In a world dominated by big corporations and chain stores, it’s more important than ever to support locally owned businesses. Not only do they add character and charm to our communities, but they also provide a host of benefits that you may not even realize. From boosting the local economy to fostering a sense of community, there are countless reasons why supporting your neighborhood mom-and-pop shop is so important. In this blog post, we’ll explore 20 Reasons to Choose A Locally Owned Wedding Venue.
Economic Impact: When you support locally owned businesses, more money stays within the community. Studies have shown that for every $100 spent at a local business, $68 stays in the local economy compared to only $43 when spent at a chain. This directly relates to wedding venues and the wedding industry as well.
Low Turnover: Corporate owned wedding venues suffer from excessive turnover, often because they value profit over people and tend to treat their employees poorly and compensate poorly. Locally owned wedding venues are very often family owned or spouse owned and the turn over rate and problems that stem from turnover are almost non existent in most locally owned wedding venues. Search “should I fire my venue” on TikTok and you will find the account of a bride who experience horrible treatment due to the appalling turn over rates at her venue. The peace of mind you get from working with an experienced team from start to finish is priceless.
Safety: Locally owned wedding venues tend to work harder to protect their wedding venue and guests because the owners are relying on the funds from the business for their livelihood. Corporate owned or .org most often put profit over people so yes, in my opinion, locally owned wedding venues are much safer.
Ethics: I get it, not everyone prioritizes ethics in business but if you do, then choosing a locally owned wedding venue is going to provide a greater percentage of people backing those businesses who absolutely value transparent pricing, policies and prioritize business ethics. This does not mean that 100% of all locally owned wedding venue will provide perfect services or a perfect system or perfectly ethical business practices however, you are far more likely to be satisfied with the business ethics of a small business wedding venue owner that you will with a high turn over, cold hard profit focused big wedding chain or leasing wedding venue collection backed by investors who have no feelings or compassion for the wedding couples they book.
Unique Products and Services: Local businesses typically offer one-of-a-kind products and services that you won’t find anywhere else. When it comes to wedding venues, these are family owned and they bring their own style, creative ideas, creative design elements, unique wedding venue features, only to have those features often replicated and exploited by corporate wedding venue lease machines. Shopping local wedding venues allows you to discover hidden gems in your community and enjoy a far greater wedding experience. Celebrate our unique locally owned wedding venues, they start the trends that corporate owned venues copy and exploit.
Environmental Benefits: By choosing a locally owned wedding venue, you can reduce your carbon footprint since these businesses tend to source their products locally and produce less waste compared to larger corporations. Our small business wedding venue owners are typically using the revenue generated from their business to save the family farm that has been in their family for generations. They may be using the revenue to restore historic properties that would have fallen into ruin. They may use the revenue to simply maintain their family needs. For many wedding venues, their ultimate goal is to cover the cost of their property and live comfortably, most wedding venues are not highly profitable.
Job Creation: Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and account for a significant portion of job creation in many communities. By supporting these businesses, you are helping create job opportunities for your neighbors. One wedding venue hosting 50 weddings a year could create 500 jobs for local wedding industry businesses. Many corporate owned wedding venues, especially the large leasing machine models, charge secret fees and kickbacks from wedding vendors. Small owned, locally owned wedding venues most often DO NOT charge hidden fees or kickbacks. Most often, a locally owned wedding venue is very transparent with pricing.
Personalized Customer Service: Local businesses often provide more personalized customer service since they value building relationships with their customers. You’re more likely to receive individualized attention and care when choosing a locally owned wedding venue. Just look up a .org wedding venue, a parks & rec wedding venue or a corporate owned wedding venue and check out their reviews. They couldn’t care less about bad reviews, being called out for terrible business practices or failing their clients. Most of these corporate or government owned wedding venues prioritize profit over experience, MOST small owned wedding venues are obsessed with protecting their reputation and providing incredible wedding experiences.
Strengthening Communities: Locally owned wedding venue businesses play a vital role in creating vibrant and thriving communities. They sponsor local events, donate to charities, and contribute to the overall well-being of the neighborhoods they serve. Most locally owned wedding venues are dedicated to continued education, they consistently strive to learn how to improve community relations, how to increase safety at their venue, how to elevate experience and implement best practices. Look for the WeddingVenueOwners.com badge on wedding venue websites, this will show you which wedding venues are consistently dedicated to learning the best wedding venue standards of practice and implementing innovative strategies that lead to the absolute best experiences.
Preserving Local Character: Locally owned wedding venue businesses help preserve the unique character and identity of our communities by restoring and maintaining gorgeous properties that reflect the local culture and values. They often invest so much in landscaping, preserving natural beauty, forest and woodland areas, preserving the natural beauty of the properties they own. For example, I toured an orchard wedding venue in West Virginia, that property has managed to remain owned by one family for over 100 years! The wedding venue owners shared with me that if they did not host 20 weddings a year, the orchard would have gone into foreclosure or bankruptcy because the cost of managing the orchard was far higher than the income it produced on its own.
