Most of what I write here is about the marketing itself: ads, content, follow-up, and what makes one venue stand out from the next. This post is a little different. I wanted to introduce some of the people behind the wedding venues I work with, because they’re the reason any of this works.
Running a wedding venue marketing agency, I get to see the side of these venues most people never do: the teams answering inquiries, giving tours and keeping every wedding detail straight. Every venue below is different, from a rural wedding estate in Texas to a banquet hall and a historic venue in Jerome, Arizona, and some of them host other events too. What they have in common is a team that genuinely cares about getting it right.
Some of them work with us on marketing, some use Tulen Systems, our booking automation and CRM service, and some do both. I asked them what it’s actually been like working with Tulen. Here’s what they said, in their own words.
Samantha Gallegos, Head of Operations at Rustic Grace Estate
Rustic Grace Estate is a rural wedding venue in Texas, and Samantha heads up operations there. We’ve worked closely on their marketing, and Samantha has been open from the start about learning as we go. You can read more about that work in the Rustic Grace Estate case study.
“Working with Tulen has been extremely helpful. When we started, I had no idea what I was doing, and Yewan helped me navigate the journey and understand what made sense and what didn’t. His availability has been irreplaceable. The success we’ve had gave us the confidence to move away from WeddingWire and The Knot and transition primarily to social media. Tulen has also helped us stay patient, set longer time horizons, and continuously improve our campaigns.”
Samantha Gallegos, Head of Operations, Rustic Grace Estate
Farah Casis, Director of Sales at Royva (Savanna Rooftop and The Lillian)
Farah leads sales for Royva, the group behind Savanna Rooftop and The Lillian. Her team uses Tulen Systems every day to keep inquiries, contacts and event details in one place across their venues. I also sat down with Farah at The Lillian to record a podcast episode, which was a great chance to hear how she thinks about event sales.
“Working with Tulen has been amazing. We use it daily across all of our venues, and it allows us to keep our client communications, contact lists, and all the details that go into the event-sales process in one streamlined place. When you work in event planning or sales, you can end up with so many different points of communication—emails, texts, calls, and calendar invitations. Tulen keeps everything organized, tracks it all, and helps us move each event through the sales process systematically so we don’t miss anything.”
Farah Casis, Director of Sales, Royva
Arthur, Co-Owner of Palladio
Arthur co-owns Palladio, a banquet hall we’ve been helping reach a wider range of couples and events. There’s more on that in the Palladio Banquet Hall case study.
“Working with Tulen has been amazing. Since day one, they have been one of the easiest teams to work with. They’ve been informative, responsive, professional, and transparent. I appreciate all the help they’ve given us in putting our venue on the map and helping us improve our business. They are absolutely easy to work with.”
Arthur, Co-Owner, Palladio
Michelle Meyer, Hickory Street Annex in Dallas
Michelle and I first met over Zoom, before she was ready to hire anyone. She owns Hickory Street Annex, an event venue in Dallas, and came to us wanting a clearer picture of her marketing and a real way to grow bookings. You can read about that in the Hickory Street Annex case study.
“What I really liked about our first meeting… I wasn’t really ready to hire anyone for marketing yet. But you gave me so much advice and I was like, this dude, he knows what he’s talking about. I was struggling, I was trying to figure out how to get people here for an open house, and I was running ads… You weren’t even trying to get me to sign anything with you. You just wanted to help me. Anything I asked you about, like if it were corporate events… it was just so much advice and I felt like it was expert advice.”
Michelle Meyer, Hickory Street Annex
Brian Grooms, Owner & Developer of The Little Daisy
Brian owns and developed The Little Daisy, a historic venue in Jerome, Arizona. It has a lot of different spaces and a lot of possibilities, which makes it a fun venue to market and a tricky one to explain well. We’ve worked with Brian on the ads and on the sales side too. More in The Little Daisy case study.
“I love working with Tulen. You guys have helped us a lot with figuring out how we really want to show off the spaces we have available. We have a very nuanced venue, and a lot can happen here, so it was always tricky to determine the best way to showcase, market, and advertise our spaces. You guys have been really amazing with that. I’ve been impressed with the ads, and even more so with how you’ve helped us map out our sales pipelines and CRM systems—and even given us advice on piecing together the right team members.”
Brian Grooms, Owner & Developer, The Little Daisy
Sicily Famolaro, Private Events Coordinator & Catering Sales Manager at Wormwood
Sicily handles private events and catering sales at Wormwood, and she does it part-time. Tulen Systems carries a lot of the structure in the background, so she has support even when she can’t be on top of everything every hour of the day.
“Tulen allows me to be more hands-off, which is really important because I have a very busy schedule and manage this position part-time. It makes everything so much easier because I have the structure, expertise, and someone I trust supporting me when I can’t be on top of everything every hour of the day. I think Tulen would be especially useful for restaurants moving into the event space that don’t yet have the budget to pay someone to be available full-time. You guys have been a godsend, and it has been such a pleasure working with you.”
Sicily Famolaro, Private Events Coordinator & Catering Sales Manager, Wormwood
What I keep hearing
Reading these back, a few themes come up again and again.
Being available. Samantha and Arthur both mention being able to reach us, and Michelle remembers getting real advice before she’d hired anyone. That matters to me. Marketing a wedding venue is full of small questions, and nobody should have to wait a week for an answer.
Staying organized. Farah and Sicily both talk about having structure and keeping everything in one place. Wedding sales comes with a lot of moving parts, from the first inquiry to the tour to the signed contract, and a clear system means fewer couples slip through the cracks.
Standing out. Brian describes how tricky it was to show off a venue with so many different spaces. Couples compare a lot of venues before they book a tour, and getting that story right is most of the job.
If you want to dig into how we approach this, my guide on how to market your wedding venue is a good place to start, and you can see more of this work in our case studies.
And if you run a wedding venue and want to talk through your own marketing, I’d be glad to. Book a free consultation and we’ll look at where you are and what makes sense next.