Cherish your Dream Team | Wedding Venue Must Haves

So you have a stunning location, fabulous venue features, a brilliant chef, a wonderful events team but what about your extra dream team who transform your venue from ‘nice’ to ‘absolutely wow’? The florists, the cake designers, the décor specialists, the DJs and more.

I see a huge disparity in the way venues treat the team of wedding professionals who work alongside them to deliver their customers dream day and the greatest success stories are the ones who treat their suppliers as highly valued partners. Here are some examples of the positive that I would love to see every venue adopting:

It’s in the name – so much lovelier to call your team of suppliers, your partners? It’s a shift many of us have made over the years and it’s more representative of how it really is – they are supplying their products and services to you but they are helping you deliver and enhance your venue – you’re a team – partner just seems more fitting and certainly the terminology will resonate more with a modern audience of millennial couples who have been brought up with teamwork being the norm.

A good welcome and a good meal – think about how you can make your supplier partners really welcome at your venue on the day. Of course, your priority is the guests and a good wedding professional should understand this but giving a good photographer, somewhere to store his kit, a place where he can grab a glass of water or eat later on, is so valued. Good professionals should be happy with simple food and to help themselves and, in the main, don’t expect 5 star service, but if they are working for 6 + hours (many of them 12 +) then they need access to water, food and somewhere to rest for a few minutes – the easier and more accessible you can make that to them the better and the more they will want to work with you. I know that a huge amount of business is from cross referral in the wedding industry so putting the effort into developing a loyal base of wedding professionals is really key.

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Credit where it’s due –  in line with the above point on cross referral in the wedding business, be sure that you give back to your wedding professionals – it’s the most successful when it’s give and take. There is considerable value to that wedding company being on your recommended list, but make even more of it, by showing off and fully crediting how fabulous your venue looks in the hands of such talent. The fast growing modern venues I see work really hard in celebrating the successes of their preferred partners by very active social media shouts, blogging and generally crediting their work wherever possible. This gets shared by those involved and its reach goes far and wide. Sharing really is the way to go and fully crediting photos and creative work is vital and genuinely supports increased business for all.

What ways do you really look after your venue partners?  Let me know any specific happy stories as I’d love to feature them in a future blog. Send to: enquiries@kellychandlerconsulting.co.uk.

Credits:
Photography: Paul White Weddings // Bride Getting Ready: Stoke Park Club // Church: Service conducted by Revd Camilla Walton at St Mary’s Beaconsfield // Florals: Simon Nickell Design // Confetti pouches: Not On The High Street // Bridal Cars: Classic Car Hire // Bride’s Gown & Veil: Vera Wang // Bride’s Shoe’s: Jimmy Choo // Bridesmaid Dresses: Coast // Flowergirl Dresses: Nicki Macfarlane // Flowergirl Shoe’s: Monsoon // Hair: Angel Satwick Hair // Order of Service: Memories Made // Reception Venue: Stoke Park // Film: Bloomsbury Films // Florals: Simon Nickell Design // Cake: Cakes by Krishanthi // Cake Topper: Miss Cake // Mr and Mrs Balloons: Bubblegum Balloons // White taxi photo booth: Mega Booth // White excellent quality linens: Just 4 Linen // Wedding post box: Your Wedding Post Box // Lighting, dancefloor and backdrop: Stress Free Hire // Live music (Leigh Coleman Collective & Junior Guevarra): Eight Ray Music // Table plan & paper goods: Memories Made UK