Open Air Business August/September 2018
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping, festivals and outdoor events
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping, festivals and outdoor events
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How do you publicise yourself?<br />
Through the power of social<br />
media! We learnt quickly that<br />
having regular, targeted social<br />
media was the most powerful<br />
tool to use. We enlisted the help<br />
of a social media guru to manage<br />
this element as it is a full time job<br />
in itself! We do also feature in a<br />
couple of the wedding magazines<br />
as this helps to support the social<br />
media content.<br />
How would you describe your<br />
‘style’ or unique selling point?<br />
We definitely offer a ‘blank<br />
canvas’ so couples can create<br />
very different looks at the venue.<br />
We also do not insist on using a<br />
small list of agreed suppliers. We<br />
offer a recommended supplier list<br />
to help couples if they want it. I<br />
know that couples definitely like<br />
that it is not set in stone. We do<br />
not accept any commission from<br />
suppliers so that couples know<br />
that we are not biased.<br />
Couples like having a full day<br />
“WE DO NOT<br />
ACCEPT ANY<br />
COMMISSION<br />
FROM<br />
SUPPLIERS<br />
SO THAT<br />
COUPLES<br />
KNOW THAT<br />
WE ARE NOT<br />
BIASED”<br />
to set up before the wedding;<br />
we are not interested in trying to<br />
have a Friday wedding as well as<br />
a Saturday wedding, so couples<br />
have time to enjoy their events.<br />
What challenges have you faced?<br />
We are located quite close to<br />
the village of Crail so we have<br />
been conscious that we want to<br />
work with the community. So far<br />
this has been very positive and<br />
many residents have benefitted<br />
from the venue - hotels/B&Bs<br />
are busy, taxi companies are<br />
busy, the local fish and chip<br />
shop often does evening snacks<br />
for weddings and even the<br />
chemist has had to stock up on<br />
nail varnish remover and spare<br />
tights!<br />
We have been conscious of<br />
sound travelling but we sought<br />
expert advice and bands now<br />
use our own PA system so we can<br />
monitor sound and turn it down if<br />
the wind is blowing in the wrong<br />
direction.<br />
Initially we had lots of feedback<br />
that the website did not do justice<br />
to the space we had on offer. At<br />
this point we decided to get a<br />
drone video of the venue which<br />
we put on the website and this<br />
has been really positive.<br />
Have you worked with any<br />
industry contacts?<br />
The biggest help has been talking<br />
with similar venues and getting<br />
advice from them/sharing stories<br />
and learning from each other.<br />
What are your plans for next<br />
season?<br />
We would love to make more of<br />
our sea views and also to increase<br />
the amount of midweek corporate<br />
work.<br />
Describe your average day<br />
mid-season<br />
Lots of emails! Emails range from<br />
enquiries for viewings, some new<br />
suppliers asking to be added to<br />
the supplier list, booked couples<br />
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