Tag: wedding industry

COVID-19: 6 ways wedding professionals can look after their mental health and wellbeing during coronavirus

The evolving situation with COVID-19 is undoubtedly a highly stressful and uncertain time for everyone in the wedding industry. With the added unfamiliarity of isolation and working from home, it is more important than ever to remember to look after the mental health and wellbeing of our colleagues, friends, family and of course, our own!

Bridebook have put together 6 top tips for everyone working remotely, isolating or just finding the situation a bit difficult. We hope they help you and your team keep clear-minded and positive during these tough times. 

1. Keep your body active, and mind calm.

It is well-known that keeping physically active is crucial for mental wellbeing, particularly now more than ever. Many brilliant gyms are live-streaming free online workouts you can join throughout the day, such as Barry’s Bootcamp, 1Rebel & F45. If you prefer a lower impact workout, there are many brilliant online yoga or pilates classes available (we love Yoga with Adrienne). Starting and/or ending your day with some meditation or mindfulness is a brilliant way to de-stress, re-centre and clear your mind. Apps such as Headspace & Calm are excellent (free!) guided meditations. Give it a try and within a few days, you’ll notice the difference.

2. Get some fresh air when you can

As of 23rd March, we are only allowed out of the house for exercise once a day. It is vital to make the absolute most of this time; fresh air is key to mental well-being and helps reset a frantic mind. Our recommendations on how to use this time are:

  • Before work, instead of the morning commute, take a brisk walk / run round the block.
  • If you have an outdoor space at home, simply have your morning coffee in the garden.  
  • During the lunch break, walk the dog (if you have one) or take a stroll on your own or with the kids. Leisurely outdoor walks help to ‘clear the cobwebs’ and reduce any stress or anxiety you may have.

3. Relax and de-stress after work

Now more than ever, you must remember to look after yourself. Whether this is indulging in self-care with a face mask and a hot bath, or just sitting down for an uninterrupted dinner with your loved ones, don’t de-prioritise it. 

Use these extra hours after work to give time to your hobbies, whatever they may be. From painting, gardening, playing with a pet, playing an instrument…do whatever keeps a smile on your face.

4. Put some music on and have a boogie!

Many people are keeping spirits high during isolation by simply putting some good music on and dancing it out. Whilst this may sound like nonsense, research shows that dancing actually improves brain function and boosts memory! It also makes us happy, releasing more serotonin levels into our body. 

Music streaming services such as Spotify and Youtube also have hundreds of ‘productivity work playlists’ available, if music helps you focus whilst you work.

5. Keep a routine

One of the biggest pieces of advice during this lockdown period is to structure your days. Try and keep your morning and bedtime routine as close to normal as possible, to ensure your body and mind remain in sync and as efficient as possible. If you find you have more ‘downtime’ than usual, make a list of all the things you have been putting off that you can get round to now. We will be sharing some more information about being productive in quarantine soon!

6. Cocktail hours & Netflix parties!

Why not introduce a fun activity like end of day / week  ‘cocktail hours’ for your team! Everyone makes their favourite cocktails and has a good ol’ chinwag on a video call. A great way to end the day and stay connected with your colleagues / friends. You could also join over 1,000,000 people and have a Netflix party. Link up with the team and host long distance movie nights and even TV watching parties. A team bonding activity ideal for a weekday evening.

We hope that these top tips will help you and your team balance your mental and physical well-being through these strange times.
For more activity ideas, take a look at our fun things to do in quarantine series. As ever, Bridebook is here to support you to the very best of our abilities, so do reach out if you want to chat to a member of the team. The UK Wedding Venues Slack group is a hugely valuable source of community and support, with nearly 700 active members, which you can join here. We will get through this, together.

Do’s and dont’s of coronavirus for wedding venues

There is no doubt that COVID-19 will affect the wedding industry – and it already is. All of us at Bridebook HQ are pulling together to do our utmost to support you, our venues. With this in mind, we have put together a few ‘do’s & don’ts’ of COVID-19 that should be at the forefront of your mind through these turbulent times. 

The Do’s

Communicate with your couples proactively, and with empathy.

Don’t wait for your couples to contact you with concern – proactively reaching out to them with reassurance will put you in a much better position. At this stage, you may have communicated with all your imminent couples, but do consider reaching out to your late Summer / Autumn couples as well – they will likely be concerned and needing reassurance too.

Be careful and mindful when handling postponements.

Where possible, try and keep any rescheduled weddings in 2020, so as not to impact 2021 finances. If you have to move bookings into 2021- aim for the low season. 

Don’t block your high earning dates that you would easily sell anyway – rescheduling to March 2021 is much better than August 2021. Additionally, be very vigilant with discussing insurance cover with each couple. We will be sharing much more on handling postponements soon.

Prepare for effective remote working.

We have all been encouraged to work from home where possible now, and it may last a while. It is crucial to not let this affect your efficiency, team well-being or new business. We recommend getting your team set up on Slack, a super easy online team communication platform, and using an online video conferencing for your meetings, such as Zoom or Google Hangouts. We will be sharing further advice on this topic soon!

The Don’ts

Don’t panic.

Try to remember, this shall pass. The only way to get through this is to act with a calm mind and well thought out actions. Don’t panic your couples or team unnecessarily – ensure you always communicate with clarity and empathy. Try not to let this issue become all-consuming either; find something to make you, your team and your couples smile as often as you can!

Don’t let your wedding marketing fall behind!

Sadly, many venues may lose revenue during the next few months, so continuing to secure new business is crucial. Over the past 2 weeks, Bridebook has seen a year on year increase of 49.45% in enquiry volume across the site. The positive news is that couples are still getting engaged and the new business IS still out there – be it 2021, 2022 or late availability enquiries from those who cancelled destination weddings. 

Therefore, make sure you are keeping your Bridebook profile, social media channels & website regularly updated and looking beautiful! We also highly recommend having a video tour of your venue on offer – it doesn’t need to be professional at this stage, but it’ll allow couples to see why your venue is special if they can’t come for a showround.

Don’t forget to support each other.

Now, more than ever, we need to come together as a community and lift each other up. Bridebook have created a UK Wedding Venues Slack group to give venues the opportunity to discuss the evolving situation & support fellow wedding professionals. To join the nearly 800 members, simply click HERE or get in touch with the Bridebook team. 

Once again, all of us here at Bridebook HQ want to reiterate that we are here to support you to the best of our abilities. We will be actively communicating and sharing valuable content on the Slack group, as well as keeping tabs on Government updates. This is challenging, uncharted territory for all of us, but by educating ourselves, thinking rationally and supporting each other – we will get through this together.

The UK Wedding Report 2020 by Bridebook

The UK Wedding Report 2020 is here!

Cover of the UK Wedding Report 2020


Bridebook is thrilled to present the 4th annual UK Wedding Report, featuring insights from thousands of couples across the country.  With couples spending £6,286 on their venues and £1,193 on their wedding dresses, it’s easy to see how wedding costs can add up to £20,731 when all the bits and bobs, including engagement ring and honeymoon, are included.

Click here to read the full report!

So who are today’s marrying couples? They’re in their early thirties (31.4 and 33.3 to be exact), they’re engaged for an average of 23.5 months, and they’re spending 25% or more of their household income on their weddings.

With so much at stake, today’s couples realise that the most expensive weddings are not necessarily the best, and in fact they’re finding innovative ways to save on wedding costs.  They’re increasingly choosing non-Saturday wedding dates (43%), they’re trading paper for digital invitations (8%) and save-the-dates (12%), and they’re enjoying honeymoons locally within the UK (15%) rather than traveling abroad.  Budget-conscious and more environmentally-friendly too!

With all these cost-cutting measures, couples still prioritise a unique and personal wedding.  They’re increasingly interested in venue-hire only packages (39%) where they can fully personalise the look and feel of the space, and they want to host their ceremonies directly at their reception venues, and they’re interested in having friends and family share in the preparations for the festivities like making the wedding cake (35%).

When it comes to wedding inspiration, couples who married in 2019 showed a greater interest in rustic wedding themes (34%) and barn venues (18%), indicating that today’s couples are more into a less formal, relaxed and casual wedding vibe.

But while these couples may aim for a relaxed style on their wedding day, their engagements can sometimes be anything but. Couples rely on reading reviews (18.7 venue reviews) to help get a feel for businesses they are considering, and find these reviews to be more important than everything else except for touring the venue itself. On the planning side, couples mention wedding planning challenges from guest management issues, keeping everything organised to family politics, to stressful decision-making processes for their venues and suppliers. Most of all, they just want to stay within budget (16%). We hear ya. 

Luckily, Bridebook is here to help with many of these challenges.  With Bridebook, couples can get personalised budgets outlined based on the specifics that they want to include in their wedding, which keeps them on track with spending throughout the engagement. The wedding checklist highlights specific tasks to complete and when, featuring useful advice and tips throughout.  Searching venues and suppliers couldn’t be easier with reviews, photos and all sorts of helpful information to aid in decision-making. Bridebook’s Guest List allows for easy guest management on the go, with an easy Guest Info Collector feature that allows guests to input their own address information, and voila, it’s updated.  Wedding challenges averted!

Click here to read the UK Wedding Report 2020!

From enquiry to booked: 10 top tips to increase your wedding venue bookings this Engagement Season

Smartly dressed woman standing in front of tall glass doors with a clipboard and smiling at camera.


Engagement Season is now fast-approaching, with Bridebook’s recent predictions in the Evening Standard that December 21 and 22 will be the most popular dates for proposals this year! Considering that 40% of couples are estimated to get engaged during the festive period, between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, it is imperative to be ready to turn the flood of enquiries into confirmed bookings. 

Bridebook reached out to an expert in the field, Olivia Riddiford-Mills, founder of Host Venue Consultancy, to gather her top tips on making Engagement Season a truly successful one. Read on for Olivia’s advice on best practices to ensure your enquiries convert! 

What can you do to as a venue to capitalise on this extremely busy and often lucrative sales opportunity? Take a look at my top tips below to help you achieve an increased conversion rate.

Ideal client profiling

Bride and groom kissing surrounded by chickens and pigs.

You need to be completely and utterly laser focused on who you are serving.  I’m not talking about engaged couples who live within a 15 mile radius of your property.  I’m talking about Sarah who’s 29, an interior designer with a Dachshund called Bertie. I could go on! 

Think about those couples in the past who really epitomized your venue.  Those who gelled with you as the owner, manager or coordinator, who didn’t negotiate on price, who dearly loved the property inside and out and shouted about their positive experience post-wedding. 

I would suggest creating an ideal client profile that you have stuck up in your office as a constant reminder of who is a great fit for your business.  Why should you do this? It will save you time and investment in the long run. Everything you do from writing copy to posting on social media must be targeted to your ideal client.

Bridebook Tip: When putting together an ideal customer profile, ask yourself the following 5 questions: What style or ambiance is your couple looking to have at their wedding? What millennial trends are they most influenced by? What is the one thing they won’t compromise on when planning their wedding? Where does the couple get their wedding inspiration from? What is the selling point of your venue for this couple (accommodation, beautiful scenery, exclusive use, etc.)?

First Impressions count

Tables set up and decorated with flowers for a wedding reception under a marquee.

