What Today’s Couples Need to Know Before They Hire You (and It’s Not Your Price!)

Are you giving today’s couples what they REALLY want?

I recently attended a presentation by Peter Merry and Liz Daley (The Fun Wedding Experts) at the NACE Experience, Rockin’ Receptions: How to Put the Fun in Your Functions.

They stressed that today’s couples want an increasingly personalized experience.

Years ago, couples had few options and little exposure to what other couples were doing at their weddings.  Today they’re not just keeping up with the Joneses around the block…they’re competing with the wedding antics of couples from China, Italy and around the globe that are broadcast on the the internet.

It’s not enough to know how to provide great customer service.  Couples want to know that you can give them a stand out, personalized wedding experience.

3 Ways to Give the Personalization They Crave

#1 – Provide alternatives to the traditional.

Most couples cut the cake with the traditional (boring) cake knife.

One of Liz Daley’s brides was determined to do something different.  She put ballot boxes in front of the cake and asked her guests to vote for the implement she should cut the cake with:

a)    Cake knife

b)    Red ruby slipper

c)    Tactical tomahawk

Of course, the guests voted for the tactical tomahawk.  The result were some crazy photos of the bride and groom “attacking” the cake and the bride tossing her tomahawk instead of a bouquet.

Present ideas to your couples and help them make them their own.

#2 – Facilitate performances and sketches to capture on video.

It’s the age of YouTube.  For many of today’s brides and grooms it’s not just enough to have an outstanding, personalized wedding.

They want to prove how awesome the wedding was with a viral YouTube video.

Liz Daley told the story of how one of her grooms couldn’t dance because he was disabled, so a First Dance was a no go.

As an alternative, the bride and her bridesmaids did a choreographed dance for him that ended with the bride swooning into the groom’s lap.

The more of these personalized moments you create, the more rave reviews you’ll earn.

#3 – Learn what makes the couple “tick” and build a moment around it.

One bride and groom who hired us were both huge movie fanatics.  They named their tables after their favorite movies (The Godfather, Jaws, Blue Velvet) and we included their theme music during the cocktail hour and dinner.

Another bride collected Pez candy dispensers as a hobby.  So the couple hunted down a unique Pez to give each guest as a wedding favor.

Help your couples identify the things they have in common, or those fun differences, and work them into a truly one of a kind wedding experience with what you do.

Encourage the Personalization

Couples are turning to their wedding professionals for ideas and support in this personalization, and that’s where you can really shine.  Create those “YouTube worthy moments” to get them raving about your services.

Ask these questions to gather inspiration for their personalized experience:

•    What have you seen at weddings that you liked and didn’t like?

•    What ideas do you have?

•    Our couples have done this (show examples.)  Do any of these appeal to you?

•    What are the biggest interests you have in common, or ways that you’re very different?

Become a resource for your couples that’s like a Pinterest inspiration board, filled with your wedding experiences.  They’ll get their best ideas from what your past couples have done, and then you can help them make it their own.

How do you deliver a personalized experience?

Photo Credit