Show notes:

What is it really like to run a wedding venue in the middle of a wild animal park?

In this episode, I’m chatting to Stephanie Betts, Wedding & Event Sales Manager at Port Lympne Reserve in Kent, an award-winning wedding venue with a seriously unique USP. I was lucky enough to visit Port Lympne myself. From safari experiences and a stunning private orangery to exceptional customer service and a carefully curated recommended supplier list, there’s plenty that wedding businesses can learn from the way Port Lympne approaches its guest experience.

Time stamps:

00:12 - Introduction to Wedding Marketing

05:34 - The Uniqueness of Portland's Wedding Experience

21:51 - Adapting to Changing Wedding Trends

30:02 - The Rise of Intimate Weddings

45:53 - Understanding Supplier Relationships in Event Management

01:01:29 - The Importance of Customer Experience in Weddings

Stop focusing on all the little tiny details to make it perfect and just make sure that that couple is being absolutely looked after, heard, understood, and that alone will make it a really successful event.

I'm Becca Poutney, wedding business marketing expert, strategist, speaker and author.

Over the last decade, I've combined my love of marketing with my knowledge of the wedding industry to help thousands of wedding pros and venues just like you learn new skills, strategize, get re energized and grow their businesses. Because after all, that's how you stay top of your game. Whether you're brand new into this industry or been here forever, I want to help.

So grab a cup of tea or a cocktail, sit back and enjoy a brand new episode of my award winning podcast, Wedding Pros who Are Ready to Grow. Let's get going with today's episode.

Today I'm chatting with Stephanie Vets, the wedding and event sales manager at Portland Hotel and Reserve in Kent. This is an award winning wedding venue with a difference as the venue is right in the middle of a wild animal park.

Recently I was able to go and experience Port Lyn myself as a guest and it really was a magical place. Today we're going to be chatting about my experience. We're going to discover the highs and lows of running a wedding venue in an animal park.

Stephanie, welcome to the podcast.

Thank you very much. Happy to be here. Thank you for having me.

Thank you for being here. Now, before we get into this conversation, we just have to spend a couple of minutes talking about my experience at your beautiful park.

So I came down, you very kindly invited me to come down on a press trip to come and experience the park for my and I came down with my sister and my two tiny little nieces and we had the most beautiful, wonderful time. If people haven't seen it, go and have a look on my social media. You'll see a couple of the reels that we recorded there.

But I mean, what a magical place. We stayed at Leopard Creek, so we were right opposite the leopards. We could go out in the morning.

Like one of my favorite memories actually is I Woke up at 6 o' clock in the morning.

The sun was shining and I looked out my window and my little niece who was staying in my sister's cabin was already running down the grass to go and look for leopards. And I thought what a beautiful way to start a morning. So it is such a wonderful place. I mean it must be a magical place for you to work to.

Yeah, I mean I never Thought I'd have animal reserve on my CV because it just wasn't in my bingo card really for life work. But this opportunity came about, I've been there for quite a while now and it really is just such a magical place.

You know, children, adults, everyone loves it. You know, animals are all around the reserve, wild animals.

So, yes, having weddings, having events, day visits, people sleeping there, it is just really incredible. So I do love it and people's reactions like yours make it all more.

Worthwhile and I think it's, it's one of those things that you really do have to have experienced it or seen it to really understand it.

Because that's why I'm so glad that I did come and experience it because I think it brings so much more to this conversation because, yeah, you can see it online and you know, I've been to a zoo, I've been to various animal parks, but there was just something about the staff, about the customer service, about just the attention to detail which absolutely set it apart. And I think the reaction to my social media posts where people are like, this place looks amazing.

I want to get, want to find somewhere where you can get married. Like that just shows, you know, what an incredible place you have now, as you said, you didn't expect to be working in an animal park.

So just tell us a bit more about you and your history. How did you get into weddings in the first place and what was the journey to get to Portland?

Sure, sure.

I'm American, I'm from the east coast, in the States, out of college, I sort of fell into the industry, not sort of really knowing what I wanted to do. I did want to do something along the lines of opening of restaurants, which falls sort of into a PR category.

But actually I got into an events as an admin for operations. So I did operations for many, many years in New York City specifically before transitioning over to the sales side of events.

Stuff in America is very different than it is here in the uk. That's been a bit of a learning curve, but it's also been quite, quite Interesting to learn as well. And I just love it. I just love hospitality.

I love the sales aspect of it. I love making things happen for people. You know, weddings are the biggest day of people's lives and they put a lot of money into it.

So you just want to make it as special as you can for them. So, yeah, that's a bit about me.

What a journey from New York to an animal reserve in Kent. Like you said, you wouldn't have been able to write it, but an amazing adventure.

So we've talked about a little bit about my guest experience, but I just want you to paint a picture for people listening of what it's like a wedding at Portland from a couple's point of view. So what is it that they're experiencing with you that's just so vastly different to other venues in the area?

So as a, as a guest, specifically to a wedding day, you actually won't come across many animals as part of your journey on the day itself, because where you arrive to the ceremony and reception, there's animals all around and you might hear them at some point, but you won't necessarily see them because of where everything is located. A lot of our couples will have a safari as part of their day, and it's an hour truck safari around the reserve.

And I think it's such a great opportunity for people to really experience the park, be able to see loads of animals as part of their. Of their. You know, their. Their day as a guest. And it's just something completely different than you'd find in any other venue.

It's not often you can say, I went on a safari at my friend's wedding last. So I think it's. I think it's that. I think it's being able to say something that you've done that's different than other people's, you know, weddings.

And our timelines are quite similar in terms of other venues. You know, we still have the ceremony, we still have the arrival, we still have the reception, drinks.

So you will see a lot of very similar aspects to other venues. But the big wow factor is the fact that you're surrounded by wild animals as part of your day. We get a mixture of couples, a lot of couples.

Obviously the animals are the most important part and that's why they've come to us. That's how they've heard about us and others. Although, of course, caring about the animals just like it for the wow factor. It is something different.

They can say they've done something different than their friends. So it's it's got that unique character where we appeal to a lot of different types of couples and what they're looking for for their day.

