Month: July 2017

Top 10 Social Media Marketing Tips for Wedding Venue Professionals

Feeling overwhelmed by marketing your venue to new potential couples on social media? Christina Barker, Wedding Planner for Chantilly Rose and wedding marketing professional has honed her skills and educational talent within the industry through years of experience and research. Now she shares her top tips for #winning in social media marketing and boosting the awareness of your wedding venue below.

 

Whether you like it or not, your potential clients are all on social media. 2 billion of those are on Facebook alone.

You want to attract couples to your wedding venue so why not utilise those popular social media channels.

Facebook is still by far the biggest social networking channel in the world and will probably continue to be so for a long time.  

With YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter also on the rise you need to ensure your wedding venue is being visible and standing out from the crowd. We’ve put together 10 top social media tips for your wedding venue to increase bookings.  

 

1. Post consistently. 

Post engaging content and videos which will entice your audience to interact with your accounts. When they do this it also increases the chance of being shown in their news feeds. When we say post consistently, this doesn’t mean that you suddenly remember you’ve not posted in a while and so instead post 5 things on Facebook in one go. Spread your posts out. For example, we recommend you post on Facebook 1-2 times a day. Even if you are only posting something twice a week. Keep it consistent. Your followers will be expecting to see new content at the same time each week from you. Use a scheduling tool to help you so you can plan all your posts in advance. This saves heaps of time and frees you up to do other tasks.

 

 2. Share content from other businesses.  

Popular wedding magazines and blogs are full of wedding inspiration for couples to peruse. You might have some recommended suppliers on your list, so keep an eye on what they are posting on their pages and help them out by sharing what they do. They will be thankful for it and doing this will help you form relationships with suppliers and other people in the industry. If you are sharing good content, couples will be coming to your account to look for more. 

 

3. Host regular competitions. 

Think about what you want to promote and have fun with this. It could be a simple like and share. It doesn’t have to be anything massive, just something that will help your page get the engagement it needs. There’s no point having a page with lots of likes but no one is interacting with it. This will also give you a chance to reach new people. 

Do be sure to keep an eye on Facebook’s ever changing guidelines and rules when it comes to what you can and can’t do. 

 

4. Advertise on Facebook. 

This is a HUGE one. If you aren’t using Facebook ads you are definitely missing out on a massive market. Using Facebook ads you can target specific people. For example, newly engaged couples within a certain radius of your venue. You can spend as little as £1 a day on these ads. Obviously the more money you budget though, the more people you will be able to reach so I would always invest in these ads. Using Facebook ads you can also link it with Instagram so your ad will show on Instagram at the same time!

Unlike something like a magazine advert which you can’t track, with Facebook ads you are able to see exactly how many people have seen it and how many people clicked on it. They can take a while to get your head around but this is something you can definitely outsource to a digital marketing company like us. 

 

5. Utilise your cover photo. 

This is one people always seem not to bother with or not know about. If your wedding venue has simply uploaded a photo, thought that will do and left it, you are missing a trick! This is one of the first things a person sees when visiting your page. You could advertise your wedding packages here or maybe your next wedding fayre. Don’t forget to add in the details in the description along with any links for them to find out more information. Always be thinking about your sales funnel! 

 

6. Check your page insights. 

Look at what is working and what isn’t. What posts are getting the most likes and comments? Continue similar posts and stop posting the things that aren’t getting any engagement. Insights are there for you to check how your page is doing, so be sure to check back regularly. Have your social media manager produce a monthly report for you.

At White Heart Marketing, our team is able to manage your page and do this all for you. 

 

7. Use LOTS of visuals. 

Couples love to see lots of photos. Be it on Instagram, Pinterest or another image based platform, they like to imagine themselves getting married at that place. They imagine all of their ideas coming together. If you are seen to be posting different styles, there’s a strong chance that one of those styles is perfect for them. If they can see that your venue is able to cater for this then they’ve pretty much already decided they want to book your venue before they’ve even contacted you! 

 

8. Hashtag, hashtag, hashtag. 

Hashtags are widely used on both Instagram and Twitter. A hashtag can be used to find other people talking about the same subject. If you search for #yourweddingvenue (insert name), you can then engage with everyone that has used it. For example, a couple may have taken a romantic photo in the grounds of your venue after visiting for a show round. You could comment, ‘congratulations on your engagement, thank you for visiting us at your show round earlier, we hope your visit was everything you wished for.’ 

When posting your own photo to showcase your venue, make sure you are including all the relevant hashtags so people can search for you. Hashtags like #WeddingWednesday are great ones to include! On Instagram add your hashtags in the first comment after posting your photo and description. This keeps your feed tidy and hides your hashtags once you get a good amount of comments. You can use up to 30 hashtags on your Instagram posts so make sure you are taking advantage of that so even more people can find you!

 

9. Keep your information up to date. 

When was the last time you checked your ‘about’ section on all of your accounts? Have you made sure everything is completed? Do you have any additional services you can add on? Are your wedding brochures current with all the correct pricing? Your potential clients want to be able to see the information they need without having to go off to another site or clicking on too many other links. If you have everything where it should be then they are more likely to spend time on your account as oppose to someone else’s. 

 

10. Don’t be a slave to social media. 

Just because your clients are on social media, doesn’t mean to say you should be on every single platform. Although it’s great for SEO, if they click on a social media channel and see its not been active for months it doesn’t give your company a great first impression. Try and stick to two that work really well for your ideal client. Usually for wedding venues these platforms are Facebook and Instagram. Do those two platforms really well and you could be booking out couples for years to come!

 

Happy couple hunting! If you feel this is all totally overwhelming, just know that you are not alone. I hope these tips have given you a little insight into what type of social media you should be doing for your wedding venue. 

If you have any questions you would like to ask or you are interested in us managing any aspect of your social media, please contact us. We would love to hear from you! 

 

5 easy ways to prepare your wedding business for the slow season during peak season

5 quick and simple things to bear in mind today that will help you attract newly engaged couples and secure more wedding bookings around autumn / winter time.

 

Chances are you’re so busy preparing for the weddings you’ve booked for right now that the last thing you’ve got time to think about is keeping your wedding business ticking over in the slower, winter months.

But with winter weddings becoming more popular thanks to better value for money, more availability and the romance of winter settings gaining greater appeal, you could find yourself with a few fantastic slow-season booking opportunities if you put in a tiny bit of prep work now.

 

Fortunately, we’ve prepared a checklist of 5 quick and simple things to bear in mind today that will help you attract newlywed couples around autumn / winter time and beat the competition to the punch!

1. Ask for testimonials and reviews as you finalise each wedding

As you come to the end of each wedding you cater for, be sure to ask for and chase up reviews, recommendations and testimonials as the chances are, if you sit back and wait for them to trickle in, newlyweds will forget to send them at all.

According to a recent survey, 70% of customers will leave a review for a business if you ask them for it.

Recommendations play a significant role in winning new business and securing more bookings as a wedding supplier, and it is a pretty quick and straightforward way to ensure you’re ahead of the competition as we approach off-peak wedding season.

To read more on the impact reviews have on wedding bookings and how best to approach gathering recommendations, view this article.

Upload all good feedback to your Bridebook Profile as you collect it, as it’s better for SEO and for generating new business steadily if you can publish new content regularly rather than bulk upload it.

2. Make sure your Bridebook profile is up-to-date and complete

With more and more newly engaged couples opting to use wedding directories to search for wedding suppliers, it is essential that you ensure all profiles you own are complete and up to date – particularly with regards to contact details, pricing, reviews and photographs.

It should take no more than 30 minutes to fully complete your profile on Bridebook and with exposure to around 40,000 wedding-planning couples, it’s a marketing channel that pretty much takes care of itself whilst you’re busy managing your bookings during peak wedding season.

 

Wouldn’t it be nice to benefit from SEO, exposure and a valuable database of leads and contacts to follow up as we approach off-peak wedding season without having to do very much at all?

3. Share photographs of your weddings as you go

Get into the habit of taking photographs and uploading them to Facebook and Instagram as you prepare for and complete each of your summer weddings.

By creating a presence for yourself online now during peak wedding season, you’re much more likely to have your content discovered online during off-peak wedding season.

Wedding suppliers who attempt to upload photos all at once will find themselves at a distinct disadvantage to competitors who have been present online and keeping their content relevant throughout the spring and summer months.

