Understanding the Post-Pandemic Hotel Wedding Market

The pandemic led to the cancellation or postponement of countless weddings, however, as restrictions lifted, couples were keen to rebook their dream day, leading to new challenges, including date availability and staffing issues. From smaller, more sustainable events to new safety protocols, the wedding industry post-pandemic is a different landscape than it was just a few years ago. To effectively manoeuvre this new way of tying the knot, hotels need to adapt.

Manorview Hotels own and operate 11 venues throughout Scotland. In 2021, Manorview recognised the need to capitalise on digital marketing to make their venues stand out from the crowd in a post-pandemic landscape and entrusted Click2Convert to deliver an integrated digital marketing strategy that provided a steady stream of new wedding enquiries. Click2Convert’s strategy focussed on three key areas: search engine optimisation, paid search and paid social, allowing them to capture couples across key stages of their decision-making journey.

Since the removal of Covid restrictions and the increasing pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, the way that couples envision their big day is evolving. For example, in 2023 we have seen more demand for allinclusive weddings (up 135% compared to 2019). Since the pandemic, Manorview has noted more enquiries on all-inclusive wedding packages to give people additional security during the planning stage. With all-inclusive packages, important services are supplied for and managed by the hotel, allowing the couple to enjoy the planning stage with less stress. Manorview has also experienced a spike in couples interested in mid-week weddings, as they can often offer more affordable packages and offers. Susan Spence, Group Wedding & Events Manager at Manorview said:

People love the security of suppliers being booked, and the competitive pricing this offers. It helps them have all their friends and family while keeping the cost in their budget. Manorview packages include cake, flowers and DJ in addition to all aspects of ceremony and wedding meal, so our couples love this.

With the ongoing cost of living crisis, many couples are now seeking more cost-effective ways to celebrate, resulting in more interest in smaller, intimate wedding venues and packages. Although large weddings will always be a popular option for many, we are also seeing a rise in searches for those looking for information on micro weddings (up 1707% compared to 2019), as well as those looking to elope (up 209% compared to 2019).

To prepare for the return of weddings post-pandemic, Click2Convert focused on building Manorview’s wedding visibility in organic search to take advantage of the coming spike and changing trends. They implemented key improvements to website content with a focus on informative and persuasive copy, making the pages more competitive and improving their conversion rate. Through combining expert SEO improvements to drive new visitors, and Conversion Rate Optimisation to turn more of those new visitors into wedding enquiries, Click2Convert have successfully brought weddings at Manorview back to life, observing a 97% uplift in wedding enquiries post-pandemic.

Click2Convert has achieved remarkable success in driving Manorview’s leads during peak seasons whilst maintaining a steady presence throughout the year. For example, the period between Christmas and New Year is a popular time for couples to get engaged, and the team utilised additional investment and smart bidding to target users showing the right intent signals to ensure that Manorview’s brand was visible during this key period. As a result, the team was able to capture significant demand and pivot towards capturing leads in January and February. This approach resulted in a year-on-year increase in wedding enquiries by a staggering +35%.

The growing change in wedding demand presents an opportunity for Scottish hotels to adapt and cater to the changing needs of the industry. Hotels may need to re-imagine their wedding packages and offer more flexible and personalised options. With the rising demand for smaller venues and reception-only celebrations, hotels may be required to showcase their smaller spaces to appeal to this market. Creating desirable and cost-effective packages for all-inclusive weddings and more appealing mid-week packages will assist hotels in capitalising on the new attitudes towards weddings going forwardwith a wedding offering that meets couples’ needs and a robust digital strategy in place to capitalise on new and existing markets.