And we have to talk about that stunning orangery that you have as well because I think a lot of couples must be, be attracted to that because we know that there's other places in the UK where you can get married in a zoo amongst the animals. But actually you have a custom built space which is specifically for wedding guests.

It's not just, oh, we've got this spare building, let's put a wedding in the middle of it. So just tell us about your orangery because that's pretty special in itself.

And I also, the beginning, you know, see what works best for weddings and, you know, what needed a little bit of tweaking to make sure the day was as successful as it was. It's a beautiful space. We can seat up to 140 people on round table. So it's actually quite big. There's two really amazing aspects of it.

One, there's a bar right inside the room, so you don't lose your guests as part of your day because they're not taking off to go to the bar for a drink or get caught up chatting with people at the bar. As we know sometimes happens at a wedding.

Everyone's just very contained inside that one space so people can't really get lost, which is quite helpful. In addition, there's a big grass area right out front and that provides outdoor space. We put out garden games so people can utilize the outdoor area.

And I think people really love that indoor outdoor aspect of it because everyone loves to be outside when they can be. But the business side, we have the food and drink to be, you know, had. They're not too far from that outdoor space.

One of the best things I love about it, you know, I've been in that building countless times. I know all about it. You know, I know all the little nooks and crannies of the space. But when someone walks in and goes, wow.

And they're just so taken aback by it, it's just so nice to see because that's what you want somebody to say about their wedding venue. You want them to be so overwhelmed by how amazing it is. And it's just a beautiful, it's a beautiful space.

It's not a glass house, so luckily you're not baking inside of it. It obviously can get a bit warm on, on those big heat waves, but we do our best to, to try to keep everyone nice and cool.

But yeah, it's just a beautiful venue. It's. It's very private.

Like I mentioned earlier about if you're a guest, you might not necessarily see all the animals because it is actually quite private as well, which is another big win to it because you're not just on display in the middle of this reserve where everyone's looking at you on a wedding day. It's a private space where you won't see day guests walking around.

Some people have been to the venue and they don't even know that the orangery is even there. That's sort of how private it is, which makes it all the more special for wedding guests.

Yeah, well, I was really impressed, actually by the privacy of it, the fact you can't see it from anywhere. And I didn't know what the orangery looked like until you took me to see it and I'd been there for nearly 24 hours because you.

There's signs saying orangery, but you can't actually see it from any part. You don't feel like there's guests kind of peering in. You're not another animal in the zoo.

It definitely has that, yeah, that element of a space within a space for sure. Now anyone who listens to this podcast or has known me for a while will know that right now.

I talk a lot about how we're living in a marketing theme park world, so we're no longer living in this age of a simple marketing funnel. We're in this theme park world where it's, it's chaos out there.

And two of the elements of that that I talk about is the importance of standing out and the import of giving this kind of experience era. And I think what's great about the venue you're working at is that it's great because you have both of those, right?

You have an incredible usp, you give a great guest experience.

So I want to know, because you've got this great experience and you've got this great usp, how are you marketing yourselves as a venue at the moment and what marketing channels are working best for you?

We list on some lead gen sites, obviously we find them actually quite successful. It's exposure for us and I think that's where we always try to target. Where can we be seen? Where can people learn about us?

So that's One pathway that we find successful in terms of weddings, specifically in terms of the park itself. Again we use a few lead gen sites. We work with some affiliates to help with our advertising. We also work with influencers.

Influencers which does come up quite often.

We have a PR department who helps us get into publications, you know, spreading the word further afield where possible about various new things that are happening or updates that are happening, any, anything like that to kind of keep us, you know, present in, in, in the market. Influencers do come in. That is a really good tool. They do help. Some are unpaid or we gift them stays. That is something that does happen.

There are quite a bit, surprisingly that will actually pay for their stay as well or pay for various elements of their stay. So they might pay for their accommodation and we'll offer them some experiences, complimentary. So it's, you know, everyone's very different.

But linking back to weddings word of mouth is probably one of our biggest tools.

We do a lot of corporate business as well and we have a referral program which is put in that when a host of an event refers someone they know, whether it's a business colleague or friend, family, for whatever the reason, then there's a kickback to them because we do find that word of mouth is very big for us. We always ask how'd you hear about us when it comes to weddings, when it comes to corporate business.

And I'd say a good percentage, I don't know the exact percentage but a really high percentage there will say we know someone who's been, we've seen you online. A friend of mine told me about you, you know, things like that, that's a really big piece for us.

So we need to make sure that we're getting that customer service right as you mentioned, to have someone like yourself or any of our guests who are staying on site to leave and say that was amazing. I went to this amazing place in Kent, you should really check it out and, and that's what we need. You know, you have 100 people at a wedding.

Those hundred people will leave and go, I went to this amazing wedding the other day and they're telling all their friends over dinner, over drinks, you know, whatever the case may be. And those people are then telling people and, and it's just spreading the word.

So that's a big key for us to making sure that we're always sort of getting it as right as we can to make sure that people are really having a nice experience not only for themselves but also so that they can Help spread the word about us as well.

And it absolutely works. And I think people neglect that sometimes in their marketing.

I can tell you that I have had multiple upon multiple conversations with various people in my life over the last couple of weeks about my stay at Portland. Either because people saw it on my social media or I told them about it.

And it's really interesting because some people say, oh, I've heard about that place, but I didn't know much about it. Some people say, say, wow, I've never heard about this place. Tell me more about it.

And then other people say, I've been looking at it, I've been considering it for X, Y and Z. What would you say? Do you think it's worth it? And you know, it's.

It's really interesting to have those conversations and to see how powerful that ripple effect is. And as you said, I'm just one person. Yes, I've got an audience, but I'm one person.

But it actually 100 guests going away and saying, wow, this place is amazing. That every member of staff was incredible. Everyone was really polite. You know, it was. Is going to have a ripple effect.

And I think the influence of things also really interesting.

I think a lot of wedding venues or people in the wedding industry haven't really scratched the surface of that form of marketing or they don't really know where to start with it. I guess you're fortunate that you have a PR team. I mean, do they target specific people? Is there a strategy behind that?

I just wonder if there's any advice for people who want to even consider that option.

