A wedding venue website that turns a shortlist into a show-round
Couples shortlist wedding venues on capacity, look, location and roughly what it'll cost, then ask whether their date is free and book a viewing. A wedding venue website should make each of those answers easy to find, and the viewing easy to book. Anticode takes detailed date enquiries by form and books show-rounds on its per-slot calendar; it doesn't manage your wedding diary or contracts.
The shortlist questions
By the time a couple reaches your site they've usually got a list of ten venues and a spreadsheet. The venues that stay on it answer the spreadsheet's columns without making anyone email.
| Column on their spreadsheet | What to publish |
|---|---|
| Capacity | Ceremony, wedding breakfast and evening numbers, for each space, plus the minimum. |
| Ceremony | Whether you're approved or licensed for legal ceremonies where that applies, and the indoor and outdoor ceremony spots. |
| Price | Starting prices by season and day of the week, and what they include. |
| Exclusivity | Whether you host one wedding a day and how long the couple has the venue. |
| Catering and bar | In-house or approved caterers, corkage, bar options. |
| Accommodation | Rooms on site or nearby, and whether they must be booked as a block. |
| Practicalities | Finish time, music limits, confetti rules, accessibility, parking, transport links. |
Price is the one many venues leave out, and it's the one couples want most. You don't need a full brochure online, but "Saturday exclusive use from" a figure in peak season, with lower figures for weekdays and winter, keeps you on the shortlist of couples who can afford you and saves both of you a viewing that was never going to work.
Packages and spaces
Give each package a section with exactly what's included: hire hours, ceremony room, drinks reception, the wedding breakfast, evening food, bar, coordinator, tables and chairs, linen, a bridal suite. Give each space its own page too, with capacity for each layout and photos of it dressed and empty. Couples imagining their day need to see the barn with long tables and also the bare beams.
Real weddings, not stock romance
A real-weddings CMS collection does more than any slogan: one entry per wedding, with the couple's first names (with permission), the season, the guest count, the package, how they used the spaces and the photographer's credit. Each wedding gets its own page. Couples see the venue in rain and sun, in summer and December, with sixty guests and with a hundred and fifty. Generated venue sites tend to repeat one golden-hour photo and the word "timeless". Your real weddings are the evidence.
The date enquiry
The first question is always whether the date is free. Anticode's standard contact form takes only a name, email and message, so build a custom form instead with up to 30 plain-text fields: preferred date and alternatives, flexibility (any Friday in June, for example), guest numbers for day and evening, ceremony on site or elsewhere, package of interest, budget band, and how they heard of you. Its site function runs when they send it, and the thank-you page can tell them exactly when you'll reply and what you'll send.
If you keep availability in your own system, the site function can make a signed HTTPS call to it; whether its answer can appear on the thank-you page as "the date looks free" is worth asking for and testing before you rely on it. Without that, a reply within a working day matters more than any wording. Send each enquiry to the wedding coordinator through a connector, such as Slack, or into HubSpot for follow-up.
Booking the show-round
A viewing is a one-couple appointment, which fits Anticode's booking calendar: "Show-round" as a service, a day and a time, and the couple's name, phone and email. Each slot goes to one couple, and dates beyond 120 days are refused. Set up an "Open evening" differently, as a sign-up form, since many couples come at once. Say how long a show-round takes, who they'll meet and what to bring (their guest list estimate, questions about suppliers).
The supplier list
Recommended and approved suppliers are one of the most useful pages for couples: caterers, florists, photographers, bands and DJs, cake makers, hair and make-up, transport, accommodation. Keep them in a CMS collection with category, a sentence on why you recommend them, and a link to their site. Say clearly if some suppliers are required, such as in-house catering, and whether outside suppliers pay a fee.
Limits
Questions people ask
Should a wedding venue show prices on its website?
Yes, at least starting prices by season and day, with what's included. It keeps you on the right couples' shortlists.
Can couples check availability online?
They send a date enquiry. If your availability lives in your own system, a signed site function call can pass it there; ask for an on-page answer and test it before relying on it.
Can couples book a viewing on the site?
Yes, as a show-round slot on Anticode's booking calendar, one couple per slot up to 120 days ahead.