Wedding Season Survival Tips
As the summer wedding season gets truly underway, I understand just how hectic and overwhelming it can be to juggle multiple clients’ demands as a busy venue and a successful wedding team. I know that the start of the season is often the most challenging, as you have the full summer’s clients ahead. All asking questions, checking details, updating details, rechecking questions and let’s face it looking to you for...
Going Live
I speak a lot in my trainings and to my consulting clients about the power of film to bring your story to life, & engage your potential customer so, practicing what I preach, I have dedicated this month’s blog to actually being more of a vlog, sharing with you a round-up of some of my films and Facebook Lives on a range of topics designed to help you improve your...
Benefits Of An Outdoor Wedding Gazebo
If you’ve been reading our blog and training content for a while you’ll know that I’m rather a fan of encouraging more venues to really tap into the HUGE (and growing) trend for the use of the outdoors at all points of a wedding day. Millennial couples love embracing the British outdoors whether it’s waterside, countryside or any sort of natural scenery and are planning an increasing number of components...
Master your Preferred Suppliers List (PSL) in 4 Easy Steps
The wedding industry seems to expand every year – you only have to pop into your nearest wedding showcase to see the rows of stalls offering near-identical products and services. It's enough to overwhelm even the most level-headed bride. This is just one of the reasons why the Preferred Supplier List (PSL) has become increasingly important to wedding venues. Most established venues will now offer clients a list of tried...
Reviewing your enquiry process
It feels as though we've barely had time to recharge following Christmas and yet the hype of Valentine’s Day's been and gone - A date that seems permanently tattooed on the backs of our eyelids in the wedding industry. Although this is significant in everyone’s love story, it's never a good time to become complacent as a wedding venue with the amount of enquires you receive and handle. Engagements will...
Hothorpe Hall and The Woodlands {Case Study}
“We've had just over 300 enquiries in January 2018, as opposed to 128 in January 2017” -Nicola Firth, Managing Director, Hothorpe Hall and The Woodlands Today I’d like to share with you a client case study detailing exactly how I’ve worked with one of my ambitious venue clients who invested in my 6-month ‘Refine and Shine’ programme. Please step forward - Hothorpe Hall. Hothorpe Hall and The Woodlands is a privately-owned exclusive use...
Showcasing your venue through real weddings this 2018
As a wedding venue, the beginning of the year is all about capturing exciting new bookings. A great way to do this is to reflect on your successes from the previous year and look at new ways to inject some excitement into what you do and how you are portrayed to your audiences. As everybody now knows, image is everything. It’s a daily sprawl of trendy blogs and social media posts...
The importance of a Brochure
Not all wedding venues and businesses need fancy brochures, but if you’ve decided it’s something you need, then make sure you do it properly. Who needs a brochure? Frankly, not everyone. Just because most venues, hotels and suppliers have elaborate upmarket ones, doesn’t mean you need to as well. But if having one flatters your business, then you should go with your instincts. A brochure ultimately serves as an expanded business...
Keeping ALL your wedding guests happy – how your venue can best host children
With an increased focus on relaxed, family friendly weddings and events, more and more venues who want to get ahead and beat the competition need to look at how they provide for children. Today’s blog is brought to you by Stephanie, childcare expert and owner/founder of Safe & Sound Events, who is the go-to provider for many an independent wedding planner (myself included) seeking the most professional, varied, creative and...
Nurturing your dream team
I talk a lot about the importance of team collaboration and team spirit in running a successful wedding venue in the modern wedding market. And my blog today is sticking to that theme, by giving you some inspiration for nurturing and securing the ongoing loyalty of your absolute dream wedding team. So what do I mean by your dream team? I’m talking here not about your internal team (although they...