4. Keep an eye out for local wedding fairs you’d like to attend 

Most wedding fairs take place during off-peak season and these events often provide a golden opportunity for you to show off your summer portfolio and book new clients.

 

National wedding fairs are good for inspiration and large scale networking but can often carry a high cost. Keep an eye out for local wedding fairs (or host your own) and put your name down as an attendee early on to ensure you guarantee your place for a great price.

The clear benefit of attending local wedding fairs is that you’re likely to meet local engaged couples – your core target audience – as well as local suppliers who you can network with for the sake of recommendations and repeat business.

5. Offer deals and special packages

Towards the end of peak season you could start promoting special offers and deals to attract off-peak brides and grooms.

If you choose to adopt this strategy, make sure that you prepare marketing material a few months beforehand and that you start promoting your special deals on social media towards the end of the summer and at any wedding fairs you attend.

This requires a little more time than the other tactics we’ve listed above but can be a very effective way to secure last minute bookings.

Are you prepared to peak during the slow season?

If you’re planning to stay busy as the wedding season draws to a close why not try out a few of the above techniques to keep your wedding business brand front of mind for engaged couples preparing for a winter wedding.

Most of these tips are considered best practice anyway so get into good habits now and you’ll benefit from bookings and exposure in the long term.

Using local SEO to attract local brides and grooms

Location plays a huge role in the search terms and phrases couples use when planning their wedding. Here are 5 simple ways to dominate local SEO in the wedding industry.

 

5 simple ways to dominate local SEO in the wedding industry

We’ve already discussed why content is key to SEO success and how to make it work for your wedding business so now we want to hone in on the importance of location-based SEO and targeting.

Location plays a huge role in the search terms and phrases couples use when planning their wedding and to be frank, they’re unlikely to search without it.

Think about it; which millennial couple would search for the term ‘wedding venues’ which returns almost 22 million results (most of which will be irrelevant) when they could search for ‘wedding venues in London’ and be presented with just over 2 million relevant results?

It’s a no brainer.

Here are 5 simple ways to ensure your website is optimised for local search.

 

1. Ensure you’re including specific local areas in all of your content

Rather than describe your business as a ‘beautiful wedding venue in London’ be as specific about your wedding business in your content as possible.

Narrow the search field and conduct research into keyword volume and competition for terms like ‘wedding venues in East London’ or ‘wedding venues in Hackney, London’.

The more specific you can be the better, as although you’ll be optimising for a smaller search volume there will be less competition for these super long tail keyword phrases and the improved intent of those searchers will mean that they’re more likely to convert to actual bookings.

Remember that Meta Descriptions and Title Tags matter too, and you should customise these so that they reflect the content on your page and the location or area you’re looking to target.

The more relevant your content is to those looking for a wedding supplier like you, the more likely you will be to boost traffic to your website, increase your website rankings and boost wedding bookings.

 

2. Include related local businesses and local events in your content

What’s happening in your local area this month? By incorporating details of what’s happening in your town and how you and your business are getting involved in your content, you’ll earn ‘Google points’ for relevancy that will help you gain authority for local wedding searches.

When you write about local wedding-related events remember to include the names of wedding venues, cities, towns and regions.

Top Tip: why not offer to link to other wedding suppliers in the local area in return for them sharing your content with their contacts and social media followers?

 

3. Ensure you’ve claimed your Google My Business page

You know those bulleted businesses that show up underneath a map at the top of most Google results when you include location in your search?

Those businesses are featured there because they’ve set up a Google My Business page.

Here’s an example of the wedding venues that feature when we search for ‘wedding venues in London:

 

It’s totally free to set up a business page and the amount of local interest and ‘click throughs’ you’re likely to earn for featuring here is well worth the small amount of time needed to set everything up.

As far as local targeting goes, this one is the biggie. Set up your free Google My Business listing today.

 

4. Reviews matter

In the wedding industry, reviews and recommendations play a huge role in winning new business. According to a recent survey, 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation, and seven out of 10 customers will leave a review for a business if asked.

Focus on publishing reviews on your website but also on your wedding business’s Facebook page and Google My Business page. Having good reviews on these sites will attract local prospective clients and support your business in local results, as reviews and star ratings will appear alongside your contact details once you’re set up on Google My Business (as demonstrated in the example above).

 

5. Feature in online directories

One of the easiest ways to shortcut your way to more wedding bookings when it comes to local search is to feature on free online wedding directories.

The majority of these wedding directories have a lot more resource to throw at optimising their site for SEO, so rather than compete with them for space in the top 3 results, get listed on their site and you’ll be top of the search results anyway.

Some wedding directories even feature above local listings in the search engine results page which means it really is very important that you include complete and up to date information in your wedding business profile.

Is your Bridebook profile complete and up to date with your address, contact details, pricing and pictures?

 

Wedding location makes a world of difference

Let newly engaged couples know *where you are *to really drive online bookings for your wedding business.

Competition for local space is hotting up this summer and you can bet if you’re not on top of your rankings, your competitors will be.

Follow our 5 simple tips to get a head start and claim your space as the number one local wedding supplier in your area.

4 Killer SEO Content Tips for Wedding Professionals

How to write killer SEO content for your wedding business

Is your wedding business ranking #1 in google? No? Then it’s probably time to change a few things…

 

Why content is key to SEO success

The entire business world has a finger (or in most instances, an entire hand) on the pulse of SEO because it’s now recognised and accepted as a primary vehicle for customer attraction and sales.

And if this isn’t the case for your wedding business yet it soon will be; that is, if you get it right.

It’s easy to get bogged down with popular terms like ‘keywords’, ‘links’ and ‘tags’ but ultimately the difference between success and failure in SEO lies with quality content.

Pssst! If you’re new to SEO and don’t have a clue what those popular terms actually mean, don’t fret. Check out this Complete Glossary of Essential SEO Jargon!

 

Are you making sure that all of your content is as relevant, interesting and engaging for newly engaged couples as you can?

Succeeding as a wedding business online is down to producing the right content, and choosing the right content to produce is reliant on you understanding what your potential clients / couples are searching for online, and then providing them with the best answers to their questions.

 

Here are four SEO content tips that will guarantee you soar to position one in the search results…

Tip 1: Act natural – optimise content but relax when it comes to keyword density

It’s important to know which keyword terms you’re optimising for but don’t let keywords rule your writing.

Even some SEO pro’s are guilty of meticulously measuring keyword density using tools like SEO Quake; counting the number of times a keyword is used on a particular page in body content, meta data and alt tags.

And whilst it can be good to check your content with these kinds of tools and ensure your keyword density is meeting minimum requirements it’s essential that you always write for engaged couples first before you consider how Google feels about things.

According to SEO guru Rand Fishkin, this is the general rule of thumb for keyword repetition:

 

Google understands how words and phrases relate which is exactly why you haven’t got to worry too much about keyword repetition rules. Avoid over-optimizing your website and make sure you don’t cram in keyword phrases for the sake of it.

Include the keywords that brides and grooms in your local market are searching for to find your type of wedding service in your page titles, blog posts and website copy but always use natural language that is relevant, credible and accurate.

Google rates high quality content that meets the user’s needs so deliver the content and experience engaged couples want and answer the questions they’re asking. This is a far more effective way to boost rankings and improve usability than getting keyword stuffy.

 

Tip 2: How to choose content topics that will help your wedding business rank well 

The best way to approach choosing a content topic is to combine insight into long tail keyword phrases with any content gaps in your wedding specialism, and to think of the questions engaged couples will want answers to.

Firstly, you’ll need to select your core subject or specialism, for example: “wedding venues in London”. You want to rank well for this keyword phrase and be considered an expert when it comes to delivering relevant content and results to searchers as it’s something that’s closely related to what your business does.

Next, you’ll want to Google the phrase yourself and check out which articles or sites are already ranking well for the term “wedding venues in London”.

How’s the competition looking?

If nobody else seems to have answered this question well and you’re sure you could do better, go ahead and focus on writing content for this relatively broad phrase. But if there are loads of relevant results already (which is likely when looking at broad search terms) it’s best you try to think of* different *words or phrases that are still relevant to this core keyword term. This will allow you to create truly unique content and have a better chance at ranking well for more specific search queries.

