Wedding MBA Takeaways – What We Learned

It’s been almost a month since we returned from Las Vegas and the Wedding Merchant Business Academy (Wedding MBA) conference. We had an amazing time meeting so many incredible wedding professionals and learning about the latest trends in the wedding industry.

The good news is that Say I Do Marketing clients are following many of the best practices that were discussed at Wedding MBA.

Here are just a few highlights from the conference and what we learned while we were there.

You’re probably not following up with leads as often as you should

Alan Berg gave incredible insights throughout the conference on sales and pricing. He spoke about the biggest mistakes wedding pros are making:

Not following up often enough with sales leads. (Follow-up until you get the yes or the no)

Not asking for the sale and not asking for the upsell

He also provided these helpful tips to create a better sales experience:

Show price ranges (call out the most popular package and price range)
Use social proof everywhere
Express what’s different about your wedding business

Same-day incentives can help you sell more weddings

Ryan O’Neil of Curate shared the following tip:

Offer a same-day closing incentive. Communicate this incentive prior to arriving at the the tour or consultation.

Lean into the power of Instagram reels

Ian Ramirez of Madera Estates suggests leveraging Instagram reels as much as possible by using trending sounds, responding to comments and questions as an Instagram reel, and using Later.com as a resource for creating great reels content.

Trends to be on the lookout for

When speaking about upcoming wedding trends, Andrea Eppolito said to be on the lookout for:

Repurposed décor elements (using the same element in different ways throughout the ceremony and reception)
More unique experiences (instead of a sweets table, set up a candy shop)
Elaborate welcome parties
Over-the-top engagements
Destination elopements