The Trust Funnel: Your Secret to More Wedding Sales
This is definitely a thing this year, with lots of potential reasons, some economic/big picture, some customer-psychology specific. What I know from 22 years of owning and growing businesses in the wedding industry is that consistency and taking a long-term approach are often underrated but full of gems. Now is the time for the long game in business and in securing new wedding couples, for deepening relationships, for sticking around, for high levels of patience and for developing trust.
I’ve spoken about the ‘need to nurture’ in a previous feature here, with specifics on using email sequences to build a connection with couples. Alongside that, today I’m sharing 5 KEY AREAS that build your Trust Funnel and position you as the standout choice for that couple, ahead of other venues they are considering.
Let’s dive in…
I know this can be hard – I’ve worked with hundreds of venues over the last decade as a trainer and consultant, and this thinking can take a while to embed.
Think less about selling your venue space and more about creating their ideal wedding with your venue as the host at the heart.
This means less talk and follow-ups such as ‘are you ready to book’, and more about offering help, support, and wedding-planning advice.
Do you have a planning guide to support them on the timescale for booking their suppliers? Do you have a budget planner, or can you point them towards some examples you rate? Point them to blogs, features, and resources that help them crystallise their plans; even if those resources aren’t directly related to your venue. This is thinking more like a wedding planner and less like a venue for hire, but this is where trust develops, where reassurance lies and where long-term success lives.
Over the next few years, Gen Z will become the dominating wedding customer group, and they vote with their ethics and values when making consumer decisions. Gen Z made up 11% of wedding couples in 2024, according to the Splendid Insights Global Wedding Study 2025, and this figure will increase rapidly month on month.
Gen Z is looking closely at your environmental and sustainability practices and commitments, your policies on inclusivity and diversity, and your attitudes toward wellness and mental health. This is absolutely not the place for token effort (Gen Z are savvy and spot this a mile off), but this is a time to show your genuine long-term commitments and actions. Many of my private clients stand by sustainability practices to their (often farming) core; this matters to Gen Z. Ensure your marketing and your continued ways of nurturing enquiries showcase your work and beliefs front and centre, building connection and trust.
Honestly, I’ll die on this hill.
I’ve been advocating (OK, maybe preaching) for the importance of team alongside physical venue features for the whole decade I’ve been a wedding venue consultant. Whilst couples want a wow venue with all the features, as well as seamless tech and transparent, easy-to-understand pricing, they also want the personal touch, and the human element, and to feel the special warmth of hospitality through this life milestone.
This is where it’s vital to position your team loud and proud from the get-go. No to corporate-looking headshots and CV-style bios. Who are your team really? What do they bring to the wedding party? What reassurance and knowledge do they bring to each and every wedding? Weaving this in through blogs, a team about page, and social media content is key. And don’t forget those e-signatures and ‘out of office’ messages that need personality and playfulness for impact and for contributing to your trust funnel.
You’ll have heard about social proof, and about third-party recommendations, and you know how vital reviews are. Gaining a couple’s trust is highly reliant on not just what you say but on the drip feed of hearing the good stuff consistently and from multiple sources. How are your dream team of tried-and-trusted suppliers helping with this?
Great venue/supplier partnerships need to be two-way and support each other’s marketing and sales pipeline. What new campaigns or initiatives can you build together to gain more exposure, and what past collaborations can you shine a light on? It’s not always about reinventing the wheel, but about repurposing.
Jumping “all in” on a wedding venue after a single short visit is a big ask, and it seems even more so as couples’ expectations of their weddings soar and balancing spend and costs becomes a consideration. They may just need to feel the buzz and the vibes a little more, and get more of a taster to satisfy their need to reassure.
How can you invite them back in? This will be different for every venue – it’s super easy if you’ve got a food and drink offering, Sunday lunches, supper clubs and the like. Invite them for a food-and-drink experience (at their cost is fine; this isn’t about endless freebies) to see your venue in event mode and your team working their magic. Can they come back for open events, seasonal open nights or just an ad-hoc extra viewing day?
Yes, it is more time-consuming than perhaps securing wedding bookings in the past, but as businesses continue to thrive, we’ve always had to adapt to meet customer needs.
So five areas above all focused on building trust, on reassurance, on experience and on making committed wedding venue sales with integrity.
Which area does your team need to focus on?
Back for its second edition after phenomenal feedback, The Wedding Venue Leaders Collective is a two-day business retreat just for wedding venue owners and senior leaders taking place in Oxfordshire on 10-11 March 2026.
Limited to only 12 places, strictly by application, this is an intimate learning gathering of like-minded individuals ready to brainstorm, strategise and collectively find solutions, with Kelly’s deep industry knowledge guiding and facilitating.
All the details and how to apply are below.