What makes the perfect wedding venue?

We often get asked what makes the perfect wedding venue, of course this a question with so many answer possibilities, however the below are vital foundations from which to build the other elements of a perfect wedding venue onto.

The team

Having a professional and great team will attract more clients and is a massive benefit to you and your business. Ensuring they have an in-depth induction and understand the ethos of your venue. They will be the front face of your venue, so they need to be friendly and welcoming as your potential clients rely on being able to gel with a team member as they are going to be working together for a while, so it is important that your values are aligned. Exceptional customer service is a must when looking to create a perfect wedding venue experience.

Communication is key

Following on from exceptional customer service, comes communication and ensuring the communication with potential and current clients is frequent and informative. Starting from the enquiry stage, right until the wedding day you should be present over email, telephone and social media to make the clients feel valued and satisfied with what they are paying for. Ensure that you have a clear-cut booking process, what happens after they book and how they can pay, instalments or final deadlines. Read our sales process and conversion blog series for more on the importance of communication in the client journey.

Pricing

Target audience and pricing go hand in hand. You need to think about what does the prices include? Clients and potential clients want to ensure they are getting the most from their money. Refine your packages e.g. drinks, corkage, additional fees, furniture hire etc. Does your venue reflect the price? If so, how are you making your venue more distinctive from other local venues?

Venue Flexibility

The venue, along with the other booked suppliers should ensure that the couple’s day is unique and special to them. Even if this does mean you have to have more flexibility than the venue down the road. A lot of venue’s now have strict timings on when the couple can set up their wedding and how long they can have the venue booked out for. Sometimes this can be a frustrating hurdle for couples and can often be one of the deciding factors when booking a venue. When looking at your rules think about the smaller rules you have that can become a little more flexible as this does show how you are willing to make their day meaningful and unique. As with everything these rules and restrictions need to be regularly reviewed to ensure you aren’t being left behind in the evolving wedding market.

Venue space

Think about how to utilise the space you have within your venue, what can it be used for? Can it be multi-purpose, for example, wedding ceremony and wedding breakfast? Think about lighting for photographs, is there an indoor area filled with natural light for wet weather photographs? you don’t want to have too much artificial lighting around your venue, ensure there is a good balance of natural lighting.

Paperwork

All couples will appreciate filling in paperwork for you, as a venue it also makes you look more legit and professional when there is a detailed branded paper trail. Your clients want to feel at ease when booking with you and that they will not feel ripped off if you have the correct policies and procedures in place. Potential clients will most likely want to know your restrictions, policies, procedures before committing to any booking with you. So, ensure this is refined and precise but also works alongside your terms & conditions, insurance etc.

Website

Look at your website, is it on brand with your business and does it attract your ideal client?  Ensure you have professional and reliable recommended suppliers that also reflect your ideal client ethos on your website. Keep in mind you are trying to sell your venue when creating or revamping your website. Including the extras that your venue may come with, e.g. chairs and tables or special areas to have unique photos.

TOP TIP: Adding descriptive one or two-word menu’s and subheadings help with categorising pages. Keep your main menu’s minimal as it can become very overwhelming for anyone visiting your website.

Has this blog got you wondering which elements of your venue need a bit of an update? Click here to read our existing venue services and book a discovery call to see how we can help you attract your ideal client.