiry data to connect you with a vendor, or processing listing data to display your business profile on the platform.
• Legitimate interest: Where processing is reasonably necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your right to privacy. This applies to platform analytics (understanding how users interact with the site), security measures (preventing fraudulent or abusive activity), and limited administrative communications (such as service updates).
• Legal obligation: Where processing is required to comply with a legal obligation, such as responding to a lawful information request from the South African Information Regulator or other competent authority.

Weddify does not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party for commercial purposes. We treat your data with discretion and share it only as described in this policy.

When a couple submits an enquiry to a vendor or venue through the platform, the content of that enquiry — including the sender's name, email address, and message — is shared with the recipient as part of the intended service. This sharing is necessary to facilitate the communication that both parties expect when using the platform.

We engage a limited number of trusted third-party service providers who process data on our behalf in order to operate the platform. These include our cloud hosting and database provider (Supabase), our email delivery provider, and our website analytics tool. All such providers are bound by strict data processing agreements and may only use your information to provide the specified services to us — not for their own purposes.

We may also disclose your information where required by law, court order, or regulation, or where necessary to protect the safety, rights, or property of Weddify, our users, or the public. In such cases, we will disclose only the minimum information required.

Weddify is operated from South Africa, but some of the trusted service providers we rely on to run the platform store and process personal information on servers located outside the Republic of South Africa — including in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This means that when you use Weddify, your personal information may be transferred to, and processed in, countries other than the one in which you are located.

Section 72 of POPIA permits the cross-border transfer of personal information only in specified circumstances. We rely on the following bases under Section 72 for the transfers described here:

• Adequate protection (s72(1)(a)): Each processor is subject to a binding data-processing agreement that upholds principles for the lawful processing of personal information substantially similar to those required under POPIA, and that restricts onward transfers. Several of our processors are also subject to comparable data-protection laws in their home jurisdictions (such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation).
• Necessity for the contract (s72(1)(d)): The transfer is necessary for the performance of the services you have requested from us — for example, hosting your account and listings, delivering notification emails, and processing payments — which cannot be provided without engaging these international infrastructure providers.
• Consent (s72(1)(b)): Where neither of the above applies, we rely on your consent to the transfer, which you provide by accepting this Privacy Policy and continuing to use the platform.

The sub-processors who store or process personal information outside South Africa on our behalf are:

• Supabase — our cloud database, authentication, and file-storage provider. Hosts account data, listings, enquiries, and reviews.
• Vercel — our website hosting and content-delivery provider. Serves the platform and processes technical request data such as IP addresses.
• Resend — our transactional email delivery provider. Processes the recipient email address and message content required to send account, enquiry, and notification emails.
• Google Analytics (GA4) — our website analytics provider. Processes anonymised and aggregated usage data such as pages visited, device type, and approximate location derived from IP address.
• Stitch — our payments provider. Processes the information necessary to initiate and reconcile payments made through the platform.

We keep this list of sub-processors up to date and will amend it if we engage a new international processor or change an existing one. If you have any questions about how your information is transferred internationally, please contact our Information Officer at hello@weddify.co.za.

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law. The following retention periods apply:

• Active accounts: Personal data associated with your account is retained for the duration of your account's existence on the platform.
• Deleted accounts: When you delete your account, we will remove or anonymise your personal identifying information within 30 days. Aggregated or anonymised data that cannot be used to identify you may be retained for statistical and analytics purposes.
• Enquiry data: Messages and enquiry records are retained for a period of 2 years following the date of the last activity on that enquiry. This allows both parties to refer back to communications and supports our ability to resolve any disputes that may arise.
• Review data: Published reviews remain visible on the platform for as long as the associated listing remains active. Following listing removal, reviews may be retained in anonymised form for platform integrity purposes.
• Financial records: Any transaction-related data is retained in accordance with the financial record-keeping requirements under South African company and tax law.

POPIA grants you a number of important rights in relation to your personal information. Weddify is committed to honouring these rights promptly and without unnecessary obstruction:

• Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you and, if so, to request a copy of that information.
• Right to correction: You may request that we correct personal information that is inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, or out of date.
• Right to deletion: You may request the deletion or destruction of your personal information where we no longer have a lawful basis for retaining it, subject to any overriding legal obligations.
• Right to object: You may object to the processing of your personal information where that processing is based on legitimate interest or is being used for direct marketing purposes.
• Right to data portability: You may request that we provide your personal information to you in a structured, commonly used format so that you can transfer it to another service provider.
• Right to lodge a complaint: If you believe we have not handled your personal information in accordance with POPIA, you have the right to complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa at www.justice.gov.za/inforeg.

To exercise any of the above rights, please contact our Information Officer by email at hello@weddify.co.za. We will respond to requests within a reasonable period, and in any event within the timeframes prescribed by POPIA.

Weddify uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to operate the platform and improve your experience. We use the following categories of cookies:

• Essential cookies: These are strictly necessary for the platform to function. They include session cookies that keep you logged in during your visit and authentication tokens that verify your identity. The platform cannot operate without these cookies and they cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies: We use analytics tools to collect anonymous data about how visitors interact with our platform — including pages visited, time spent, and navigation paths. This information is aggregated and cannot be used to identify individual users. It helps us understand what is working well and where we can improve.

We do not use advertising cookies or allow any third-party advertising networks to track you across the web via our platform. We do not sell advertising space and have no commercial relationship with advertising technology providers.

You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings at any time. Please note that disabling essential cookies may prevent you from logging in or using certain features of the platform.

Weddify is a platform intended for adults who are planning or providing wedding services. Our services are not directed at, and are not intended for use by, persons under the age of 18 years. We do not knowingly collect, process, or retain personal information from children.

If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under the age of 18, we will take immediate steps to delete that information from our systems. If you believe that a minor has submitted personal information to us, please contact us at hello@weddify.co.za so that we can investigate and address the situation.

In accordance with POPIA, Weddify has designated an Information Officer who is responsible for overseeing compliance with this policy and with the provisions of POPIA. The Information Officer is the primary point of contact for all matters relating to personal information processed by Weddify.

You may contact our Information Officer at the following address:

• Email: hello@weddify.co.za
• Platform: Weddify (weddify.co.za)

We take all privacy-related queries and complaints seriously and will acknowledge your inquiry promptly. Our goal is to resolve any concerns in a fair, transparent, and timely manner.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, our data practices, or applicable law. We will always post the most current version of this policy on our website, along with the date on which it was last updated.

For material changes — those that significantly affect your rights or how we process your personal information — we will notify registered users by email at least 30 days before the change takes effect. This gives you sufficient time to review the updated policy and, if you disagree with the changes, to close your account before they apply.

Your continued use of the Weddify platform after the effective date of any updated Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the revised terms. If you have any questions about a change to this policy, please contact us before the effective date and we will be happy to assist.