Looking for a small business idea? Listen to the wedding bells
I’m getting married! Yes, it’s extremely exciting and as a groom to be, I am learning a lot. Oh, I’ve been a part of weddings before – I’m a two-time best man – and I’ve been close to family members who have gotten married with full on weddings. But there is nothing like going through planning your own wedding. It’s absolutely wonderful … and extremely intense.
Let’s talk about money for a moment. Yikes! This is a very special event and people dream of their wedding day their entire lives, so it is absolutely the right thing to make it as special as possible. Yikes!
Suzanne and I have been reading a lot of books as we prepare for our wedding. We are very interested in what Emily Post’s granddaughter Peggy has to say, for sure. And we are planning a vintage 1930’s themed wedding complete with wedding gown, morning coat, music and drinks that were popular in the art deco era, so we have done our research into what will make for an authentic early 1930’s affair.
But one of our favorite books is Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget by Denise and Alan Fields. I learned that the average wedding in the U.S. costs $20,000 and that over $23 Billion is spent annually just on the wedding & reception – that’s bigger than the breakfast cereal industry! Add another $19 Billion spent on gifts and $8 Billion on honeymoons and we’re looking at a $50 Billion wedding industry!
Looking for a small business idea? You gotta get you a piece of that action! Hey, we brides & grooms to be are seriously motivated consumers. We know what we want and we’re willing to spend the cash to get it. And don’t discount the moms & dads of brides & grooms. They have a strongly vested interest in these wedding celebrations themselves, and many of them have been saving up for years just for this occasion.
Let’s just take a very quick inventory of the people who provide goods and services necessary for a complete wedding celebration. Seamstresses, bakers, caterers, valet parkers, limo providers, consultants, photographers, videographers, rental agents, vacation planners, florists, musicians, jewelers, makeup artists, retail clothiers, calligraphers, printers … oh there are plenty more but my head is starting to hurt.
In case you’re thinking that there are already so many people in this vast wedding industry and that it’d be just too difficult to break into it, let me share something that the Fields state in their book: most people who provide wedding goods & services don’t see you as a repeat customer so there is a very serious lack of good customer service.
There’s your opportunity, right there!! Pick something you feel you’d enjoy doing, start out part time – after all much of this wedding stuff happens on weekends – and make your customers feel like they are the most special people on the planet. You’ll bring great happiness to an already joyous occasion, and you’ll create some terrific referrals for your second customer.
So, go for it. Join an industry that isn’t likely to go away any time soon. The wedding season is almost upon us!
February 9th, 2006 at 7:40 pm
Great ideas!
And don”t forget, the bride and groom might not be repeat customers, but the friends and family will be! (Or won”t be if the experience was bad…)
There are SO many options for building a wedding-related business. It’’s almost endless actually.
The trick is how to get your product in front of bride to be’’s (they do the bulk of the wedding planning and vendor/product selection).
Any suggestions?
February 10th, 2006 at 9:03 pm
[purple]This comment is actually more a question. I”ve actually been doing wedding cakes and grooms cakes for over 20 years. And I would really like to have more business, I just haven”t ever taken the time to go after it. My problem is that I don”t want to invest in a lot of equipment and so I have a limited repertoire as far as styles I will do. I”ve never had to turn a customer away though. So my question is this: how do you think it would go over with potential customers if I offered, say 10 choices of cakes and that was it? The quality is exceptional…so I”ve been told. And the bonus about my cakes is that they really taste great! And I”ve had several repeat customers in that the parents are the ones paying and lots of the families I”ve done cakes for order shower cakes, wedding cakes, grooms cakes and they have several daughers!
So…what do you think? and thanks in advance for the info!
debbie[/purple]
February 11th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Debbie,
I am in your shoes a little bit as well. I”ve created several Swarovski Crystal monogram wedding cake toppers for friends and family in the past year, and am undecided about ”going after” more business.
In your case, it sounds like you have a constant stream of business? But not as much as you”d like? Even if you offered 10 choices of cakes (and I assume that means sizes and shapes?), those 10 choices can have MANY different looks, right? So 10, would really become many more when you consider all the different decor possibilities. I my experience, wedding cake shoppers are more interested in the finishing touches (flowers, ribbons, colors, frosting details, etc) than in the sizes and shapes. Most people could be convinced to buy your cakes just because of the taste and style/decorating you provide.
To gain more exposure in your area, you could try to offer a free wedding cake as a contest…? I wonder if a local radio station would join up with you in offering your free wedding cake as a contest to their listeners? Maybe you could get some free radio advertising that way! Just a thought…
Also, it seems like fondont is a popular frosting type now. Do you use that? I know of bakeries in my area who say they do not. It might be a fad, but it also might be a good thing to specialize in.
Let me know if this is helpful, or if my assumptions are wrong!
Krista
February 14th, 2006 at 12:26 am
[p][/p][purple][/purple]
Hi,
Can anyone tell me about the market for custom bows for weddings? They are used for pews etc… I would appreciate any advice on marketing them. I”ve done pretty well with them with holiday designs and special events.
February 17th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
Shari,
I would suggest you need to connect with florists. They seem to be the vendor in charge of that part of wedding decorations. Every wedding that I have been to with pew and chair bows have been set up by the florists. Maybe you could be a ‘’subcontractor” to the florists?
By the way, the chair bows I”ve seen were used to decorate the backs of chairs for sit-down receptions, or the wedding party’’s table, etc.
Just an idea…
February 25th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Hi,
I”m so glad to read that the wedding industry is hot! The products that I carry are perfectly suited for wedding gifts, decor and favors. I started my business in 2003/04 by participating in bridal shows which cost a lot of money and got me absolutely nothing in return.
So last year, I expanded my product line and did a lot of craft fairs and markets but the gifts only sold well after Labor Day when people started to think ”bout the holidays. I had a number of people tell me that the gifts I had are perfecet for weddings.
I”ve not given up on getting into the wedding industry. Currently, I have a group of students from a local university developing an e-commerce website for my business for their class project. The website will be completed in April this year. Now, I need a lot of help this time around as to how to get my products seen by brides nationwide on an extremely small budget. I”ve read ”bout affliate marketing, website optimization, etc. Is there anything else particular to the wedding industry that I can do that doesn”t cost too much? I need to do it right this time around. Any help is most appreciated. Thanks.
Chin-Sim
February 26th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
Hi Joel,
Congratulations! Your wedding theme is so glamourous…
2 words: Wedding Planner.
LOL
Kim
The-petset.com