The St. Clair Ballroom, on the fourth floor of the Marriott Hotel off Public Square in Downtown Cleveland, boasts huge windows and three giant spherical chandeliers that make it a favorite reception space for newlywed couples.
鈥淵ou get this beautiful view all the way through,鈥� said photographer Dustin Lopez, of Orange Village, gesturing around the room.
But today, there鈥檚 no wedding and he didn鈥檛 bring his regular camera setup. He鈥檚 here with a 3D camera that he鈥檚 using to create a virtual tour for prospective couples. That virtual tour is part of his bigger project, , an AI wedding planning business.
What is Juneberry?
Lopez said the idea for the business came to him because it can be hard for all the vendors who work on a wedding 鈥� DJs, caterers, florists 鈥� to remain on the same page.
鈥淏y working in this virtual binder of Juneberry, you're not only keeping yourself organized, but you're keeping all your vendors and all the people that are helping support you 鈥� like mom and dad and cousin and auntie and grandma 鈥� all in one place,鈥� Lopez said.
Lopez pulls out his laptop and logs in with a test account to walk me through the website. Right now, Juneberry has 200 active users planning their weddings, and new vendors join the platform every day. The home page looks clean and modern.
In the lower right hand corner lives "June," a silent AI chatbot that helps users stay on budget, keeps a database of guests and their responses, and can connect you with vendors around Northeast Ohio.
Lopez said the site鈥檚 virtual tours are especially valuable, because touring dozens of venues in person to find the right one is impractical.
鈥淣ow you can sit from the comfort of your home and say, 鈥業 want to look at these properties and after looking at them in 3D, I don't want these. I'm going to focus on these two,鈥� Lopez explained. 鈥淩ather than spending 30 hours, you now are spending six hours.鈥�
AI in the wedding industry
AI is taking on a growing role in the wedding industry nationwide. In a 2025 from The Knot, a wedding planning website, 20% of couples getting married that year said they were using AI in some capacity to plan their weddings.
Samantha Leenheer, the creative director and founder of , a planning and event design firm based in Dayton, said she sees a place for AI in the wedding industry.
鈥淭ime is the greatest commodity,鈥� Leenheer said. 鈥淪o, if someone can cut my job time in half, I can take on another client and that can change lots of people's businesses.鈥�
However, Leenheer said she鈥檚 concerned about privacy.
鈥淵ou don't know what the family situations are of somebody else,鈥� Leenheer said. 鈥淵ou don't know if someone's in witness protection, you don't know what's going on with any of that. And so there's, I think, a real privacy security concern that can come about.鈥�
She鈥檚 started to include an AI clause in her contracts with her clients 鈥� she won鈥檛 upload photos from events into any AI programs, and clients won't upload the company鈥檚 designs or concepts.
For her, the goal is to use AI as a tool, but to keep people as the final decision makers in all creative projects.
Lopez said he takes a similar view, but he鈥檚 having a hard time convincing human wedding planners that Juneberry isn鈥檛 here to replace them.
"I'm constantly having to battle this idea of event planners being like, you're coming for my job. I'm not," he said. "Your dress shopping with grandma is never gonna be a moment that AI can replace. Nor would we want to.鈥�
Despite the skepticism, Juneberry has some big plans. Lopez said the platform will expand this year to Columbus, Cincinnati and Nashville, before opening up nationwide.
