Wedding week
Garstang Travel director Nicole Eaves found hosting a local wedding week helped promote her agency’s offering to couples. The inspiration for the event struck Eaves while discussing a honeymoon with a client. “She was saying how fabulous [the market town of] Garstang was, and that she’d bought her wedding gown from our bridal shop, her wedding rings from our jewellers and ordered her cake from our bespoke cake makers,” Eaves explains. “She was so happy that she’d bought everything locally, and I had an idea.”
As a member of the Independent Garstang Traders group, Eaves spoke to other local businesses and the result was the Garstang Wedding Week, held in the Lancashire town between February 15-22, 2015.
Eaves says the aim was to promote Garstang to couples as the “one-stop shopping town for all their wedding needs”, and more than 30 wedding-related businesses took part. They all ran special wedding offers and decorated their windows, with Garstang Travel’s boasting a beach-themed display.
The main event took place on Garstang High Street on the Sunday, and visitors were given maps highlighting the locations of traders, with the local radio station broadcasting live from the event.
On the day Garstang Travel promoted several exclusive If Only offers, and was joined by the operator’s business development manager Shauna Hoey, who provided a £200 holiday voucher for a prize draw.
While the Sunday was hit by heavy rain and sleet, the event still attracted 120 couples, and Eaves says: “Despite the dreadful weather we were very busy in the afternoon, with lots of couples coming in for honeymoon inspiration. We had a great day and it was a fun atmosphere.”
The majority of customers were new, and on the Sunday the agency made two If Only honeymoon bookings to Dubai and Mauritius. “We also had lots of interest in honeymoon bookings for 2016 and those enquiries are still ongoing,” Eaves adds.
She is currently helping plan Garstang’s second Wedding Week, revealing: “It will be a much bigger event with live wedding singers on the street.”
Social weddings
Melanie Salt, senior travel consultant at Gates Travel in Kendal, Cumbria, says Facebook gives a modern spin on word-of-mouth wedding recommendations.
She is currently Facebook friends with 25 of her bridal customers, and explains: “When they see one of my Facebook wedding posts it reminds them that I’m here. People find it easy to get in touch and introduce me to someone else getting married via a comment in a post or a message.”
She cites one example, where a follower shared her post about a wedding fair. It was seen by a bride who then attended the event, and booked a £5,000 honeymoon to Mauritius. The new customer then became Facebook friends with Salt, and recommended her to friends and family via the social network.
Salt says: “Over two and a half years I booked a £25,000 wedding to Cyprus, a £4,000 honeymoon to Mexico, a £6,000 stag party in Portugal and a £2,500 London hen night, and everyone was connected to the initial bride.”
As Gates Travel’s wedding and honeymoon specialist, Salt puts related content on Facebook most days. While many posts are about cakes, flowers and wedding dresses, images of honeymoon destinations consistently gain the most likes.
Salt often books Planet Holidays’ tailor-made weddings, and says Facebook is the ideal platform to promote them. “A lot of brides don’t want a set package, and I help them with everything from the cake to picking floral colours. So I choose pictures that are a bit quirky, to highlight our tailor-made expertise.”
Salt uses her own Facebook account to give a “personal touch” and engage brides. “I’m renowned for being wedding-mad, and my Facebook profile shows I’m genuinely interested. Brides like it when someone takes an interest in the visual side of their wedding, and appreciate that I’m enthusiastic and abreast of bridal trends.”
Her followers will soon be treated to a glimpse of Salt’s own wedding preferences, as her own nuptials take place in Portugal at the end of this month and, of course, the photos will appear on Facebook.
