FAQs

We save you time. We source information from event, hospitality and tourism associations, the media and reliable specialist sources that relate directly to your unique concerns. This equips you for efficient, well-informed decision making and staff training. 

We make you money. Trust is a large part of any buying decision. Your wedding couples need to trust your guidance in everything. Expressing your integrity through your own marketing can be difficult when you are promoting the more obvious and visual things to newly engaged couples. Being a part of this national Alliance will give confidence to you and your staff which will shine through all your undertakings and give you that competitive, professional edge to boost sales.  

We save you money. Risk management always saves money in the longer term. Our Articles provide information and resources to educate and inform, and Membership gives exclusive access to our Conferences and first access to Seminars. 

We give you a voice. We will take on all your opinions about all issues and feed back to you the best collective stance you want us to express on your behalf. 

We unite your industry. As a collective you cannot be ignored. Individually, you will be. We celebrate the positive and essential contribution you are making to the wedding industry, the culture of the UK and the wider economy. 

We will only survive and achieve change to the operating environment with collective support. If that cannot be achieved, we will not continue. Delaying joining until post-disaster or industry bombshell is too late. The responsibility to protect yourself with the best resources and strongest advocates available is yours.

You know that couples are visiting many different venues as they search for their favourite. Being small and more exclusive maybe what attracts them to you. But being unknowledgeable about this most important day of their lives and how policy might affect their choices is not something you want to be associated with. You don’t have the resources or staff that larger venues do, and probably don’t have any time to filter through what information is affecting you. At Wedding Tourist you can get information about events that you may not encounter as much as other venues, receive resources you can use and distribute to clients and staff, and have the knowledge to compete. Weddings always take up venue owners’ energy and time on any scale, and are therefore a major part of your life and that activity can be better protected and you can be part of a likeminded group who will support you what ever size you are or think you are. Clients expect you to be the expert so be one.

We don’t look to Government, we look at policy, and then decide the best way to approach the current Government. We do not wish to homogenise or standardise what you are doing. We want to encourage the diversity and individuality of English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish wedding offerings by protecting their interests and supporting them as a unique group.

We don’t differentiate. All UK wedding venues share a need for recognition at policy level on tax and legislation as considerable contributors to the local, national and visitor economy. We are each, each-others support and strength.

Then be a forward-thinking field. You have wedding guests who are important to you, and your provision is hosting them. As a member, you can display your commitment to event tourism excellence by adding our Approved badge to your website and showing your wedding couples a service they can use, while you benefit from the industry information we provide.

You are a hotel that needs to appeal to the wedding market. Wedding Tourist addresses what is influencing that market. Hotels account for 40% of properties available to couples in the UK, and 19% uptake (According to Bridebook 2024 Report). Many venues have different income streams yet recognise the specialism that is hosting weddings is vital to their business and has specialist requirements that need to be protected at policy level. All venues are regarded as operating the same by engaged couples and membership demonstrates your commitment to their interests.

We offer a lot more than the average Trade Association. We lobby and collaborate with our members like a trade association, but we also share insights into cultural wedding expectations, catering trends, tourism hotspots, industry news and many other informative pieces you will not find anywhere in the wedding media. These pieces are designed to educate and inform one of the busiest and highly pressured workforces in the country, so that venues can perform outstanding service to their clients and communities.

Our remit is to improve the operating environment for all wedding venues and we believe that offering a tour guide service to UK wedding guests is a good use of wedding venues’ position in society. We do not monetise this function but it is considered a commercial activity similar to a travel agent, so we cannot use the term Association under Companies House rules. Hence the term Alliance for our function.

We will be members of any association that is useful to our member’s interests in time. We are new and it wouldn’t be justifiable in terms of cost until we become more established. We talk to all relevant associations about the prospect for the future, and we are all keen to share insights. The groups we are most interested in are

Visit Britain/ England/ Wales/ Scotland
Tourism NI
UK Inbound
The Tourism Society
Association of British Travel Agents
The Power of Events
UK Golf Federation
Historic Houses
British Beer and Pubs Association
Association of Leading Visitor Attractions
Country Land and Business Association
Museums Association
National Framers Union
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
The British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

Others will emerge as time progresses, and we are open to suggestions. We will add any new associations to our “News & Reviews” section of the Wedding Tourist Venues Hub.

If you were not around during Covid, or you were not affected by Covid, you might think that no union is needed. It is at times of disaster that the cracks in an industry show. A lot of how you were defined by local and national Government was revealed to be unfair and different across each local authority, meaning that you are not competing on acceptable terms. If you feel you are getting lots of bookings, but your bottom line is not recovering as it should, this is because the fiscal environment is not suitable.

When insurance companies and government agencies such as HMRC and the CMA make decisions about you, without unification, there is no organisation to defend you against any agenda they may decide upon.