5 Things to Do Right Now to Book More Weddings

Email checked. Checked again. Where are all these bridal inquiries that actually turn into paying clients?

If you’re like I was 11 years ago, relatively unknown as an expert in the bridal space, you’re frustrated. You know you’re great at what you do. You have enough passion to move mountains but you’re having trouble knowing how to book more wedding clients. Read on if you desperately want to break out and book yourself over 2 years in advance like I did.

In this post, you’ll learn my top 5 list of things to do right now to book more weddings, fast. Let’s break down how to avoid the dreaded lack of inquiries and quick, easy, solid bookings.

According to a survey from the Knot 2016 Real Weddings Study, out of 13,000 brides and grooms in the United States, the average cost of a wedding is now $32,329.

Whether you’re a wedding photographer, videographer or any other type of creative service professional, ask yourself: are you earning your fair share of that? If not, here’s what you need to focus on:

 1. When you want to book more weddings, don’t settle for good enough pricing

Your prices are a clear indication of the quality and professionalism of your work. I mean think about it, when you go to a store to buy makeup, do you go with the Wet N’ Wild? Probably not, even if the quality were as good as other high-end brands. People’s perception always has been and always will be “you get what you pay for”. So, if you want to increase others idea of how good you are at what you do, you have to increase your prices.

Now, if you’re a complete newbie, I get keeping your prices at the average in your area, to gain traction and get clients to start working with you.

Perhaps lower end clients that you can use to get testimonials, images for your website and calling card. But other than that, your pricing indicates the level of trust that your potential clients can have in you. And if you want that trust to be high, your prices need to match that.

2. Relationships - Network, network, network

When I first started out in the bridal industry, I wanted to know how to become a successful freelance makeup artist. I knew a whole lot of people because of my background in outside medical sales. Problem was, they weren’t the right people. The ones who were newly engaged or modeling for photoshoots. And I wanted to book more weddings!

But I was wrong because as I started to let those people know that I was a makeup artist, those same people knew people who were my type of client. And they were also of a certain caliber that I wouldn’t have gotten off the street with people I didn’t know.

Don’t make things so hard on yourself, you don’t have to start with a completely cold audience on Facebook or Instagram. And in my eyes, you shouldn’t. You are surrounded by people who (hopefully) like you and want to see you succeed. So start there!

You don’t have to attend chamber of commerce business networking meetings right away unless you want you!

Think of how many people you already know. Now multiply that by how many people they know, and then by how many they know! That’s a ton of people with very little work or money spent on your end.

3. SEO For Wedding Pros

The key to growing your influence and awareness outside of the group above is Search Engine Optimization AKA SEO.

I don’t care what anyone says about social media being your best friend when it comes to getting your name and your work out there. I don’t care if you want nothing to do with SEO. You MUST learn the basics of SEO to get the volume and quality of clients that you’re looking for as a successful business owner.

Now, if you’re just doing your work for free and as a hobby, no worries. But that’s not why you’re here reading this right now.

There are a ton of free ways to learn SEO. Start with books. Just make sure they’re current, meaning written in the last year or two because these strategies and tips change every day. If you don’t stay on top of these changes, you could be in for a rude awakening. People have long literally their entire businesses because they were using outdated strategies or following not so nice rules.

And if I can learn SEO, get placed on the first page of Google and have more inquiries than I know what to do with, you can too. Just take it a day at a time. Keywords are your friend. More on this in a later post.

4. Get visible online and in social media

Yeah, I know I just said you don’t have to pimp yourself out on social media to book more brides. And it’s true, you don’t in the beginning.

In the first year of my makeup artist business, I didn’t use a single form of social media to book more weddings. Of course, it wasn’t as big then as it is now. But once you’ve exhausted the other tips above, you’re going to want to have social media as a part of your brand.

Put simply, make sure it’s consistent across all platforms and that you put your smiling face on all of them, not some cheesy logo that doesn’t separate you at all from the next expert down the street. You’re better than that, you’re you. And people buy you!

Think of it this way, when you go to buy something, a product or service, you like to know at least what the person looks like that you’re buying it from right? Here comes that trust factor again. If you like them, even better. If you know them, it’s almost a no-brainer.

And for God’s sake, please be social on social! Each platform has a vibe and you need to meet that vibe. People are on Facebook to be social. On Instagram more for the visual appeal. Match that and you’re golden.

Don’t only sell your services or products on there. Let your potential wedding clients see the real you, your real behind the scenes, your really beautiful work. If you’re like me, you may struggle with perfectionism when it comes to putting yourself out there. Remember people buy from people they like!

5. Brand and sell yourself to book more weddings

Don’t think your website alone will do it for you. 

Positioning. This is key. When I started out as a makeup artist, no one knew me as one. Within 4 months I was booked out over a year and a half in advance!

Create your branding to attract the kind of client you want to work with. Look at what others in your space are doing and take pieces of what you like and toss the rest. Differentiate yourself by, yep you guessed it...doing something different. If they’re all black and white, do bright. You get the picture.

Hire a branding expert to help you at a minimum with your logo, fonts and color story. It’s worth the investment, promise. Just make sure you’ve identified your Angel Client™ - the person who’s behind your why.

 So now you know 5 things to do right now to book more weddings, sign up for my FREE comprehensive Masterclass: 5 Steps to Booking Consistent Clients Without Spending A Ton On Advertising or All Day On Social Media