Wedding Spot startup like the OpenTable of wedding venues

-- For the estimated 48 percent of couples who are getting engaged this holiday "engagement season," wedding planning just got a little easier: Wedding Spot, a Bay Area startup ( www.wedding-spot.com), allows couples to vet and compare potential wedding venues (categories include budget, location, style and guest count) and book appointments with qualifying locales, much as OpenTable does for diners and Kayak for travel. CEO Tina Hoang-To says revenue comes from the venues (such as Kohl Mansion, pictured), which pay a fee for booked appointments and experience more success than they would, say, fielding random queries that aren't a good fit. For now, the site lists more than 325 venues in Northern and Southern California and New York. Hoang-To plans to add wedding vendors (think caterers, photographers, florists) later this year.

-- As one of San Francisco's more expensive hairstylists, Nikas Nikas commands a clientele committed to appearance. But as someone who spends five days a week making people look better on the outside, he has come to see - through the complaints and confessions that spill from customers in his chair - that people need work on their insides, too. Drawing upon his experience in self-help groups, workshops and Zen hospice volunteering, Nikas will host monthly discussions, "In Talks," that probe what it means to be successful and thrive. The first is Jan. 30 at First Unitarian Universalist Society at 1187 Franklin St., and features guest Jane Ganahl, a co-founder of LitQuake who has written for Spirituality & Health magazine. More at www.facebook.com/intalks.

-- A Berkeley agency now joins a handful of Bay Area modeling agencies, adding a range of creative services to the mix. Envisioned as a one-stop shop by founder and creative director Katie Patterson, Lola Creative Agency opened this month out of a 1,500-square-foot photo studio. "With Lola, we wanted to break the old agency mold," says Patterson, who most recently spent four years at JE Model Management. She plans to represent both models and the photographers - and other creative industry types - who work with them. More at www.lolacreativeagency.com.