If we take the example “wedding venues in London”, related phrases could include “affordable wedding venues London”, “wedding venues London art gallery”, “wedding venues London and Essex” etc. Ideally, you want to carve out a relevant but differentiated niche for your topic, for example: “How to hold an affordable wedding at a London venue”, as these kinds of long-tail phrases are likely to be* less* competitive and will help you build authority around your core topic without going head to head with an established website already ranking well for this topic.

Take a look at some of the other words or phrases existing articles include frequently and use tools like Ubersuggest and KeywordTool.io to help you expand your related keywords lists.

 

Tip 3: Optimise your images for SEO

Choosing the right images to accompany your written content is really important as Alt Tags contribute as a ranking factor for Google when deciding if your content is high value.

Here are the key things you should consider when choosing images to help support your content and improve your SEO value:

  • Images must be engaging, high quality and attention grabbing.

  • Images must relate to your topic, add value to the piece and /or illustrate a point that is difficult to explain to enhance the overall reading experience.

  • Think about the size of the images you’re using as loading speed is a core SEO indicator and slow websites will lose readers and potential new business.

  • Remember to optimise your images with Alt tags and relevant descriptions that relate to the keyword phrase you’re optimising for.

  • Separate words with a hyphen when labelling images, not with a space or underscore. Search engines only recognize hyphens as word separators and this can affect how your images rank during a search.

Bridebook Business Tip: if you struggle to gather high quality, original images to support your content, why not try to connect with wedding photographers working at the same weddings as you, and offer to link them if they let you use a few of their photos? Links are absolutely vital for SEO so it’s a great currency to bid in when pairing up with other wedding suppliers to exchange favours.

 

Tip 4: Post fresh, new content regularly

As a rule of thumb, you should be looking to share a blog post or content of some description on topics of interest to your target audience around 2 or 3 times a week.

This could include one post on your own wedding website and a guest post for another related wedding website. Try submitting features to popular wedding blogs to help boost your website traffic and visibility. Publishing articles on third party platforms or partner websites can really help boost your rankings as it means you’re accessing a new audience and earning a relevant backlink to your own site.

Top Tip: ask any websites you publish content on if they can give you a followed link back to your wedding website in return for the content you’re contributing. Followed links act as signals telling Google that another related wedding website endorses yours. Also, try to use your core keyword term as anchor text in your backlink to earn extra SEO points!

Remember to share all of the content you produce on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and on any social channels you’re active on. There’s no point producing all that great content if nobody knows about it!

 

Are you content with your content?

Conduct a quick audit of your wedding website today and decide which content will stay, which will go and which can be re-purposed or edited to be improved.

The best way to fall short of SEO expectations is to leave stale, uninteresting content on your site.

Use our SEO content tips to start improving your chances of a position 1 ranking and we promise, the wedding bookings won’t be far behind.

5 Reasons Why Smart Venues are Hosting Wedding Fairs, Open Days and Events in 2017/18

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

Increase your wedding bookings with this experiential marketing technique.

 

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 experience 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.

Wedding fairs and open days are here to stay

 

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 Business 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.


Why group bookings can benefit your wedding business

 

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.

Why connecting and networking with fellow wedding suppliers at wedding fairs can benefit your wedding business

 

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.

Show off your wedding venue with different themes ar

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 2017 / 2018, 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 250K for FREE!

Wedding Venues in Birmingham and Beyond

Birmingham, famed for its Bulls, Balti and Black Sabbath but also home to some of the most beautiful wedding venues in the UK…



Are you looking for a venue with a difference near Birmingham? Bridebook.co.uk has found 25 venues in and around the city that are stunning, fun, or a little bit quirky! Take a look at these incredible places, or hunt for yourself using our Wedding Venue Search tool.

1. Packington Moor

Bridebook.co.uk Packington Moor

Just outside of Birmingham and surrounded by acres of woodland and countryside, Packington Moor makes jaws drop. This authentic stone barn with rustic beams gives off a light and airy feel for a perfect wedding.

2. Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Bridebook.co.uk Birmingham Repertory Theatre

This stunningly quirky venue holds productions throughout the year…and also weddings! Birmingham Repertory Theatre is ideal for couples who want a hint of dramatics included in their wedding day. Let’s get the show started!

3. The Kitchen Garden Cafe

Bridebook.co.uk The Kitchen Garden Cafe

The Kitchen Garden Cafe is a totally unique place to host your special day. It is an eco-friendly gem in the centre of Birmingham which offers heaps of charm for your wedding setting.

4. Hampton Manor Hotel & Peel’s Restaurant

Bridebook.co.uk Hampton Manor Hotel

Inside the majestic exterior of Hampton Manor Hotel, you will find stylish and contemporary decor with a deep history at the heart of the venue. Surrounded by lush gardens, and only half an hour from the city of Birmingham, this venue is a rather grand oasis.

5. Bawdon Lodge Farm

Bridebook.co.uk Bawdon Lodge Farm

In Charnwood Forest lies Bawdon Lodge Farm, the perfect place to set up a magical tipi or marquee wedding. Event professionals will be on hand to help your dreams become reality in this countryside haven.

6. Deckerdence – Unique Mobile Venue

Bridebook.co.uk Deckerdence

This stunningly quirky idea is great if you want to create an unforgettable experience. Deckerdence is a double decker bus that creates the centrepiece to your marquee and, with an onboard bar, you’ll have your guests’ attention within seconds!

7. Hagley Hall

Hagley Hall is an incredible Georgian Palladian manor house on the border of the West Midlands. With its magnificent state rooms and acres of parkland, this venue is brilliant for your bespoke wedding.

8. Shustoke Farm Barns

Bridebook.co.uk Shustoke Farm Barns

These gorgeous 18th Century barns are just 20 minutes from Birmingham and have striking high-ceilings for a dramatic look. Shustoke Farm Barns is made up of several red-brick buildings that you can use as you wish for your special celebrations.

9. Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Bridebook.co.uk Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Fancy saying ‘I Do’ among the flowers? This is your chance! Birmingham Botanical Gardens offers fascinating landscapes and 3 beautiful event spaces that are sure to please all of your guests.

10. Gorcott Hall

Bridebook.co.uk Gorcott Hall

With an incredibly distinct exterior, Gorcott Hall is a 16th Century, Grade II listed Tudor building. Inside, the character continues with timber beams and open fireplaces to add loads of warmth to your big day.

11. New Hall Hotel & Spa

Bridebook.co.uk New Hall Hotel & Spa

New Hall dates back to the 13th Century, showing off its glorious exterior and wonderful grounds. The oak panelled rooms and sunny terraces welcome you to New Hall Hotel & Spa, which is fit for a King and Queen!

12. Redhouse Barn

Bridebook.co.uk Redhouse Barn

A combination of contemporary style with original features is present in the outstanding setting of Redhouse Barn. Within 5 acres of Worcestershire countryside, this one-of-a-kind venue is bound to impress.

13. Swinfen Hall Hotel

Bridebook.co.uk Swinfen Hall Hotel

The 18th Century manor house of Swinfen Hall Hotel is a sanctuary of interior decor, ornamental gardens and has a deer park in the grounds. Perfect for feeling like a princess on your wedding day.

14. Dudley Zoo & Castle

Bridebook.co.uk Dudley Zoo & Castle

Make your wedding day unforgettable by choosing Dudley Zoo & Castle as your special location. With a renovated sensory garden, 40 acres of beautiful grounds, and over 1,000 animals from across the globe, you can’t go wrong with this venue.

15. Bordesley Park

Bridebook.co.uk Bordesley Park

Nestled in the Worcestershire countryside, Bordesley Park‘s 16th Century manor house is the perfect setting for a fun and relaxed wedding day. Stunning decor, lush gardens, a luxury marquee and even a trampoline are included to take away the stress from your day.

16. Aston Wood Golf Club

aston wood golf club

The beautiful surroundings of Aston Wood Golf Club make this wedding setting totally unique. This venue can cater for intimate celebrations in the oak-panelled dining room offering delicious catering and impecable wedding service.

17. The Elms

Bridebook.co.uk The Elms

In rural Worcestershire, you will find the grand structure of The Elms. This beautiful Queen Anne manor house provides elegant lounges and stunning decor in every room to add the icing to your cake on your special day.

18. Mythe Barn

Bridebook.co.uk Mythe Barn

The contemporary setting of Mythe Barn is based in an idyllic location just outside the hustle and bustle of Birmingham. From ceremonies in the Oak Barn to wedding breakfasts in the Grain Store and outdoor courtyard celebrations, this venue is a special one.

