Wed Society Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Wed Society is a wedding media franchise connecting engaged couples with local wedding vendors through magazines and online directories. Franchisees run local editions, selling vendor advertising and managing content.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Wed Society franchise requires a total initial investment of $103K – $121K, including a $45K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $726K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $103K – $121K
- 33rd pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- $726K
- Company-owned only10th pct Business Serv…
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 25th pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 12
- 19th pct Business Serv…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Business Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Business Services avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $103K – $121K including a $45K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $726K/year (median $724K) (company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 48/100 (higher is better).
- EARLYEmerging franchise: only 3 years of franchising with 12 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Wed Society Franchise, LLC
- CEO title
- Member/Co-Founder
- Ashley Bowen Murphy
- Incorporated in
- Oklahoma
- HQ
- 14013 N. Eastern Ave., Edmond, OK 73013
- Auditor
- Metwally CPA PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $137K
- Most recent fiscal year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Ashley Bowen Murphy
- Headquarters
- OK
- Founded
- 2023
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 8
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 60% below the typical business services franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $45K | $45K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $23K | $35K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $35K | $41K |
| Total initial investment | $103K | $121K |
Source: Wed Society 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $103K – $121K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $23K – $35K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $45K – $45K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 17.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $7 |
| Transfer fee | $25 |
| Total fee load | 17.0% of rev |
At 17.0% total fee load, roughly $123K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 51% below the business services norm.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$94K
13.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
67%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
18 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Wed Society unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
67%
Above the 30–60% band. Verify revenue is per-unit average
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Wed Society units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$871K
on $4.4M purchase
Total debt
$3.5M
SBA $2.2M + senior + seller note
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
- Avg gross sales
- $726K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $724K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- Actual results of newly opened and mature markets
- Sample size
- 4 outlets
- vs category median 35 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $513K→$940K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 296 Business Services brands
Revenue is 6.5x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $726K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 6.5x. Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 17.0% — above the Business Services average of 11.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence. Sample size of 4 outlets — treat as directional only.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Business Services averages
How Wed Society Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 12
- Opened
- 12
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 1%
- vs corporate-owned
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 0
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 8 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
8
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Metwally CPA PLLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Score breakdown · what drove the 48 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORdistress_is_early_stage=true (franchising since 2023)
- 02MEDPositive net worth $67,457 and Item 19 disclosed are mitigants
- 03HIGHNo litigation, bankruptcy, or going-concern note
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 17.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 7 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | wedding venues |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Oklahoma |
| Litigation count | 0 |
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 36 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 12 hrs
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
1 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Wed Society · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Wed Society franchise?
The total investment to open a Wed Society franchise ranges from $103K – $121K, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Wed Society franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Wed Society FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $726K. The median is $724K. Important context: Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Wed Society FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Wed Society FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Wed Society's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Wed Society (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Wed Society franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Wed Society has 12 total units in the United States, including 12 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 12 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Wed Society a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Wed Society as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 48 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.