How to Start a Wedding Hall

A wedding reception hall can be a fun and lucrative business venture when you carry out the proper amount of planning to start and operate it. Putting some thought into how you'll run the venue and rent out its space can be the primary determinant in whether or not your reception hall is booked regularly or empty weekend after weekend.

Supplies Needed:

Facility with commercial kitchen

Tables and Chairs

Curtains and wall decor

Brochures

Step One:

Create an atmosphere that is conducive to the elegant and celebratory nature of weddings. Because your facility will be focused on wedding receptions, you should decorate the center in neutral colors with graceful artwork and finishing touches. This center should be functional, but it should also attract the eye of the bride looking for a beautiful venue.

Step Two:

Build relationships with vendors. Find vendors you can outsource to for the details you don't want to handle yourself. Some vendors include linen companies, party rental companies for tables and chairs, caterers, wait staff, flowers, bridal shops, party stores, etc. In order to build these relationships, make personal visits to the companies to leave information about your wedding reception business. Ask for any brochures or other information they can give you and pledge to pass it along to the brides and grooms with which you come in contact.

Step Three:

Create your rental packages. Put together different reception packages your clients can choose from. You may wish to offer a low, mid and high-level price point package as well as a la carte items customers can choose to add to their packages. Creating packages helps you to showcase what you can offer customers, and it can also help you stay focused on your offering. In a wedding reception center business, you may offer a basic package with just the hall, tables, chairs, and the use of the kitchen. A more all-inclusive package option might be one that includes catering services, linen rentals, an event coordinator, and other party details.

Step Four:

Apply for licensing and operating permits. Contact your city hall to inquire of the necessary permits. These will be unique from state to state and will cover requirements for the facility, food, liquor, and operations. This process may require inspections.

Step Five:

Hire staff. Generally, a wedding reception hall requires a manager, an event planner and one or two sales people. Higher volume reception halls may require more staff than ones with smaller volumes. Decide on what staff members you need to help you run the center effectively and hire them.

Step Six:

Have an open house. Since you have the party space and some of the other details for throwing a party, a great way to showcase your reception hall is to throw an open house party. Invite potential customers and potential referral sources to an open house party where they can preview the wedding reception hall and enjoy some refreshments, dancing and more. Advertise your open house through local newspapers, online city events calendars, and through the vendors with whom you have already spoken. Make sure your reception center is well-furnished and looks impeccable for the big day.

Step Seven:

Advertise. Contact bridal magazines and websites to ask about advertising space. Research local bridal shows and plan to host a booths at the events. Print full-color brochures with pictures of your reception hall to give to vendors, prospective clients, churches, bridal shops, and rental centers. Contact your local newspaper and ask for an interview about your newly opening hall.

Tips:

During the wedding off season (January, February, and March are the least popular wedding months), you may consider reaching out to other rental clients in order to fill your calendar. Corporate events, reunions, or other large gatherings will bring in cash while you build excitement for the coming wedding season.