That's nitty gritty. That she can definitely tell you a bit more than I probably could because it is just not a department that I'm very familiar with.

So I actually don't really know the ins and outs of that because I do find it fascinating. Who are they targeting? Why are they targeting that particular person? Did we reach out to them? Have they reached out to us? You know, I.

All that is a lot to unpack. I just don't know enough about it. In regards to weddings though specifically we.

I do know that we have had on our radar, we talked about having an influencer type wedding, if you will, or having an influencer get married at our venue for the exposure. So we had our eye on a few people who were engaged and I think some conversations were had. It never came to fruition for various reasons.

But that is something that we have thought of just for the exposure of that alone. You know, people have seen us on TikTok, Instagram, whatever, whatever it may be.

But again, they might not realize that we're actually, actually a wedding venue. Oh, I've, I've seen Lion Lodge. You could sleep next to the lions. That's probably one of our most famous accommodations.

And that's what most people will have seen. But then they don't actually know that we still do weddings and the other events of course as well.

So maybe down the path one day that might happen to give us that extra little boost of awareness. But there's also a lot that comes with those influencer weddings. A bit of demand.

We've had chats with people in my career here and sometimes it's asking for quite a bit, sometimes more of what we can actually deliver. So that is also the other hurdle of it as well. Offering somebody accommodation in return for a bit of publicity is different.

Hosting somebody's wedding day in return is a much bigger, bigger scale. But I do know that it is something that other venues have done. I've seen more recently a venue had somebody doing a wedding tour.

I think they obviously had booked with them, but they showed this couple who were, you know, famous enough, our social media influencer doing their wedding show around and that was the exposure of that particular venue. I think it's, what's the TV show is it Love is Blind? And they do their final weddings at this particular venue. I don't exactly know where it is.

And the very next day after that last episode aired, they had a, a banner on their website saying that the traffic to the website nearly broke the website down because that's how many people were all of a sudden going, wow, look at that venue. That's stunning. I want to do my wedding there.

So it's the power of this, you know, social media and just exposing to people what they don't, what they don't know. So perhaps down the line it might be something we actually, we actually, we do for that line alone.

But it is a hard one because you are managing somebody's wedding day. So there's a lot of extra elements to it that we need to, you know, we need to get through.

Yeah, absolutely. But I think even just on the small end of the scale, there's definitely things that venues can be doing, can be looking at.

But of course you've gotta, you've got to look at your return on investment. But I just think it's an area that I think you guys are doing really well or thinking about doing really well.

You're definitely forward thinking in comparison to a Lot of the venues that I would work with or speak to. So maybe it's just giving some people some different ideas. Now, we've talked about why most couples book you.

A lot of people are booking you for the animals or for the. The usp, the difference in experience.

Are there actually any restrictions or are there any things that stop people being able to work with you, or are you actually pretty flexible to most things?

We have three things that we cannot have on site, mainly because of the. Well, because of the animals, quite frankly. That's it. We don't allow drones and that's a biggie, especially for weddings.

I don't think we necessarily lose a piece of business for that, but it does upset people that we can't have drones because those. That imagery is incredible. I've seen it before, you know, spanning a venue, having the whole. All the guests outside, those group photos.

You know, I get it. It's just too much of a risk to have a machine in the air if anything were to happen and it gets into an enclosure.

So that's a biggie for us and that's probably the biggest one that. That really puts people off a bit. I don't think we've, like I said, lost anything, but it does not help when we tell people that. So they. They're not.

They very happy after that. Balloons, because again, they fly off, they pop, they go into an enclosure.

Not really much of an impact for weddings specifically, but just in general. And no fireworks. Again, the animals, just not something we could do. Again, doesn't really put people off weddings, but just in general.

Every once in a while I get the question asked. But those are really the only three things we're not allowed to have in regards to weddings.

But in terms of the wedding day, we can be quite flexible.

There aren't too many no's, you know, we've seen loads of different setups, what people bring in, and nothing's really more or less off limits, but we're always happy to chat through something if it's something new to us and we've not had before just to understand the implications of it. But for the most part, I think we're quite flexible.

Yeah, I was again quite impressed. I thought there was going to be a lot more restrictions than there were because of the animals, but actually I think they're.

They're minor and anyone who wants to be amongst the animals is going to fully understand why they're not going to be able to have those things and totally appreciate, if anything, they'd be upset if. If you were setting off fireworks and upsetting the animals. So I can see that that's not going to impact you now.

One of the really interesting things when we were chatting, when I came to meet with you and we looked around the venue, was the way that you've seen some of the changing trends within weddings, particularly in the last couple of years, and how you've adapted to that. So the first one being micro weddings. So you told me that you've got this kind of new package.

So just tell me how that came about, what you were seeing and why.

You did it currently. Well, we had two packages.

Packages, excuse me, we had the exclusive package where you get the orangery and the pergola, bigger numbers, you know, 50 to 140. And then we have our intimate wedding package, which is anywhere from 20 to around 50. So the smaller weddings. But we were starting to see.

Well, in reading up on things and hearing things and listening to people about even smaller weddings and elopements was always something that was on my mind. But I was. Was very stupidly under the impression that you needed to know the couple to be a witness to them.

But I found out that you do not need to know the couple, you just need to witness that they're signing their. Their registration paperwork, you know, at the ceremony. Found that out just by chatting to somebody at, at a trade show, no less.

And I think in the first year we had about seven book, and I think this year we have around 12 booked. It's a lot less work for the couple because they're only managing eight other people. Sometimes those people stay on site, sometimes they don't.

It's a nice little package where you get photographer included, you get the ceremony included, you get a safari included for you and your guests if you wish, accommodation and dinner. So it's a nice small little package which you can jazz up as much as you want.

You can enhance your wines, enhance your drinks, add on canapes, upgrade your safari to feed an animal. So there's a lot of ways to make it even bigger.

But it's a nice, moderately priced package that fits those couples who don't want to spend a fortune on a Big wedding who don't want to spend a year planning a wedding. And it's obviously proven to be quite successful with how many we have year on year. It's a shorter lead booking because it is an elopement.