Millennial couples are doing more research than ever before, but at the same time having quick, decisive moments when they’ve found “the one”. You need to make sure that any first impressions they receive are positive.  It’s a hugely competitive market place out there. Venues are popping up left, right and center wanting a slice of the £billion UK wedding industry (and who could blame them!).

From your website to your consistent social media posting to photos, videos, show round meetings – think about how you can win them over in one fell swoop.  Become a bit of a show off. Why is your venue better than another?

Bridebook’s fun fact: Did you know that humans now have a shorter attention span than fish? That’s such a short time to make a first impression So how can you stand out from the crowd?

Directories

Wedding directories form a large part of a venue’s marketing strategy but they must be kept up to date with relevant information and must showcase the venue impeccably in order for a potential couple to click and make contact.  Upgrading to Bridebook’s brand new VenuePro service would be my advice. They are offering a 30 day money back guarantee period to show you the specifically crafted features to ensure you get results.

Website

Your website is your shop window.  It should be concise, easy to navigate, contain pricing information, beautiful imagery and video and all the information required to make an informed decision to enquire/book a show round.  I always suggest that my clients work hard on implementing first class SEO to ensure that their ideal client is landing on their site when wedding planning.

Bridebook Tip: With increased competition within the wedding industry, SEO is more important than ever, which is why we’ve written an article outlining our top tips on nailing your SEO. Get inspired by examples of wedding venues that lead the way with excellent websites and SEO, like Quantock Lakes, Country House Weddings and The Ravenswood.

Package it up

Stately home surrounded by green grass and trees.

Now is a good time to review your wedding packages and pricing. What’s been working and what hasn’t over the past 12 months? Do you offer an a la carte flexible option or a “done for you” all inclusive offering?  There’s no right or wrong here. I would say, having both options available is a winner but it really depends on your venue type and your ideal client. Just please make sure you have financially costed out the elements properly and are making enough profit per wedding.

Bridebook Tip: Update your pricing in your Bridebook profile making sure is reflective of your 2020 offering. You can upload your brochure or price list to your profile, under the Pricing section, for couples to easily download!

Open days that deliver

Ideally, you should have an open day scheduled for early in the New Year. These events can be hugely successful in obtaining and securing bookings from the flurry of excited couples that got engaged over the festive period.  It’s a date that you can give out to every enquirer and chances are they will be very much geared up to attend. When’s yours?
 

Bridebook Tip: Open Days and wedding showcases are a great way to get your prospective couples through the door to truly experience what your venue has to offer, so it’s important to do them right. We partnered with Sissons Barn to bring you the do’s & don’ts of holding a wedding showcase.

Customer experience

Glasses of champagne being filled up.


In today’s modern world the consumer wants an experience.  They are not satisfied with the norm these days, they want to be excited and wowed – their expectations are higher than ever before.  In all that you do, take into account the sense of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. What’s giving them “the feels”. Those little touches, like providing surprise treats at a show round to lighting the fire on winter days or even giving the couple a personalised gift on their wedding day, all add to a wonderful experience, outstanding testimonials and further business.

Testimonials & Reviews

Person typing on laptop. The screen shows a review page.

Make it your mission to obtain feedback from your married couples.  A personalised email will do post wedding to prompt them. Don’t forget they may well be sunning themselves in the Maldives on their honeymoon so allow some time for them to reply.

Guide the couple as to where you’d like the review sent and while you’re at it, double check that it’s OK to get in touch with their photographer/videographer to gain access to imagery of their special day.  This should feature in your terms and conditions as standard but it’s always polite to ask.

Engaged couples are using online reviews more and more to make decisions on what venues they’d like to go and visit. Short snippets from reviews can be used on your website, directories, social media and brochure – show the world how good you are at what you do!

Bridebook fact: According to the UK Wedding Report 2019, 62% of couples valued reviews as most important, surpassing recommendations by friends and family. It is more important than ever to collect and present reviews across platforms, allowing couples to make informed decisions from sources they trust.

Let’s get visible

Keep things consistent on social media and use video to keep your audience engaged.  You never know who’s watching you. You can use fantastic automation tools for Instagram like Planoly,  Later and Buffer for several other platforms. Get in the habit of scheduling your content in advance and then automating so you can focus on selling!

Training

Don’t underestimate the power of training your staff.  From team meetings so each member is kept up to date with changes within the business to external sales and marketing training to enhance their skills, don’t leave it out in 2020 – you constantly need to up your game.

Keep up the good work.  Trust me, I know how challenging running a wedding venue is but you’re doing a great job.  I wish you a successful engagement season ahead!

Engagement Season is the busiest time of year for enquiries and it can also be the most lucrative one for your venue! Bridebook expects 50,000 new couples to sign up to the platform in this time period, all eager to start planning their wedding and booking suppliers. So, with the above advice in mind, get ready for the most successful Engagement Season yet – there is no time to waste!

Interested in boosting your Exposure on Bridebook this engagement season? Register your interests for Venue Pro here. 

About Olivia 

Olivia Riddiford-Mills is an expert venue consultant helping venues across the UK stand out and sell out in the bridal market through group programmes, an online membership and one to one training. 

Make sure your venue is ready for the busy period ahead with Olivia’s free Engagement Season checklist!

Get access to 4 video trainings coming up in January, a challenge “Fill the gaps in 2020” and a masterclass all for FREE over in Olivia’s Facebook Group “The Wedding Venue Community“. 

W: www.hostvenueconsultancy.co.uk I: @hostvenueconsultancy 

The do’s and don’ts of hosting a wedding showcase event

Woman in black dress holding tray with glasses of champagne and smiling at the camera.

Holding your first wedding showcase may seem like a daunting task – and for good reason! The preparations take detailed planning and vigorous execution… but it’s all worth it once the couples start flooding through your doors and experience what your venue has to offer!

Laura Harris shares the experience of holding their first wedding showcase event at Sissons Barn. Read on for the do’s, don’ts and top tips to guarantee success at your own wedding showcase event!  

Tell us a little about Sissons Barn…

Barn venue lit up at night.

The farm has been a family run venture for the past 4 generations now and has slowly been diversifying for about 15 years. Sissons Barn first started as a wedding venue for marquees the year we got engaged.

Four years ago we started the daunting task of planning the new barn build. We decided that if we were going to make a success of the wedding business we needed to have a venue that would work all year round, be able to hold ceremonies and be something different to what the local venue market had to offer.

What made you decide to host a wedding showcase event at your venue?

We were very lucky to have a lovely lady approach us and ask if we’d like to hold a wedding showcase event. She organises wedding events in the local area and so the journey began! We mutually chose a date that we hoped would be far enough away so the barn was finished but still within the ‘Engagement Season’, which as we know is a critical sales period for any wedding professional.

Did you know: Engagement Season runs from Christmas to Valentine’s Day. Bridebook estimates that 40% of all engagements in a year happen over this festive period, the busiest weekend being 20th, 21st & 22nd December!

What concerns did you have regarding hosting a wedding showcase event? 

Silhouette of a bride and groom standing under barn beams.

Our biggest concern was that the Barn would not be finished in time. We were working every hour under the sun to try and get it complete. We desperately wanted to have the wedding showcase event, so cancelling or postponing was not an option. Once we were in a reasonable place with the building, we then had to worry about whether potential couples would want to come and see it. Would the Barn be interesting enough for our local couple audience?

Bridebook tip: Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today’. As a venue, you are always going to be making changes, improvements and fixes to your venue and wedding offering. Don’t let this put you off hosting a wedding showcase event. Book that date in advance and work towards it.

What would be your top tip for driving couples through your doors? 

I think the best places for us are social media and online directories, especially Bridebook. Our target audience are generally on their phones, so all the suppliers booked for the wedding showcase event were tagging, sharing and boosting the events detail, driving couples to the ticket site. They were free tickets but it was very handy to gauge the number you will get on the day.

Did you know: The UK Wedding Report found that 52% of couples are using phones daily for wedding planning. The most popular phone activities are researching venues and  suppliers, keeping notes / photos and browsing inspirational photos. The Bridebook app allows them to do all that and more, so it’s the perfect place to advertise your venue and any upcoming open days. 

Would you recommend Bridebook to other wedding venues?

Absolutely!! Bridebook has given us 33% of our bookings so far but that’s not all. Their help, advice and friendly words of encouragement have been invaluable. 

Interested in boosting your exposure on Bridebook this Engagement Season? Register your interest for VenuePro now!

Based on the learnings from your first showcase, what are your 5 do’s when hosting a wedding showcase event? 

Four women standing and talking around a table set up at a wedding showcase.
  1. Collaboration over competition: If you have any preferred suppliers contact them first to have a pitch, it saves awkward conversations and keeps everyone happy.
  2. Tactical room set up: place things like free food samples in both prominent and tucked away places to keep the room moving. If you are offering a free glass of bubbles, make sure you have staff in place to help with this, so you are free to speak with couples in detail.
  3. Save time on questions: Create a FAQ’s list to hand out, this helps keep couples moving through without them feeling they haven’t been looked after. They can read them at a later date, leaving us to engage with them at a more personal level.
  4. Refreshments: Tea! Or water for you and the other suppliers! A vital addition when you are potentially talking for 3 hours. Again, it was helpful to have a member of staff there to help.
  5. Plan & prep: We set up the room the day before so the suppliers could set up straight away when they arrived. The event planner had created a map of the room with the suppliers names on so we knew who was where and whether they needed a table and electric.

…And your don’ts?

  1. Content is king: Do not leave it to the last minute to put together all the information you want to give couples about the venue. We did and felt we may have missed giving some couples key information. 
  2. Smart casual is your best bet: I made the mistake of wearing a very smart dress and heels! I looked the part but I could hardly move in my dress and my feet we killing me!! Note to self – normal smart work clothes!

What is your no.1 recommendation for venues thinking of hosting their first showcase event?

We would not have been able to organise the event without the event planner, so my top tip would be: if you are friendly with a planner, see if they would like to mutually collaborate. They have the skills and time, even if you don’t, to bring the event together. We have now got two more dates booked with our planner and she has given us the confidence to start thinking about doing our own much smaller open evening. 

Bridebook tip: Event planners can take a lot of pressure off your shoulders when organising Showcases and Open Days. If you don’t already work with an event or wedding planner, get in touch with one through Bridebook! 

About Laura Harris 

Man and woman smiling into camera.

Laura lives on the farm with her husband, Ben, and their two small children and a Jack Russell. She is a gardener and designer by trade but has been helping to run the farm business since her and Ben married 7 years ago. 

Equipped with Laura’s tips and ticks, you should now be ready to tackle your first wedding showcase or to make improvements to your existing practices! Check out the Bridebook Business Hub for more information, inspiration and advice. 

Advertise your upcoming Wedding Showcase on your Bridebook profile, by uploading details under Fairs, Reports & Network.

5 reasons why smart venues host MORE wedding shows and events in 2018

The buzz around wedding fairs and open days is back, and it’s a couple-attraction technique that all wedding suppliers should look to incorporate in their 2018 marketing plan.

When it comes to showcasing wedding venues, nothing beats an online or offline advertising campaign like a real life tour of the venue itself.

Wedding fairs and open days have the unique, face-to-face ability to make newly engaged couples visualise their wedding day more vividly than any online experience could.

This kind of experienced based couple attraction technique is called experiential marketing – or event and engagement marketing – and it’s a technique that’s usually very expensive. That is, unless you ARE the wedding venue in question; in which case it’s a low cost, high impact way to increase wedding bookings in 2018 and beyond.

