The 2022 Irish Wedding Industry Report is awash with insights & trends into what those newly engaged couples are looking for. It also highlights to us what they are not getting from venues – what they are struggling to find!
Since 2015, we’ve carried out the couples survey each Christmas which is peak engagement time, don’t you know. That makes this year’s our seventh survey, and it’s significant because this year we had more respondents than ever before! Over 1,400 engaged couples from the whole island of Ireland, both north and south, answered a detailed 50 Question survey about their preferences, choices and decisions for their wedding planning.
Get yourself a brew, download the report, and get reading – it’s packed with great ideas to drive your wedding business. Enjoy!
1. Get the basics right
Thankfully we are moving further away from the stress of cancelled nuptials because of COVID. And, it’s true, you can never please all the people, all of the time but it bodes well if you make sure your cancellation policies and pandemic policies are clear and easy to understand.
2. Go green
Sustainability is really becoming a buzz word this year in wedding circles. Couples don’t want to be seen as careless or reckless about the environment so this is a great time to think about and implement progressive green policies for weddings and your venue generally. How can you offer green alternatives or offset initiatives?
3. promote available dates
The pandemic hangover is real. Current demand hugely outweighs the venue supply. The sheer number of engagements and the significant backlog in rescheduled pandemic weddings mean that couples are struggling to find both venues and suppliers. Venues with availability have a massive opportunity to sell themselves by promoting their open dates on their listing and on social.
4. add the personal touch
Once booked, 73% of couples will prefer to stay in touch with you via email. For engaged couples, feeling special in these communications is key and for you, making sure they do feel special means you’ll have a happier couple at the end of the day. Seize each communication as an opportunity for personalisation.
See how you can personalise communication here.
5. TAKE SHOWROUNDS SERIOUSLY
Couples are visiting fewer venues than ever before according to this year’s results. However, they are making a record number of enquiries on their initial search for an available venue. If you secure a showround booking, that means your venue has made it within the couples’ exclusive shortlist and you have a 33% chance of closing the deal.
Find out how you can drive more viewing appointments here.
6. OFFER MULTIPLE SERVICES
Over 75% of our couples carry out two-thirds of the wedding planning on their own. It’s no wonder they can become overwhelmed. Ease their burden by helping them to easily arrange everything from the ceremony to the next day’s BBQ, by providing things like easy to assemble packages or pick and mix lists.
Read about why first impressions matter so much for couples here.
7. Increase your coordinator profile
44% of respondents say that the Wedding Coordinator is a factor that hugely influences their venue selection. However, only 14% source their wedding suppliers through their venue’s coordinator. Coordinators are the experts having seen and managed many weddings in the venue, It’s worth considering whether you can offer expanded coordinator services and highlight your team’s strengths and your relationship with local suppliers.
There you have it – 7 seriously key things to help you improve your wedding business. Get started on them today.
Update: 16/03/2023 If you are interested in finding out more information, you can download the Irish Wedding Industry Report 2023 here.
