Conducting a brilliant venue showround – Top Tips

I experience a lot of showrounds in a great range of venues both from the perspective of consulting with clients to improve their offering but also often when I have my wedding planner hat on and am viewing new venues with a wedding couple in mind. Getting customers through the door and actually with you is the hard part so you want to make absolutely sure you put your best foot forward and let your venue speak volumes when you have interested clients in front of you – you have a very good chance here of clinching the deal. Today I’m sharing a few tips which I think will elevate you high above the “average”.

No rush
Give clients time to take it all in – you work in your venue each day so some of the magic of the first view of such a space is lost – I see a lot of showrounds conducted at huge speed which doesn’t always allow the couple to stand and appreciate the space – possibly allowing them some time at the end alone, get’s around this problem. I know that security issues mean you may not be able to do this but if you are, allow clients just a few minutes to look, discuss and consider without your presence, particularly if there are 2 + visitors.

The story
It may sound obvious, but be sure to point out not just the key areas and what they are used for in a logistical sense (although this is really important) but key historical features that are amazing for them to know. Keep the history short but interesting. Wedding couples far more than any other type of client, want a venue with a story and somewhere they can connect with and although the focus is on spaces they can use, don’t forget to sell the quirkiness and interest in your venue; a couple marrying are choosing a location that they will remember forever and will become a part of their personal story, so make sure that past famous events, people or interesting facts are peppered amidst your showround practical facts.

Photographic features
Every wedding cares about photos – so where in your venue is an obvious backdrop or amazing feature or features? If you’re not sure, ask some of your professional photographers where they like best. Point out these features clearly; couples need to very obviously be shown where creates great shots so they can imagine themselves in the spaces on their own day.

Bring it to life
The ipad is the best invention for bringing a venue to life and I’m sure many of you use these in your showrounds. In the case of many of your spaces, they will not be set for wedding ceremonies or dinners when clients visit, so bring your ipad round on the tour with some amazing images of the rooms set up and show them as you are in the spaces to help couples envisage, particularly if they show a specific interest in something or ask a question.   Remember that you are dealing with a largely inexperienced audience who don’t naturally possess the experience or imagination to create how those spaces may look all set up – so you need to show them!

Plan your route logically
Try to plan the route of your showround that you can take them from space to space in a logical sense so from wedding ceremony to drinks reception to wedding breakfast to evening party; it can be really helpful to move as the wedding guests will on the day for a couple to feel at home in your space and see how it works for them.   Whilst the natural layout of your venue may not allow this, I’d suggest a verbal recap for them of the key spaces at the end of your tour and an offer to revisit key spaces (if they seem generally interested) and often it’s only when they have seen the whole venue, that people can then start to look at things like ‘where do I as the bride arrive?’, ‘where do the guests enter?’ and it’s these things which they need to leave with a clear idea of, so they can really see the whole day working for them and imagine themselves living it.

For further show round tips and much more, have you taken a look at our group training days for ambitious wedding venues?  Our latest training days are listed on our dedicated page here.

‘I really enjoyed the training session and was honestly hanging onto your every word from start to finish!! I think everything I learnt will be really helpful.’ – Rosalind Craven, Weddings and Special Events Executive, RSA House

Photo credits:
A huge thank you to the following brilliant wedding professionals who produced the images featured in this post which not only showcase some gorgeous bridal fashion but beautifully show-off the key photographic features of this wedding venue:
David Bostock Photography // Ellie Sanderson Bridal // Nether Winchendon House