The venue management software market splits into two camps: tools built for weddings, and tools built for events in general. Neither camp serves multi-use venues well. Sonas handles the couple's journey brilliantly but cannot manage corporate bookings. iVvy handles multiple event types but lacks wedding-specific depth. This comparison covers the five platforms UK venues are most likely to evaluate, with assessments of what each one can and cannot do. If you run a dedicated wedding venue, our guide to wedding venue software goes deeper on the couple's journey.
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The first decision any venue makes is whether to choose a wedding-specific platform or a broader venue/event platform. The choice matters because the two categories are built around fundamentally different assumptions.
Wedding platforms such as Sonas and Hostology follow the couple. The enquiry, the visit, the tasting. The guest list, the seating plan and the dietary needs. The menu choices, the suppliers, and payments spread over 12 to 18 months. These platforms understand that a wedding booking is a relationship, not a transaction.
General venue platforms (iVvy, BriteBiz, Event Boss) are built around the venue's operations: space management, availability, proposals, contracts, invoicing, and (sometimes) accommodation. They handle multiple event types but treat each booking as fundamentally similar in structure.
The problem arises when a venue does both. Take a country house with weddings on Saturday and corporate events midweek. Its couples need the depth of a wedding platform. Its corporate clients need a general platform that bends. No single tool delivers both.
Sonas is the most established wedding-specific venue platform in the UK and Ireland. Built by people who understand the wedding venue business, it covers the full journey from enquiry to final invoice. Guest list and seating plan management, menu selection with dietary requirement tracking per guest, supplier management, and day-of timelines are all included. Xero integration for invoicing. Stripe for online card payments.
Pricing: From £99 per month plus a per-event fee (confirm the current rate with Sonas). Unlimited users and venues included.
Strengths: The best wedding-specific workflow in the market. Guest dietary tracking that connects menu choices to individual requirements. Supplier coordination with timeline management. Outstanding support quality (consistently praised in reviews). UK/Ireland company that understands the local market.
Weaknesses: Wedding-specific only. Cannot manage corporate events, conferences, or accommodation alongside weddings. If your venue does more than weddings, you need a second system for everything else. The per-event fee means your costs increase with booking volume.
Hostology is a newer UK platform targeting exclusive-use and wedding venues. It goes further than Sonas in two ways. Its AI sorts and ranks each new enquiry by itself. It also manages accommodation, and gives out the rooms. A branded customer portal lets couples manage guest lists, submit RSVPs, choose menus, and handle room bookings for their guests.
Pricing: Contact for pricing.
Strengths: The most complete UK wedding venue platform. Accommodation management is a genuine differentiator for venues with guest rooms. AI enquiry routing is a useful feature for venues handling high enquiry volumes. The branded customer portal reduces back-and-forth email with couples.
Weaknesses: Newer platform with a smaller installed base than Sonas. Less proven in the market. Primarily designed for exclusive-use wedding venues, which means corporate event management may not be as capable. Pricing not publicly available, so comparison is difficult.
BriteBiz holds your customers and your events. It takes leads from wedding directories such as The Knot and WeddingWire. It follows each sale, and handles the proposal, the contract and the invoice. It is the highest-rated platform here at 4.8/5 on Capterra, though from just 12 reviews (checked July 2026). Multi-venue support is built in. Floor planning tools help visualise event layouts. Integration with Xero and QuickBooks.
Pricing: Tiered plans available. Contact for pricing. Free trial with no credit card required.
Strengths: Best lead capture and CRM pipeline management. Multi-venue support for operators running several locations. Strong on the sales and conversion side of venue management. Direct integration with wedding directory lead sources.
Weaknesses: More of a CRM/sales tool than an event-day coordination platform. Guest management, dietary tracking, and day-of timeline features are less developed than Sonas or Hostology. Accommodation management is not documented.
Event Boss covers timelines, tasks, seating, menus, budgets, bookings, and vendor tools in one platform. Designed for event halls, wedding venues, and caterers. UK-built.
Pricing: Contact for pricing.
Strengths: Broad feature set covering both booking management and event-day coordination. Task management and timeline features are useful for venues coordinating complex events. Covers catering operations alongside venue management, making it a good fit for venues with in-house catering.
Weaknesses: Smaller market presence than Sonas or Hostology. Less depth in wedding-specific features (guest dietary tracking, couple portal). No accommodation management documented.
iVvy is the broadest platform here. The company reports more than 13,000 users worldwide. Capterra rates it 4.6 out of 5 from 70 reviews, checked in July 2026. It covers function space management, catering, equipment, and accommodation booking. Online quoting allows clients to compare spaces and book online. Built for hotels and larger venues.
Pricing: Contact for pricing.
Strengths: The only platform that genuinely handles function space, accommodation, and multiple event types in one system. Good for hotels and conference venues that also host weddings. Online booking and quoting portal.
Weaknesses: Australian-built with no UK-specific features (payment integrations, VAT handling, UK timezone support). Not wedding-specific: it handles weddings as one of many event types rather than building the workflow around the couple's journey. Seating plans, guest dietary tracking, and couple portals are either absent or basic compared to Sonas or Hostology.
| Platform | Origin | Pricing | Wedding Depth | Corporate Events | Accommodation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonas | UK/Ireland | From £99/mo + per event | Best | No | No |
| Hostology | UK | Contact | Strong | Limited | Yes |
| BriteBiz | International | Contact | CRM-focused | Yes | No |
| Event Boss | UK | Contact | Moderate | Yes | No |
| iVvy | Australia | Contact | Basic | Yes | Yes |
| Bespoke (ESRE) | UK (ESRE) | One-off build; no monthly fee | Built to your workflow | Yes | Yes |
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The gap named above is the whole reason this comparison exists. Nobody serves a venue that does weddings, corporate days and rooms, and it has been that way for years.
Each vendor must sell one product to many venues, so it declares a booking once, in the shape its own market needs. A wedding platform holds a couple and an 18-month payment schedule. A hotel system holds a room and a night. Building both properly costs more than either market alone will pay.
We build the other way. Every venue we build for shares one foundation. It already holds a space, a room, a night, a booking, a guest and a payment stage. Your own system sits on top, and holds the way your venue actually trades across all three.
We explain that in bespoke software for a whole sector. We give the cost in what does it cost to own and run your own systems.
For wedding venues, Sonas is the most specialist UK option. For conference and corporate event venues, Hostology covers event lifecycle management. For multi-use hospitality venues, iVvy has the widest set of features, covering function space, catering, and accommodation. BriteBiz and Event Boss are mid-range alternatives for smaller venues.
Pricing varies widely by venue type and size. Mid-range platforms cost £100 to £300 per month. Enterprise platforms (iVvy, Tripleseat) are quote-based and typically more expensive. Some platforms charge per event or per booking rather than a flat monthly fee. Always calculate based on your actual event volume.
Most platforms can handle both, but the depth of wedding-specific features (tasting management, ceremony timeline, floral coordination) varies. Sonas is strongest for weddings. Hostology is strongest for corporate events. iVvy covers both but with less specialist depth. For multi-use venues running weddings, corporate events, and accommodation, see our multi-use venue software guide.
Most platforms include enquiry management and proposal generation rather than true online booking. Wedding and event venues typically require consultation before confirming, so the workflow is enquiry-to-proposal-to-contract rather than instant booking. See our wedding venue software guide for more on how different platforms handle the booking workflow.