We expect a busy few years for wedding businesses as the backlog of weddings postponed by Covid-19 clears. We discuss what wedding businesses need to do to get ready for the rush.

Some industry commentators expect over half a million weddings to take place next year. There are significant opportunities, but businesses will need to manage the rush of bookings, enquiries and correspondence from couples whilst running a large number of weddings. 

Here are some areas to consider which will help you to make the most of the opportunities:

• Training

Ensuring your teams have the right skills is important. Investing in your people will ensure that your staff and business will achieve more. Many businesses have been using their cultural grant to invest in training during downtime when they may have had to close during the pandemic. However, it is never too late to focus on training. You will reap the benefits from using training to upskill in areas including sales, business development, customer service, upselling and the practicalities of running a wedding and managing a couple’s expectations.

• Systems

It will be absolutely crucial to have good systems in place. This should include accountancy, billing, contracts and CRM systems.

• Virtual assistants

Virtual assistants are a useful way to keep on top of customer enquiries. These computer bots respond to customer enquiries and can be built for your website and some social media channels include them in their chat function, for example, Facebook messenger.

• Technology

We have spent a whole year using technology to stay connected and run our businesses. As things open up again, now is a good time to cherry pick the elements that work and use them to enhance and support what you do.

• Keep it simple

Make sure your wedding suppliers team is primed and ready to go to, having information for couples readily available or prepped ready to re-send.

• Outsource

Don't be scared to outsource. You will still need to promote your business even when you are busy and time-poor and if you don’t have time to do that in-house, you could consider using an external resource. You are likely to need flexible staffing, so should consider working with outside wedding coordinators, staffing agencies and using other wedding businesses to help you deliver and grow.

• Communication

You will give the best service when you think about things from the couple’s point of view. Communication is a key issue that couples are looking for. They are planning one of the most important days in their lives and they will need regular reassurance and planning support. This can be done with regular group emails, once a month live events or Q&As and venue specific supplier Facebook groups.

The key message for businesses wanting to capture part of the wedding market is: be prepared, get ready for the rush!