3 Tips to Survive Multi-Wedding Weekends

I've always likened hosting a wedding to having a child. Here's why:

Having one child is HARD. Everything is new. You're figuring it out on your own, sometimes without much help or guidance. Sounds a bit like the first wedding you hosted at your venue perhaps?

When you have baby #2, all of a sudden those little darlings out-number you and things can get off kilter fast fast. That's the same with moving into two wedding weekends. Now you have to learn to "stage" or "flip" (more on that later.)

By the time you get to baby #3 you're a pro. It's much the same with weddings. Once you figure out two weddings a weekend, as long as you have enough staff, three weddings isn't much different.

3 Ways to Survive (And Thrive) During Multi-Wedding Weekends

Over Staff

I don't mean to purposely over-schedule the number of team members you have at a wedding. I mean - have a strong and deep team.

So many wedding venue owners try to do it all themselves (building, book keeping, tours, clean toilets, answer emails, post on social media - I could go on for days.) Let me be clear, if you "staff" your venue not just "check in" from time to time throughout the day - you can't survive multi-wedding weekends without a team who is trained and experienced. You might survive one, but you'll loose your mind if you try to do it for an entire season. 

Our venue, Haue Valley, hosts 85 weddings a year. (That is the number at which we consider ourselves "sold out.") To host this many weddings a year means I have to have a great team. We currently have 6 Team Leaders on staff and 9 second and third shift team members. That means when I have a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday wedding, we have 10 shifts to fill for the weekend. I can't do the work of 10 people myself. In fact, I rarely work weddings... I have an excellent team who are the star players in wedding days. That wouldn't be the case if I was trying to carry everything on my own back. (Contact me for more on staffing, team roles, etc.) 

Document Open & Close Responsibilities

While this is a tedious and never-ending task, it's a critical one. If you are operating at a scale of multi-wedding weekends, there is less margin for error. 

We have thoroughly documented what needs to happen before the client arrives onsite, expectations throughout the day for our team members, and seemingly most important - close and flip responsibilities. We have a regular team of employees, but we've found the need for a thorough end of the night checklist. [Our open and close list is available as part of The Venue Accelerator program.]

Get the Flip Down Before Booking Three Wedding Weekends

Some venues refer to the reorganization between wedding days as "staging" and some say "flipping." We use the term flip - and let me tell you  - it's the hard part. We never could have imagined how messy weddings could be. Popcorn, gummy candy, and dropped cake (icing down of course) may soon become some of your worst enemies. 

Having processes and procedures, as well as a team in place is key for multi wedding weekends. Get the flip down first. I highly recommend new venue owners not start into two or three wedding weekends from the start. There can be a pretty steep learning curve. 

Side Note:  At Haue Valley, our team does our own cleaning. Some venues have successfully outsourced cleaning and I've heard horor stories of others trying to outsource it unsuccessfully. (Can you imagine coming into the venue for the wedding the next day only to find your cleaning company no-showed and your couple is set to arrive in an hour?!)

Multi-wedding weddings are a place where new venue owners can shine or quite frankly - fall face first into the cake (figuratively speaking). If you want to be prepared and confident in booking double and triple-header wedding weekends out of the gates check this out.