So it's only bookable about nine months out. That does allow us to hold those key dates for our larger weddings as well.

And it's also midweek because if this couple is sort of looking for something a little bit less, then they don't necessarily want that Saturday night or they don't need that weekend because it is just the two of them and some family members. They're not asking 100 people to take two days off work for their wedding day. So it's, it's, it's more customized towards that.

And, and yeah, it's been great to, to see how well that did in turn, that led us to decreasing our minimum for our smaller package as well. So it used to be a minimum of 20. We've reduced that down to a minimum of 15. Attract those smaller groups.

So up to 10, you can go into our elopement package and then for 15 plus you can go into our intimate package, which is sort of, you know, your more or less typical wedding day ceremony, your dinner, private space, so on and so forth. So it's, it's quite nice to have that variety.

And we've started to see a lot more of those, you know, micro weddings, intimate weddings, small weddings.

They fall into that category for people who just don't want to spend too much money and who don't want the fuss of, of having 100 plus for their wedding day because it adds on a lot of stress sometimes.

And what's important in that from a business point of view, especially for people listening, is that there are restrictions on it. I think sometimes people forget that that's actually important part of the business.

So you don't want to suddenly go in with this really low price package and it's available all the time, or there's not as many restrictions on it because we know that people take advantage of that. Or you may end up then blocking out these dates that you could have sold a bigger package to.

So I think what's clever there is you've realized that there's this gap, but you've also not damaged the rest of your bookings by having that like that. You've made it fit into a specific part of the week.

I think we had to do that because we thought long and hard about how to make it work best for us. What are Our need periods, what are days we'd like to fill? When we first launched it, actually we had it for a maximum of up to 14 people.

And then the next, next package was our intimate at 15 plus. And we were finding so many people, you know, wanting to book on that, which was great.

But the work that was going into trying to manage a 14 person booking was becoming as much work as our intimate weddings with, you know, up to 50 people. And there was a bit of. It became less of a, an easy, you know, I don't really know how to describe it.

It came less of a small, intimate micro wedding and more of a bigger wedding. The amount of hours that were going into it wasn't corresponding to the amount we were asking for people to pay.

So after the first year we then transferred it to a maximum of 10. Since we've done that, it has really been helpful to the team in the amount of work they're putting into these elopements.

For up to the definition of elopement would typically be two, but we understand that might be difficult, parents, so on and so forth. So we have extended that to 10, but that's, that's now caused it to be much better manageable for our team to, to work with these couples.

We do still get a lot of people who say, but I'm 12, what can you do? And unfortunately, sometimes we do just have to say, I'm sorry, we can't, we can't do that, you know, and we of course don't want to lose business.

That's never our intention. But then if we open it up to 12, then why can't the person who contacted us two weeks ago have 12 and then it spirals and then where do you end?

So we have had to put that caveat that it is a maximum of 10.

It has not, you know, won us probably as much business as maybe we could, but we also have to think about what the staff is doing, what else they're working on and how much time these are taking up as well. So they're very nice packages. The couples that book them have all been so incredibly lovely.

They just want something thing where the two of them are celebrated the most. They're not looking for the big fancy shebang, the band, you know, the flowers and all that.

And it's just so nice to see the contrast because we still get those big ones with, you know, the really high spends and they go all out and that's amazing to see. But then you get these really lovely couples who are just wanting something so simple. And just the two of them. And it really is nice.

It's a nice balance, and it allows.

You to just open yourself up to a different sector of the market.

Market, make yourself slightly more affordable, but without losing that luxury element or without decreasing your value because you put the package together smartly. Have you ever had anyone where it's just two of them? Have you had to be a witness?

One of the first. One of the first elopements we actually had was just a couple. It was just the two of them, and they were quite young, surprisingly.

And I was really curious why it was just the two of them, because as young as they were, you think perhaps it might be an older couple. We didn't. We didn't know. And it turns out they both have families who have separated parents.

There's a little bit of animosity between the families with all the separated parents and so on and so forth. And they just said, you know what? We just want to do this just ourselves.

We'll throw a big party where, you know, it's, you know, at a hall or at a bar or something a little bit neutral, where we could just go and have a nice time and.

And it's actually, it's quite a moment. You know, you're. You feel so honored to be there, even though it's just part of the package.

But it's so nice to be in that background and, you know, to be a part of their day.

And, you know, some of them, we know a bit of their story, some of them we don't because they might just be very reserved and not as vocal about who they are or slightly introverted. But it's just so lovely to sit there and witness this experience and kind of even just get to know them in the. In those 30 minutes. So it's been.

It's been really nice. We do enjoy when we have to be a witness. It is. It is always quite fun.

What a privilege to be there in that moment. And also just interesting to know that there is this market. There is. There are people that do want some.

Something where they can just be two of them to get married. And again, probably not enough people in the industry have got anything that's even targeted to those people. So, yeah, great that you've.

You've managed to corner a little bit of that niche in Kent as well.

Now the other thing you talked about when we met was that you're seeing an interesting rise of weekday weddings, which actually is something that is happening across the industry. I'm seeing it more and more when more people are getting married on Wednesdays, on Fridays, on Sundays even.

But Saturdays, which used to be almost impossible, are suddenly not popular in some circles anymore. Why do you think that is? Do you have any theories?

And the following year, same thing, we had people emailing going. Do you have any Saturdays available for next year? No, I'm terribly sorry. We're fully booked from this time to this time.

And our Saturdays are more expensive than any other day of the week. So we believe that it was because of cost. People were looking for weekday because it's less money.

We've done some research in other venues in Kent and around the UK and it is similar. Midweek is less expensive than weekends. Some have Friday, Saturday and Sunday mixed in all together, same price.

Some have Saturdays as a bit more pricey. So I do think it's a bit of cost.

I think it also just keeps the day into one day as opposed to trying to extend across a long weekend, having to entertain guests for a longer time. Some people really love that, you know, arrive on the Friday, wedding on the Saturday, depart on the Sunday.

You get three days worth of, worth of experience. But a lot of others just really are, are looking forward to that one day. That's what they're invested in and weekday do that.

So I think it's cost mainly, but I also just think it limits the length of time. You're sort of entertaining too many people.

