Wedding funding platform SwanLuv wa

Wedding funding platform SwanLuv was not what it seemed
IRL
Wedding funding platform SwanLuv was not what it seemed

Marisa Kabas — Feb 19 at 02.13.15 | Last updated Feb 19 at 02.13.21
SwanLuv logo with dollar signs for wings
One bride-to-be told us it 'seemed like a dream come true.'

It sounded too good to be true: $10,000 towards your dream wedding and the only catch is that you'd have to pay the money back if you got divorced. For couples madly in love and low on funds, this money would make all the difference.

But when it came time for the service's February launch, interested couples got a nasty surprise: there was no money to give.

SwanLuv was the buzz of the Internet in early December 2015, with the Seattle-based startup announcing its grand plans to help brides and grooms-to-be shoulder the cost of their nuptials—pending they stayed married. If they got divorced, they'd have to pay back the money with interest. With stars and dollar signs in their eyes, couples signed up en masse, and received this simple email in return:


Thank you for registering for SwanLuv. We will send you the application to apply through email after we launch in February 2016.

Follow us on social media for the latest SwanLuv updates. :)

Kindest Regards,
SwanLuv Team
The service launched on Monday, the day after Valentine's Day, and couple's flush with love were excited to apply for this hefty sum of money. But when they visited SwanLuv's website and Facebook page, an announcement revealed that it had, in Silicon Valley-speak, pivoted. Instead of offering $10,000 out of its own funds, it would allow couples to crowdfund their weddings via SwanLuv, with the company presumably getting a cut of the money raised. And if a couple divorces, they must pay the money back to the donors. Not only were they not getting money, they would have to do much of the heavy lifting.


When you try to visit SwanLuv.com, you get a message saying the webpage is not available. But a Facebook post from Tuesday lives on.


On Wednesday, founder Scott Avy took to Facebook to clarify the company’s change of heart. He wrote:

Hi All,

We sincerely apologize to anyone we have upset by adjusting our funding platform.

The initial business plan was to provide a lending model, “Receive funds up to $10,000 towards your dream wedding for FREE (paid by members that don't stay married)."

Due to overwhelming demand (nearly two billion dollars at $10,000 per couple) and unanticipated legal regulations/restrictions in the lending space, rather than pull out we came up with a tool we believe still helps couples with their wedding financing.

Before adjusting our funding platform to a wedding crowdfunding model, we released surveys asking our users if wedding crowdfunding is something they would consider. The results showed a relatively high percentage of users are interested in a wedding crowdfunding platform. We have been working hard on developing the new model “Wedding Crowdfunding Platform."

Unfortunately, under the crowdfunding model our servers have had trouble keeping up with demand. Our apologies if you have had to wait or have been unable to get through to our site. We are currently working on a stable solution to the volume of site traffic we are experiencing.