 

Creating a real wedding experience for loved-up couples

Experiential marketing – that is, immersing a potential client in a fun and memorable experience that reflects the product of service you’re offering – is an excellent way for wedding industry professionals to create a closer bond between engaged couples and your wedding venue or business.

Think about it… if a wedding venue or exhibiting wedding supplier stirs positive emotions in a bride or groom then they’re far more likely to remember and associate those great feelings with you and your wedding business; which in turn is likely to lead to more bookings.

Simple.

And it’s a client attraction tactic that wedding venues and suppliers are starting to adopt more often as the true effects of this marketing approach on bookings are realised.

A recent Bridebook survey found that of 2,200 newly engaged UK couples surveyed, 63% had attended wedding shows near where they lived and 40% of those couples had attended a wedding fair at the wedding venue they later went on to book.

 

In terms of return on investment, wedding venues do remarkably well out of open days and fairs, as the latest Bridebook survey proves.

But if you still need convincing, here are 5 additional benefits to choosing open days as a sustainable and impactful form of new client attraction in the wedding industry…

1. Group viewings for couples 

Wedding venue staff save bundles of time by inviting groups of couples to view their venue and grounds all at once rather than having to dedicate their time to individual meetings.

Your time is valuable but if you want to increase bookings you must make couples feel special when visiting your wedding venue.

When you host a wedding fayre or open day, you can spend time decorating your venue and making it perfect for maximum impact, rather than having to work around existing events and guests – as is often the case when hosting individual meetings with couples.

2. Connecting with fellow suppliers and networking

Wedding fairs provide an opportunity for venues to promote existing, preferred wedding suppliers and meet new local suppliers.

Invite local wedding suppliers along to your open day and invite existing partner suppliers to set up a small stand offering information about their product or service.

When venues can offer couples approved supplier contacts they’re helping to take the stress of organising a wedding and all the little bits that need addressing away from the happy couple.

It’s essential that local wedding suppliers forge strong relationships with each other to help all non-conflicting parties build a presence online and secure more bookings. The alternative to this is to do nothing and let non-local wedding suppliers with bigger budgets dominate your online space and take local business away.

3. The scarcity complex

One key factor in the decision making process for soon-to-be brides and grooms is how desirable a particular venue or wedding supplier seems to be.

Subconsciously as human beings, we want what is perceived to be in demand.

By opening your doors to groups of couples rather than individuals, wedding venues and suppliers can often generate a kind of ‘battle for bookings’ as soon to be newlyweds compete to secure the best day for their big day.

4. Showing off your venue in a number of different themes/seasons

How great is it to be able to show newly engaged couples first hand how your wedding venue looks in spring, summer, autumn and winter? Now that’s a USP!

Nothing is more likely to evoke emotions in visiting couples than being able to serve mulled wine by an open fire at a wedding show in winter, or host games on the lawn during a summer wedding fayre.

Hedsor House & Park host an Indian Summer Inspired Wedding Showcase on 27th September where guests can enjoy a glass of fizz and wander around the grounds at their leisure; taking in the Indian inspired ceremonial seating in the domed hall and viewing first hand how their wedding breakfast could look in the recently refurbished ballroom.

5. Invite existing bookings along too

Couples love to revisit their venue whilst planning their big day and they love to show it off to family and close friends too. Why not invite them all along to your next open day for the sake of ‘decorative inspiration’ and, at the same time, boost attendee numbers and show couples potentially looking to book your venue how many other couples are already committed to planning their wedding with you.

This tactic leads us back to the scarcity complex as you’ll be showing newly engaged couples how many others have already chosen to book your venue for their big day.

 

Wedding fairs and open days are here to stay

Despite experiencing a bit of a dip in popularity a few years ago, the buzz around wedding fairs and open days is back, and it’s a couple-attraction technique that all wedding suppliers should look to incorporate in their 2018 marketing plan.

If saving time and increasing wedding bookings is on your agenda for 2018/2019, you’ll want to get in front of the people who matter today.

Do you have a wedding fair or open day that you’re looking to advertise? Share the details with beth@bridebook.co.uk and we will share it with our social community of 350K for FREE!

How reviews help wedding dress, makeup and accessories suppliers generate bookings

Popularity has always been a surefire way to secure business; and online popularity – which translates to reviews – is one of the most powerful ways to show the world you’re liked, respected and worth investing in.

Reviews are particularly important in the wedding industry.

In today’s world, we Google before be book, buy or visit.

And just a few positive reviews can reassure couples you’re worth checking out, whereas negative reviews or no reviews at all will fill couples with dread and suspicion.

But why take our word for it?

We’ve reached out to Bridebook Award Winners 2018 – that is, the most impressive, talented and successful wedding makeup, dress, menswear, jewellery and accessories suppliers we’re working with right now – and asked them to explain in their own words how powerful they believe reviews are in helping them reach award-winning status.

Bejouled – Bridebook’s Jeweller of the Year

What are the top 3 benefits to having reviews in your personal experience?

Benefit 1 – I think the biggest benefit to having reviews is that it shows potential customers that you are a quality supplier, with loads of happy previous customers! I think many consumers will look at reviews before contacting any wedding suppliers as they can trust what others have said and look to their experience with that company.

Benefit 2 – Having great reviews also lets us know that we are doing a great job! There is nothing better than seeing your customer showing off their sparkling jewels, over the moon with the finished result. One of our favorite parts of the job is getting positive feedback and making our customers happy makes everything worth it.

Benefit 3 – A great benefit of reviews is having all of our wonderful Thank You cards on display in our Boutique which shows customers when they walk through the door that we are loved by some many previous customers. We have had many say that seeing all of the lovely cards sealed the deal for them!

How does the review process work in the UK wedding jewellery sector and can you identify any areas that could be improved?

I think most reviews these days come from Facebook which is great as it’s a platform that most people are active on. However, we try to push reviews across all our platforms such as Google, Bridebook, Vows Awards etc so we have great reviews across the board.

The only downside to the review process is that sometimes you can receive a negative review from someone who has never even been in contact with the company and that can impact your overall rating as a whole which can in turn impact the opinion of potential customers with regards to your brand. I think if a better screening process was put in place to validate reviews it would stop this from happening.

Dani Roberts Makeup – Bridebook’s Bridal Beauty Therapist of the Year

What are the top 3 benefits to having reviews in your personal experience?

  1. Real customer feedback so that I can improve the service I provide in the future.
  2. Gives future clients reassurance and an insight to what I can provide for them on their big day.
  3. Shows your experience in the industry and that you’re a reputable business.

How do you generate bridal beauty bookings?

I currently use social media and post photos of my work as advertisement. I also have a lot of bookings through word of mouth and recommendations.

Do online reviews play a part when couples contact you via word of mouth referral?

I think they do as I direct them to my website and Bridebook profile so that they can get an idea of my style and pricing, view my work and so that they will be able to read reviews for that extra level of reassurance.

Sarah’s Wedding Boutique – Bridebook’s Wedding Dress & Accessories Supplier of the Year

How does the process of review giving / collecting work in the wedding dress and accessories sector?

Reviews are usually given following a purchase or once the bride has become a ‘Mrs’. This enables the bride to give genuine feedback on our Bridebook profile based on their wedding dress buying experience from start to finish.

Is it more important to win approval and good feedback from fellow suppliers rather than brides? Why?

Approval from both suppliers and brides are equally important with regards to working relationships and productivity. Both go hand in hand in terms of business success and a positive attitude is infectious! We have a great rapport with everyone involved. I believe this is an important strength which should never be underestimated.

What are the top 3 benefits to having reviews in your personal experience?

  1. It is important to receive feedback from our customers to know we are doing things right.
  2. To promote customer and shop awareness.
  3. To boost staff morale and confidence.

Whitfield & Ward – Bridebook’s Menswear Supplier of the Year

What are the top 3 benefits to having reviews in your personal experience?

  1. Reviews give our customers an insight into how we operate and what to expect when they come in to see us.
  2. They give customers confidence and trust in our service and products.
  3. More importantly, reviews let us know if we’re delivering the great customer service we promise and if there’s anything we need to improve on.

Could you estimate what proportion of the reviews you receive are from men versus women?

Approximately 70% men vs 30% women.

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Reviews are the difference between converting an enquiry into a booking, or not.

Take our advice and the advice of award winning, expert wedding suppliers today, and start harnessing the power of reviews for your wedding business.

For more information and interviews with award winning UK wedding suppliers, check out our Review Series.

How reviews help wedding food suppliers generate bookings

Food glorious food…what’s a wedding without a caterer or cake?

Food is usually at the centre of any social occasion and nowadays we all choose places to eat based on recommendations from friends and family or based on online reviews and star ratings.

We cannot emphasise enough how important reviews are in helping wedding caterers and wedding cake makers generate bookings.

Couples simply cannot choose between the thousands of foodies – good, bad and ugly – without a little guidance. And the best guidance comes in the form of real reviews and recommendations from the couples you’ve cooked, baked and served food for in recent weddings.

In the spirit of letting others do the hard work for us, here are two award winning Bridebook wedding suppliers to explain how important reviews are for wedding food suppliers.

Cakes by Nina – Bridebook’s Wedding Cake Maker of the Year

Nina, how does it feel to win this award!?

Thank you so very much – I’m truly over the moon! I’ve already seen some benefits of winning as I’ve had a few consultations with couples who were on the fence but when they saw that I’d won, they visited my website and Bridebook profile page, read my reviews and decided to go with me.

Amazing! So winning has proved how important reviews are for you.

Absolutely. Clients often comment that they have read my reviews before deciding to come and see me. Reviews are really important as it is a nerve wracking decision deciding who is going to do the best job making your wedding cake.

What are the top 3 benefits to having reviews in your personal experience?

  1. It gives you a stronger brand presence and supports potential clients in their decision making process.
  2. It helps put people’s mind at ease in this competitive market when you cannot be too sure of what you might be getting.
  3. It gives people the chance to read what real customers think of your service as well as see your product so helps you develop as a business and generate bookings

Circa Events – Bridebook’s Wedding Caterer of the Year

Olivia, congratulations on becoming Bridebook’s Wedding Caterer of the Year.

May we ask, what are the top 3 benefits to having reviews in your personal experience?

  1. Potential clients can see real-time, honest reviews from real couples!
  2. It drives traffic to our website
  3. It boosts our reputation with other suppliers and venues which in turn gives us more business opportunities

When you post reviews, do you do so on multiple platforms?

Dependent on the review and the wedding venue, we might post reviews on Facebook, our website and Bridebook. Where we post usually depends on where the client referral has come from in the first place.

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That’s certainly given us food for thought (excuse the pun) with regards to just how impactful reviews and recommendations are for wedding food suppliers.

Do you have any comments to add about your experience of the power of reviews as a UK wedding food supplier?

For more information and interviews with award winning UK wedding suppliers, check out our Review Series.

How reviews help wedding planners generate bookings

Soniamarie Loves has been announced as Bridebook’s Wedding Planner of the Year.

 

With over l0 years in wedding and event planning, owner Soniamarie has worked with couples from all walks of life – planning, managing and coordinating weddings of all types and budgets both in the UK and abroad.

Soniamarie really does love everything to do with weddings; that much is clear from the fantastic reviews we’ve seen on her website and on her Bridebook profile.

