Top Ten Tips for Hosting a Winning Wedding Showcase or Open Day
I know a thing or two about designing, planning and hosting venue-based wedding events aimed at couples planning their upcoming wedding. Whether we call it an open day, a showcase or (shudder shudder) a wedding fair, there are certain ingredients that I know really work in delivering superbly attended events, with the right audience finding the right support for their wedding celebrations and I’m sharing my top ten with you...
2016 – what a year! | Wedding Venue Consultant
As we approach the end of the year, I’ve been reflecting back on all the happenings here at Kelly Chandler Consulting. So I thought I’d dedicate this blog post to a quick look at just some of the brilliant clients, venues and people who I’ve had the privilege to work with. Training for Wedding Venues – with my group training days this year I’ve taught intimate groups of progressive venues in...
Spot-on Gifting | Gifting Advice for Wedding Venues
As the season of gifting is most definitely upon us, I thought I’d set down some tips which your venues and properties could find useful in planning how to win and wow your clients and customers in 2017. This post was prompted with a great deal of inspiration from the amazing team who head up The Engage Luxury Wedding Business Summit where I was fortunate enough to be spoiled with...
Let’s Talk!
Today’s blog is all about the need for venues seeking success in the wedding world to talk, share and collaborate with each other for best results. Talk to the competition? Really? Yes, really! I know it works and has tremendous results in so many other parts of the overall wedding industry. Wedding planners by definition tend to be naturally sociable and working pretty much as a solo-preneurs, there’s always been...
Chiswick House & Gardens – Industry Showcase
Cast your mind back to the switching of the seasons and the changing of colours and today’s post is dedicated to showcasing a collaborative industry event which I headed up on behalf of one of my consulting venue clients, the beautiful Chiswick House & Gardens. The team at Chiswick House & Gardens are always seeking to grow and improve their commitment to the wedding market which the house & gardens...
The little touches that brides will love you for | Wedding Venue Extras
Sometimes it’s the little things which really make all the difference. It sounds cliché but I really believe it’s true. As wedding professionals we are here to make all our couples planning journey fun, inspiring as well as smoother and easier. We are mainly dealing with very busy people who have endless social and work commitments and, with the greatest will in the world, usually have limited time to plan...
What wedding clients want to see on your venue’s website | Tips for Wedding Venues
What wedding clients want to see on your venue’s website Impressive imagery – and by this I mean high-quality, emotive images in large sizes that showcase your venue. Brides and grooms want to see images of the spaces they are going to be using and backdrops to their wedding photos, so close-ups aren’t so great. Think wide shots of the dining space, the civil ceremony set up, the evening party...
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...
Back to Basics – it really is simple | Making Money Hosting Weddings
I’m regularly asked by journalists, researchers, clients, friends and the generally wedding-curious, what is your favourite venue? Where do you love to work? My answer is never what they expect. I am lucky to have inside access to some breathtaking and utterly unique locations, yet no matter how beautiful the venue looks, it’s the staff and the team that make it tick and who deliver the amazing experience. What makes...
No Nos and Must-Dos in hosting wedding planners
You’re keen to market your venue through wedding planners (good decision), but how do you do this most effectively – how do you get it right and what should you avoid? Here’s my quick checklist based on a lot of years experience being one of these wedding planners: We’re a very lucky lot – wedding and event planners are invited to a lot of venue launches, showcases and the like,...