19. Pendrell Hall

Bridebook.co.uk Pendrell Hall

Sat on the edge of woodland in the Staffordshire countryside, the character and romance of this venue will complete your magical day. Pendrell Hall offers crisp, stylish interiors, The Morning Room – a haven of wooden features perfect for ceremonies, and 3 bridal suites to choose from.

20. Stoneleigh Abbey

Bridebook.co.uk Stoneleigh Abbey

Rich in history and full of regal charm, Stoneleigh Abbey is an incredible fairytale venue just 25 miles from Birmingham. It brings elegant rooms with timeless features and the famous Saloon which Queen Victoria once dined at!

21. Wootton Park

Bridebook.co.uk Wootton Park

Wootton Park is a barn style venue overlooking a lake and island for the most stunning photo opportunities. The landscaped gardens and 16th Century farmhouse in their own secluded valley are yours to do with what you wish on your big day.

22. Alrewas Hayes Events Ltd

Bridebook.co.uk Alrewas Hayes Events Ltd

In nearby Staffordshire, the very lavish Alrewas Hayes venue will put a spin on your wedding day. Boasting traditional rooms with period features and the luxury Lakeside Marquee, anything is possible here.

23. Compton Verney House

Bridebook.co.uk Compton Verney House

This beautiful Grade I listed Georgian mansion is also a renowned art gallery and is surrounded by 120 acres of picturesque parkland. Compton Verney offers the striking Adam Hall, perfect for ceremonies and wedding breakfasts on your special day.

24. Grand Station

Bridebook.co.uk Grand Station

A stone’s throw away from the city of Birmingham lies Grand Station. The decadent and timely nature of this venue’s function rooms will stun your guests and give you the grandeur you require for your special entrance.

25. Erasmus Darwin House

Bridebook.co.uk Erasmus Darwin House

If you fancy something a little more quirky, Erasmus Darwin House is for you! With 250 years of history and doubling as a museum, this venue will add heaps of charm and character to your Birmingham-based wedding.

Still unsure about which wedding venue to choose? Are you looking elsewhere in the UK? Help is at hand! Use Bridebook.co.uk’s Wedding Venue Search and type in your preferred location.

If you’ve still got tonnes to plan for your big day, Bridebook.co.uk can make the planning process much easier. Fill in your wedding guest list, wedding budget and use our wedding checklist to make sure you don’t forget about anything in your busy schedule.

Happy planning

4 wedding traditions that are getting ditched when couples get hitched

Here are 4 outdated wedding traditions that wedding suppliers should scratch off the list when working with 2017 / 2018 couples.

The wedding suppliers tick list is changing as we near 2018…

As wedding suppliers, we all have very different stories to tell when it comes to catering to the unique tastes and preferences of the soon-to-be-wedded couples we work with.

But we’ve noted a few old school traditions that seem to have reached the ‘death do us part’ portion of the wedding planning process.

As with most traditions, over time, their true meaning and significance is lost because they simply aren’t relevant any more.

Here are 4 outdated wedding traditions that wedding suppliers should scratch off the list when working with 2017 / 2018 couples.

1. The bouquet toss

Wedding florists…when was the last time a bride ordered an extra bouquet to toss to her single ladies?

It was probably a while ago.

We’ve all experienced that cringe-worthy moment when the dance floor is cleared and the singles are asked to line up and prepare to fight for the good-luck petals. Fortunately for all wedding guests of 2017 and beyond this strange custom has almost completely disappeared.

Wedding florists and wedding planners – don’t bring up the bouquet toss unless the couple bring it up themselves. It may make you look a little ‘last year darling’.

In fact, instead of throwing the bouquet to singletons, wedding flowers are now being given to wedding party guests as gifts to take home. Waste is a thing of the past.

Fun fact! Do you know where the bouquet toss originated from? In medieval Europe it was good luck to touch the bride so rather than have her dress grabbed at, she’d throw her bouquet at the crowd to distract them and then she’d make a run for it. I think a hug is the done thing these days…

2. Smashing cake in the bride’s face

Smashing the cake into the bride’s face is a tradition that stems (albeit tenuously) from the breaking of bread over the bride’s head for the sake of fertility and as a demonstration of male dominance.

We’re pretty sure nowadays it’s just an act that makes for silly photos and memorable moments but most brides are understandably not over the moon when it comes to being coated in cake for the remainder of their wedding day.

Wedding cake suppliers – breathe a sigh of relief because your iced masterpiece will actually be enjoyed and appreciated by guests as intended.

Modern day brides and grooms are choosing to skip this ritual altogether and instead, are investing more time and money in making their wedding cake an elaborate affair and a significant feature of their day.

In fact, Bridebook estimates that couples will budget £292 for their wedding cake. Even more reason not to waste any!

3. Wedding jewellery should be understated

Once upon a wedding, accessories were supposed to take a back seat and let the dress do the the talking.

But brides today are opting for big, bold accessories to bring their look up to date. Cue brightly coloured shoes, show-stopping hair pieces and statement necklaces.

Wedding dress and accessories suppliers – note that many brides today are choosing to invest their money in one big focal piece rather than lots of little accessories. Make sure your collection reflects this shift so that brides can visualise the complete end result in your boutique without having to shop elsewhere for more contemporary pieces.

4. Bridesmaids should carry matching bouquets

Couples are now choosing to mismatch floral arrangements including asking bridesmaids to carry different flowers in a similar hue or similar flowers in different but complementary shades.

Or dare to be different and offer paper bouquets to brides! Cheaper than real flowers and way cooler – your brides can make their new-age bouquets as wacky as they like!

Stand out as a wedding florist of tomorrow by offering this idea to couples to show you keep abreast of the latest trends and can cater to them accordingly.

Don’t go changing…

…unless you’d like to win more bookings and develop your wedding business!

It’s really important for wedding suppliers to adapt with the latest wedding trends – whether ditching old or adopting new because you want to be taken seriously as a contender in the wedding industry of tomorrow.

7 things Wedding Venues can clarify upfront to help secure bookings

By offering information on things newly engaged couples may not have even thought about, you’ll earn their trust and most likely, a booking too.

 
 
Newly engaged couples usually begin their wedding planning journey by choosing a venue.

This means that you’re faced with dreamy couples making big decisions that they may not be completely qualified to make this early in their wedding planning journey!

Evidently, the look of a venue is the key driver in a couple deciding which to choose, followed by price and capacity.

But there are a few other crucial questions couples often forget to ask whilst caught up in the moment.

Give your wedding venue the edge over competing venues by offering this information upfront and forcing them to ask the same questions of competing venues.

 

7 things wedding venues should clarify to help win hearts and bookings

1. Mention the wedding coordinator

If you’re going to be on hand throughout the wedding planning process but you’ll be handing over to an on-the-day wedding coordinator or qualified team member on your potential clients actual wedding day, mention this.

Be upfront and say that you’ve got an excellent wedding day coordinator who you’ll all work closely with throughout the planning process, and that this person will make sure everything runs smoothly on the day.

Reassure the couple that they’ll get a chance to meet this person before their big day once all of the important details have been captured accurately to make sure that they are comfortable that everything is in hand.

2. Let the couple know when they’ll have access to your wedding venue

If you’ve got another wedding planned at your venue around the same time, let the couple know this and if possible give an approximate time that they’ll be granted access to rooms in order to set up and decorate.

This conversation may seem a little premature but it’s something the couple will need to consider, and your forethought at this stage will be gratefully received and prove that you have thought of everything for them / not missed a trick.

3. How does everything fit in the space they’re looking to hire?

Create a vision for couples when you’re showing them around your wedding venue. It can be difficult to visualise a wedding if the room the couple is looking to hire isn’t set up for one at the time of their visit, so walk them around and mention where they could have the top table, the buffet and the dance floor.

By helping build a vision for the couple they’re more likely to imagine their wedding there and book.

4. Mention the entertainment equipment you have to offer

Lots of couples fail to ask about the logistics of evening entertainment and then fall short when they realise they need to provide their own equipment.

Let the couple know that they’ll be saving money on evening entertainment at your wedding venue because you already have a state of the art sound system with speakers and handheld microphones in place, which could be used for speeches and music.

If you’ve got cool lighting options for the evening, add this into the conversation too.

