Fresh Eyes Audit for Wedding Venues

What is a ‘Fresh Eyes’ Audit for your wedding venue? 

Quite simply it’s having a fresh set of eyes look at your entire wedding venue’s operation with the goal of improving, refining, uplifting and generally moving you in the direction of your goals which is quite often more bookings.  I look at everything from your wedding venue’s marketing and sales, giving your offering a full and detailed review to ensure it is as successful as it can be. 

So I take a nitty gritty look at the pages of your website (your shop window), looking at how your social media is performing, getting specific about conversion levels and customer communications, looking at how you conduct your wedding show rounds and the wording and contents of those enquiry emails and points of contact. 

The fresh set of eyes are mine.  My eyes on your venue will be new, but my experience of the business of weddings and venues is wide reaching and deep.   It’s a powerful combination that gets results for those who embrace the advice and then take focussed action.

How does this wedding venue business review work? 

I do a lot of preparation and research in advance to review your offering. I then give my advice to you in-person at our highly collaborative consulting day on site at your venue. The advice is entirely bespoke to your needs and team set up and is often largely possible for your in-house team to implement. You may need additional training or support with that which I can help with or it may be that I refer you to some of my specialist handpicked partners if you need ongoing help to manage.   

I always build in a follow up written report to help prioritise the recommended action plan and an extra remote session to support you as you take onboard the advice and start to take steps.  I am not a drop and go consultant; I like to support my clients over time to ensure you have that sounding board as you take the steps to change. 

I’ve been offering audits as a wedding venue consultant for over a decade and the fresh eyes audit is my signature and my absolute favourite because of the impact and change that regularly occurs and the results that venues see. 

What is your experience of wedding venues?

I’ve worked in the wedding industry since 2003, and in events for over 27 years in a variety of roles from project managing, event planning, training and development,  founding and operating my own independent wedding planning business for 15 years  working with discerning couples to plan their unique celebrations. I’ve been involved in sourcing, recommending and planning within venues for most of those years and as a result seen all aspects of the venue operation, from the outside in and importantly through the lens of representing the customer, the couple.  My wedding venue consultancy came about organically from venues approaching me as a highly regarded wedding planner to consult for them and train their teams around a decade ago and it has grown from there. 

What type of venues do you work with? 

I am proud to work as a wedding venue consultant with a huge range of venues  across all parts of the UK and sometimes further afield.  They have one thing in common; they are ambitious and committed to be better, are wanting to know how to maximise what they have, what best steps to take for success. 

The venues might be in their first couple of years of operation, slightly further down the track having found their feet and now looking up for air or well established and recognising the importance of keeping on top and retaining what they have built. I work with venues of all shapes and sizes from country houses, barns, outdoor event operations and hotels, with a specialism in rural and the great British countryside.  I usually am commissioned by owners/founders and/or Senior Management teams but thoroughly enjoy working with the entire team, often those teams are small and mighty. I’m a people person, trained Master Coach, excellent rapport builder and work hard to involve and empower all team members to be part of suggested changes and to be part of the discussions. 

Why do we need a Fresh Eyes Audit for Wedding Venues? 

It’s competitive out there; the wedding venue space has seen huge growth over the past decade; the quality, range and choice for today’s wedding couples is vast which is wonderful for them but it’s vital that venues who want to keep their business share, keep investing and on top of their offering. Customer needs, expectations and demands are evolving faster than ever and it’s important to keep health checking your venue to ensure it’s fit to meet those needs, standing out for the right reasons.  Often when you’re close to your own business, you don’t always see things as the customer sees it and that’s why my Fresh Eyes Audit exists. 

“Kelly and her team have been a part of our journey from humble beginnings to the award winning, 10 employee business we are today. When we first heard about Kelly it was through editorial she was writing and her advice just made sense so we got in touch and never looked back. There have been times where wanted Kelly’s input to a change or and idea or a problem. She hasn’t let us down yet. Kelly’s wider connections mean that we can talk to her about our issues and she can recommend a course of action that is suitable to us. As a business owner you’re looking for professionals who can help you but who also have deep interest in your business. Kelly is one of those trusted advisors for us. We’ve used Kelly for a full venue consultation and we’ve used her for change projects, for problem solving and for general sense checking. As a business owner you will sometimes need expert advice, just like you do from an accountant or solicitor. We count Kelly among those trusted advisors for our business.”

Venue Founder and Owner, Buckinghamshire 

“Kelly has given our busy team the opportunity to focus on our wedding offering that we needed to set our direction, goals and action plan.  She’s helped us reassess the market, recognise changing customer expectations,  demands and behaviours and put plans in place to refresh and refine so that we sustain and grow our wedding venue business.  Her fresh eyes audit  is highly recommended to fellow established venues and their teams.”

Owner, Barn Venue, Lancashire

If you’d like to find out if the Fresh Eyes Audit is for you and your venue’s wedding business let’s start with a conversation to get to know each other and see if we’re a match.  You’re welcome to book in here, send an email here, or call on +44 1483 282858.

Main image by Hannah McClune