Column / The Biggest Bridal Headaches

By Rebecca and Emma from Wedding Wakeup

"We invite wedding industry professionals to tell us their bridal business problems and then we tackle them, head-on!" We talk to the Wedding Wakeup team, Emma Arnold and Rebecca Baddeley about one of the most commonly crossed subjects, how to drive footfall and here resident Boutique Hub expert Bec gives her advice...

"One of the headaches mentioned time and time again is the ‘Footfall Myth’ the rumour that the river is running dry. The businesses voice fears that there are no more brides and that no one is getting married! I listen to some pretty sweeping statements from some very anxious owners… So, let’s just clear something up straightaway, there are still well in excess of 200K weddings in the UK each year and a whopping £14.7 billion in the wedding industry. The industry is still thriving, money is still being spent and couples still need the services that wedding businesses provide.

Really when I am asked, “why aren’t there any brides?” The question should be “Why am I not attracting engaged couples to my business?”. That is the harsh truth, some businesses are booming and others slipping by unnoticed. So, what is the answer to the question?

So, how do you Get Your Bridal Business Booked?

To get customers excited about your business you first must adapt to the new consumer shopping behaviour that has completely transformed in the last few years. One acknowledged change is that the target demographic, are very open to shopping around and exploring their options.

Newly engaged couples invariably start their wedding planning online, educating themselves gaining an understanding of timeframes, and budgets, and absorbing social proof. Couples today put together their wedding day team made up of suppliers that they align with. To get booked they still must be impressed by your product, service and skill but equally important is that today's couples are looking to say YES to you as a person, YES to you as a business and only then will they say YES to what you are supplying.

And how do you Get Your three YESs?

Know, Like, Trust are essential ingredients to being selected by a bridal couple on their wedding journey. What was once considered professional can now be considered distant, secretive, and met with suspicion. Couples are looking for authenticity along with an emotional connection and experience that leaves them with treasured memories to add to their life story.

The moment the chosen search platform flashes your business in front of your dream client is the start of the selling process and this opportunity must not to be wasted - it's when impressions are made and opinions formed. An instantly recognisable brand, a marketing plan and a sales timeline with meaningful key touch points is essential to profitability and future growth. The river hasn’t run dry, there is still an ocean full of newly engaged millennials online waiting to be scooped up by your net, but are you checking it regularly for holes?

At Wedding Wakeup, we take businesses through every stage of a prospect's journey so that they have a deep understanding of when and how they can become part of the bridal couple's carefully selected team. From the engagement onwards the couple become your business advocates - they are now part of your team that want to shout about how wonderful you are, how great your business is and how lucky they were to have found you. Those couples have become the social proof that the next couple will be hunting for!

Wedding Wakeup’s weekly In-App Podcast is all about eliminating the bridal industry's pain points, taking a deep dive and coming up stronger. To listen to the full In-App Podcast Biggest Bridal Headache – GONE! Including this month's Driving Footfall, No Shows and Social Media Content Creation parts 1 & 2... Pop on your App Store and download the Wedding Wakeup App today!