TheWeddingPainters Shortlisted for UK StartUp Awards 2026

We’re really proud to say that TheWeddingPainters has been shortlisted in the regional finals of the 2026 UK StartUp Awards.

And honestly, this means a lot.

When you’re building something day in, day out, it’s easy to get stuck in your own head. You’re constantly looking at what’s not working yet, what needs fixing, what needs improving, and where the gaps still are. So when something like this comes from the outside, from people who have no emotional attachment to what you’re building, it hits differently.

It’s not just exciting. It’s reassuring.

You back yourself for a long time before anyone else does. You keep building, keep testing, keep solving problems, and keep pushing forward even when things feel slower than you want them to. So to have that recognised externally is a big moment for us.

The truth is, building an early-stage marketplace hasn’t been straightforward.

It’s messy at times. There are loads of moving parts. You’ve got supply, demand, trust, conversion, systems, follow-up, and customer experience all needing attention at once. Some days you feel like everything is clicking. Other days you’re questioning whether you’re focusing on the right thing at all.

Regardless, we’ve kept trying to improve the platform, tighten the experience, solve the problems in front of us, and build something that is genuinely useful for both couples and artists. I think that’s what this shortlisting really reflects.

That said, this is not just about us.

A huge part of this belongs to the artists on the platform too.

TheWeddingPainters only exists because talented live wedding painters, illustrators, and commission artists have trusted us, joined us, and helped shape what we’re building. Their feedback has been a massive part of the journey. When something hasn’t worked, they’ve told us. When they’ve needed something, we’ve listened. A lot of the progress we’ve made has come from paying attention to the people actually using the platform and trying to build around real problems, not assumptions.

That’s also why it’s been so encouraging to see the quality of artists on the platform keep improving.

We’ve had genuinely talented artists choose to join us, and that matters. Better artists make the platform stronger for couples, and a stronger platform helps attract more great artists. That flywheel is still building, but it’s starting to move, and that’s been one of the most rewarding parts of the journey so far.

This shortlisting is a proud moment for us, no doubt.

But we’re not looking at it like we’ve made it. We’re looking at it as a sign that what we’re building matters, and that we need to keep going. There’s still loads to do. We still want to improve the platform, help more artists get booked, improve conversion, and make it easier for couples to find and book wedding artwork they’ll treasure forever.

We’re really grateful to the judges for recognising what we’re building, and even more grateful to every artist who has backed us so far.

We’re only just getting started.