I think culturally as consumers we've just kind of shifted as well. Like we don't, we just don't seem to mind so much anymore. I don't know what it is.

We just, we're just happy to do things midweek or we're, you know, I, I wonder if it's a bit of a post Covid, a bit more of a flexible work environment that everyone's finding themselves in.

Yeah.

Or just the next generation being like, we're going to do things our own way. But all of a sudden, you know, that Saturday isn't quite so important anymore.

You know, people get together and go dinner on a Tuesday night and it's completely normal. We don't need to save everything for the weekend.

Something else that's part of that shift is I'm.

We're seeing, you know, you know, when I got married, I had a. I had a more or less a specific date that I wanted, you know, that we're now talking, you know, 12 years ago, nobody wants a specific date anymore. And I find it really fascinating when I say to couples, do you have any particular date in mind? Any particular moment, month?

And they're like, no, we're open May through to September, any day of the week, any month, any day. Like.

And I find that so interesting how that has shifted to, we only want this date because there used to be a time where people would call up and say, do you have this date available? And we didn't have it available. And then they'd move on. Even if they love the venue, they wanted that specific date.

It meant something to them, it was important to them. It was significant, significant for, for various reasons, sentimental. Now they're like, any day, what do you have?

You know, and, and, and there's no significance to those dates anymore. Which I find really interesting that that has also shifted.

So not only is the day of the week, it's also that they're just not interested in any particular date that, you know, I always think about, well, what's your anniversary going to look like year on year, you know, what, what date are you celebrating or what does that look like throughout the year, Summer holidays, things like that, like that. And people aren't bothered by that anymore. And it's good for us, good for the business, that they're less bothered by specific dates.

But I just find that really interesting how that has also shifted.

And from a customer journey point of view, one of the things I'm saying to venues particularly, and other wedding suppliers is stop making people put what wedding date they want on their inquiry form because you're kind of forcing them into this box. And sometimes, I mean, if you're going to have it, at least say if known, and don't make it like you have to fill it in.

But still a lot of people have it that you have to fill it in. And I'm like, people don't want to say a date because then if you're not available, then, you know, they don't care. They don't care.

And funnily enough, Stephanie as well, talking about wedding anniversaries and what they're going to look like year on year.

Well, my wedding anniversary is, and has been for the last 16 years, 3 July, which has been a pretty nondescript date until Taylor Swift decided this year to get married on the 3rd of July. And so I feel like she's ruined my wedding anniversary forevermore, because it's now forever more gonna be the day that Taylor Swift got married.

No, it's the most important date for you. Don't worry about her. We hopefully won't have to hear much about it after this one.

So we'll get some pictures going, I'm sure, over the next few weeks, but I highly doubt it'll be too much year on year on the 3rd of July.

But it's so funny how a date that's just completely a random date can suddenly become a moment that everyone is talking about in weddings. But there we go.

Yeah.

Well, thank you, Taylor, for stealing my wedding date. I am forever.

It's obviously a great date. Obviously a great date.

Exactly. Now, one of the things I mentioned earlier, and I think you did exceptionally well at Portland, was your customer service and the guest experience.

I mean, I talk a lot about how in the uk we're not particularly always good at customer service. I rave a lot on this podcast about how much I love Disney.

And one of the things I love about Disney is their incredible attention to detail and their customer service. But when I came to Portland, I was blown away by the level of customer service service, the fact there was concierge there 24 hours a day.

Everyone couldn't have done more to be kind and helpful to every guest. They helped my sister get things out of the cart, like, just. They went above and beyond.

Well, you know, it. It has, it has. I can't speak on behalf of all departments, obviously, but it has taken a while to get. The MD is very big on customer service.

He knows how important it is. As an American, customer service is obviously very big for us. You know, we work off of tips in America in most, you know, hospitality positions.

So, you know, the. The better you are with a customer, the bigger tip you could possibly get. So that. That's how I was sort of grown into the industry.

And I just think Americans in terms of hospitality are, are always, you know, a bit above and beyond. That's just how it's always been in my experience. Experience, of course.

And then over the years at Portland specifically, we've had a few management changes in departments and as we've progressed, I think the managers that are on board at the moment have gotten it so right. They're hiring the right people, they're teaching them the right things.

Our guest services team has grown exponentially in terms of, of how they look after guests, you know, how they're treating people, how they're handling any concerns people might have, looking after people, taking their belongings out of the car.

They know a little goes a long way and it doesn't take much to get someone to smile, you know, to show that you've gone that little bit above and beyond.

You know, a drink at dinner or A lot of our accommodation, as you know, requires a golf buggy to get to and how that looks and how are we getting people out there and are we taking a moment to show them to their accommodation, give them a second to get settled? You know, it's just those little things. It's the same thing for weddings, you know, it's. It's those little things that we go above and beyond.

You know, one of the couples that we had last year fed back to us that the first, first bottle of champagne that was popped at the reception, the cork was given to the groom as a memento and he couldn't believe how thoughtful that was. And he thought that was so incredible. And it's just little things like that that don't take a lot of effort that are a big win.

And that's what we're always trying to pass down to the younger generation in the company. And for those of us who have been in the industry for a while is that little bit will go a long way.

Your name will get into that report for saying so and so really made an impact on our stay. So and so really looked after us. And it's, it's those moments that people will remember.

They're going to remember the animals, they're going to remember that golf buggy ride to their accommodation, they're going to remember that safari. But what really makes it special is that person who did something a little bit extra dinner just being a little bit more personalized for them.

You know, it's that tiny little thing that arranger remember someone the next day and asking them about such and such. How was that animal feed you? Did you're off to feed the rhino. Right.

You know, it's just those little things that really leave people a lasting touch and go, God, that was really amazing.

So it is a testament to the management in Portland at the moment because they're working really hard to make sure that we are getting the feedback that you've just given. And we're hoping that everyone leaves thinking the same thing.

Yeah. And that culture has to come from the top down. And.

And that's really encouraging that you said right from the off there that the md that's a really big part of they want because that really does shine through.

