Entrepreneurship Marketing

How to Get Started as a Wedding Venue

I didn’t grow up thinking I’d become a wedding venue owner. My first career was as an international opera singer, but the wedding industry has a way of pulling you in. In my case, it happened through family.

My parents started our venue, Madera Estates, in 2012 with zero hospitality experience. My stepfather was a land developer, and my mom was an ER nurse. Watching them build something from scratch, and eventually stepping into the business myself, taught me that owning a venue isn’t just about having a beautiful space. It’s about building a sustainable business that delivers an incredible experience every weekend.

If you’re dreaming of opening your own venue, here are seven steps to help you start smart and grow with confidence.

1. Research First, Invest Second

Before you buy land, renovate a building, or pick out chandeliers, start with one thing: market research. A wedding venue can be an amazing business, but only if your local market can support it.

Take time to perform a basic market analysis:

• How many weddings happen in your area each year?
• How many venues already exist nearby?
• What are their price points?
• Are they fully booked, or struggling to fill weekends?

It’s also crucial to understand what couples are willing to spend. According to The Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study, couples spent an average of $12,200 on their wedding venue. Use this benchmark to estimate what your local pricing could realistically look like.

2. Choose Your Business Model

Next, decide what kind of venue business you’re building. Most pros fall into one of three paths:

1. Build from the ground up.
2. Buy an existing property.
3. Lease a space to launch faster.

As you evaluate properties, think like a couple. Convenience matters more than many new venue owners realize. Pay close attention to proximity to hotels and airports, ease of guest access, parking capacity, and local noise restrictions.

Pro Tip: Future generations (especially Gen Z) are shifting priorities. They want spaces that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also practical, flexible, and experience-driven. If your venue is hard to access or lacks unique features, it may hurt your booking potential.

3. Lock in Business Basics and Legal

Once you have your venue, establish your business foundation immediately. At a minimum, you will need:

• Business registration and licensing.
• General liability insurance.
• A reliable system to accept payments and monitor cash flow.
• A contract written or reviewed by a lawyer.

The Contract is Key

Set clear boundaries and expectations in your contract. This is one of the biggest lessons I learned as we grew: your contract sets the tone and protects both parties. It should clearly spell out communication time frames, event end times, cleanup expectations, vendor rules, and cancellation terms.

4. Market Before You Open

One of the most common mistakes new venue owners make is waiting until everything is “perfect” before marketing. The truth is: you need bookings to fund the dream.

When we started Madera Estates, we sold over 50 weddings in the first year before the space was even finished. We did it by showing renderings at wedding shows and hosting hard-hat site visits that focused on selling the vision.

Today, it’s even easier to market early using:

• Virtual walkthroughs and video tours.
• Modern 3D renderings.
• Strong social media content.
• Storefronts on The Knot and WeddingWire.

Couples are searching online every day. Setting up your Storefronts early helps you get in front of them while you are still building or renovating.

5. Diversify Your Revenue Streams

If you want your venue to be truly profitable, you must think beyond the rental fee. Some of the most successful venues build multiple income streams, such as:

• In-house bar services.
• Coordination services.
• Rentals and décor packages.
• All-inclusive options.

For us, adding bar services was a game-changer. We generated almost half a million dollars in alcohol sales alone last year, dramatically improving our bottom line.

You can also diversify the types of events you host, including micro-weddings, vow renewals, and corporate events, to fill dates outside of prime wedding weekends.

6. Scale with Systems

If you are doing everything manually, you will hit a ceiling fast. One of the biggest lessons I learned stepping into the business is to document everything.

Start with tools that help you manage leads and operations, like a CRM for inquiries, automated email templates, and digital event timelines.

Systems aren’t just about being organized; they are how you scale without burning out. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) allow you to train consistently, maintain quality, and grow your team without reinventing the wheel every week.

7. Build Your Community and Network

In the beginning, it might just be you. That’s normal. But to grow, you need support through mentorship, staffing and networking.

Find a Mentor: A venue mentor can help you build processes faster. When we started, a mentor pointed out our reception space was too small. My dad ripped up the expensive renderings and had them redone, saving us from a long-term design disaster.

Hire Strategically: In my experience, your first key hire should be a full-time salesperson, followed by a full-time event coordinator. For our first four years, our coordinators were also the sales team. It wasn’t sustainable. Leads slipped through the cracks, and exhausted coordinators didn’t want to give tours.

The Result: One October, we hosted 12 weddings and only sold 2. The next October, after separating the roles and hiring a dedicated salesperson, we hosted 11 weddings—and sold 18. That shift changed everything.

Network Early: Finally, connect with local planners. They are a massive source of referrals. Join a local wedding industry association and attend networking events (including WeddingPro socials) whenever you can.

The Bottom Line

Starting a wedding venue is a big leap, but it’s one you can take step by step. Do your research, choose the right model, protect your business, market early and build systems with intention.

If an ER nurse, a land developer and an opera singer can figure it out…you can too.

Photo: Veil & Vow Photography