Issue 59

FUNCTION VENUES
things and give us carte blanche to
make it look amazing.
How do you publicise yourself?
When we hosted big weddings, we
used online wedding directories,
but since downscaling the business,
we've left those and now promote
ourselves through social media and
blog posts. We're reviewing this and
may return to our favourite online
directories if necessary.
How would you describe your
style or unique selling point?
We're elopement specialists. We've
been doing them since 2016 before
they were really a thing. We've done
hundreds of them, so we're now
laser-focused on this one niche area.
Since Covid, many wedding
venues have gone into elopement
weddings, but it's not their primary
focus, and many can only offer
exclusive use for two people.
Even if you have no guests - with
us, you still get exclusive use of
the whole venue, including the
accommodation. There's no one
else around except us because we
live here!
We're also super dog friendly,
which is very popular. Couples can
have their dogs at the wedding,
stay in the on-site accommodation,
and be under the table during the
wedding breakfast. Our elopement
photographer is great with pet
photography, and our florists can
provide floral dog collars as an
added extra.
What challenges have you faced
historically?
Our biggest challenge in the last ten
years remains the first one we faced
– the planners. To say they were
unhelpful is an understatement,
and we lost two whole seasons of
business while we battled them.
They refused permission for change
of use initially, and we had to go to
“WE'RE ALSO
SUPER DOG
FRIENDLY,
WHICH IS VERY
POPULAR.
COUPLES CAN
HAVE THEIR
DOGS AT THE
WEDDING, STAY
IN THE ON-SITE
ACCOMMODA-
TION...”
appeal (where we also won costs as
they'd been so obstructive).
The other main challenge when
we hosted big weddings was being
such a tiny fish in an enormous
pond. It's hard to compete with the
big venues when we were only open
for five months a year and hosted
just one big wedding a week.
How large is your team – any
special people you'd like to
mention?
Previously, we had a team of
people. Since scaling down we've
got one person helping on the
day and a cleaning team. We've
still got our team of incredible
wedding suppliers: photographer
Clare Kinchin, florists Jodie and
Lizzie, caterers Taylors Events and
cakemaker Harrie from Boo To A
Goose.
Have you worked with any
industry bodies or consultants?
I entered the wedding industry
with lots of business experience (I
had my own law firm for ten years)
but no hospitality experience.
Thankfully, many people in the
local wedding business were happy
to help and guide me in the right
direction. I'm still very grateful for
that, and I've tried to be equally
welcoming to other newcomers
I've never used consultants,
although becoming a consultant
myself is something I'm
considering. To my knowledge,
there aren't any venue consultants
out there who've owned or run a
venue, so maybe there's a gap in
the market there.
WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM 19