And if you go and look at your reviews online, which I did before I came to stay because I like to look at people reviews, again, that really came through. Like the customer service was really impressive. The staff would, would going above and beyond.

And again, I think that's an area I talk with venues specifically a lot about, about, you know, if a.

If a wedding couple comes for a tour of your venue and the first person they greet is a miserable receptionist, like, you've ruined, you've ruined that experience. Like, they're not, they're not gonna buy. And I think sometimes we take that for granted. When you do it really well, it has a huge impact.

And, you know, we all know that one difficult thing ends up being the thing that people talk about rather than the impressive things.

And so if we can do those, they don't need to be big, extravagant things like you're saying about the cork, but actually it's the fact that you've thought about it and you've gone above and beyond. So, for example, you know, back to my example of my stay, we checked in, my sister's there, she's got two tiny children.

All of this stuff, fans, bags, everything. And they could have just gone, yeah, stick it on your golf buggy and do fin. Five trips. And she would have been miserable. Right. But they didn't.

They just went, oh, don't even think about doing that. Like, we'll come. They bought two members of staff, they bought a separate golf buggy.

They told us to follow them to the accommodation and it just made her stay that bit easier. I mean, it probably took what, 10 minutes out of someone's day to do that. But the impact it had is so much bigger.

And I think everyone needs to be looking in their own businesses. What can we do?

What's the little 1% thing that we can do that, that doesn't take a big shift, but will make a huge difference to the people on their wedding day, to the couple as they arrive for the tour, to the guests on the day, to the parents on the day. Like everyone who is then going to do that thing we talked about earlier, which is then go and talk about it to everyone else.

Yeah, yeah. We see groups of weddings of 100 people and 90 of them could be staying off site, have never been to Portland before.

And they arrive on the day and they get out of a vehicle and they're standing there and they're going, where am I supposed to go? And we're really big on the guest services team being present as those vehicles pull up to say, hey there, you're here for the wedding.

So what you're going to do is this. We have a toastmaster included in our packages.

We'll be out front as well, because you want to be able to get on the front foot immediately and say, hi there. It looks like you're here for a wedding. Let me show you where to go. Here's what's happening because.

Because they've just gotten out of a vehicle and they're going, I don't know where I'm supposed to go. And this is the first time they're experiencing our park. It's a big park, there's a lot of places to go and it's just that immediate catch.

And right then and there they get off on a good foot because they're going, oh, okay, someone's just greeted me. Now I know what's happening and I know where to go. I know where the bathroom is, I know where to go get a drink and I know what's happening next.

It's just that tiny little thing to just say hello to someone as soon as they arrive.

We do a lot of corporate business and it took a little bit a of of work trying to get to the teams for them to understand that these guests in particular didn't book their accommodation themselves. A, a, a planner booked it, a host booked it, their co worker booked it.

But these people are showing up to a Leopard Creek or a Hog Deer Creek or a Bear Lodge. They have no idea what that is. They didn't look it up. They found out on the bus right over that they're staying in a Bear Lodge. What's that? You know?

So we now have it in place when groups are going off to their accommodation for the first time that there's a host there to say, welcome to Bear Lodge. Here's the units, here's where you find X, here's the restaurants, here's the number to Call if you need anything.

It's just that tiny little thing that it's one small message to groups to say, here's this, this and this. And they go, okay, now I'm feeling a little bit more settled and it's, it's not a hard task to do, but again, goes a really long way.

So, yeah, it's, it's, it's.

Yeah, again, it's a testament to the management to make sure that those messages are being passed down, but we just want to make sure that people are leaving, going, that was incredible. We were so looked after today. Nothing was too much for anyone. And that's what we always want to hear.

Absolutely. And I think, yeah, a lot of people can learn from that too.

Now, Stephanie, I know there's going to be a lot of people listening to this episode going, this all sounds amazing. I wish I could be a supplier there. I wish I could do it. Wedding there.

When I put stuff on my social media that, you know, the overwhelming comments I was getting was, I want to go and do a wedding there. It looks incredible. So give us some insight, tell us about the process. How are you finding your recommended suppliers?

Do you have recommended suppliers? You know, if people are listening, thinking, get me to Portland, what are you. What's your message to them?

It's. Well, it's not easy to get on our supplier list.

There had been a couple of the photographers that had come through our doors that I had met and got to know. So within that year or so, I didn't cull loads of people.

It was just sort of understanding who they were, what they provided, and then we were also going with what people were asking for. We were getting a lot of recommendations for hair and makeup that wasn't on our recommended supplier list previously.

So we went through, you know, a year's worth of weddings and looked at who the suppliers were, who was there most, who had good feedback and who was easy to work with. You know, it was who was a pleasure to have on site, who, you know, was.

Was chatty while we were there and introduced themselves to us and things like that. So we've had a very similar supplier list for the past two years with maybe some small, small shifts.

We didn't have videographers before we've now added that on, we didn't have content creators, we now have that on, you know, so it's just a matter of going with the trends and seeing what people are asking for. We don't.

There's no fee to be on a recommended supplier list, which we find I think quite beneficial because there's no kickbacks in particular that we get from any. Anyone. Not everyone knows that, you know, not of all of our wedding guests might know that. I do think that people might think that is the case.

Oh, they're only recommending them because they probably get some sort of commission from them. But we, we don't do that and it builds a better relationship with us and the supplier not having that sort of contractual relationship.

With that being said, they do, they'll help us out. Hey, we've got a new room. Can you come help photograph? You know, we've got, we're launching, we've changed something. Can you help us?

You know, video that, photograph that. So, you know, we can, we have a staff event, can you come and dj, you know, things like that. So there might be some relationship in that aspect.

But everyone that's on our list is mostly Kent based, so they're local. Everyone now who is on our list has worked at our venue on multiple occasions.

They know the venue well, they know the detail of what it takes to get down to the Orangery because there is a little bit of extra timings that need to go into getting suppliers down to the Orangery because of the direction they have to go down in a vehicle. They know there's a lot of walking on the day. So that photographer, that videographer, you know, they get their steps in.

When you do a wedding at Portland, that is definitely no joke.

