6 Ways to Make Your Hotel Wedding Friendly and Boost Profits

You can't have a hotel without guests — this is an industry given. But you won't be able to attract guests without giving them at least one reason to stay with you. The location of your accommodation is often incentive enough, but there's no harm in improving your odds by making your hotel more attractive in more than one way. An easy avenue to boost profits is to bring wedding ceremonies, receptions and guests to your hotel.

As of 2015, the wedding market was worth an estimated $55 billion in the US alone and $300 billion worldwide. For this reason, many hotels — now, hopefully, including yours — have become incentivized to make their destination one that's perfect for weddings, too. It's easy to do so long as you take the proper steps to make the process easy and the ceremony beautiful.

Here are six ways to do it:

  1. Post the Right Pictures

We live in the age of the internet, so most engaged couples will peruse your website before they come in to check out your venue in person. That's why it's vital for you to upgrade your website's photo gallery to include high-quality pictures of a recent wedding to show just what the couple can expect their own ceremony to look like.

If you haven't played host to any weddings yet, you'll have to improvise. Hire a good wedding photographer and stage a ceremony, reception table, catering selection, etc., so that your venue will stand out amongst the pack.

  1. Play Up Your Best Features

Every hotel is different, and no one knows this better than someone in the industry. What sets your space apart from other potential venues? Is it the view, the architectural character, the great bartenders or something else that would make a wedding more memorable? It's up to you to highlight the best-selling point for fiancés in search of the perfect spot to say "I do."

  1. Make Booking Easy

Making wedding booking easy is two-fold: you have to make it easy for the couple to sign onto have their wedding at your venue, and you have to make it easy for their guests to locate and stay at the hotel, too.

The couple will also have to think about making hotel accommodations as easy as possible for their guests, so they'll look for a hotel with simple online booking platforms. They'll also provide their guests with directions to the hotel and rate information, so having that readily available for couples will also be vital to your operation.

  1. Give Them Plenty of Options

Not everyone will want the same sized wedding and reception, so you'll have to come up with a handful of packages for your clients to choose from. You can look at other hotels' offerings to get an idea of what the competition provides before laying out your own wedding offers.

You can make some extra profits by having more specific wedding packages aside from the ones that contain everything a couple could need for their wedding and reception. Some duos might want to pop in for a photo shoot if your hotel is in a great location — provide them with a low-priced package for pictures. You can also provide a honeymoon suite package for those celebrating their first night together with you.

  1. Highlight the Amenities

This is especially true if you hope to have wedding guests stay at your hotel in order to attend a wedding, whether it's at your location or somewhere in the local area. If you have a handsome list of amenities available, your hotel could beat out a similar accommodation.

Just as you played up your wedding facilities with photos, make sure your hotel is properly depicted in your online gallery. Have a photographer snap pictures of what guests like to see: gyms, pools, breakfast buffets. All of this will make wedding guests more likely to stay with you, since they know they'll be able to relax and get ready easily at your hotel.

  1. Connect with Every Couple

Some wedding venues get too big for their britches and end up providing impersonal customer service to guests celebrating the biggest days of their lives. Make sure your hotel staff gives every engaged couple the attention they deserve. Something as simple as a free bottle of champagne in the bride's room the morning of the wedding can make all of the difference — and these details are what make guests tell their friends to get married at your location, too.

By taking these six steps, you could soon be hosting memorable weddings at your hotel, too. And, if you take these steps in the right way, you'll be enjoying lucrative ceremonies and receptions for years to come.