5. Give the option for a dinner the night before or brunch the day after

Help the couple to really make the most of their wedding experience by offering to host an arrival dinner for close guests the night before the wedding, or a brunch the day after.

Tagging on an additional meal will again help build a vision for the couple and show that you’re aware they’ll want to make the most of the time they have with their nearest and dearest.

6. Be bold and mention the weather

Although this applies particularly to weddings hosted outdoors (where discussing a plan B option in case of rain is vital) it also applies to indoor weddings, as it will affect photographs and will mean the possibility of soggy guests.

Mention the dreaded ‘R’ word and reassure the couple that if it happens, it won’t affect the smooth running of their day.

It’s also worth mentioning that if guests have brought coats, bags and umbrellas, your venue will operate a simple cloakroom or provide a rail or storage that is tucked out of the way.

7. Be open about any restrictions your venue carries

Whether your venue has noise restrictions after midnight or doesn’t allow flash photography in some areas, you’ll need to be open with the couple upfront to avoid problems later down the line.

In this scenario, it’s better to lose a booking by being honest than to disappoint a couple so much that you’re left with negative reviews and very unhappy clients.

Open the door to more information about your wedding venue and couples will love you for it

As a wedding professional, it’s important that you lead your clients to make the right decision for them and their wedding day.

Most information regarding space, equipment and service inclusions at wedding venues is limited – particularly at the early stages of planning when venues are being shortlisted – and details of what brides and grooms can expect to get for their money is unclear.

By offering an abundance of information on things the newly engaged couple may not have even thought about, you’ll earn their trust and most likely, a booking too.

How wedding suppliers can generate interest from Pinterest in 2017

Did you know that Millennials now use Pinterest as much as Instagram?

 

There’s something strange happening in the wedding industry where Pinterest and wedding suppliers are concerned…

Predominantly viewed purely as an online scrapbook designed to help wistful couples build a vision for their big day, the word ‘Pinterest’ seems to incite an involuntary groan from many wedding venues and suppliers who are unsure of how to make this ‘platform of unattainable dreams’ work in the real wedding world.

Despite being one of the newer social media platforms, Pinterest was the fastest independently launched site to reach 10 million unique monthly visitors according to the latest study by market research leaders, Statista. In fact, as of April 2017 Pinterest reported a whopping 150 million active users on its site.

That’s a pretty sizeable audience.

 

But who’s pinning what?

Did you know that Millennials now use Pinterest as much as Instagram? If we dive deeper into user demographics for the board we can see that 81% of Pinterest users are women and almost 50% of these women are aged between 18-34.

You don’t need us to tell you that this is ‘prime bride’ age.  

 

The masterminds at Pinterest saw weddings as one of their core markets a long time ago, and they recently commissioned a study to examine all wedding-related Pins and activity to get an idea of just how significantly weddings feature as a topic on the platform.

Here’s a summary of the key results:

1.Over 40 million people “turn to Pinterest for guidance across the wedding planner journey” every year

2. Pinners save almost 900 million Pins about weddings every year

3. Pinners conduct 378 million wedding-related searches every single year

4. 27% of Pinners plan for their wedding several times a day, compared to 18% of non-Pinners

This latest research proves that weddings constitute a huge market on Pinterest and that couples pinning on the platform are more engaged and involved in the wedding planning process than those that aren’t.

Sounds to us like they’re the kind of people we want to be in front of.

 

And if that’s not proof enough that weddings are and always have been one of the most pinned-about topics, a survey published by the Daily Mail back in 2012 revealed that 70% of Pinterest users had wedding-themed boards before they were even engaged. Awkward, you may think. Opportunity, you must think.

This statistic indicates a level of intent by soon-to-be newly engaged couples (or at least, they hope so) whose behaviour suggests that they will use the platform as their primary planning and idea building tool.

 

So why do wedding suppliers feel anti-social about this platform, rather than Pinterested?

 We’ve asked several partnering wedding venues and suppliers for their thoughts on Pinterest and why it doesn’t seem to take priority over other social platforms for wedding industry professionals.

We found that the three main drawbacks of the platform are as follows:

  1. Pinterest only enhances unrealistic expectations for brides and grooms, making wedding planning more difficult for wedding suppliers

  2. It’s a ‘dreamers’ platform rather than a conversion based revenue stream

  3. It requires you to post high quality images to get noticed – the expense of which (financial and time) isn’t justified by the return

It appears that many wedding venues and suppliers aren’t taking Pinterest seriously because it’s not a channel designed for direct customer engagement and bottom of the funnel conversions. But the value to be had in being present in an environment where your target demographic is sharing attractive and desirable images and essentially building the vision for their big day must be realised.

Image sharing is just a hop, click and a follow away from a website lead, and we’re going to take a look at how you can get started and improve your chances of winning bookings using this pinning platform.

 

How wedding suppliers can generate interest from Pinterest

 

1.Set up a quality profile for your wedding business

Setting up a Pinterest account is simple. Make sure that you use a striking, high quality profile picture and include a concise profile description of your wedding business, using relevant keywords and including that all-important link to your website.

Once you’re set up and before you start building an image portfolio it’s important that you remember Pinterest isn’t about promoting your wedding venue or business – it’s about gathering and showcasing high quality images that relate to your specialism and inspire couples so that they want to share and pin them.

 

2. Create specialist Pinterest boards

Create categories of boards for couples to follow – such as ‘winter weddings’, ‘UK wedding venues’ or ‘wedding flowers’ and then begin to fill your Pinterest boards with original photographs and pinned pictures.

 

You don’t have to go over-board (pin pun intended) – usually between 5 and 10 boards is fine but if you really think you need more, just try not to go over 20 as it will become difficult to fill and manage them all.

Success on Pinterest is pretty much entirely dependent on the use of high quality imagery and fortunately, the wedding industry is one of the most photograph-centric of them all. You could ask couples (or go direct to the photographers) if they’d mind you using a few of their professional photographs to eliminate the expense of you having to regularly arrange for original photographs to be taken yourself.

For more information on collaborative photo sharing ideas check out this article: Wedding venues and photographers – a match made in marketing heaven.

 

3. Pin from your own website to generate leads

Pinterest makes it easy for you to pin images directly from your website and blog. When you pin an image, the source of that image is saved which means that when your saved images are repined by other users, your website will stay listed as the original source of that image.

Put simply, it’s likely that attractive imagery will result in visits to your website as long as you use great imagery on your website – which you should be doing anyway.

 

4. Optimise your images

The majority of pictures you’ll pin and share on the site will either be uploaded directly by yourself, your couples or pinned from other places.

Whilst you can’t change the documented source of photos already on Pinterest, you can ensure you optimise any new images you’re uploading.

 

Once you have uploaded your new images click on “edit” and you’ll be able to include a description of your new picture and a link back to your website. However where possible, you should try and Pin directly from your website as it is a more web friendly and customer ‘share friendly’ approach.

Regardless of which pinning method you prefer, you should always include a short description of the image when you pin it.

 

5. Try out promoted pins

Because the vast Pinterest audience constitutes your main target demographic, wedding suppliers should consider using promoted pins to ensure that your best Pins appear in the most relevant places.

Why not test three of your best performing pins on various target audiences. Use time of day, location, age and perhaps ‘stage of wedding planning process’ as unique identifiers when testing your pins on different audiences to see which types of content work best for which audience.

 

6. Pair up and pin with other wedding suppliers

As we always say to wedding suppliers, why wouldn’t you help yourself by offering to help others?

Offer to promote other wedding suppliers and businesses you’ve worked with.

Wedding venues could create a “beautiful wedding flowers” board or a “gorgeous wedding cakes” category and ask the relevant suppliers to provide professional pictures. Wedding planners could use Pinterest as part of their social promotional package for advertising clients and have a “beautiful wedding venues” board which could feature venues they’ve worked with or products used.

This is an easy way to keep your Pinterest board populated with high quality images and it’s a great way to help cement partnerships within the industry.

Smaller businesses will love this technique as they’re most in need of increased online visibility and discoverability by potential clients. You can offer them exposure on your Pinterest account and guarantee fresh content for yourself with little effort.

Complementary images like these can also be found through re-pinning, which will help interaction with other pinners – including brides, grooms and other wedding suppliers.