And these are the suppliers that we've curated, we've worked with, we enjoy working with and they might also recommend us in return because of the relationship that we have with them. Hair, makeup, florists, things like that. So that, that's how we've sort of curated the list.

We often find that, you know, there are a lot of suppliers in this world, a tremendous amount in Kent, tremendous amount in the uk we get weddings where people have called people from up north and have paid for them to come down, given them accommodation just because they want them specifically. So we don't actually see our suppliers getting booked so much so that they're there all the time. But it is nice to see them come on site.

One of the things that we did talk about when we met was do we Think couples are saying, well, I don't want them to tell me who to book, so I'm just going to go off and find my own.

Or.

Or do they think that there's a kickback there? So I don't want to give them any commission, you know, not that they would think that, but let's go with somebody who we know we can trust.

They're not going to inflate our costs because they have to pay something over to Portland. You know, we know we're just going to go to them direct and get their, Their, their act.

So we don't know why people don't use our suppliers all the time. A lot of people have family, friends. That's becoming something a little bit more. We're seeing because of costs. So. But it is.

It's not easy to get onto the list because unfortunately, we just want to work with people that have been there before because we know what they're going to provide. We certainly wouldn't want to recommend someone who we don't really know. Something goes awry and a couple says, well, they're on your list.

And that happened, you know, we don't want to get there. That's what helped us curate this list to begin with. And I think we're all quite happy with where we are at the moment.

With that said, we do look at it year on year.

We sit down at the end of the year, we look at who's been there throughout the year, what positives, any negatives, what can we enhance for next year? Do we add on any more?

We don't also want to make it so much choice that it then also becomes overwhelming because now we've got 15 photographers on our list and they're going, well, I don't really know who to go to. I do, I start. But when you have a smaller list, it makes it easier to sort of check the pricing if you have four or five photographers.

Okay, well, let's narrow it down to these five and have a quick look. So it sort of makes it a bit easier for the couple as well.

And I think the overwhelm thing is also really interesting. And I think, again, because we're kind of living in this wild world of everything being shouted at us. Overwhelm is a real thing.

One of my friends is getting married and they have to use a caterer at the venue, which is very normal. And they gave them three, three choice of caterer. And she just came to me and she was like, they've given me three choices.

I don't even know where to start. And I thought, wow, even like step one, choose a caterer, you already feel overwhelmed. And actually she just said to me, do you know any of them?

I said, I know that one. She went, oh, I'll just put that.

One right because good enough for me.

Exactly. Because I think people are overwhelmed with choice.

And you know, to your point about the list not being the be all and end all because a lot of people do bring their own suppliers is because you know, the world has opened up to people now you can go on TikTok and you can search and you can see every wedding photographer from all over. And so you don't necessarily need to go to the venues list anymore to, to make a choice because there are so many choices.

So I think my message to people, I've got two messages for people listening. Number one, if you want to do a wedding at Port Lim, your best chance of doing it isn't trying to get on the list.

It's just trying to find a couple and telling them to get married there and then they can bring you. Like be your own PR machine because actually you can spread the word and say I've always wanted to do a wedding here.

Find a couple that wants to get married there and then they can bring you in and then you've done, you've done your, your job, you've got, you've done it once and if it goes well, that's when you start to build a relationship. So be a good PR machine yourself.

And I guess the other thing to say is to remember, and I cannot stress this enough, and I talk about this a lot, is that that venue supply relationship when you are on a list is not about being on a list, it's a relationship. And I think so often people go into that relationship from the supplier end seeing it as a free way to bookings. Right.

It's a one way street, but actually it's not a one way street.

You need to look at what you're giving them, what you're doing back, you know, what, what you can give in return, how you're acting as a, as a human, as a person. Because, because there is a great deal of, of trust as a venue like you said in that list.

And you as a venue owner have to take that really seriously because it's your rep reputation. I've Just talked about how great the customer service is and how great you're doing at Portland.

But if you have a slightly rude supplier on your list, it's very easy to undo that.

And they don't think, oh, well, they don't work here because if you've recommended them, if they're on your sheet, they see it as one and the same thing.

Yeah, yeah, exactly right. Exactly right. We have had suppliers through the door who have not really been great to work with.

And then we've had feedback from, you know, our team who is working with them prior to the event, trying to get their contact information. We need their vehicle reg, what time they're reconfirmation of what time they're actually arriving, so on, so forth.

And, and then, and, and that can sometimes be tricky, even just to get that. We've had couples who've said, can you please reach out to my supplier because they're not getting back to me.

And then we've had on the day, the operations team feedback saying, by the way, those people were awful to work with if they want to come back, like, we, we'd rather not have them. So it's those little things that really make the impact.

We've had operations come back to us and say that so, and so whatever the what, photographer, videographer, music, anything, magician was so incredible. I would add them onto that list if you can. That's how great they were to work with. That is, is when we might say, okay, let's consider that.

So, you know, one of the things that people ask, you know, can we be included? And I, and I say to them, the best thing to do is to get on socials.

And, and when you've worked at Portland before, if you have worked at Portland, of course, tag yourself and, and tag Portland, because we'll either reshare that or you can see it in reels. And I will tell couples, you know, we have a recommended supplier list.

But to make sure you're getting something that fits your own style, have a look at our Instagram account and you can see every supplier that's worked here for the past year. And you might see a band, a dj, a florist, a photographer, a videographer that goes, you say to them, that's, that's my style. Oh, I like that style.

Oh, that looks really, really good. And they might not even be on our list, but they've worked there.

So then you know that, that you can call them up and say, oh, you did a wedding at Portland and we want to book you in so it will happen. We. We have had lots of people say, I found them through your Instagram account, and they're not on our recommended supplier list.

So it is marketing themselves as well in. In that aspect, so. You're absolutely right.

Yeah. Fantastic.

And, you know, for those people that are on the list, they're privileged to be on that list and hopefully they will do the things to stay on that list as well. Because, you know, that's the other thing I say to people all the time. You know, even if someone.

Someone puts you on the list, doesn't mean you're on there forever.

No, no, it's. It's true. It's true.

You've got to. You've got to keep your place there by being a good human being, as we've just said it, and by. And by shining a light and being a PR machine.