Soniamarie Loves - Bridebook's Wedding Planner of the year

“I love to make my clients happy, to give them the wedding that they have dreamed of and to treat it as if it were my own by giving every detail of your day the care and attention that it deserves.”

Reviews may have gotten Soniamarie noticed and helped her win this prestigious wedding planner award but we wanted to know in her own words just how powerful she feels reviews are in helping Soniamarie Loves grow as a business.

We asked Soniamarie, what are the top 3 benefits to having reviews in your personal experience?

Benefit 1 – reviews help to sell a service. Being a wedding planner can sometimes be difficult to “sell” as it is an intangible service and not something which you can demonstrate to a client or show them before they buy. This is where reviews come into play and they have really helped me win new business.

Bridebook's Wedding Planner of the Year - Soniamarie Loves

Reviews are the undiluted words of a couple, their friends and family from the weddings that I have planned, managed or coordinated and they are based on personal, first hand experiences of my work. I think that it is pretty hard to ignore how a service has made someone feel.

That is what people relate to and it has meant that prospective clients do not have to solely rely on my own words about how I can add value to their wedding day, they can read my reviews.

Benefit 2 – reviews never expire. Once someone has provided me with a review or testimonial, it is there and can be reused and promoted at any time without limit.  That is a free and invaluable advertising tool for my social media, website, brochure and any other marketing tool I want to use them for. Oh, did I mention that they are FREE forever?!

Planning support for your London wedding - Bridebook's Wedding Planner of the Year - Soniamarie Loves

Benefit 3 – reviews help to increase your credibility. When couples are searching for a supplier on a directory for example, they do not know that supplier personally and so have to rely on the content they find on their profile page.

Being a supplier with a number of reviews will make you stand out from the crowd and give weight to the services you provide. For me, reviews show that I know what I am doing and that I am an experienced planner.

If you think about it, not all of the people who have left a review can be wrong and there must be some truth in what they have said. I personally think that my reviews have worked wonders for me, they are as good as word of mouth and I have definitely gotten business from them.

In your experience as a top wedding planner, do you often receive rave reviews without having to ask for them?

I would say that it is 50/50. I tend to get reviews by way of ongoing feedback during the planning process from my clients and even suppliers that I work with, without asking. It can be a simple as a “Thank you, that was really helpful” or “You are a star!” I class these comments as reviews too as it is all feedback on my work and I am so grateful and humbled for all feedback.

Looking for a wedding planner in London - Bridebook recommends Soniamarie Loves

I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the reviews that I have received from couples who were so happy with my service that they have sent me videos while on honeymoon! I couldn’t ask for more than that!  

There are of course times when I have had to follow up with a client for a review which I do not mind doing and equally they have not minded supplying for me. I try not to be pushy with it as I am dealing with newlyweds so sending me a review is not at the top of their priority list immediately after their wedding day.  

Patience is key. I believe in the service that I provide and because of that, I am confident that my clients will not mind sharing that experience with others to help me promote my business.

That’s so great to hear! And we completely agree that every kind word should be considered a review. Do you think it takes a lot of time and discipline to successfully manage the review process for your business; from requesting a review right through to posting it?

Yes, I do. You need to be on top of it and it definitely does require time and discipline to obtain reviews and then use them most effectively.

I can honestly say that I am not always the best at doing this and I know that I could use them a lot more than I do. It is so easy to be so engrossed in my client’s “wedmin” that I forget to make enough time to work on this is important part of my business.

I think that it is really important to capture raw emotion and feelings while it is still fresh in the minds of the couples you work with, so seeking the reviews as soon as possible is key. Snooze and you will lose.

 

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That’s certainly given us food for thought with regards to just how impactful reviews and recommendations are in the wedding planning industry.

Do you have any comments to add about your experience of the power of reviews as a UK wedding planner?

For more information and interviews with award-winning UK wedding suppliers, check out our Review Series.

3 places wedding suppliers must be to never need to worry about bookings again

When it looks too good to be true, it sometimes isn’t.

It’s tough these days trying to decide where your business should feature online, isn’t it?

Resources are often scarce and busy wedding suppliers like yourself don’t always have the time or money to feature on all the platforms that promise to get you noticed.

We get it.

But what if we told you that we’ve got inside information that suggests that there is a ‘magic mix’ of core, online marketing platforms that every UK based wedding supplier must take advantage of to win bookings?

All you need to know to mix your own magic formula are these three little words…

Website, Social, Bridebook.

Let’s break it down…

  1. Continuously invest in your website. Update it, nurture it and promote it. It’s your online business card and portfolio.
  2. Advertise your service or product on social media. Share good feedback, take photos of the weddings you work on and test out paid advertising if you’ve got the budget and the time.
  3. Create a free account and profile on Bridebook. The UK’s number one wedding planning platform is currently helping over 100,000 UK couples plan their wedding. How can this huge audience search for you if you’re not listed on the directory? Did we mention it’s free?

The only one of these three magic ingredients that we’re guessing you don’t already know plenty about is Bridebook, so allow us to enlighten you.

Bridebook Business – the free profile that generates over 15,000 enquiries a month

70,000 UK wedding suppliers just like you are currently setting up free Bridebook Business profiles to tap into the whopping 1 in 3 UK couples who’re currently planning their wedding with Bridebook.

100,000 newly engaged people is a whole lot of love; are we right?

Did you know that on average, over 15,000 enquiries are sent to UK wedding venues every month? That’s 100% return on investment.

Of course, the more time you spend updating your profile the better, as Bridebook’s sophisticated algorithm reads the information you provide to put you in front of relevant couples.

So the more information you give the easier you’ll be found by the right kind of couples.

Bridebook was given 4.5 stars for excellence in supporting wedding planning couples and in generating business for suppliers. And you know first hand how trustworthy and important reviews and star rating are.

On that note, we’d like to leave you with a few of our reviews that might encourage you to make the best decision of your business life.

Happy reading.

Oh…and if you’re ready to jump on the Bridebook bandwagon just contact us here or call us on 02080686859.

 

Looking for more wedding industry supplier stories and couple insights? Head to the Bridebook Business Hub, the home of wedding industry knowledge. 

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Essential questions you should be asking your couples in 2018

We know it can be difficult to squeeze in all of the essential things you absolutely must do to fulfil your role as wedding supplier.

But did you know that setting aside just a few minutes to ask your potential and existing clients the right questions at the right time is one of the most important and impactful things you can do to help grow your business?

Your most powerful source of knowledge is your consumer base – that is, your couples.

The insights you garner from clients and from losing potential clients can really make or break your future as a wedding industry professional.

So here’s our essential guide to the questions you need to be asking your couples and at which stage of their wedding planning journey.

 

Stage 1 – enquiry received

Send the couple an email thanking them for their enquiry, congratulating them on their engagement and inviting them to discuss their requirements in further detail. You can do this in the form of a wedding venue visit or by scheduling in a Skype or phone call to, for example, understand what the couple like about your wedding business and to talk them through your portfolio.

Tip – although email is the preferred form of communication for 88% of wedding planning couples, try to initiate a face to face conversation or phone call after you’ve received their enquiry. Half of couples say that they prefer in-person contact with the wedding suppliers they choose to use.

Not all wedding suppliers are good at doing this.

How professional will you look and how much will you stand out against the competition if you ask to meet the couple to discuss cake designs or insist on a phone call to introduce yourself as the couples potential wedding decorations supplier?!

Set the bar for excellent service and fantastic communication early on.

 

Stage 2 – after the venue visit or initial introduction

So you’ve met the couple face to face or at least spoken with them over the phone.

You should have gathered all essential information such as both of their names and contact details, and established when the couple are looking to get married (this is important regardless of whether the couple choose to use your services or not, as it enables you to track enquiry volume against seasonality).

A day or two after the visit or post-enquiry discussion, email the couple to follow up and express how much you’d like to work with them.

If it’s a yes…

If you receive positive news from the couple and they choose to use your wedding services, send them an email expressing how pleased you are to be able to help them create their dream day.

Here are some real examples of questions you could then ask your new clients, courtesy of the wedding venue Hedsor House:

  1. What made you choose Hedsor House?
  2. What were your favourite and least favourite things about Hedsor House?
  3. Did you feel that pricing was good value at Hedsor House?
  4. What other wedding venues did you consider along with Hedsor House? How did it compare to these other venues?

If it’s a no…

If you receive a rejection from the couple and they let you know they’ve chosen another wedding venue or supplier, you could ask:

  1. Which wedding venue did you choose in the end?
  2. What were your reasons for choosing this wedding venue over Hedsor House?
  3. If you could do anything to improve or change Hedsor House and make it your ideal wedding venue, what would it be?

If it’s gone quiet…

If you don’t hear back from the couple after a week or so, you could email them to say:

We hope Heacham Manor is still in the running to be your wedding venue however if you have chosen not to hold your special day with us, we’d love to know which venue you did eventually choose, and what the deciding factor was?

It’s important that you learn from the ‘no’s’ and try to understand why couples don’t choose your wedding services. This knowledge can and will help you convert more enquiries into bookings in future.

Stage 3 – post wedding

Once your journey with the couple has come to an end and you’ve contributed toward delivering their dream wedding day, you can ask for final feedback and a review direct on your Bridebook profile – just share your link!

Tip: wait at least two weeks before asking the couple for feedback as they are going to be on a wedding high and you don’t want to seem inconsiderate. 

Here are just some of the questions you can ask a couple after their wedding day (pick a handful that work best for you and your wedding business):

  • How would you rate your overall experience?
  • How well was your initial enquiry dealt with?
  • Do you remember who you dealt with?
  • Would you agree that the website is easy to navigate and understand?
  • When choosing us which other wedding venues made it on to your shortlist?
  • What was the deciding factor that made you choose us?
  • How would you rate the event staff on the day?
  • Which caterer did you choose?
  • How would you rate your caterer?
  • Were you happy with the service you received from your suppliers (both recommended by us and others)? Please do give us details if any failed to meet your expectations or exceeded them…
  • Would you recommend us to friends/family/colleagues?
  • Would you use us for future events?
  • Did you stay overnight with us? If you did stay overnight with us, how would you rate our guest accommodation?
  • What was your favourite thing about your experience with us throughout your wedding planning journey? What was your least favourite part of your experience?
  • What would you improve about our wedding business?
  • Would you be interested in appearing on our website in a Real Wedding feature?
  • Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
  • We’d love to hear if we did a particularly great job or if there’s anything we can improve on…
  • Are we able to share the content of your responses for marketing purposes?

Ask the right questions at the right time in the right way.

How you ask your couples these questions is up to you.

We recommend using a simple survey tool like Typeform or Survey Monkey. Alternatively, start with an email and follow up with a phone call or face to face meeting. But remember to be flexible in communicating with the couple in the way that suits them best and works well enough for you.

Don’t ask too many questions and make sure you revisit the answers regularly and really use the insights these answers provide to help drive your wedding company forwards.

Ultimately, it’s essential for you to remember how important the answers to these questions are in helping your wedding business grow and develop.

Any questions? I hope so…

 

Looking for more wedding industry supplier stories and couple insights? Head to the Bridebook Business Hub, the home of wedding industry knowledge. 

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7 trends wedding suppliers need to know about Millennial couples in 2018

The UK wedding market is jam-packed full of Millennials. Fact.

