Off peak Weddings

[CRAZY K]

A lot of info this morning on BBC TV about Weddings being held on days other than Saturday--quite interesting for us Entertainers and more work maybe.

Because a lot of venues are so booked up in advance Friday is becoming popular.

The Hotel in Bedford said it was giving 10 per cent off and so were Photographers, Discos etc.

However cant say I would give a discount for a Friday Wedding--if anything Friday traffic is the worst of the week for travelling longer journeys ( as I do)
with constant accidents on Major roads guaranteed.

Mondays also tend to have a lot of accidents:eek:

I find travelling Saturday ( other than Bank Holidays) pretty good.

I would give a discount for proper off peak though--Mon to Thursday.

If it gets popular I suppose they will have to move to Thursdays as well as Fridays and Saturdays--then we could all make some serious money :D

How do you guys see it?

CRAZY K

[PropellerHeadCase]

At the height of our wedding season (December through March), and especially in December due to Christmas dos, I have in the past been booked solidly for Saturdays first, solidly for Fridays (but the bookings come in later), and then a fair smattering of mainly Sundays with a few Thursdays thrown in.

[Tonsk]

I've had a couple of weddings this year on "odd" days... A Monday and a Thursday....

I don't mind them - I agree that traffic on a Friday is aweful, but the other days it's ok - plus I would only do em locally (or in areas I am sure I could get to).

As to discounts, the Monday one paid full price, but then I gave em a discount as they wanted me to introduce the speeches etc and the Thursday paid full price (although they did it because they were doing it on the cheap (ie to make some money, they raffled off the centre pieces from the tables at 11pm)).

I probably would offer discounts if I noticed a large increase in enquiries....

[rob1963]

I've mentioned this before, but over the last year or two I've seen an increase in the number of bookings I get for Sunday weddings.

5 years ago, Sunday weddings were virtually unheard of, but I did about 5 last year & the same this year.

The advantage is that you can end up earning from THREE discos in a weekend rather than just one or two.

I actually do a pub quiz night on Sundays, but when someone wants a wedding disco, I'll obviously take the booking and get someone else to cover my quiz night.

[PropellerHeadCase]

I probably would offer discounts if I noticed a large increase in enquiries....

Why? Unless you weren't converting the enquiries to sales.

[Tonsk]

Simply because they are "off peak".. In my area (Norfolk) I am now one of the most expensive at around £300+ per gig...

If, to fill the off days, I have to drop that figure by £25 then it wouldn't hurt too much at all...

It all helps to pay the bills and I'd prefer to be earning some money on a Tuesday than sat in being forced to watch Holby City or some rubbish like that by the Wife..

The other thing I have in my favour, even though I am selling it (or closing it down as noone seems to wanna buy it) is my website, which 9/10 gets me the booking before I even speak to the people.....

[rob1963]

The other thing I have in my favour, even though I am selling it (or closing it down as noone seems to wanna buy it) is my website, which 9/10 gets me the booking before I even speak to the people.....

I know I'm missing something here, but if your website is so good at getting you bookings, why are you closing it down?

:confused:

[Tonsk]

I'm moving to Ireland in January - And there's no point in taking a .co.uk site that is aimed at East Anglia to Dublin..

I have to change it all over to a .ie domain (or .com) and taylor it to suite that market instead...

[wensleydale]

i thought the bit about venues being booked up was rubbish- aren't less people getting married nowadays than ever before?

they do it to save cash.

i don't buy the whole discount thing anyway- as i dont have fixed prices theres no way of telling if its discounted or not.

[rob1963]

They do it to save cash.

Well, if they book ME they won't be saving any cash on the DISCO!

:D

[CRAZY K]

i thought the bit about venues being booked up was rubbish- aren't less people getting married nowadays than ever before?

they do it to save cash.

i don't buy the whole discount thing anyway- as i dont have fixed prices theres no way of telling if its discounted or not.

I agree with you and Rob, I wont be giving any Discounts on Fridays---

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday maybe :D :D :D

CRAZY K

[Tonsk]

I give no money off for Fridays, and never will....

Although I do give £15 off for Sundays already (cept bank holiday ones)... And have done a fee this year...

[Vectis]

Interesting thread.

I charge 'normal' rate for Fridays and Sundays.

I give a discount for Monday-Thursday.

And I charge a premium for Saturday.

I also charge 'normal' rate for gigs in April/May/June, October & November.

I give a discount for Jan/Feb/March.

I charge a premium for July/Aug/Sept and December (of course).


All evens out in the end.

It has to be this way as thats how it works here in a tourism-dominated economy.