Weddings are big business, but for venues, an empty date is money left on the table. Here is how The Ropewalks Hotel in Liverpool used Planet Offers to sell an entire wedding package, proving that demand for a great value celebration exists all year round.
The Brief
The Ropewalks Hotel, a stylish city-centre venue in the heart of Liverpool’s creative Ropewalks district, wanted to sell a wedding package and secure a booking for a valuable, high-ticket date. Rather than leave one of its beautiful spaces unbooked, the goal was simple: find a couple ready to say “I do” to a full wedding package at an unbeatable price.
The Execution
Ropewalks partnered with Planet Offers to promote a half-price Gold Tier wedding package, reducing the price from £9,995 to £4,997.50 and giving one couple the chance to secure a complete celebration for half the usual cost.
Crucially, this was not a stripped-back deal. The Gold Package covered 50 day guests and 100 evening guests and included the full works:
- Hire of the ceremony space
- A three-course wedding breakfast with two glasses of premium wine per person
- A post-ceremony reception drink and a glass of champagne for the toasts
- A hot and cold evening buffet, with bar facilities until midnight
- A Toastmaster, wedding cake stand, personalised menus, centrepieces, a table plan easel, and a gift and card table
- Complimentary accommodation for the couple on the night, plus exclusive room rates for guests
- A dedicated wedding coordinator from planning through to the big day
Two things made the offer work. First, the deal was genuinely compelling. A half-price, full-service wedding is a standout in a category where costs have climbed steeply. Second, the voucher carried generous validity, redeemable right through to July 2028. That flexibility mattered enormously. The tighter the validity window, the harder it is to find a couple ready to commit to a full wedding at short notice. Giving couples time to plan removed the single biggest barrier to booking.
The Results
The package sold out, converting a high-value wedding booking through Planet Offers’ own channels without the need for any additional paid marketing push.
- A complete, high-ticket wedding package sold, worth nearly £5,000 at the offer price
- Demand proven to exist organically, with the offer converting through Planet Offers’ standard reach
- A new customer won, along with all the guest spend, accommodation and add-ons a full wedding day brings
That organic sell-through is telling in itself. It shows the appetite for a half-price wedding package is real and immediate, and that couples are actively out there looking for exactly this kind of value.
This is what the client had to say about working with Bauer Media:
“Working with Bauer Media and Planet Offers has been a really positive experience for us at Sefton Collection. We wanted to find a different way to promote our wedding offering, particularly for dates where we still had availability, and the campaign gave us the opportunity to reach a much wider and highly engaged audience.
What impressed me most was that it wasn’t simply about generating interest – it resulted in a confirmed wedding booking, which is ultimately what we wanted to achieve.
As an independent hospitality group, we’re always looking at creative ways to drive business while still protecting the value of what we offer. The Planet Offers campaign allowed us to create something genuinely attractive for the customer while filling a date that may otherwise have remained available.
The team at Bauer Media were great to work with throughout, and I would certainly consider using Planet Offers again for the right dates and opportunities.”
Marian Cotter, Director of Business Development, Sefton Collection
How Your Venue Can Use Planet Offers to Sell Wedding Packages
Ropewalks Hotel’s success is a blueprint any venue can follow, and the timing has never been better. Getting married is expensive. The average UK wedding now costs £21,990, up from £17,300 five years ago, an increase of around 27%.
That kind of price pressure means more couples than ever are hunting for a beautiful venue at a price that does not break the bank. But here is the important part. Simply discounting your own package on your own website only reaches the couples who already know you exist. The real challenge for most venues is not the offer itself, it is getting that offer in front of enough of the right people.
That is exactly what Planet Offers does. Your package is promoted across Bauer Media’s trusted radio stations and digital platforms, putting it in front of a large, engaged local audience, many of whom will never have heard of your venue before. So you are not just selling a discounted date. You are introducing your venue to thousands of potential customers, building awareness and brand recognition that keeps paying off long after the campaign ends. And you do it with zero upfront media spend.
In other words, a discount on your own site is just a lower price. A Planet Offers campaign is a lower price plus the full reach and trust of radio advertising, working to promote both the offer and your venue.
With Planet Offers, your venue can:
- Reach far beyond your own audience, putting your offer in front of couples who have never come across your venue, not just those already on your mailing list.
- Promote the venue, not just the price, building brand awareness and recognition that drives enquiries well beyond the campaign itself.
- Fill your quieter dates with an off-peak or midweek package, without discounting your peak-season inventory.
- Access the power of radio at no upfront cost, trading a package for exposure across Bauer Media’s stations and digital platforms rather than paying for airtime.
- Turn one booking into a lasting return, as every couple and their guests experience your venue first-hand and become potential future customers.
Source: Hitched Wedding Industry Report.
Summary
The Ropewalks Hotel proved that a well-structured, great-value wedding package can sell out on its own merits, converting a high-value booking through Planet Offers without any additional marketing spend. The demand is there. Couples want a stunning venue at a manageable price, and Planet Offers connects venues with exactly those couples.
If your venue has wedding dates to fill, a package on Planet Offers could be the smartest way to fill them.
Ready to turn your quiet dates into booked weddings? Get in touch with the team today.