Supplier Spotlight: Coco Wedding Venues

Looking for your perfect wedding venue? Today I am delighted to be chatting with the lovely Emma from Coco Wedding Venues all about finding stylish wedding venues. Emma is sharing her expertise, advice & what goes on behind the scenes at Coco HQ…

  • When did you set up Coco Wedding Venues & what led you to start up the business? 

Coco Wedding Venues has a direct link to my own wedding planning journey – in particular, the venue hunt! The boy and I sadly fell at that first hurdle…

Our natural first step was to search the Internet, but the wedding venue websites we came across didn’t excite and inspire us. The functionality of these search tools also frustrated me, I thought the process should be fun and inspiring and a little bit romantic. Sadly it didn’t quite work out that way.

So I got to thinking – how would I like to search for a venue and what would I like it to look like…?

I simply wanted to merge the functionality of a venue search tool with the stylish wedding inspiration found on beautiful wedding blogs. So Coco Wedding Venues was founded back in December 2013…

 

  • How do you research & find the right venues to add to your directory?

I have some key brand values that I absolutely stick to when considering venues for the directory – Luxe, stylish, unique, quality, bespoke and cool. These words capture the spirit of Coco Wedding Venues and all that we look for in our wedding venues.

When I’m approached by a venue or I’m on the hunt myself, I need to be able to visualise the style of wedding you could host there, the personality of the Bride & Groom who would consider the venue and of course a key test is whether it fits into one (or more) of our six style categories.

This may sound very protective or possibly even a little elite, but it’s not. I promise, there is something for everyone, for every style and for every budget. But I do believe in the importance of ensuring consistency across our brand and our offer to Brides and Grooms.

  • What is it you like most about what you do?

I love creating. So whether that’s choosing the imagery for a new listing, writing a feature for the blog, helping a Bride & Groom with their own search or designing my own styled shoot editorials. I just love the creative process the wedding industry allows you to have.

I also love working with the people that I’ve met though starting this business. They’re pretty epic and everyday they make me smile.

  • Being newly engaged myself the prospect of searching for a wedding venue feels very daunting, what would be your advise to couples who are just starting to plan their wedding & are at the stage of trying to decide what type of venue they would like? 

My first piece of advice is don’t rush this decision as it influences the rest of your planning journey.

I have a page dedicated to this very topic and you can read all of the details here 
 
But my top tips would be;
  1. Check the fine print – even try to take a copy of the venues T&C’s away with you on the first visit so you can consider the venue with your heart and your head.
  2. Understand the Venues Costs – ensure you both understand the costs for the venue before signing on the pretty dotted line.
  3. Create a spreadsheet of venues to visit – I think 4 – 6 in one day is the max as it can become overwhelming.
  4. Be careful not to take an entourage on the venue visits – remember this day is about two people. However feel free to talk to people – it’s a great way of sorting through your own thoughts about each delicious venue you’ve seen!
  5. Enjoy these precious moments folks… and have fun on your super romantic road trips!
  • When making the final decision on which venue to book out of those shortlisted, what would you say are the most important things to consider?
This is such a personal choice and can vary from couple to couple as everybody has their own deal breakers. For some it may be the late license, for others it may be the food or indeed it could be the distance family and friends have to travel. I could go on. 
 
I just think before you make the decision it’s really important to have a good understanding of the kind of wedding you want and if you can visualise your plans and ideas at the venue then fabulous. There’s a whole heap of questions to ask yourself on venue requirements here 
 
Do ensure you’re happy with all of the terms & conditions, and if you are then go for it! That’s the first big exciting tick done.
 
 
 
 
 
  • Could you tell us a bit more about the bespoke venue finding service that you offer, how does the process work? 

The Bespoke Venue Search is new to Coco and launched last month. It came about because I received emails from Brides & Grooms loving Coco but wanting some personal advice on their search.

Now, whilst Coco Wedding Venues has been created to ensure couples find the venue searching part of wedding planning easy, pretty and inspirational, it can all still be a bit daunting trying to find that venue, so I’m here to help!

We offer two services – We can guide you through some of our top picks on Coco which suit your search brief, or we can go a little more in depth for you with the Bespoke Service.

The couple receives…

  • A personal brief of the venue search.
  • Six suitable venues to browse.
  • Each venue listed will include links, descriptions, and key facts such as capacity / marriage license, accommodation and exclusivity.
  • We will also include a price range for the preferred date (s) and a direct contact should they wish to view.
 
We also have a Venue Search Service for the wedding industry, so whether you’re throwing a party, looking for a workshop space or in need of a photo shoot location, we can use our extensive location knowledge of the Coco venues and beyond to help find a suitable venue to suit your requirements.
 
 
 
 

Couple’s and industry colleagues can contact me directly on emma@cocoweddingvenues.co.uk to receive full details on our services and fees.

  • What future plans does Coco Wedding Venus have for the rest of 2014 and beyond?

Well, Coco turns one in December so that’s a pretty exciting milestone! We have our third editorial coming up at the end of this month which I’m so excited about. I’m also on the hunt for lot’s more beautiful venues to add just in time for all of the Christmas and New Year engagements! I want the Coco Brides & Grooms to have the best venue choices out there. Next year, we’ll just be continuing to do our thing, growing the brand, loving our job and meeting even more new and lovely people.

Thanks so much to Emma for guess posting for us today. If you would like to get keep up to date with Coco Wedding Venues follow the links below:

Website: cocoweddingvenues.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CocoWeddingVenues

Twitter: twitter.com/cocovenues

Blog: cocoweddingvenues.co.uk/the-blog/

Instagram: instagram.com/cocoweddingvenues

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