And, you know, these days, all of us in the wedding industry have a platform. We all have a social media presence, and a lot of people are reaching tens of thousands of people through their reels weekly.

And so utilize that to also be a good PR machine for the. The venues that you're working at, for the other suppliers. You're working again because I scratch your back, you scratch mine.

It goes an awfully long way. Yeah. Now, before I let you go, Stephanie, there's a couple of things I want to talk to you about.

The one question I have for you here is about things that you've changed in the last year. And there may or may not be anything that springs to mind, but I always find this an interesting question to just dig into.

Is there anything that you've changed in your process, in your service over the last year, in your marketing that you think has made the biggest difference to either inquiries or in. Into conversions?

Gosh, inquiries and conversions. We, you know, one of the things that I find is our relationships with couples is the biggest winner to win business. We have a glorious venue.

It's absolutely stunning. You know, sells itself. Yeah, it does.

But actually, I've had more couples over the past year say, you made us feel so comfortable in our venue tour that, that, that's one of the main reasons why we wanted to book. Of course it's a stunning venue. Yes, you know, big win. But it's. It's us as the sales team who really make an impact.

You know, one of my colleagues at the moment who's been there for near three years, same thing. People love her.

They.

She meets them, they get on well. They have things in common. She knows really how to engage with, with the couples.

And I think that's really helpful is getting that relationship with a couple and not making it a transaction. Because at the end of the day, we're the venue, they're the client. But you also want to get a relationship with this couple.

You want to learn about them, who are they, what made them come here, what are they looking for? And I think those questions that we've asked more have really made couple couples feel more comfortable.

And I think that has helped us win a bit more business. Being a bit more flexible. What is your budget?

As opposed to being like we get a lot of people say, I'm sorry, but it's out of budget whether they've been in or not been in. And we'll say what is your budget? And let's see what we can do. You know, can you guarantee a higher minimum?

And then we'll drop the cost of room higher or whatever the case may be. And I think it's understanding what people have to, to spend so that we can work with them.

You know, I'd rather see 10 days booked at a much lower spend than see 10 empty dates because we weren't being flexible on our costs. We don't want to ruin our package. We have a reputation to provide.

We want Joe Smith to come on site for three different weddings and give him the same type of events. You know, we want him to be a guest and say, yeah, I went to Portland three times and every time it's been amazing. I don't want that person going.

Well, we went, it was incredible. We had champagne canapes, everybody again and they, they weren't serving any drinks at the reception. It was, you know, it was so different.

You know, we want to be able to represent ourselves as well. But I think nurturing the couples, getting to know them and making them feel as comfortable as possible, they're spending a lot of money.

They want to make sure that they're spending it with a place that's going to make them feel at ease. And I think that's probably one of our biggest shifts.

And what's interesting in that answer as well is it's two of the biggest things that I think we're seeing as well just in the marketing industry, particularly in weddings as a who in that people are looking for flexibility and personalization. They, they want that. They don't want a one size fits all.

And also importantly the human to human contact because yes, they're on Tick Tock, yes, they're on Instagram, yes, they're doing all Their research, and we know all of that. But the moment they want to jump on a call or walk into your venue, the humanness has to shine through. Like that is the differentiator.

They already know what your venue can do. They know the capacities. They know everything else that they've looked at online.

Yeah.

Now it's down to the human. And you can have the best product in the world, but if you don't make them feel valued and seen and human in that moment.

Yeah.

You won't get the work.

Yeah. Yeah. And it's. It's simple questions, you know, to ask to just loosen them up a little bit because they are there. They're. They're.

They've probably seen three or four other venues at this point. Sometimes we're the first, sometimes we're the fifth, and it.

That will make an impact afterwards when they're going to see three or four other venues, who stands out in. In their mind also, you know, she was really great. She really answered all of her questions. She was super calm, easygoing.

You know, the other place that woman seemed a bit. She was. Or man was running a bit short, you know, seems like we were rushing her. Didn't really seem to have enough time for us. It's.

It's just that it's. It's again, something so simple and also falls into the sort of. That customer service aspect of it as well.

Yeah, absolutely. It's been such a fascinating conversation. I've really enjoyed chatting to you. I hope that you've enjoyed being on the episode today.

Now, I always end my podcast with the same question, so I'm going to pose that to you now. And it's this. What's one thing you personally wish you'd known sooner in your business?

I mean, there's a hundred things I could probably answer to this question, being in the industry for as long as I have, but I'd say one of the biggest things or something I wish I sort of known before is that.

And this kind of goes into a lot of what we were just talking about today is people won't remember every single minute detail of that day, but they are going to remember how you made them feel. Not every wedding or every event is going to be flawless. It just. It just can't happen. It's a lot of moving parts. It's a lot of. Of people.

But at the end of the day, if that couple has ended their wedding day going, that was just incredible because of the people, the customer service.

So I think stop focusing on all the little tiny details to make it perfect and just make sure that that couple is being absolutely looked after, heard, understood, and that alone will make it a really successful event. So earlier in my career it was about making everything so completely perfect to the detail.

But actually I've learned over the years it's just customer service and relationship relationships that really make the impact.

So, so true. Stephanie, it's been a pleasure. If people want to find out more about you, about Port Limb, where are the best places for them to connect to?

Find out?

Yeah, well, our Instagram is Portland Weddings specifically if you want to get more into it.

Or Portland park at Portland park for the animal Animal bits where@event infoortlim.com is our email address or you could just find us online at Portland. But this has really been lovely. Thank you so much.

It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much.

And thank you again for having me and my sister to say we had such a wonderful time and hopefully that's come through in today's conversation. I think other people listening are probably thinking we need to go and visit there now.

Yes, come, come, come see us. We'll look after you.

Amazing. Thank you so much.

Thanks, Becca.

I really love that conversation. It was such a fantastic discussion and I cannot tell you what a wonderful time I I had myself when I went to Port Ly.

The things that stood out are the things I talked about, the customer experience, the usps, the way that you were made to feel the whole time you're on that site. And I think they're doing something really special there.

I hope you've taken some ideas for your own business and if you want to find out more about Port Lim, I recommend you go and visit yourself. I'll see you all next time.