What will David’s Bridal gain from its wedding vendor marketplace?

David’s Bridal has introduced a wedding planning platform and vendor marketplace as it looks to leverage its position as the largest seller of wedding dresses in the U.S.

The Pearl by David’s website and app, with the tagline “All things planning. All in one app,” features a wide range of free options including:

A vision board to help brides imagine their dream wedding;
A checklist to manage major to-do steps ahead of the big day;
A website showcasing the bride’s wedding and related events;
A registry that that can be continually updated with gifts from any store.

Tips, blogs and videos are also available for inspiration.

David’s has also made a vendor marketplace available where brides can browse a wide range of venues, photographers, caterers, bands, florists and even other dress providers by location and availability.

For vendors, the benefit is being able to tap David’s Bridal’s reach, including almost 280 stores, two million Diamond rewards members and over 11,000 bridal stylists and alterations artisans. Online, vendors are promised access to 2.5 million social media followers, 20 million homepage visits per year and eight million email subscribers.

Vendors can join with a free introductory membership that enables them to showcase their own content and create their own web pages. Two higher tiers are available at $49 and $119 per month offering enhanced analytics, prioritized listing placements and expanded content on the platform.

The site already has over 100,000 listings following moves in recent months to quietly sign-up key vendors across regions prior to launch.

David’s Bridal CEO Jim Marcum told Forbes vendor pricing is “significantly below” competitors, which include The Knot and Zola. However, he insists Pearl’s main appeal for vendors will be access to brides, with David’s Bridal accounting for between 20 to 25 percent of wedding dresses sold in the U.S.

Mr. Marcum told MediaPost, “The big thing for us is building a robust database around vendor communities. We want it to be a home run for the brides, and that’s a home run for the vendors.”