 

In fact, out of the 250,000 weddings per year in the UK the vast majority of couples are aged between 25-39 (aka Millennials). Source: The UK Wedding Report 2018 by Bridebook.co.uk.

And those digitally devoted information absorbers are now demanding a different approach from wedding suppliers. They’re looking for an altogether more open wedding market. They want you to overshare examples of weddings you’ve worked on – but don’t hound them or they’ll swipe left.

They might not have tons of time for you but they sure as hell want you to lay all of your cards on their perfectly designed wedding breakfast table.

#itscomplicated

So here’s the rundown of exactly what engaged and soon-to-be-wed couples of today expect from their wedding entourage for the approximate 20 months that they’ll be engaged and working with you…

1.Be online when your couples are

 

Unsurprisingly, the most popular time of the week for wedding planning is after work, with 63% of couples stating that evenings were the time they were most likely to be online.

Bridebook has discovered that the majority of enquiries are sent between 7pm-9pm so as a wedding supplier, you need to be active at these times. And of course the faster you are able to respond and interact with these enquiries the higher your conversion rate will be.

Where possible, keep an eye on your inbox over the weekend as Saturday (40%) and Sunday (37%) also show higher than average wedding planning activity.

 

2.Contact couples in the right way

For yet another year running, email is the preferred method of communication for initial enquiries (85%) and ongoing contact (88%) between couples and suppliers.

Interestingly though, half of couples also want in-person contact with the suppliers they’re working with.

However, you choose to answer your initial enquiry, remember to ask your couples how they would like to be contacted from there on and ask when is best for them in case evenings and weekends don’t suit.

 

3.Never underestimate the importance of reviews and recommendations

For yet another year running, couples have rated reviews and recommendations from friends and family (71%) as the most valuable source of information when booking wedding suppliers.

It is now more important than ever that you showcase your past work and triumphs wherever and whenever possible because 76% of couples read 8 or more reviews before booking a wedding supplier.

More specifically, 59% of couples said that they wanted to read online reviews from couples you’ve worked with in the past before making a decision on whether to contact you.

4.Understand how couples are choosing to spend their wedding budget

Did you know that the national average wedding spend in the UK in 2017 was £17,913 – excluding honeymoon? In London, this figure rises to £31,837.

So what are these big spending Millennial’s actually doing with their wedding budget?

The good news is that the money being spent on suppliers has increased by an average of 12% year on year. Consider this when reviewing your prices and ensure that you’re still pricing competitively and are not underselling your services by pricing too low.

Marquee hire (24%) food and drink (23%) and venue dressing (22%) are areas of spending that grew the most year on year.

5.Couples need interaction

The wedding industry is an unknown for most couples when they first dip their toe in our world and as such, we should be willing to guide them through the process.

 

This is the most important day of their lives and they are spending a lot of money so you have to prove your worth and show them that your business is worth investing in from the get go.

Be their friend and their partner throughout the wedding planning process. By communicating in the right way and offering the right kind of advice without being pushy you’ll ensure that couples have confidence in you and trust your expertise.

 

6.Couples depend on your photos

It is so important that you show couples what you do and what you offer with real, visual examples.

Keep your website and Bridebook profile up to date with the latest and greatest photos from weddings you’re most proud of.

Wedding venues – make sure that you’re showcasing great quality external and internal photos. If you aren’t blessed with acres of glorious grounds take photographs of other assets that surround you – whether rolling countryside or big city hotspots.

Makeup artists, wedding stylists, florists – photograph your work yourself and ask photographers and videographers for permission to use a couple of their photos or stills from the day (remembering to credit them).

Try to evoke a “that could be us” feeling with every visual you share.

 

7.Diversity is important to Millennial couples

Diversity is a problem that we are facing in the industry and we as suppliers should be tackling it head-on.

We live in one of the most diverse countries in the world and to ignore that is to ignore and potentially offend your potential customers.

As a start, be gender inclusive and try not to use phrases such as ‘normally a bride and groom have this or do that’. Consider your use of ‘bride and groom’ in the content you write and speak, using the term ‘partner’ or ‘couple’ instead.

We should be making every couple feel confident, comfortable and unique.

Wedding suppliers; ask yourselves…

…are you working with millennials or against them?  

Are you interacting with them at the time and in the ways that they want you to?

Are you showcasing your business at it’s best – including reviews and beautiful images to really sell how great you are?

Bridebook can help you adjust to what Millennial couples want and need. Set up your own Bridebook page now to start promoting your business in a quick, easy and effortless way.

 

Looking for more wedding industry trends and couple insights? Head to the Bridebook Business Hub, the home of wedding industry knowledge. 

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How reviews help wedding photographers generate bookings

Samantha Jayne Photography has been announced as Bridebook’s Wedding Photographer of the Year.

 

Her natural, relaxed, storytelling style captured the interest of so many engaged couples last year and it’s clear to see how happy her newlywed clients are with their photographs thanks to the reviews left for Sam on her website and on her Bridebook profile.

Reviews may have gotten Sam noticed and helped her win this prestigious award but we wanted to know in her own words just how powerful Sam feel reviews really are in helping Samantha Jayne Photography grow as a business.

Why reviews matter with Bridebook's Photographer of the Year Samantha Jayne Photography

 

We asked Sam, what are the top 3 benefits to having reviews in your personal experience?

In today’s digital world the online presence of reviews is HUGELY important!

As much as you can promote the value of your own business, nothing is more credible than a glowing review from a client.

Benefit 1 – reviews give potential clients an insight into the services and the experience you provide. Little things that matter to clients can stand out in these reviews.

For example, this is one of my favourite reviews from a bridesmaid last year:

“Sam is bloody fantastic. She was there for the bride, Katie Fox, from disgustingly early o’clock to get some pre-glam shots. She was helping wherever she could when asked but also doing a dozen things that she had anticipated would help before being asked. She had obviously spoken to not only the bride and groom but family in advance to arrange surprise staged shots that would make the bride blart even harder (sorry Katie face!)

“She was on table tops, on the floor, on counters in every corner and crevice to get the perfect shot. At one point we joked about her getting upon the beams in the barn and she was genuinely looking for a way to gain access to the rafters for a good aerial shot of the dance floor. She puts kids at ease and rounds them up without missing a step.

“When asked how long she was staying she said as long as the party is on she would be there. The woman refuelled with a fruit shoot ffs. Her photos are stunning, they completely capture the personality of the couple and their day from barely sun up to the last glass of fizz is put down.”

This bridesmaid has since been recommending me to everyone she knows.

Reviews in the wedding industry with Samantha Jayne Photography

Benefit 2 – online reviews can also benefit your business by shedding light on your brand’s personality. How you respond to a review (whether it’s positive or negative) has just as much impact.

Reviews build trust….would you rather hire someone who has a lot of happy customers or someone without? I know which I’d prefer.

Benefit 3 – online reviews will also improve your Google ranking! Google pulls data from external online review sites for it’s search quality. The more positive reviews you have on these sites the higher your rankings will be in organic search results.

Wow. So reviews are pretty darn important then! In your experience Sam, do couples make an enquiry before or after they’ve read reviews about your service?

In my opinion most couples make an enquiry after they’ve looked through my work and read through reviews. As stated above it gives them a level of trust in me and an insight to the kind of person I am. Then I meet up with them to discuss their day, answer any other questions they may have and put them fully at ease.

Wedding reviews and how to gather them with award winning photographer Samantha Jayne Photography

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That’s certainly given us food for thought with regards to just how impactful reviews and recommendations can be for wedding photographers.

Do you have any comments to add about your experience of the power of reviews as a UK wedding photographer?

For more information and interviews with award-winning UK wedding suppliers, check out our Review Series.

 

Looking for more wedding industry supplier stories and couple insights? Head to the Bridebook Business Hub, the home of wedding industry knowledge. 

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John Nassari – the story behind the man, the photographer and the artist

“I’m a photographer – but I’m also a storyteller.” John Nassari

John Nassari certainly is the storyteller he proclaims to be; as much is evident in his incredible work which has won numerous accolades, and in his desire to continue to change the future of photography with the help of immersive technologies.

But what about the story behind the storyteller?

How did John Nassari get to be one of the most recognised and appreciated photographers in London today?

We met up with him to find out.

This is the story of John Nassari.

How it all began

At the tender age of 13, Cypriot born John was handed a Zenith VM by his stepfather. It was a Russian film camera and it was the best birthday present he’d ever received. Over the next few months (and as it turned out, years) John experimented with this camera and learnt all about the basics of photography with the help of his devoted parents.


“My father had this magical way of discussing aperture and shutter speed. I remember I just got it…it just made sense to me.”

The life of an award winning photographer

John would write down the F stops and shutter speeds that he used for each photograph. He’d take the same picture but in different ways; changing how he exposed images and noting the different effects these changes had.


“Most of it was rubbish but my mum pulled a few aside and questioned why I’d photograph that particular shape or shadow. I used to say I don’t know – it just caught my eye. And that’s when I started to play around with form.”

John knew from very early on that this was what he wanted to do. He’d been captured by the art of photography.

Nurturing his passion

Within the next 12 months, John had joined a local camera club and found himself developing real photography skills alongside a group of older gentlemen – all of whom were hobbyist photographers. It soon became clear to the club members that this 14-year-old boy had a very special talent for photography that reached far beyond the realms of a hobby.

A member of the camera club donated a darkroom to John and other members began to lend him equipment and teach him things that they themselves had learnt about photography.

Award Winning Photographer John Nassari Shares His Story

“They were so kind to me” says John. “ I was so shy at the time. And then I started entering these competitions and actually winning them. Everyone was really thrilled for me.”

John went back to the camera club that helped him perfect his craft 10 years later to teach photography, and to his joy, some of the original members were still there.

Carving a niche

John was always interested in form, and particularly in shadows, colours and textures. John would photograph objects and landscapes more than he would people early on in his photographic journey.

Still life was John’s first love, and it is a love that has stayed with him throughout his career.

“When I shoot table decorations for weddings – that’s still life – so of course, I’m still shooting what I love to shoot most. I really enjoy it. It’s a technical process rather than the process of shooting a person. People came into my work later on.”

John pursued an academic career at the University of Arts in Rochester, and it was during this more practical period of his education that he began to shoot people.

By the time John reached 28 years of age he had completed his MA in Visual Culture (which was more theory than practical) and chose to undertake his dissertation on people, which is ultimately where some of his finest work begun to materialise.

“I think at some point or another, most photographers turn the camera on themselves. Maybe not directly on themselves but on their family. And that’s what I did.

“I began to think about ‘the self’ and about family, and I managed to take around 2,000 pictures in 2 years with my 35mm lens. In those days, everything I shot was with a 35mm. I’d photograph all kinds of occasions.”

“I went to see a curator with this collection of family photos and they asked me: “what’s the story?” I couldn’t really answer. As a body of work it just didn’t fit. So finding the story and meaning behind me and my family was a journey of exploration which involved me digging deeper to discover as much as I could about my background.” 

At this stage of his career, John begun to explore emotion, family and relationships through the lens.

“I became focused on the subject of belonging and in turn, I rejected objects and aesthetics in favour of emotion.

“Emotion is a hard thing to capture. It’s not just about someone laughing. To capture raw emotion in a beautiful moment demands something more than a smile. The most powerful images – whether they include a touch, a look or a smile – capture an isolated moment; perhaps between a newly married couple whilst they’re surrounded by relatives dancing.

