Cheeky bit of market research

If you had two seconds to anser the following questions I would be eternally grateful and it will allow us to offer the right product at the right price to future happy couples.

1) Have you booked your venue? Yes

2) Is it a dry hire or do you need to use their caterers and booze? Not dry hire - using venues caterers and paying corkage for wine and champagne.

3) If you have booked it where is it? Lincolnshire

4) How much (roughly did you pay)? £5500 for venue hire not including catering or corkage

5) How much would you expect / be happy to pay for our offering? We are paying more on venue hire as the costs are offset against low corkage costs and menu prices. Plus the venue is spectacular. I think I would be happy to pay about £4000 venue hire for what you are offering.

Do you have a civil ceremony licence? £600 of our venue hire is for using the venue for our ceremony too.

Thanks for the reply, we would not be charging corkage at all so you can just bring in your own alcohol and we would have a selection of caterers to use. We do have a civil licence but would be charging circa £600 more to have the ceremony there too.

Thanks again,

Chris

We were looking at venues in Cambridgeshire ourselves; in Cambridge specifically, for example at one point we looked at the Fitzwilliam museum, which quoted us in the region of £2-3k for dry hire of the dining area (in the cafe), and use of the galleries for a drinks reception (again, dry hire).

We didn't end up booking it though, because we had always wanted to book the Cambridge college I studied at - that was quoted to us as £10k, and we bartered that to £6.5k - this is with venue hire, catering (wedding breakfast only, we're not having an evening buffet), drinks and a drinks+canapes reception for 100 people. They also offer a discounted price for rooms for our guests. If I remember the breakdown of the prices correctly, the hire of the dining hall alone was £2000.

This doesn't include the ceremony - that is in a nearby village church.

So from my experience, I'd probably be willing to pay in the region of £2-3k for the venue hire.

Sorry I didn't fill in the form - I guess I'm a difficult customer!

Thanks guys for the replies.

I think we'll probably be looking at around £3,000 for the dry hire which will include an event manager, you get to choose the catering and the hall would be yours from 1600h to 0000h or from 1400h if having the ceremony as well. We're considering a one off corkage fee of £150 if you don't buy the alcohol through our preferred supplier.

Chris

Hi Chris,

I am a wedding planner based in the Lincolnshire area, but work all over the country.

I am always on the look out for new venues to use for my new clients. My clients have various budgets, so nice to see that you allow a little more freedom of choice for the couples, the corkage can be a killer for some couple, the difference between booking or not booking.I work with a similar company s to yourself offering all of the above. A big attraction there is there is no corkage at all for the table wines or reception drinks supplied by the clients, but you have to use there own bar service after that, which I feel is more than generous, and the charges of the drinks at the bar are more than reasonable.

I would appreciate it that when you have all your facts and figures in place, you could send me a copy to keep on file.

Good Luck

Elizabeth ?

Hmmm I'm not sure about the timings. They leave absolutely no room for setting up or an early wedding (my wedding as at 12 noon). I would discount your venue for this reason. Is there any reason you can't offer it all day?

Hi Kharv,

There are a couple of reasons (can't go into too much detail at the moment as it's all a bit on the hush hush) but thank you for your comments, if it is such an important factor then I will have to look at ways around that.

Elizabeth: of course!

Chris

Just a little bump!

Hi Annie,

Thanks for that. Your price seems very good indeed. Well done on finding a bargain! I'm struggling to find where they make their margins though once they've paid for a function coordinator, SIA Door Security etc.

Our offering would include furniture, catering area, reception area, function coordinator, you wouldn't need a PRS licence unless you're charging admission!

The prices people have quoted here really aren't that high. £10K is not an uncommon price!

Thanks,

Chris

Hi Annie,

The timings are to do with a quirk of the venue. The people who are looking to book so far are not at all phased by them but thanks for your feedback.

Chris

And thanks for your comments about corkage. Perhaps it would be easier if we said you get a reduction in the dry hire price if you buy through our preferred supplier. £150 is really not very much at all when you compare the cost to that of a hotel where there would be a markup of at least £10 per bottle.

It looks like our venue won't be for you but enjoy your wedding.

Thanks,

Chris

Hi Annie,

Thanks for your reply. I spend most of my working life with brides to be, we run a very succesful marquee hire and event management company but access has never been a problem for us as we always build on a Wednesday or Thursday. It's just something we hadn't thought about yet for this venture but it has now been brought to our attention. As I said, the venue has quirks which mean that access is an issue which we would clearly explain to couples before "grabbing" their money off them. We would expect all place laying etc to be done by caterers if people want to make use of the charming venue we are offering, it's just something people would have to work around.

As for money grabbing, remember we need to make money too otherwise what's the point in doing the whole thing? Of course, everybody could slash their prices, let the quality of their offering slide etc. but that's not really what everybody wants. Break down the costs of your venue and once you've paid £200 for security, £250 for a decent function manager then your £1116 quickly becomes £666. Less heat, light, power and perhaps cleaning costs that leaves you with £600. Put the cost of maintaining a historic building in there and you definitely don't have a sustainable business model!

What's great is to have a range of offerings to suit people of all different budgets. You have found a venue which is perfect for you at a great price and thanks for your feedback on the other things. But it would be great if I could get some more varied feedback off other bride's who have had other experiences and are looking for other things.

Thanks,

Chris

I was costing that on people we use, two people (you wouldn't want less in case something happens) at £15 per hour (about minimum for SIA people who aren't oafs) @ 7 hours each = £210. Anything less and I would be deeply concerned who was guarding my wedding!

I guess that's just the suppliers we use, as I said, you can alwasy get cheaper but not necessarily smart.

Chris

And Anne, thanks for that. If we had a preferred list of caterers we would definitely have a range of three or so for people to choose from different parts of the spectrum.

Here we have a venue that is asking, and aligning themselves to what brides want. That's 2 steps further than a lot of suppliers bother doing. I don't think he deserves the heat on this one - if he doesn't ask, he wont know

No problem Chris, just to add that we spent most of the Friday unpacking our "wedding" stuff (favours/tableplans/names places etc etc) and setting out the room so time to access the venue was a deal-breaker for us. There was no way we could have set everything up on the day of the wedding (my wonderful husband spent a long time at the venue on the morning of the wedding to supervise in any case).

Are you using your co-ordinator to help set up the room, or if not are you advising couples to pay for the service to set up the room in which case it may be worth talking to suppliers to see how long they will take to set up.

Hi Anne,

Absolutely nothing is set in stone yet, we're looking at all sorts of options and ways around it. I know for you access was very important but in the past we have put up marquees for people at a venue where we have built on the day of the wedding (i.e. starting at 0900h) and finished it at 1200h and the staff of the venue set everything up, i.e. bride and groom don't see the venue for the reception until they walk in, so it does happen. I think as long as people know the rules before they book then they can make their decisions accordingly.

All good food for thought!

Chris

What venue are you hiring please? I have a small budget and this could work!

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