Tie — Brand
Stop typing. Start deciding.
We'll do the typing, the searching, and the remembering. You decide.
Wedding planning shouldn't be a second job. But for most couples, it is — six tabs open, a stale spreadsheet, a Reminders app, an Etsy save list. Two hundred messages not drafted yet. Twelve vendors not contacted. A budget redone every Sunday at 11 p.m.
The default tools are stuck in 2015. They're free because vendors pay them — which is exactly why the tools won't email those vendors for you. The newer AI tools recommend; they don't execute. They tell you what to do; they don't do it.
Format follows thebrand.md. Archetypes from Iconic Fox.
Archetype Mix
— how the brand thinksSage as the Linear/Vercel feel against the bridal-magazine default. Caregiver to prevent Sage from going cold and to acknowledge the couple's stress. Magician as the rare undertone — used only when AI gives obvious leverage.
Primary
55%
The Sage
Core desire: Truth & wisdom
Tie holds the guest list, budget, vendor table, and follow-up cadence — and surfaces only what needs the couple's decision. The product knows things and acts on them.
Intelligence · Calm · Credibility
Secondary
30%
The Caregiver
Core desire: Service & protection
Wedding planning is genuinely overwhelming. Couples need to feel that someone has the workload — and respects their stress instead of monetizing it.
Warmth · In-service · Trust
Undertone
15%
The Magician
Core desire: Power & transformation
Used sparingly, for the rare moments when the agent gives obvious leverage ('137 messages drafted in 18 seconds — 6 need your eye'). Never theatrical.
Delight · High-leverage moments
Why not the others? Hero — wedding planning isn't a contest, couples should feel relieved, not measured. Ruler — premium without warmth reads cold; we're on the couple's team, not above them. Lover — bridal-magazine territory; explicitly off-brand. Jester — couples have $34k on the line; jokes feel disrespectful.
Message Pillars
— rules that govern voice01
Executes, not recommends
Tie does the drafting, searching, and tracking. Recommendations are commodity in 2026; execution is the gap.
02
Per-guest, not per-template
Every save-the-date is written for that specific guest. Every vendor email references their portfolio. The couple's voice, not a Mad Libs.
03
One price, no decay
$499 once, valid until the wedding. No subscription erosion, no upsell pressure, no monthly drag during the hardest months.
04
Engineer-built, calm
No glitter, no countdowns, no 'your big day!' The couple's taste is the brand, not ours.
IS / IS NOT
Phrases
— for marketing & in-productTonal Rules
— we say · never sayColor
— palette tokensPrimary
Ink
Primary text, headings
Page
Page background
Surface
Cards, elevated panels
Muted
Secondary text, labels
Border
Dividers, input borders
Status — fill (bright) and text (deep)
OK
“Sent · Confirmed”
#16A34A
3.30:1 · UI only
#166534
7.13:1 · AA ✓
Warn
“Pending review”
#F59E0B
1.96:1 · UI only
#92400E
7.09:1 · AA ✓
Bad
“Failed to send”
#EF4444
3.76:1 · UI only
#991B1B
8.31:1 · AA ✓
Rule
Status as fill → bright shade. Status as text → deep shade. Never the other way around.
Accent
Evergreen
Primary action, links, focus ring, brand mark
Avoid
- · Pink, blush, rose-gold gradients — bridal-magazine territory.
- · Floral motifs as ornament — same.
- · Script / cursive display fonts. Calligraphy belongs on the actual invitations, not the product UI.
- · Gold/silver foiling effects, “luxury” textures — we're a tool, not a charm bracelet.
Typography
— Geist Sans + Geist Mono (Vercel)Body & display
Stop typing. Start deciding.
Tie sounds like a smart friend who happens to be very organized. Calm cadence. Numbers in place of adjectives.
Labels and secondary text sit at slate-700/600 / 12–14px / medium.
font-family: var(--font-geist-sans), system-ui, sans-serif
Numeric / tabular
$4,000 · 137 · 9 days
font-family: var(--font-geist-mono), ui-monospace, monospace; font-feature-settings: "tnum"
Guardrails
— non-negotiable- —Never use bridal-magazine words: "your special day," "magical moments," "happily ever after," "lovebirds." Catch in PR review.
- —Never use exclamation marks in product copy. Confidence is calm.
- —Always show the number. "8 vendors under $4k" beats "great vendors in your range." Every. Time.
- —Action labels are verb-noun. "Draft RSVP nudges" not "Get started." Buttons declare the action they take.
- —The couple is in the approval loop, always. Tie never sends without explicit confirmation.
- —When AI made it easy, say so plainly. "Drafted 137 in 18 seconds, 6 need review" — don't perform magic.
Litmus test
“If a Linear engineer would post this in their wedding's Slack, it's on-brand. If The Knot would put it on a glossy banner, it's off.”
Accessibility
— brand commitment, not a checklistTie's couples are stressed; some are also low-vision, color-blind, or on slow networks during a venue tour with two bars of LTE. Accessibility is how we stay calm and capable for everyone, not just the median user.
The three-encoding rule
Every status indicator communicates through at least two of three channels: color, shape, and word.
Contrast minimums
| Element | Min ratio |
|---|---|
| Body text | 4.5:1 |
| Large text (18pt+ or 14pt+ bold) | 3:1 |
| Non-text UI | 3:1 |
| Decorative | exempt |
Tooling
- ·
npx lighthouse <url> --only-categories=accessibility— score, target ≥0.95 - ·
npx @axe-core/cli <url>— itemized violations - ·
brew install --cask color-oracle— color-blindness simulator - · Chrome DevTools → Rendering → Emulate vision deficiencies
brand.md