WeddingDates founder and CEO Ciara Crossan is a regular speaker at industry events and available to speak on a range of topics related to wedding sales and marketing for the hospitality industry.
Book Ciara Crossan to Speak
If you are interested in booking Ciara to speak at an upcoming event email her direct at ciara@weddingdates.ie or complete the form at the bottom of the page.
A Sales & Marketing Expert
Ciara Crossan is a tech entrepreneur who combined a degree in Business Information Systems from University College Cork with a family background in hotels to found WeddingDates. WeddingDates addresses a gap in the wedding market, matching couples searching for the perfect wedding venue with hotels and venues looking to generate leads and qualified enquiries for dates they have available to sell.
Under the leadership of her infectious enthusiasm, industry knowledge and entrepreneurial drive, WeddingDates has been shortlisted for and won numerous awards. Ciara was named Cork Businesswoman of The Year in the 2019 Network Ireland Cork Awards and was also awarded a Business All Star for Thought Leadership in International Hospitality Marketing in Croke Park the same year. In the past, she was shortlisted as “Outstanding Entrepreneur” in the UK Women 1st SHINE Awards in 2013 and more recently participated in the much coveted Bank of America & Vital Voices Partnership Program in 2018.
An Accomplished Hospitality Speaker
Since launching WeddingDates in 2008, Ciara has seen many changes in the hospitality industry, in the wedding market, and in the evolving demands of wedding couples. Ciara’s passion is to help hotels and venues improve their sales and marketing to generate enquiries and convert leads while improving the experience that couples have when they plan their big day. Ciara has spoken at events in the past such as:
- National Hotel Marketing Conference
- Best Western Sales, Marketing and Revenue Conference
- National Wedding Venues Marketing Conference
- Best Western Annual Members Conference
- Hospitality Expo
- Irish Hotels Federation Conference
- Northern Ireland Hotel Federation Hospitality Exchange
Ciara’s engaging topics include, but are not limited to:
- Best Practice Enquiry handling for wedding venues
- Online & Social Media Marketing for wedding venues in the cutthroat wedding industry
- Attracting weddings to non-traditional wedding venues
- The art of the upsell – increasing revenue through higher spend weddings
- What’s going on in the mind of Millennials…and how to speak their language
- Capitalizing on the “pink pound” – how to get more same-sex couples to book your venue
- Current trends & techniques to engage the modern bride or groom
- Best Practice customer service for wedding businesses
