Wedding venue must-haves for thoroughly modern ‘I do’s’  – Part 2

I’m in a privileged position as owner and wedding planner at The Bespoke Wedding Company to get under the skin of engaged couples at the early stages of their planning.  There are key wedding celebration wishes which crop up time and time again and where I quite often find venues slow to the table to meet the demand. My series of posts aims to cover some of these key trends which you can adopt to keep you ahead of the game and winning those bookings:

 New space, new experience

There is an increasing trend towards offering guests different experiences throughout the wedding day. Couples no longer want their guests to spend their entire day/evening in one ballroom designed to one style that is static, but want to give them different experiences during the day and evening which is often best achieved by moving guests to different locations styled differently or by room turnarounds/resets.

Think whether your venue has spaces that aren’t currently used but could be with some décor and theming? Even just as an area for a short interlude for coffee and cake post wedding breakfast or for use with group family photos.

Modern wedding couples want variety of space perhaps more than size of space.  Can your venue even devise a way to partition a particularly large area cleverly so that it serves many purposes? If it is one large space you have, can you transform it during a brief break with different lighting or the addition of some slightly different furniture. Inspiring clients with these kinds of ideas (before waiting for them to ask) will ensure they feel special and their wedding unique and will set you ahead of the competition.

 Production – Lighting and Décor

If you specialise in corporate events too and will undoubtedly have seen clients invest in clever stage sets, lighting and technical support for their business presentations and gala dinners. The weddings of 2016 don’t necessarily want to become a corporate event but do want to “put on a show” much more than ever before. Many more weddings are using some element of ‘Production’ whether it’s wanting to bring in uplighting, have a great quality sound system for speeches, organise draping to cover unsightly areas or to a theme. Also additional lighting like fairy light strings, festoon lighting and lanterns, as well as additional furniture particularly for bar areas if the budget allows.

Whilst you may well not have the time or resource to get involved in sourcing bespoke items for each client, you might well like to consider offering some basic items as a starting point with one or two key suppliers on your preferred supplier list to point them in the right direction.  Here’s my shopping list of bride and groom production desirables:

Bar units  – mirrored, white, uplit.

Bar furnishings such as chill out sofas, chairs, coffee tables.

Dancefloors – mirrored, LED, pealight white.

Props – sculptures, giant hearts, Lit- up LOVE/Mr & Mrs Letters, garden games.

Backdrops and starlight sky – to the band stage and other feature areas.

What can your venue add to really bring it to life? Whilst not everything will suit your space (or indeed be possible), really think about what you can offer to help make you a stand out as a must-have wedding location.

You can read more here on the trend for Brides Rooms and how your venue would do well to create one.

Are you keen to move your venue to the next level in hosting weddings? Our one to one consulting could be just the thing or take a look at our one day training course content. My next training day will take place in London on 30th September and, as before, is sure to be full of forward-thinking venues looking to up their game.

Photo Credits:
Especially Amy // Paul White Photography // Pippa Mackenzie // Syon Park // Spencer House