6 Things Hotels and Restaurants Need to Book More Weddings
Did you know that we’re in the middle of “Proposal Season”?
According to The Knot, 37 percent of couples get engaged between November and February. And soon, these couples are going to get started on planning their ceremonies and receptions. Most of that planning is going to happen online, so now is the time to get your digital presence ready to drive more wedding inquiries and bookings for your venue.
1. VENUES by Tripleseat profile
The first step you need to take is making sure your VENUES by Tripleseat profile is up to date. Event planners and couples use tools like VENUES to search for the perfect place to hold their wedding celebrations.
If you want to attract wedding clients, you need to fill out your entire profile, include gorgeous photos of your spaces, add information about your private dining rooms, talk about weddings in your description, and check off weddings as one of the event types your venue hosts.
This listing by Ozumo San Francisco has all of the right elements to attract customers booking weddings, rehearsal dinners, or other wedding-related events:
Download our handbook, How to Create an Optimized Venue Listing for a step-by-step list of getting the most out of your VENUES by Tripleseat profile.
2. An events page on your website with your Tripleseat lead form link
Every venue that holds private events should create a private events page on their website. Call it something like “Events,” “Private Dining,” “Book an Event,” or create pages by event type (weddings, corporate events, parties, etc.) so it’s obvious to readers looking for those services.
When you’re setting up the page by adding information about events at your venue, you need to embed your Tripleseat lead form link. This is the easiest and quickest way for clients to submit an inquiry. It saves time — no long phone calls to get basic information and the data is entered automatically to your Tripleseat account. And the lead form link is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week — customers don’t have to contact your venue when it’s open; they can submit their inquiry anytime.
Here’s a look at the Weddings & Social Events page for Diamond Mills Hotel in Saugerties, NY; the Tripleseat lead form link is called Wedding & Event Inquiry Form and it’s embedded right on the site:
3. Wedding packages
You might not list your wedding packages online because you’re worried that your competitors will copy you. Get over it. Publishing your wedding packages on your site helps you get more customers. Seeing the information right away helps them speed up the decision process to book with your venue.
Crystal Gardens in Chicago has two distinct wedding packages listed on the weddings section of their website. The packages outline everything from dinner costs to dance floor rentals and help couples determine some upfront costs but also custom options to get an idea of what their wedding reception experience will be at Crystal Gardens.
4. A list of recommended vendors
Most venues don’t do everything; wedding clients typically have to search for additional vendors such as photographers and DJs. But you can help clients with their planning by publishing a list of your suggested vendors on your website.
Couples book an average of 14 vendors for their weddings and they will appreciate this resource. It takes some of the burden off your wedding clients to find these vendors on their own, and it’s a great source of business for wedding vendors in your area to have these relationships with venues and send referrals to each other.
The New York Public Library has a long list of vendors across eight different categories to make planning easier for their clients.
5. Photos
Visuals really help prospective wedding clients make the decision to book your venue if they can picture their wedding taking place there. Photos are an important piece of the planning process for couples so make sure you have some on your website of past weddings.
The Bryant Park Grill in New York City includes an online wedding brochure on their website that features photos of wedding ceremonies, private dining space setup and decor, food, and more.
6. A social media presence
The Caramel Room at Bissinger’s is a popular St. Louis venue to hold weddings, and everybody in the area knows it because of their social media presence. The venue and their sister company, 23 City Blocks Catering, share posts multiple times a week on Facebook and Instagram that show gorgeous photos and videos of the weddings hosted there.
In addition, The Caramel Room at Bissinger’s and 23 City Block Catering made a strategic move by sharing similar content on Pinterest. Pinterest is full of brides pinning images that link to venues, food, wedding gowns, tips, decor, and more. 64 percent of couples told WeddingWire that they created a Pinterest board for wedding inspiration. If your venue wants more wedding revenue, consider creating a Pinterest account and pinning as many images as you can that link directly back to your events page and include weddings and related keywords in the description.
Other tips to keep in mind
Modern wedding planning is mostly done online so be strategic about promoting the wedding services that your events program provides. Set up these six marketing tools and use the right keywords throughout to ensure your venue gets found in a wedding planning search — scroll down through this WeddingWire report to find a list of relevant hashtags.
Get found with sponsored listings
Consider using paid online advertising to reach wedding clients for Google searches, on social media, and on listings sites like VENUES by Tripleseat. VENUES offers a full suite of sponsored listings that keeps your venue top-of-mind for the thousands of prospects searching for a venue on the site. Our directory offers the flexibility for you to build a customizable and robust listing to promote your venue and generate more wedding event leads. Learn more about sponsored listings on the Tripleseat marketplace.