“How you convey that emotion within an aesthetic frame is what makes a photograph truly powerful.”

A defining moment that changed you…

Dad and Me is one of John’s most recognised and best-loved photographs. It won the Taylor West Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 1999 / 2000 and is one of the defining shots that signalled a shift in John’s career. He was officially on the map.

So how was the idea executed?

“Well I asked dad to go shopping – I gave him a budget and asked him to buy himself something and to also buy me the identical outfit. He asked me what it was all about – he didn’t get it but he participated and did it, and came back with these two matching outfits – one for each of us.

Award winning photographer John Nassari - Dad and me

And so we put on our outfits and I set the timer on my camera for this self-portrait.”

“The outcome is a photograph about ambivalence. It’s about the relationship I have with my father and possibly the ambivalent relationship that many men have with their fathers.

“Conflict and contradiction are key – this photo suggests imitation and me wanting to be like my father; of course I admire him and look up to him, but there’s this tension about not wanting to actually become him.

“You admire your father but you don’t want to become him. We’re holding hands which implies intimacy but there’s also this distance between us – we’re not smiling.”

A defining moment in wedding photography…

The Cyclist is an iconic piece from John’s wedding collection and has won awards for its metaphorical display of two lives and two journeys intersecting at a pivotal moment.

Wedding Photography Mastery with John Nassari

“I had everything planned out perfectly. I was in position; I’d stopped traffic temporarily and guests were preparing to throw confetti as the couple emerged from the church. And then just as the sky exploded with colour a cyclist tears through the shot… I was so angry at the time but somehow had the presence of mind to keep shooting despite the interference of the cyclist.”

When John explained what had happened to the newlyweds they just smiled and said: “typically Cambridge”.

In the days that followed the wedding, John became more and more intrigued about this man – the cyclist. He wanted to enter the photo into a competition but needed permission from him. Plus he wanted to find this mystery man from a human interest perspective and enlist the help of others to create a bit of a buzz.

John reached out to the Cambridge News and they loved the story. It soon made it into the Metro and people everywhere started talking about the photograph and ‘the man’.

Eventually, Archie Wood – a Cambridge student – came forward as the mystery cyclist. In fact, he was late for his physics exam because he was speaking to John! John made it up to him and sent Archie a signed, framed copy of the photograph that had made him one of the most famed cyclist in the photography world.

What’s next for John Nassari…

As someone who doesn’t like to sit still for very long, it was to be expected that we’d soon see something groundbreaking from John.

Nassari 360 is an immersive, interactive, explorable 360 digital experience, which layers content in the form of a curated gallery of senses and environments.

People are able to view photographs, scroll around to see what lies beyond the frame, and hear the sounds of people and their surroundings.

Nassari 360 is to be launched at The Photography Show on 17th March at NEC Birmingham.

John is also close to completing an online wedding photography course which is designed for both aspiring photographers and established photographers outside of wedding industry.

Stay tuned for more from John Nassari and the latest in wedding photography news.

 

Looking for more wedding industry trends and couple insights? Head to the Bridebook Business Hub, the home of wedding industry knowledge. 

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Why every wedding supplier website needs an FAQ page

Does any industry compete with the wedding industry when it comes to the sheer volume of questioning? Was that another question? Anyway…

We’re guessing that there are probably more questions asked throughout the wedding planning journey than there are in any other events industry.

Questions from guests to couples, couples to wedding suppliers and suppliers to couples; not to mention questions from suppliers to suppliers…and the list goes on.

Nowadays, more and more engaged couples are building wedding websites to help them easily manage questions they receive from guests, and by sharing answers to all the questions they’ve already been asked they can help inform guests without having to speak directly to each of them about the same things.

Makes sense, right?

So if couples have realised the huge advantages of having FAQ-style question and answer pages, why haven’t all wedding suppliers?

 

Realising the many benefits of FAQ pages

FAQ pages tend to be the ones that customers visit most but website writers think about least.

So why does this disconnect exist?

It’s a mystery to us. Perhaps the FAQ page just isn’t sexy enough. But there are plenty of companies doing it justice and even stamping their personality on the page in the form of creative answers.

Here are 5 core benefits to including an FAQ page on your wedding website:

  • Reassuring couples that you’ve got their questions covered and that they’re not asking anything you haven’t heard before
  • Improving the efficiency of first meetings with couples by providing answers to common questions beforehand, allowing you to focus on the details that matter most
  • Opportunity to improve SEO through targeted content development
  • Earning trust by showing you’re a professional expert in your field
  • Allowing couples a snapshot of your personality by creatively answering their questions

Whether you’re a wedding venue, a wedding photographer or a wedding caterer, you’re probably asked the same sorts of questions every time you meet a new couple.

Are we right?

So an FAQ page will save you heaps of time.

Deciding on questions to include, and structure

When choosing questions to include in your FAQ section, focus on relevancy and any opportunities that allow you to develop answers into pages and encourage further engagement.

To start, think about the questions couples always ask you before and after booking, such as…

  • Does your wedding venue provide the option of a late night extension?
  • What are your deposit and payment terms?

If you end up with an extensive list of questions, group them into categories such as “Deciding on which wedding photographer to book” and “What to ask once you’ve booked your wedding photographer”.

Categorising your questions not only helps your visitors to navigate the FAQ page easily it also helps you ensure that you’re organised and are including all important questions.

Structured content also brings with it great SEO benefits, seeing as Google likes order. Being able to read a content-heavy page by category and tagged headers makes Google-bots happy.

In terms of how you write content for an FAQ page, make sure that you write your questions from your customer’s perspective (e.g. “How do I…”) and answer from your business’s perspective (e.g. “You should…” or “We provide…”).

And remember that your FAQ pages are a great place to convert interested couples into your next wedding booking. End each answer or page with a call to action that links to more information about your services, prices or the question/answer topic.

Tip: it’s important to update your FAQ page with any new customer concerns as they arise. Remember, all website pages should be regularly updated so that they don’t go stale!

Leveraging your FAQ page for SEO purposes

One of the great, secret benefits of FAQ pages is that they give you the opportunity to search engine optimise your website beyond that of ANY competitor – if you do it well.

Here’s how…

List out all of the questions you are regularly asked plus any questions you think potential clients would type into Google when researching a wedding supplier like you.

Even if your target audience isn’t searching for topics related specifically to your wedding brand, they might be searching for answers to questions related to the wedding industry in general via search engines.

You could include queries like…

  • What questions should I ask wedding photographers before booking one?
  • How much should a wedding venue cost?

Then link from these questions to content/landing pages that answer in detail and continue the journey from question to conversation to (hopefully) conversion.

By adding content or landing pages that are optimized for specific search queries and that further expand on answers to popular questions, Google will read you as highly relevant in your industry which means your wedding website will rank higher in results pages and subsequently, couples will be able to find your company more easily when searching for wedding suppliers like you.

Plus, having more detailed answers to popular questions on your website will encourage newly engaged couples to think of you as an industry leader in your field. They’ll likely choose the wedding supplier who’s ‘in the know’ when it comes to making that booking.

Get drafting those frequently asked questions today!

The FAQ page is often an afterthought for many websites. But used strategically, it can add a lot of value to your wedding website and your business on the whole.

Get started today – you can thank us later.

Any questions?

 

Looking for more wedding industry trends and couple insights? Head to the Bridebook Business Hub, the home of wedding industry knowledge. 

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Are reviews important sales tools for wedding venues?

15 minutes with four award-winning UK wedding venues

Do brides and grooms really care about reviews when it comes to wedding venues?

Surely they either fall in love with a venue, or they don’t – right?

You know that your wedding venue is far more than the bricks and mortar it’s made from. It’s about ambience, decor, service and comfort. It’s about supporting a couple in helping them create their dream day.

So reviews count.

 

They help a couple envisage their big day and decide whether the experiences of other happy newlyweds are the kinds of experiences they themselves want for their wedding day.

Rather than continue to tell you how important reviews are, we thought we’d let four award-winning wedding venues do it for us. Here are their thoughts on the power of reviews…

 

Woodhill Hall – Bridebook’s Winning UK Wedding Venue 2018

Award Winning Wedding Venue Woodhill Hall

 

Bridebook: Tell us about your success with reviews so far, as a top UK wedding venue…

We’ve found the value of reviews is paramount to our business.  

I think our key to receiving such successful reviews is that we’re a family run business that really gets to know our couples. From day one, they feel like part of the Woodhill family and we really get to know the couple, their family and friends. As a result, couples don’t feel like they’re reviewing a business, as one of our couples explained, it feels like you’re reviewing family. Reviews which are left by our couples always make us smile from ear to ear and we’re proud to showcase them on our website and with providers such as Bridebook.  

Reviews also provide such a great opportunity to reflect on the team’s performance as well as allowing us to look back on how great the couples big day was. Often reviews from couples will mention a funny story or an element of the day which really stood out and it helps the team relive how great their day was.

Have you seen/felt the difference reviews make to the number of enquiries you receive? Any stats to support?

100% yes. We continue to be surprised by the number of enquiries we receive by couples who are interested in the venue and have chosen to visit us based on glowing reports from couples who’ve married with us, guests at weddings or even suppliers sharing how nice they found the venue. In 2017, 24% of all our enquiries came from couples who’d read reviews about us and out of those, 74% booked with us which is amazing. If it wasn’t for hearing about or reading a review they may have never visited us at all.   

What are the top 3 benefits of having reviews in your personal experience?

  1. True impartial representations of the venue by ambassadors who’ve been there, done that and enjoyed such a wonderful experience.
  2. They provide a window into your customer service standards.
  3. The more you showcase the more weight it adds to how good you and your business are.

 

Dodmoor House – Bridebook’s East Midlands Wedding Venue of the Year 2018

Gathering couple reviews matter and here's why with award winning venue Dodmoor House

 

At which point in the wedding planning process do you ask couples for a review?

We wait until the wedding has finished, about a week or two after (depending on our couples’ travel plans). We find that it’s good to really give them a chance to reflect on all aspects of the wedding and give them time to relive it all.

How do you ask for the review?

We send an email to our couples and also ask them to send over any photos for a blog post or real-life wedding feature. We like to keep our couples involved in the ‘Dodmoor family’ for a long time after the wedding!

What are the top 3 benefits of having reviews in your personal experience?

  1. It gives potential couples the opportunity to read real, honest opinions about our venue and the service we provide. It helps people to see where we shine and help them make a decision to book us for their dream day!
  2. Receiving reviews from couples can help us to learn where we can improve. There’s always room for a little improvement!
  3. We get really excited when a review comes in from one of our couples or a guest at one of the weddings; it really builds up morale within the team and gets us all pumped up to run our next wedding and do it all over again!

 

The Grand Hotel, Tynemouth – Bridebook’s North East England Wedding Venue of the Year 2018

Why Reviews Matter with North East Wedding Venue of the Year The Grand Hotel

Have you ever received a negative review and if so, how did you deal with it?

So far I do not think we have had a bad review which is incredible to be able to say.

If we did receive a negative review then we would look at what has been mentioned and act upon this and contact the couple to address any issues.

What are the top 3 benefits of having reviews in your personal experience?

