How OpenDates works
A Canadian wedding directory built around availability. Here is where the dates come from, who runs each page and how we earn a living without a commission.
Where the open dates come from
Open dates come from the businesses themselves. With the Open Calendar plan, a venue or vendor shows the dates they are free in one of three ways: added by hand in their dashboard, linked from their Google, Outlook or Apple calendar so a booking there closes the date here, or emailed to us.
A date shows as open only while it is live: once it is booked, paused or past, it leaves the site. A few businesses use Team mode, for teams available most days: their page shows the weekdays they work, minus any day they mark fully booked.
What the Verified tick means
The Verified tick beside a business's name means the business runs its page on OpenDates itself: it either made the page or claimed a page we built. A page waiting to be claimed never carries the tick; it is marked “Listed by OpenDates · unclaimed”.
Pages we build, and how they are claimed
So couples can see every option in one place, we build plain pages for wedding businesses that have not joined yet, from public information only. A venue page we build carries no photographs until the venue adds its own.
Any business can claim its page free by confirming its email address. A business that would rather have its page corrected or taken down writes to support@opendates.ca, and we answer within two business days.
How couples reach a business
Searching, saving and asking questions are free for couples. A question sent from a business's page goes straight to that business's email; we are not a middleman. A business that runs its own page replies through OpenDates, so the couple's address stays private until they write back. A page that has not been claimed yet gets the couple's email address with the question, so the business can answer them directly. From there the two of them carry on by email, by phone or through OpenDates, whichever they prefer.
Why there is no commission
OpenDates never takes a commission on a booking, from the couple or from the business. Every business gets a free page, forever. We earn from optional plans for businesses (Showcase, the Open Calendar and Open Calendar Plus, priced + tax on the pricing page) and from a couple's extra listings when they pass on more than one date.
Because no booking earns us anything, we have no reason to steer a couple toward one business over another. Pages are ordered by one rule: businesses showing their open dates first, then Showcase pages, then free pages.