Tell your story

As a small business owner, creative entrepreneur and life-long learner, I’m interested in reading a lot about psychology, generational traits and desires and in particular of the millennial generation which for most of us in the wedding industry presents us with the majority of our clients.

One element which is discussed time and again is the desire for customisation, the need for “making it their own way” and the need to tell a personal story and this runs throughout all aspects of planning a wedding. This last one is really key to putting your best foot forward as a potential and attractive wedding location.

As young couples are looking to tell their joint romantic story through the many choices they make in their wedding, make sure that you put forward in all of your early marketing materials your very best story of your people and your spaces. It’s got to be utterly authentic – don’t forget before you focus on your capacities, your practical capabilities and your service, to tell them about your history, your unique past inhabitants, why you’re there, your famous visitors and much more.

If you are a Charitable foundation, make a very clear point of telling potential clients, what investing in hiring your venue can do for your charity.

If you are the 10^th generation to live and work on your family farm which now hires out their barn for weddings, tell this to your potential customers – this is your story and proof that you really care about your barn and the difference their wedding being hosted there makes, that you are very much a part of the local community and most definitely reliable and “here to stay”.

If you are running warehouses in East London, make sure you tell their story (they all have stories whether quirky, harrowing or heartwarming).

Couples really connect with your uniqueness and your storytelling and are much more likely to engage with you and get the warm fuzzy feeling that they have found ‘the place’. Of course, you need the practical back-up to go with it but to be the full package, you need to really open up the storybook.  And don’t forget to be open about the people behind the places, whether it’s past famous visitors or owners but importantly who are the team delivering the magic now  – who are your events team, who is running the ship?  Millennial couples don’t much like buying from anonymous entities but tend to favour knowing the people they are investing in for their incredible celebration.

If you’d like more insights into the bridal market that you can incorporate into making your venue stand out more and attract more bookings, why not join one of my training days, specially designed for wedding venues and their teams? My next one takes place in London on 5th May. Full details here.

Credits:
Yellow Bird Photography // The Lou’s // Briscoe Photography // James Rouse Photography // Haberdashers Hall // Rivervale Barn // RSA House // Severndroog Castle // Joanna Bongard Photography // Eclection Photography // Dale Weeks Photography // Lee Niel // Mark Sisley Photography