 

Get Pinterested in this platform today

We’re not expecting this blog post to change the minds of every wedding supplier overnight. What we do hope is that we’ve given you a few good reasons to consider including this channel in your marketing plan in 2017 and beyond.

Getting started is a piece of cake, and as long as you know what to expect from the platform – that is, exposure with the hope of website visits – then you should see great value in investing a little time in it now and again.

Join your future clients today and show a little Pinterest in image sharing, optimising and showcasing the pics that make you tick.

 

Check out Bridebook’s Pinterest to see the idea boards and inspiring images we’re providing for couples.

Why successful wedding suppliers spend more time choosing the right profile pictures

Wedding venues are 90% more likely to be shortlisted by couples if they pick a powerful profile picture.

Wedding venues are 90% more likely to be shortlisted by couples if they pick a powerful profile picture.

As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a good first impression.

The profile picture you choose to introduce your Bridebook portfolio or indeed any social media profiles your wedding business owns is more important than any other content on the page.

A recent Bridebook survey of registered UK based ‘wedding planning’ couples revealed that 9⁄10 brides and grooms shortlisted their wedding venue based on its profile or thumbnail picture alone.

The profile picture is the opener; the hook that encourages newly engaged couples to stay on your page and scroll through more photographs or read more information about your wedding services.

Your profile picture is the online equivalent of eye contact, a smile and a firm handshake when meeting potential clients face to face.

So what makes for a good profile picture?

Many wedding venues and suppliers will choose to use a profile picture that succinctly captures what their wedding business is all about; such as a photograph of a wedding venue or a wedding cake.

And whilst this is the right approach in terms of needing your profile picture to be relevant and able to instantly tell first time viewers exactly what your wedding service or product is all about, we mustn’t forget to inject personality, fun, love and warmth into our profile picture.

Weddings are about love, and couples looking for wedding venues, wedding planners, dresses or florists will be drawn to photographs that exude emotion over those that don’t.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

Sandhole Oak Barn is a beautifully designed oak wedding barn set in the rolling Cheshire countryside. However, the first picture we see when we visit their Bridebook profile simply doesn’t do the venue justice. Despite the blue sky in the photograph the overall image feels a little cold and unromantic.

When we scrolled through a few more images of the venue we discovered two beautiful photographs that would work much better as profile pictures.

These images are warm, romantic and the presence of people in the pictures enables newly engaged couples to better relate to the venue and its purpose.

This first image shows a crowd of wedding guests enjoying themselves amidst a hazy backdrop and the second image is of the front of the wedding venue – as per the original profile picture above – but includes a newlywed couple standing in the entrance which makes for a far more impactful image.

Nancarrow Farm is a glorious wedding venue made up of a number of barns on a working farm  near the Cornish coast, and they’ve got it right with their chosen profile picture.

This beautiful photograph is the first thing we see when we land on their Bridebook profile page and it features the wonderful rustic barn with a happily married couple embracing in its doorway; evoking a feeling of love, romance and simplicity.

Elmore Court is a stunning manor house situated in Gloucestershire and overlooking the Cotswolds, and despite their profile picture effectively advertising the venue in all its grandeur, we can’t help but think adding newlyweds and a little sunset glow would make for a more affecting profile picture.

Here’s their current profile picture:

And here’s what we’d prefer to see when we land on the wedding venues profile page:

Choosing the right profile picture for your wedding business is ultimately down to you and your preferences. What makes an image stunning is partially subjective but you can follow a few general rules to increase the chances of your profile picture winning you wedding bookings.

Personality is vital when choosing a profile picture to represent you and your wedding business.

Include people in your picture – ideally the married couple but wedding guests work well too – as this will help newly engaged couples searching for a wedding venue or supplier to better picture their big day with you and relate to the emotions conveyed in your image.

We are all visual creatures and with so much choice out there for couples planning their wedding it is more important than ever to stand out. Grab visitors attention with your profile picture and thumbnail and you’ll be 90% more likely to be shortlisted for bookings.

Who needs a thousand words when you’ve got a showstopping profile picture…

3 Ways Wedding Venues and Photographers can Market together

In a world where competition is rife, isn’t it nice to think that wedding suppliers could help each other out? Here are 3 ways in which wedding venues and photographers can team up for maximum marketing opportunities…

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” – Helen Keller

Where no conflict of interest exists, why wouldn’t we form a partnership and support each other’s efforts?

Wedding venues and wedding photographers still typically tend to go it alone where marketing is concerned. But why, when the products and services at each others disposal are so perfectly fitting as the ideal marketing vehicle?

Wedding venues rely almost exclusively on photographs to sell their locale to newly engaged couples. They compete online with other local wedding venues firstly on aesthetics, and then on details such as price, package, dates etc.

And with so many competing venues showcasing beautiful imagery on their websites and sharing exquisite photographs on Facebook, Instagram and other social feeds, it’s never been more important for wedding venues to feature unique, artistic photography.

Similarly, wedding photographers are fast becoming hailed as one of the most important investments for couples getting married in 2017 and beyond. But competition is stiff.

What better way to get noticed for your photography skills than to photograph some of the most superb wedding venues in the UK, add them to your portfolio and share them online?

3 ways in which wedding venues and photographers can work together

1. Remember to tag each other when you promote your weddings online

Ok this may seem like an obvious one but it’s surprising how many wedding venues and photographers still don’t tag each other when sharing photographs on social media. 

This is one of the easiest ways for both parties to extend the audience reach of their posts and get their content seen and shared by more people.

Clearwell Castle has the right idea. Here, they’ve re-posted a photograph taken at their wedding venue; remembering to tag the all-important photographer.

2. Extend photo opportunities beyond weddings

Blenheim Palace is a wedding venue that’s truly realised the benefits of partner photography and is capitalising on the fact that it’s a very attractive place for photographers (amateur and professional) to include on their portfolio.

Blenheim Palace is using #picoftheweek and #justgoshoot hashtags to promote photography of their venue on Instagram, and people are loving it.

Although the photo’s aren’t specific to weddings, they’re still advertising the venue and its grounds. By adding a few strategic wedding hashtags, wedding venues and photographers could subtly promote each other’s skills in a similar way.

Photographers swoop on the Palace to snap away – hoping that their pictures get chosen to advertise the venue and hoping that in doing so, a mention by Blenheim Palace on social media may get them noticed as a serious contender in the photography world. And in return, Blenheim Palace receives free marketing through the circulation of standout, original photographs.

3. Recommend each other

It is of course easier for wedding venues to recommend wedding photographers when brides and grooms book their weddings, however photographers can still return the favour by leaving reviews and recommendations for venues on their website, and by publishing social posts to promote their work at the venue in question. 

Venues should ask this of partnering photographers as standard.

Wedding venues and wedding photographers can also leave recommendations for each other on their Bridebook profiles. Showcasing photographers and venues you work well with puts couples at ease and shows that you support other experts in the industry – helping both parties build a network of likeminded suppliers.

For more information on the importance of reviews and recommendations see this post.

Wedding venues and photographers should make the most of free marketing opportunities wherever they can.

In a world where competition is rife, isn’t it nice to think that us wedding suppliers could help each other out?

Wedding venues and wedding photographers are a match made in heaven where this kind of mutually beneficial relationship is concerned.

Take free marketing opportunities where you can. Help promote each other’s products and services and publish photographs that benefit both parties on your website, social channels and on your free Bridebook profile – which should be packed full of all your important wedding business details.

5 ways Wedding Venues can use Facebook to boost bookings this summer

There’s huge potential for wedding venues to maximise how they use Facebook and to generate bookings and business as a result.

We’re not here to tell you that social media is taking over the world. You already know that.

But deciding where to focus your online marketing efforts as a wedding venue supplier and knowing *how *to individually tailor your approach for each social channel can be tricky.

According to the latest study into the most famous social network sites worldwide in April 2017, Facebook stands out as the clear market leader and largest social network by active users today; boasting 1.97 billion monthly active users, followed by Whatsapp (1.2 billion) and Youtube (1 billion).

Facebook is the perfect platform for wedding venues – and wedding suppliers in general – looking to market their products and services because it is the number one network for close, friendly connections over mass media broadcasting.

It is a channel made up of networks of people likely to recommend products and services to their connections, and it is a platform that enables you, as a wedding supplier, to publish both written and visual content that sells your services.

Facebook is a marketing channel that wedding venues in particular cannot ignore and we’re going to explore the ways in which you can boost your wedding bookings on this platform this summer and into the future.