Building Relationships: When you support locally owned wedding venue businesses, you’re not just making a purchase – you’re building relationships with the people who own and operate these establishments. It creates a sense of connection that is often lacking in larger corporate settings. This is absolutely true! Locally owned wedding venues (a high percentage of them) care so deeply about every wedding they book. Most often they do not book every wedding they can, instead, the most reputable locally owned wedding venue teams will not book couples who have a wedding vision that the venue can not truly provide. Instead, they will refer these couples to wedding venues that are better suited to accommodate the desires of the couple. This is absolutely one of the most kind and real elements of the locally owned wedding venue that most people truly do not understand. Locally owned wedding venues get to know their couples and truly want to provide a sincerely wonderful once in a lifetime experience. Very often, corporate owned wedding venues, .org wedding venues, leasing wedding venue machines – all priorities profit and heavily pressure their sales teams to book as many weddings as possible, regardless of whether or not they can actually fulfill the clients clearly stated priorities. An example of this would be when the couple thinks they will have a private wedding experience because they booked a wedding space and instead resort/hotel/museum guests or general public will have access to their wedding spaces throughout the day.
Better Quality Products: Many locally owned wedding venues take pride in offering high-quality properties, grounds, services, operations, policies, etc… that are governed with care and attention to detail. You’ll often find superior experiences and quality when choosing locally owned.
Supporting Entrepreneurship: Small business wedding venue owners are entrepreneurs who have taken risks to pursue their passion and create something meaningful in their community. By supporting them, you are encouraging innovation and creativity within your neighborhood and the entire region. Most of our incredible wedding venue owners are community leaders, they can be looked up to, admired and respected but they almost never seen themselves this way. They are very often humble and working way to hard, to the point of exhaustion to every stop and think they deserve recognition. I have toured over 900 wedding venues in 27 states, I have never met a locally owned wedding venue that every thought of themselves as I have described here, but in my opinion, they deserve a great deal of recognition and they have proven entrepreneur qualities that I admire tremendously.
Flexibility and Adaptability: Local wedding venue owners are more agile and able to respond quickly to changing market demands compared to large corporations with bureaucratic structures. This flexibility allows them to better meet the needs of their customers.
Community Involvement: Local business owners are invested in their communities and often play an active role in local initiatives such as beautification projects, charity drives, or volunteer efforts.
Cultural Diversity: Locally owned wedding venues contribute to the cultural diversity of our communities by hosting weddings that feature local traditions and a fusion of traditions from around the world. Very often the weddings hosted hire entertainers, decor and catering services provided by locally owned wedding vendors with expertise in culture, heritage and tradition.
Less Traffic Congestion: Locally owned wedding venues focus heavily on being good neighbors and community stewards. They are often private venues and accommodate onsite parking or offer shuttle services to eliminate congestion around the venue. Locally owned wedding venues are far more likely to identify and resolve issues that create traffic and parking issues.
Reciprocity: Supporting locally owned wedding businesses promotes a sense of reciprocity within the community. When you support your local businesses, they are more likely to in turn support other local establishments, creating a cycle of mutual benefit.
Personalized Recommendations: Local wedding venue owners often have extensive knowledge and experience in their field. They can offer personalized recommendations based on your needs and preferences, making it easier for you to find exactly what you’re looking for. Locally owned wedding venue management teams and the owners KNOW wedding vendors by name! They know who has children, who their spouse or partner is, they know the areas of expertise of each vendor they work with and they understand how vital it is to support and build relationships with local wedding vendors and service providers.
Investment in the Future: By supporting small businesses of all types including wedding venues today, we are investing in the future of our communities. These businesses create jobs and contribute to the overall growth and prosperity of our neighborhoods.
Keeping Money in the Local Economy: When you shop at a locally owned business and locally owned wedding venues, your money goes back into the community through taxes, salaries, and purchases from other local suppliers. This helps create a more sustainable and self-sufficient economy.
Sense of Pride: Knowing that you are supporting your community by shopping locally can give you a sense of pride and satisfaction. It’s a small but impactful way to make a positive difference in your community. Some might not fully understand the value of this opinion. Big wedding corporations and organizations are the reason costs skyrocket. Big wedding industry overlords actively implement tactics that damage and harm small owned wedding venues and vendors. Some of the wedding leasing machine investment groups are actively working to put locally owned wedding venues out of business so they can buy up or lease up those venues cheap and provide cheap, cold, vapid experiences that reap big returns. I know that some people don’t care about these things, but for me, these are families in our communities whose goal is not to harvest the biggest profits possible, their goal is to have a good life and provide for their families by hosting weddings for your family. I sincerely hope that those who have a love for family will take pride in knowing that by mindfully selecting a locally owned wedding venue, you are investing in a local entrepreneur, a local family and supporting real people who (most often) provide the best experience. I think that is something to be proud of.
Access to Niche Products: Many small business wedding venue owners specialize in niche services that may not be readily available elsewhere. An example of this would be a sunflower farm that is the only wedding venue in the state that offers acres of stunning sunflowers as the backdrop for your wedding. Or a greenhouse wedding venue providing one of only 5 greenhouse wedding options in their state. An equestrian luxury wedding ranch with mountain views that make your jaw drop. The unique features of the venue and aesthetic vibes typically come from an expertise the venue owners are passionate and knowledgeable about.
Supporting locally owned businesses isn’t just about making purchases – it’s about investing in your community’s future and preserving what makes it special. If you are engaged and planning a wedding or know of someone who is, please consider seeking out a locally owned wedding venue instead of heading straight for a corporate owned investment group, chain or wedding venue collection leasing machine.
By doing so, you’ll be contributing positively towards economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social cohesion within your neighborhood.
Remember – every dollar spent at a local business is not just another transaction; it’s an investment in the well-being of your community as a whole. So, let’s all do our part in keeping our neighborhoods vibrant by supporting those who pour their heart into running wedding venue where quality truly matters!