  1. It is good to get feedback on the hotel and hear back from our couples about their wedding experience.
  2. It is reassurance that we are doing our job well when we receive glowing reviews.
  3. It is good publicity for the hotel and for potential brides to see these reviews.

 

Redhouse Barn – Bridebook’s West Midlands Wedding Venue of the Year 2018

Getting reviews from your couples matters

What are the top 3 benefits to having reviews in your personal experience?

Reviews are hugely important to us. We aren’t a huge fan of ‘pushy sales’ techniques and often letting potential couples see the fantastic reviews we have from previous weddings says a lot without us having to.

It gives potential couples a lot of confidence that what we are telling them about the venue and the food is true and often better than expected.

Recommendations are definitely the best form of advertising. I had one couple who visited us recently and the groom was very open and said that he wasn’t originally interested at all in a Barn wedding but his fiancé told him to spend a bit of time researching us (as she was desperate to come for a viewing) and after reading through our reviews on Facebook he knew it was where he wanted to get married before he actually visited!

Who asks couples for a review at your wedding venue?

We never canvass our couples or their guests to review the venue after their wedding so we are very lucky to receive some lovely thank you cards from most couples following their big day and we often upload those ourselves to share the love!

As mentioned above we don’t like to be too pushy and that extends to chasing people after their wedding to write something lovely about us. Generally, couples and their guests will take it upon themselves to review on social media or send us something in the post. It’s a testament to the fantastic service and hard work of the team here that people will go out of their way to review the venue, food and service.

Where do you showcase your reviews (online and offline)?

We like to showcase our reviews on all of our marketing platforms and social media. I try to keep these updated as much as possible with the latest reviews.

I don’t tend to like using older reviews as a lot can change in a couple of years so It’s nice to show new couples that this review was from a wedding from the summer just gone rather than from 5 years ago!

We use Facebook a lot already and I am starting to get better with Instagram which I would like to post more reviews on but I’m just getting to grips with it.

Offline we have a big file in the Barn full of all the thank you cards we receive so when potential couples come to view the Barns they can have a flick through!

————————————————————————

Reviews are the difference between converting an enquiry or a venue visit into a booking, or not.

Take our advice and the advice of award-winning, expert wedding venues today, and start harnessing the power of reviews for your wedding venue.

 


Looking for more wedding industry trends and couple insights? Head to the Bridebook Business Hub, the home of wedding industry knowledge. 

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Why Wedding Professionals Market Their Business With Bridebook

When it looks too good to be true, it sometimes isn’t.

It’s tough these days trying to decide where your business should feature online, isn’t it?

Resources are often scarce and busy wedding suppliers like yourself don’t always have the time or money to feature on all the platforms that promise to get you noticed.

We get it.

But what if we told you that we’ve got inside information that suggests that there is a ‘magic mix’ of core, online marketing platforms that every UK based wedding supplier must take advantage of to win bookings?

All you need to know to mix your own magic formula are these three little words…

Website, Social, Bridebook.

Let’s break it down…

  1. Continuously invest in your website. Update it, nurture it and promote it. It’s your online business card and portfolio.
  2. Advertise your service or product on social media. Share good feedback, take photos of the weddings you work on and test out paid advertising if you’ve got the budget and the time.
  3. Create a free account and profile on Bridebook Business. The UK’s number one wedding planning platform is currently helping over 100,000 UK couples plan their wedding. How can this huge audience search for you if you’re not listed on the directory? Did we mention it’s free?

The only one of these three magic ingredients that we’re guessing you don’t already know plenty about is Bridebook, so allow us to enlighten you.

Bridebook Business – the free profile that generates over 15,000 enquiries a month

70,000 UK wedding suppliers just like you are currently setting up free Bridebook Business profiles to tap into the whopping 1 in 3 UK couples who’re currently planning their wedding with Bridebook.

100,000 newly engaged people is a whole lot of love; are we right?

Did you know that on average, over 15,000 enquiries are sent to UK wedding venues every month? That’s 100% return on investment.

Of course, the more time you spend updating your profile the better, as Bridebook’s sophisticated algorithm reads the information you provide to put you in front of relevant couples.

So the more information you give the easier you’ll be found by the right kind of couples.

Bridebook was given 4.5 stars for excellence in supporting wedding planning couples and in generating business for suppliers. And you know first hand how trustworthy and important reviews and star rating are.

On that note, we’d like to leave you with a few of our reviews that might encourage you to make the best decision of your business life.

Happy reading.

Oh…and if you’re ready to jump on the Bridebook bandwagon just contact us here.

The Review Centre

Knockwood Bespoke Receptions

“Put simply, it’s such a wonderful advertising platform.
For us at Knockwood Bespoke Receptions, we have only just started out and with money being fairly tight with starting a business, I can’t believe Bridebook is free. We’ve had many more enquiries via Bridebook than I believe we would have without it!”

Kelly J Photography

“Lots of my bookings have come through Bridebook in the last few months, whereas normally directories don’t tend to send much traffic my way.”

James Riley Videos

“Its got me a lot of business, it’s easy to use and not too saturated with people within my profession so you stand out more.”

Innes House

“I usually tell all my couples about Bridebook for planning, I use it too. It’s professional, clean, has really helpful articles, and one of my favourite places for advertising.”

Cripps Barn

“It’s an excellent platform for ideas and support through the wedding planning process, giving you insights to excellent venues and suppliers.”

Neal Laver photography

“In 12 years of business, Bridebook is the only online wedding directory/service that has delivered results for me.”

Contact us now to claim your free Bridebook profile.

Bridebook Business: The New Face of Bridebook Enquiries for Wedding Industry Professionals

Welcome to the new face of Bridebook Enquiries

 

Bridebook.co.uk gives wedding industry professionals the tools they need to market and grow their wedding businesses
Bridebook.co.uk introduces your brand new Enquiries Manager. Manage and track your enquiries in one easy-to-use, organised location.

 

We’re bringing enquiries in-house!

We recently asked over 1000 wedding industry professionals:

“If there was one thing Bridebook could do to help you manage your business, what would it be?”

Overwhelmingly, you said that being able to easily keep track of, manage and organise your wedding enquiries is of the highest priority. So since you asked, we provided!

 

When is this happening?

As of Monday 7th May, your Enquiries Manager on Bridebook will be the central hub for your communication with couples. But don’t worry, it’s super simple, beneficial to you and your business, and you have a month to get used to it and share your feedback.

 

What does this mean for me?
(We’ll give you a hint… it’s all good things!)

1) Continue receiving free, high-quality enquiries from our community of couples (currently, more than 100,000 UK couples are planning their weddings with us!).

2) Manage your Bridebook enquiries in one easy-to-use, organised and accessible place.

3) Track the status, journey and conversions of your Bridebook enquiries from first contact through to booked.

4) View couples’ email addresses, phone numbers and wedding details in the couple enquiries page for easy contact and interaction.

5) Bulk export your enquiries and log them in your own CRM.

6) Continue to reply to couple enquiries using your preferred email provider.

 

View Enquiries Manager


To access your Enquiries Manager simply log in to your Bridebook Business account, click on the enquiries tab and get organising!

We will continue to send you email notifications when you receive new enquiries. Simply click on the link in the email to open the enquiry directly in your Enquiries Manager.

One click and done – How easy is that!?

 

Still Unsure?

Check out our FAQs page for any other questions about your Enquiries Manager.

Bridebook is constantly evolving and developing new tools that help you maximise your wedding business potential, and it’s YOUR feedback that allows us to continue doing so.

Leave us some feedback.

 

 

Looking for top tips and industry insights? Head to the Bridebook Business Hub now. The wedding industry professional’s one-stop shop for the all the latest news and top tips to power your wedding business.

Wedding Industry Expertise from Bridebook Business

How Penton Park transformed into a wedding venue

Welcome to this Bridebook interview, featuring Danielle Rolfe of Penton Park.

This piece is designed to inspire other wedding suppliers – budding or current – and help them to realise that they can do something as wonderful and as huge as turning a beloved home into a UK renowned wedding venue.

Bridebook.co.uk Penton Park wedding venue

Penton Park – the story 

Danielle Rolfe traded in a career as a London Insurance Broker for a new life as Lead Events Manager at the glorious Penton Park.

Oh, and did we mention that this wedding venue also happens to be her family home?

As we introduce ourselves to Danielle it becomes clear that she’s a very busy woman indeed. We’re on loudspeaker as Danielle drives into her estate and just as our interview gets going, we’re interrupted by a fallen tree.

“Do you mind terribly if we pick this back up in half an hour?” she says. “I’m going to have to drag this tree out of the road”.

What a wonderful, real-life example of the multifarious nature of wedding venue management!

And by her own admission, despite the long hours and hard work involved in managing a wedding venue, Danielle loves her new life in wedding venue management and would never look back.

 

Bridebook: Danielle, do you remember how you and your family first came up with the idea of turning your home into a wedding venue? Tell us your story…

Yes, I remember it well!

In 2011, myself and my husband married in the local church and held a traditional wedding reception at our home in Penton Park.

I think it was only then that we realised what an amazing wedding venue it was and our guests said exactly the same. It had the real wow factor and made for such a memorable day.

We started hosting birthday parties, anniversaries and charity events at first, and we found that we really enjoyed it and that the house was well suited to catering to such events.

We soon began to think about weddings at Penton Park. We wanted to find a way to use the property as a self-generating revenue stream and to future-proof our income – a big house requires a lot of maintenance and upkeep after all.

In 2013 we decided to officially go for it with weddings!

Penton Park Wedding

 

I spent a lot of time learning the ropes and deciding on how we’d integrate weddings into family life, and vice versa. We decided to make Penton Park an exclusive venue, hosting only 20 Saturday weddings per year. This ensures that we never fall short on customer service and that we keep some weekends free for family life.

After a prolonged wait for approval of an on-site wedding licence, we finally began hosting wedding ceremonies at Penton Park in 2016 – having already dipped our toes in the ‘wedding reception only’ field.

What our guests love about Penton Park is that they really are hosted by a family here, and in turn, my family and myself live and breathe the venue.

 

Bridebook: Were all family members in equal agreeance when you suggested the idea of turning your family home into a wedding venue?

Absolutely yes. Everyone was fully in agreement and excited to get stuck in.

We all have separate wings in the house and there’s a separate exit and entrance for family and for events, so it works really well.

The grandparents sometimes treat themselves to a night away when we host weddings, and at other times they love being around to soak up the atmosphere – albeit from the comfort of their own quarters!

Our children are completely used to it and it doesn’t faze them at all. I like to hope that they’ll be the next generation of wedding planners and I know for sure that they’ll someday, not too far away, be an imperative source of market research for us! They’ll be telling us how we should be doing weddings to suit their generation, and they’ll help us keep evolving and stay current as a wedding business.

 

Bridebook: What was it like to go from family home to wedding venue!?

Well, I guess one of the challenges was making sure that we’re presentable at all times – that is, the house and everyone in it!

We have three girls so it’s inevitable that a stray Barbie will make it in the shot at occasional meetings.

We just assure couples that on the day, there will be a professional clean and that they have nothing to worry about as far as Barbie is concerned.

Turning our home into a wedding venue hasn’t really disrupted life at all. We started gradually and have grown into it.

The concept grew with our experience and the number of weddings we host.

The first wedding we held was really emotional. My husband and I were so proud of everything we’d managed to do, and it also brought back memories of own wedding day.