But firstly, let’s address a growing (or should we say, declining) problem with Facebook.

Organic reach (i.e. how many people you can reach for free when you post content on your page) on Facebook has dramatically declined since around 2012, which – if you’re active on Facebook right now – you will probably have noticed.

This is down to two things. Firstly, there’s simply too much content being published on the platform which means we’re all facing far greater competition when it comes to getting our content seen. And secondly, Facebook is now trying to display super relevant content to specific groups of people, rather than serving all content to all folk.

So the social landscape is changing and we need to change with it. More than ever before the focus is on delivering specific, relevant content to the right people and in the right ways to be seen. And being seen means being booked.

Here are 5 ways in which wedding venues can improve reach, engagement, interactions and subsequently get more bookings through Facebook alone, today:

1. Paid advertising works

Facebook advertising really isn’t that scary or expensive if you know how to approach it, and let’s be clear; we’re not suggesting that you ditch existing efforts in favour of paid.

Facebook is encouraging us to consider incorporating targeted paid advertising into our social strategy rather than just using the platform as a free broadcasting channel. The reason for this is because of the renewed emphasis on content relevance and targeting.

Facebook is taking care of a lot of your targeting for you already when you post organically thanks to an updated Facebook algorithm which now adapts to individual user preferences. Put simply, this means that if someone regularly looks at photos of your wedding venue rather than reading written content, the Zuckerberg army will deliver more photos and less content to them in future.

But we can take this one step further through the use of Facebook ads (which can run for as long as you like and can be set to expire when your allocated spend runs out) and serve highly specific advertisements to specific people in your target demographic at a time and on a device that best suits your audience.

For example, a particular wedding venue may target engaged couples within a certain distance of their venue, e.g. wedding venues in London, as well as by age, gender and lifestyle preferences.

Facebook insights (which you’ll all have access to via your Facebook account) or Google Analytics (if you’ve set this up for your website) will be able to tell you much more about the kinds of people you’re attracting, such as whether they prefer to read your content on a mobile or tablet. Use these insights to build a highly engaged audience on Facebook.

In summary, you don’t have to throw a lot of money at Facebook advertising to benefit from an improved reach, and remember, it is about supplementing – not replacing – organic efforts with paid.

2. Be selective with the content you post

It’s time to switch from untargeted, frequent publishing to targeted, selective publishing.

Whether you’re paying to sponsor the Facebook post or not, your objective should be to get as much engagement from each post as possible. Basic targeting options are available for organic posts e.g. engaged couples in London, which means that you have no excuse not to be thinking about the audience and the purpose of your content each and every time you post.

Delivering more relevant content to the people who matter most to your business is the key to securing more bookings.

Top tip: be sure to include trigger words in posts that indicate important events (e.g., “congratulations”) which will get the attention of Facebook (who love jumping on special events) and the engaged couples you’re looking to target.

Overly self-promotional Facebook content is not the best way to win business, and by that, we mean the kinds of posts that read “Hold your wedding at our venue and we’ll give you 10% off!” or “We pride ourselves on delivering the best weddings in the business”.

Produce useful and informative content for your audience that aims to drive traffic to your website and blog. These owned assets of yours are where your conversions and bookings are likely to happen.

With reviews and recommendations becoming increasingly important for brides and grooms in the decision making process, you can post subtly promotional content by sharing the good news stories and the positive comments of couples who’ve held their wedding day at your venue.

There’s nothing more powerful than photographs and comments from a happy couple who’ve had the best day of their lives at your wedding venue. This should be the angle you adopt.

It’s also worth partnering with wedding suppliers who’ve worked on weddings at your venue. Ask them to leave their own comments on your Facebook page and engage with your content, and then do the same for them.

And encourage fans to engage with your posts when they see them, so that they see more of them. This could be as simple as adding a reminder to “Please Like and share” at the end of your posts.

3. Share videos and Broadcast on Facebook Live

Did you know that Facebook ranks live video higher in the news feed, and that users spend 3x more time watching live broadcasts than traditional videos on Facebook? This means that if you can get couples live streaming their wedding day on Facebook, you’re more likely to be seen by the brides and grooms you’re looking to attract!

Why not start broadcasting your very own live footage of your wedding venue on Facebook today and kickstart your mission to improve organic reach!

Record live behind the scenes footage of your team setting up for a wedding (but be careful not to capture anything personal to the couple who’s wedding your hosting unless you have their prior permission) and include footage of florists, caterers and musicians – remembering to tag all parties involved in the live stream; subsequently leveraging your audience reach through the audiences of other wedding suppliers.

This sounds like an obvious one but we really shouldn’t underestimate the power of a great picture.

See.

Save and utilise all exceptional images from weddings held at your venue and make sure any less than spectacular snaps are removed.

Your best photographs should take pride of place as your venue’s Facebook profile picture and cover photo, and you should change these feature images now and then to test which garner the most attention and to therefore inform which photographs are best shared in future to win engagement.

5. Beware the competition

Be careful not to rely too heavily on competitions or to boost your competitions too often.

The reason for this is that your audience will perhaps increase (for the short term at least) but you’ll find you often attract people less likely to spend money on booking your wedding venue and more likely to just want to win something.

Organic content and paid advertising (not boosted posts) is always best and keep competitions as an infrequent treat rather than placing them at the forefront of your social campaign.

There’s huge potential for wedding venues – and wedding suppliers in general – to really maximise how they use Facebook and to generate bookings and business as a result.

Get out there and tap in to the 2 billion internet users currently using social networks today.

Have you found this article useful? Leave us a comment!

Supplier Stories: Wedding Venue Blenheim Palace on Tradition, Millennials and the Wedding Industry

Welcome to this week’s Supplier Story! ‘Supplier Stories’ is an original Bridebook Business article series, where we go behind-the-scenes and into the wedding world through those that know it best – the experienced and talented venues and suppliers across the UK.

So whether this is your first story or 10th, enjoy as we look into the industry as a whole, and celebrate a true story in itself! Who says couples have all the fun?

 

Blenheim Palace’s Supplier Story:

 

This week we shine the spotlight on Emma Rogers, Sales and Events Manager at the elegant Blenheim Palace. Using their significant events management expertise, the Blenheim Palace wedding team transforms Winston Churchill’s birthplace into a quintessential fairytale wedding venue. Its unforgettable baroque architecture and award-winning gardens makes it a firm favourite for a seamless and spellbinding wedding.

So without further ado, Emma over to you!

 

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I studied International Hospitality Management at University which included a year’s placement in the USA and all of my jobs since then have been in the Events Industry. My parents always worked in Hospitality as well so I guess I was destined to do it. I started at Blenheim Palace nearly ten years ago and have been involved in planning all sorts of different events, big and small since then.

 

2. Share the story of Blenheim Palace?

Blenheim Palace was built in the 18th Century and is known as a masterpiece of English Baroque architecture. The ancestral home of the Dukes of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, there is so much fascinating history behind this World Heritage Site. The Palace has been used to entertain and celebrate for centuries, and we are thrilled to carry on this tradition of hospitality today, welcoming weddings and all kinds of events.

The Palace is surrounded by 2000 acres of parkland landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown which includes some incredible views. This really is a magnificent setting for weddings and I am very proud to be part of the team here.

 

3. What’s your favourite room in the Palace?

As an event space I love the Saloon. It is a really intimate dining space which is unusual given the size of the building. One long table for dinner with beautiful flowers, glassware and lighting can make the room come alive.

 

4. What drew you to the wedding world?

I have always loved event planning but there is something so special about working with a couple to plan their wedding day. I really enjoy getting to know the couple in the lead up to their day and then being there on the day to see all of their exciting plans come to fruition. You really feel part of their day and it is such an honour to help make their ideas a reality. 

 

5. What do you see as the biggest challenge in the wedding industry currently?

In my opinion the fact that there is so much choice now for couples and access to so much information, whilst helpful can be overwhelming. Gone are the days of someone setting their heart on one venue; couples now see so many venues and suppliers it becomes harder to stand out and equally hard for the couple to make decisions.

 

6. What wedding venue trends are you seeing in the industry?

I have noticed some new trends in food including concentration on making the food much more individual and interesting, and more consideration for using local produce. There seems to be an emerging focus on making sure parts of a wedding day are unique and something that guests may not have seen before, most typically in entertainment (like using artists instead of photographers or caricaturists). I have also noticed that more couples are interested in using outside spaces more for ceremonies or garden games.

