5 ways your hotel can profit this wedding season

The wedding season represents a great opportunity for your property to maximize profits.

The wedding industry can be a great source of income for hotels, considering this industry is estimated to be worth a truly staggering $72 billion. In fact, the average couple spends on average between $12,343 and $14,006 on their venue alone. Moreover, this may not represent the full extent of the revenue a wedding can bring to a hotel, as guests will often choose to stay at the hotel where a wedding is being held. Thus, you are missing out on a huge financial opportunity if you are not trying to get into the extremely lucrative wedding market.  

Yet, hotels that try to break into the wedding market will likely face stiff competition from other venues. This means that if you do not take the right steps to set yourself apart, you may lose potential customers to other venues. To help ensure that you are getting the most out of your property's potential as a wedding destination, here are a few tips that are sure to boost wedding profits for your hotel.  

1. Highlight what makes your wedding venues unique

For many years, large hotels dominated the wedding market; however, this is no longer the case. Many couples don't care as much about name recognition, and they do not want a cookie-cutter wedding that everyone else has had. This is where small/medium-sized independent hotels have an opportunity to stand out in the wedding market.  

When marketing your property as a wedding destination, you need to highlight what makes it a unique and special place where couples looking to plan a one-of-a-kind wedding should have their special day. Showcase what makes your hotel different from the rest whether that be a unique history, stunning architecture not seen anywhere else in the area, or a commitment to sustainability and partnering with local vendors.

2. Use the right photos 

These days, most couples will use venue websites to narrow down their options by looking at photos of potential venues they see online. Thus, one of the biggest mistakes you can make when showcasing your wedding venue for your hotel is using stock images, or low-quality images. This will not help showcase your property to potential clients.  

Instead, using photos from past weddings held at your venue (with permission of course) can be a great option, because these will be high-quality photos shot by a professional photographer. Furthermore, real photos can help potential customers better visualize what their wedding could look like at your hotel.  

It can also be helpful to hire a professional photographer to come take photos of your property. Couples want to see as much detail as possible before deciding whether or not to visit your property, and you will want to highlight only the best pictures that perfectly capture the beauty of your event spaces.  

3. Make the planning process digital 

Most couples today spend a great deal of their time online, and they will likely want to be able to do much of their wedding planning online as well. This makes it critical that you have a wedding friendly website for your venue that is modern, easy to use, and that quickly captures a viewer's interest. If your website is slow, outdated, or doesn't exist, you will likely have a hard time marketing your venue to couples at all ages. Keep in mind that to make your venue as appealing as possible, you should make it easy for couples to plan their wedding, make payments, and reserve rooms for guests seamlessly from your website.    

4. Market at places couples go before they book a venue 

Of course, while having an updated website will be critical in helping you to market your wedding venue, you should not overlook the importance of traditional marketing as well. In particular, it can be helpful to market your venue specifically at places couples go early in the wedding planning process before they have chosen a venue. For instance, many hotels find it helpful to attend wedding expos/bridal fairs, as couples usually attend these events soon after getting engaged and before they have chosen a venue. You should also consider going to local engagement ring stores and bridal gown stores to inquire about marketing your venue in their store. Giving these businesses vouchers to give couples that offer experiences like a romantic brunch if they attend a wedding planning workshop held at your hotel can help get couples thinking about your venue early in the wedding planning process.  

We also encourage you to list your website on directories like: 

• https://www.theknot.com/
• https://www.weddingwire.com/  
• https://www.wedding-spot.com/ 
• https://www.herecomestheguide.com/ 
• https://www.eventective.com/

5. Offer flexible cancellation policies

After the uncertainties of 2020, what many couples want in a wedding venue is flexibility in case their plans change at the last minute; however, this is not something that a lot of venues have traditionally offered. A great way to set yourself apart from the competition would then be to offer flexible cancellation and postponement policies. Couples are facing so much uncertainty at the moment when planning weddings and anything that you can do to make things easier for them can go a long way. Being as flexible and understanding as you can, and offering compassion to couples who have likely had a tough year, could be what makes couples choose your hotel over another wedding venue.    

While weddings can be a lucrative market for hotels, you will want to ensure that you are taking the right steps to maximize your hotel's potential as a wedding destination.

Contact rezStream to learn how our marketing services can expand your reach, boost hotel profits, and ensure that your wedding venue is booked for years to come.