Everyone’s in such a great mood at weddings it’s impossible not to feel elated at each and every wedding we host at Penton Park.

 

Bridebook: Do the family cats and dogs stay to help out at Penton Park weddings?

They do. We try to hide the dog away as he’s a huge friendly giant but he has been known to make some guest appearances at the couple’s request!

We have two cats and they’re slightly more difficult to hide. They often make guest appearances and actually once joined a group of guests in the photo booth!

It’s these kinds of things that make it feel like a family home and that’s what Penton Park is all about. We want to keep that feel of a family home, not fall into hosting cookie cutter weddings.

Penton Park wedding venue

 

Bridebook: What does a typical day of wedding prep look like at Penton Park?

We always set up the day before and aim to have everything done by 2pm. The couple have complete freedom to visit us the day before for peace of mind, and then we wave them off and tell them we’ll take care of everything.

Weddings at Penton Park finish at midnight. We clear up for them the next day and they then return to pick up their stuff.

 

Bridebook: Are couples able to personalise their wedding day entirely at Penton Park or are there limitations as to what they can / cannot do?

Couples are free to personalise their day almost exclusively. We are happy for them to take down pictures and most decorations, but we cannot move any of the larger wall hangings. That’s purely logistics as some are pretty huge!

But we always say this is a country house and so couples choosing Penton Park will do so because they love the charm and character that comes with that.

That being said, couples are welcome to put their own pictures and decorations up.

We’re very much present as background staff to help bring wedding themes to life. We’ve had formal and informal, inside and outside.

Penton Park couple

 

Bridebook: Have you ever had to step in and stop any bad behaviour at a wedding? Is security something you manage yourselves?

We sometimes have to reign it in slightly as things can get a bit raucous toward the end of a wedding, as we all know.

We had all guests around the pool table with sambuca in their hand recently so had to politely request that they step away! But people are so respectable because they know it’s a family home.

If we host a wedding of over 100 guests we do insist that they hire security, just for peace of mind.

 

Bridebook: What advice would you give others looking to start a wedding business like yours?

Network

I’d say it’s really important to network with other venues – whether they’re similar to your venue or completely different.

We’re part of the Historic Houses network and I attended a lot of seminars at Hodsock Priory and some at Iscoyd Park, where I received lots of support and advice.

You do have to be a member but any country house hosting events of 100+ people are eligible and it’s really great for networking.

I’d say my strongest advice with regards to networking is don’t be afraid to pick up the phone to venues nearby. I contacted a barn style wedding venue near me and because we’re really different we may be able to help each other out. If I meet a couple who are looking for more of a barn style wedding, I’ll recommend them.

Be supportive and work together. If you only have similar style wedding venues nearby, pick up the phone and ask; how do we stand apart from each other? Identify what it is that each of you does differently as it will work in both of your interests.

Find out first hand what running a wedding venue involves before you take the leap.

Shadow weddings at other venues to see what it’s like before you transform your home into a wedding venue. It’s hard work. You’ll work harder than you ever imagined but if you’re anything like me, you’ll find it so rewarding.

I must say that you can’t quite comprehend what 120 drunk people are like until you see them with your own eyes.

Invest in your team

Invest in your team because they represent you from start to finish – they’re an extension of your in-house family.

We have an in-house event manager and she’s fantastic. We also use preferred suppliers as we like to recommend wedding professionals who we know can do the job well, first hand.

 

Bridebook: Do you think more families are choosing to turn their homes into wedding venues or is it still an unusual concept?

I see and hear of a lot more people doing it now.

Some mistake it as being an easy route to making money but we know first hand that it’s hard work but also a lot of fun.

It’s a lifestyle. It will, of course, impact your weekends. We only host 20 weddings per year but we also offer viewings at weekends which take up a considerable amount of time.

Penton Park married couple

 

Bridebook: Have you noticed any changes within the wedding industry of late?

I’ve been surprised in the past 18 months how many people will come and view your home/venue at a weekend and you’ll never hear from them again.

They never get back in touch.

It just didn’t happen in the beginning when we were first starting out.

People seem a little more blase about the whole experience and I think perhaps they forget that we’re real people and we invest ourselves emotionally in their journey too.

 

Are you considering starting your own wedding venue?

Have you any similar experiences to Danielle at Penton Park that you’d like to share? Please get in touch or leave your comments below.

Wedding Industry Expertise from Bridebook Business

Inspiring Stories – an interview with successful start-up wedding business, Barnutopia

Do you ever feel like leaving the corporate rat race behind in favour of doing something that feeds your soul, awakens your senses and propels you in the direction of a lifestyle you could only ever dream of?

Katrina Boydon is a successful, British born marketer who spent many years abroad (in Russia, France and the United States, to be specific) building a professional career to support her growing family of 4 children and 2 dogs with husband Steve.

 

In 2014, the family made the life-changing decision to return to Britain and open a glamping site in Shropshire. Barnutopia welcomed its first guests in the summer of 2015.

The family hosted their first wedding in August 2017 and today, Barnutopia is a busy, successful wedding business that attracts 5-star guest reviews and is even set to feature on a prime time TV series in April as a British small business success story.

Today, we have the privilege of meeting Katrina to find out a little more about the success story behind this yurt glampsite in the Shropshire countryside.

 

Bridebook: Where did the idea for Barnutopia originate from?

Katrina: It came to us over a period after leading active outdoor lives as campers. We could see the attraction of being able to enjoy the outdoors without having to carry all the stuff that goes along with traditional camping. Our children participated in several yurt glamping trips with their Montessori school in the United States and our final fling in the US was a 6,000-mile cross-USA trip in a caravan. With our 4 children and 2 dogs that simply would not have been possible as a camping trip.

 

What came first; the venue or the concept?

The concept. We knew that we wanted to open a glamping site and actively sought out a suitable property with land.

 

Why Shropshire? Do you know the area well or did you perhaps spot an opportunity or  gap in the market?

After living abroad for over 20 years and moving internationally several times, we wanted to move to a place where we didn’t have to start completely from scratch (family, network of friends, knowledge of area). I was born and grew up in Llangollen about 15 miles from Oswestry, where Barnutopia is based. Steve’s parents live in Welshpool, 15 miles from Oswestry in the other direction. We were not set on Shropshire; Powys, Cheshire, Gwynedd, Wrexham and Flintshire were all possibilities.

As we viewed properties we took into consideration the location (looking for easy access but rural surroundings) and proximity of similar or alternative businesses, tourist attractions, walking, hiking, town amenities. Tanycoed Farm had all these things in a particularly stunning spot.

 

Owing to your successful Marketing background, I’m sure tons of aspiring and existing wedding business owners would love to know more about your Barnutopia marketing strategy…

Ok, so from a top level perspective, our short term objective is to generate venue-hire bookings for at least 30 weekends each in 2018, 2019 and beyond.

Our medium term objectives are to maintain a solid web presence on multiple platforms and media, and to establish a client base for midweek bookings.

And our longer term goal is to generate weekend and midweek bookings for 30-40 weeks of the year allowing us to have time out for maintenance and for ourselves.

 

Could you talk us through any marketing wins / successes you’ve enjoyed, including what has worked well for the business in terms of exposure and business generation…

Yeah, good question. My strategy from the start has been to be everywhere online. Our web presence is very well developed. Facebook has been a huge source of enquiries and traffic to our website, such that over 50% of bookings are via our own media. The rest come through directory websites like Bridebook.

I’m flexible and responsive as a new business Owner/Manager, and I try out new creative offers and variations on packages constantly. If I find something that works, I replicate it, but don’t leave it at that.

When we first set up Barnutopia we targeted families, primarily. We had very few whole-site or exclusive use bookings. This has flipped now and we have whole-site bookings nearly every weekend and far fewer individual, family / friends bookings.

 

What lessons have you learned so far?

It’s hard to say what I’ve learned from a marketing perspective when it is so intertwined with what I’m learning about the glamping and the wedding industry in general.

Generally, I would say that you cannot get tired of presenting and promoting your business. It may seem to you that it’s the same-old same-old, but you aren’t your audience. Your audience may be seeing your 20th iteration on a wedding venue ad, but it’s the first time for them. Keep it fresh and interesting for THEM.

 

How have your marketing resources been split between mediums?

Approximately:

TIME: 35% website development, 65% social media, 20% directory listings

MONEY: 5% website, 35% social media, 60% directory listings

 

How have online wedding planning platforms and directories fared in terms of your expectations versus delivery?

As expected to be honest. I am getting a steady stream of enquiries through a variety of free and paid listings on wedding directories, so it’s doing the trick.

 

Would you recommend signing up to online wedding planning platforms and directories if asked by other wedding venues? Why?

Yes. One way or another you are going to have to pay to market your venue. If you have the time and skills to do it yourself then great, but time and/or money has to be expended to generate business.

Large wedding directory sites have a budget that small businesses cannot compete with; so, unless you want to disappear into cyber oblivion you must be where the enquiries are.

 

What proportion of your marketing efforts are targeted specifically towards wedding industry audiences versus a more all-inclusive approach?

Currently around 50% weddings, 25% existing audience, 25% new target audience

 

Have you developed any interesting insights into the wedding industry or learned what seems to work / not work in this field?

Compared to other whole-site reservations, I think the ante is upped for weddings. Couples book a venue, not a site. The expectation is bigger, better, slicker.

We’ve had some big whole-site reservations made on the fly for non-wedding, friends and family gatherings. The person booking looks at social media pages and website, makes an enquiry and then books, often without any verbal exchange at all.

This has never happened for a wedding.

For weddings, couples always view before booking. This is reflected in the information published and sent to persons enquiring about weddings. They want to know and think about it a lot more before making their decision.

 

We’re big on pushing the importance of reviews at Bridebook. How impactful are good reviews in your experience of the wedding industry so far?

Nearly every guest who stays with us says they have read our fantastic reviews. Oddly, having lots of reviews already seems to inspire even more people to write their own.

 

Can you tell us anything about the TV series in which Barnutopia features?

The series follows a number of British business during their first year in business. The mentor for the series is a well known British TV personality and business woman. Barnutopia is one of the success stories. It is due to start airing in April 2018 and tentatively our episode should be on May 14th.

 

As a British small business success story, we have to ask; what is the secret to your success?

I would say the secret to our success is that we know what we want out of our business and we love what we do. In addition to this, we are practically inclined and aren’t afraid to get our hands dirty.

Of course, we invest heavily in promoting Barnutopia and it’s our goal to be everywhere online. We’re also not afraid to adapt and change in keeping with the ever-evolving expectations of our clients.

Our article 5 reasons Why Barnutopia is a Successful Glamorous Camping Site discusses these ideas in more detail – (http://barnutopia.com/successful-glamorous-camping-site/).

 

If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs what would it be?

Make sure you have at least some of the expert knowledge and skills you need to be successful or you will be overwhelmed with learning.

 

Thanks to Katrina for this inspiring and informative interview which should help any new wedding businesses or aspiring wedding professionals understand a little more about the journey from ‘great idea’ to even greater success.


As always, we welcome any questions or comments.

 

Looking for more inspiring wedding industry stories? Head to the Bridebook Business Hub now. The wedding industry professional’s one-stop shop for the all the latest news and top tips to power your wedding business.

Wedding Industry Expertise from Bridebook Business