 

7. What is the biggest challenge you face on the wedding day itself?

We want to make sure every couple enjoy their day and don’t have to think about the logistics of everything happening. This is why planning is so important and why we make sure they have a copy of the event order in advance – so they can see that we have every bit of information we need, ensuring they don’t have to think about anything on the day. This makes the challenge of organising logistics and design much easier, and puts our couples’ minds at ease.

 

8. How do you feel technology is changing the industry?

Access to so much online advice about wedding planning is great for giving people ideas and inspiration, but I feel it can also give people unrealistic ideas on what they want to (or can) achieve on their wedding day. While technology is definitely having a big impact on the industry, I think it has its disadvantages too. The trick is to be careful which tools you use and to make sure that they have up-to-date and verified information on venues and suppliers.

 

9. What has been your biggest time saver this year?

We always try to work as efficiently as possible but with the number of enquiries we receive it has been difficult to manage everything. A big time save for us was the development of a new website, on which couples have access to much more information before, including room sizes, prices and even seeing the room in 360 degrees on their screen. Doing this means that couples are much more informed on the venue before coming to us and we can dedicate more time to them, as we have less enquiries to manage.

 

10. How do reviews affect the industry?

Like with any industry, word of mouth is one of if not the most important marketing tool for wedding venues and suppliers – couples always want to hear about others’ experiences and judge whether the venue or supplier lives up to its reputation. I think it’s great that people have such easy access to information and reviews about venues and suppliers, however often people are more motivated to leave reviews when they have a bad experience than when they have had a good one, so it can paint an unrealistic picture of a supplier which is a great shame. We always include privately-sent testimonials. We are always happy to share testimonials with our potential clients.

 

11. How do you get to know your couples before the big day?

We meet with our couples as many times as we can and they would like to before the day. It is great to get a feel for their vision for the day so you can then recommend the right suppliers to help them make that vision come true.

 

12. What do you think makes Blenheim Palace unique?

Blenheim Palace is a truly unique space with amazing grounds and spectacular function rooms. What also shows is how passionate the team here are about Blenheim Palace and how important it is for us to host amazing events befitting of this amazing building. We put so much time in to the planning of the event and involve lots of staff on the day from all different departments, and our passion for the building feeds through to a passion for hosting these fantastic wedding days.

 

13. What do you think makes for the perfect wedding?

To me, it’s making sure that the wedding day is exactly what the couple want and reflects their personalities. In the past, weddings were less about the couple and more about tradition and pleasing others; there was little room for variation from the couple and not much scope to make their day uniquely theirs. Nowadays, people are much more interested in arranging a day that suits them and are not so easily swayed by others’ opinions, which means that they can have their perfect day the way they want it and I am fortunate enough to help.

 

14. What’s your favourite wedding memory?

There are so many to choose from. We had a wonderful wedding last year and the Groom had arranged the Bride’s favourite singer to sing her down the aisle, completely unbeknown to her. I was stood with her outside the ceremony room and, although she had chosen the song she was walking down the aisle to, she was not expecting it to be sung live. It was amazing seeing her face as she walked in the room and saw him singing and then also to see the Groom beaming with pride at her reaction. It was so lovely!

 

15. What do you love about Bridebook?

Bridebook is a great tool for couples to use when planning their big day. I love the incorporation of guest lists and budget management. As a venue, Bridebook allows couples to see a snapshot of what we do and the search bar feature means we’re easy to find too. Alongside being a listed venue Bridebook has given us great opportunities to stand out with their blog features, awards and more. They’re always working to bring couples to their dream venues, and venues to their dream couples!

 

A huge thank you to Emma for sharing her Supplier Story. See the beautiful Blenheim Palace  in their Bridebook profile.

 

Want to feature in your own Supplier Story? Get in touch with Beth at beth@bridebook.co.uk.

Bridebook.co.uk Marriage Report 2017

The UK’s divorce rate is at its lowest level for nearly 50 years. Couples now enter marriage knowing their partner and relationship better than ever before leading to marriages becoming increasingly strong and lasting.

 

Wedding planning app and website Bridebook.co.uk has surveyed 4,000 recently married couples and discovered a change in this generation’s perception of marriage: 

 

Results show that couples are getting married considerably older than the last generation (average bride or groom is 8 years older than in the 1970s) and the majority already live together (89% of couples). They have long relationships before marrying (4.9 years on average) and have had previous serious relationships before ‘finding the one’ (2 previous serious relationships on average). Marriage has become a consensual independent decision free from external pressure (84% discussed marriage before the proposal, 83% felt no pressure to marry) – it is an ‘opt in’ personal choice. The number of weddings has started to rise (2.7% annual growth in latest figures) after a steady and dramatic decline in the past 50 years and the number of divorces is at its lowest level since 1971 as people are more secure in their relationships prior to marriage than ever before. Commitment as a concept has become refreshingly relaxed in comparison to previous generations.

 

Key findings: TIMEFRAMES OF MARRIAGE

  • The average age of a single woman getting married in 1971 was 22.6 years old, now it is 30.8 years old.
  • The average age of a single man getting married in 1971 was 24.6 years old, now it is 32.7 years old.
  • The average couple were in a relationship for 4.9 years before getting married. This breaks down as –
  • Dated for 1.4 years (17 months) before moving in together.
  • Then lived together for 1.83 years (22 months) before getting engaged.
  • Then were engaged for 1.67 years (20 months) before getting married.
  • The total average time living together before marriage totals to a whole 3.5 years.
  • The average number of serious relationships each member of the couple had before marriage = 2.

 

Key findings: MARRIAGE’S INCREASE IN VALUE

– 95% of couples would recommend getting married.

– 91% of couples choose to get married to demonstrate commitment. Only 2% due to social pressure, 2% financial, 2% convenience.

– 85% of couples say marriage makes a relationship stronger.

– 83% never felt any pressure to get married. 92% feel there is less pressure to get married today than parents’ generation.

– 73% stated that they value marriage more now than they did as a child.

 

Key findings: VIEW OF RELIGION IN MARRIAGE

– Whilst 41% of couples got married in a church, 52% of couples claim to be “Not at all religious”.

– Only 8% of couples cited religious reasons as one of the primary reasons for getting married (91% cited demonstration of commitment, 30% cited planning to have children).

– 57% of couples who chose to get married in a church chose due to “Sticking to traditions” and 22% due to “Parental expectations”.

 

Key findings: CHANGES TO RELATIONSHIP SINCE MARRIAGE

– 80% feel that since getting married the level of commitment has increased (3% decreased).

– 60% feel that since getting married the level of happiness has increased (5% decreased).

– 57% feel that since getting married the level of trust has increased (4% decreased).

– 56% feel that since getting married the level of love has increased (4% decreased).

– 41% feel that since getting married they share a better mental wellbeing (4% worse).

– 33% feel that since getting married they have a better sexual relationship (11% worse).

 

Key findings: OTHER

– 46% of couples have a child within 2 years of getting married.

– 26% of couples hadn’t broken up in their relationship before marrying.

– 82% would consider marriage counselling if the need arose.

– 83% don’t believe you have to be married before having kids.

– 73% of third marriages in USA end in divorce.

Hamish Shephard, founder of Bridebook.co.uk,  says:

“It is fantastic to see how the marriage is evolving with today’s modern couples for the positive. Marriages are becoming stronger than ever, relationships happier and more committed than ever, and couples more independent and consensual in their decisions than ever.”

“Whilst living together before getting married, having serious relationships out of wedlock, or getting married when you are older were previously frowned upon, for the modern couple these can clearly be very positive steps to finding “the one” and having a fantastic long-lasting marriage”.

“Weddings are now focused on the celebration of a couples’ life-long commitment to one another, rather than the start of a new life together, and hence have become bigger and bigger occasions.”

“We have reached a tipping point where the divorce rate will likely be on the decline for the foreseeable future as marriage increasingly becomes the fully informed independent choice of couples wishing to demonstrate their commitment to one another without the pressure seen in previous generations.”

 

For further information, interviews and images please contact Harriet or Sarah-Jane at Harriet Hunt Communications

harriet@harriethunt.com sarahjane@harriethunt.com

T: 0208 871 2246  M: 07886 96908