David’s Bridal is bringing agentic commerce to its Pearl wedding planner. The addition to its wedding planning platform for couples and vendors will introduce new artificial intelligence (AI) use cases as part of the company’s broader push to diversify beyond traditional bridal retail.
David’s Bridal’s launch fits into the company’s “Aisle to Algorithm” strategy — its latest shift toward an asset-light, digitally focused model as David’s Bridal repositions itself in the $70 billion wedding industry. Alongside other new ecommerce moves, including David’s Bridal’s new Shopify-enabled features, the retailer is investing in areas such as its own Pearl Media Network to build new revenue streams outside its core dress business.
How David’s Bridal’s agentic wedding planner will work
The agentic wedding planner features in Pearl Planner are currently in closed beta. The multi-layered platform incorporates agentic AI to act like a virtual wedding planner, automatically generating a planning timeline that updates as a couple’s plans change, per the retailer’s announcement. Other features include a virtual chatbot, AI-powered recommendations and rewards perks. In addition, it serves vendors by surfacing client matches based on real-time planning behavior, making it dual-sided.
“With Pearl Planner, we’re delivering something the industry has never seen: a deeply personalized, AI-powered partner guiding couples through every detail of their day — on their terms — and completely for free,” CEO Kelly Cook said in a statement. “Pearl Planner is your 24/7 wedding concierge that doesn’t just plan with you, it ‘thinks’ for you.”
David’s Bridal, the largest bridal retail chain in the U.S., ranks No. 468 in the Top 2000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers by web sales. There, it falls under the Apparel & Accessories category. Digital Commerce 360 projects that David’s Bridal’s online sales in 2025 will reach $167.22 million.
“It updates tasks for you,” Cook explained, describing the agentic wedding planner in a June conversation with Digital Commerce 360. “So if you say, ‘I’m moving my wedding from Iceland to Aruba, make all the necessary adjustments,’ it starts to change all your tasks.”
AI’s role in supporting vendor acquisition
Pearl Planner is the latest in a string of launches aimed at turning David’s into more of a platform company than a traditional retailer. Unlike digital checklists or spreadsheets, the company describes Pearl as an AI-native tool designed to act on users’ behalf, adjusting timelines, seating charts and task lists as plans change.
Couples can chat with the platform’s AI assistant, Pearl, to manage milestones and receive AI personalized recommendations for vendors, dresses and content based on their style, budget and location. The technology, according to David’s, is powered by real-time data and built on proprietary insights from 75 years of wedding planning history. The company describes it as a “hyper-personalized experience” that evolves over time, learning from user behavior, emerging trends and shifting preferences.
During beta, Pearl is testing tools such as a style quiz, dynamic timeline and integration with David’s Diamond Loyalty Program, so couples can earn rewards as they complete planning milestones.
For vendors, Pearl offers AI-powered lead generation based on first-party data, profile optimization tools and real-time insights into market demand and user behavior, per the company.
David’s said it plans to open Pearl Planner to the public later this summer, with additional features and integrations coming from partners including MyRegistry, Dynadot, Shutterfly, Google and local wedding vendors. A professional-facing version of the tool, Pearl Planner Pro, is scheduled to launch in the fall.
A broader repositioning effort built on data and partnerships
Pearl Planner follows a series of initiatives aimed at rebranding David’s Bridal as a tech-forward player in the wedding space. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2023 — its second in five years — and was sold to CION Investment Corp. David’s continues to operate more than 190 stores across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but has stressed its pivot to an asset-light model focused on digital scalability.
In December 2024, the company acquired digital wedding media platform Love Stories TV, now rebranded as Love Stories by David’s, and simultaneously introduced the Pearl Media Network. The retail media network sells ad placements to vendors and brands hoping to reach David’s large consumer base. (The company says roughly 90% of U.S. brides engage with its ecosystem at some point.)
At launch, the network included ad placements embedded in user search results, with plans to expand across social, video-on-demand, and in-store channels. According to David’s, it’s the only player in the bridal market with access to first-party data at this scale.
In January 2025, David’s introduced Pearl by David’s, a wedding planning platform and vendor marketplace. Pearl Planner builds on that with the addition of agentic AI tools for couples and vendors.
“The platform’s dual-sided structure also allows us to empower millions of incredible wedding professionals,” Cook stated. “Pearl Planner is a cornerstone of our ‘Aisle to Algorithm’ strategy, further strengthening our pivot from retailer into a tech-powered multihyphenate.”
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