The problem
Open days and wedding showcases bring couples in, but RSVPs arrive by email, social media and phone, numbers are a guess and suppliers ask how many to expect. If a venue runs one open day a month for about 40 couples, logging and confirming each RSVP at 4 minutes is 160 minutes, and building the list and follow-ups another 60: 220 minutes, about 3.7 hours a month.
What the AI does
Ticket Tailor is an online ticketing service. Its pricing page says free tickets cost nothing (up to 5,000 a year), confirmations go out automatically, and a free check-in app scans guests in at the door. Create a free event for each open day with a cap on places, share the box office link, and you get one list of who is coming. On the day, scan couples in so you know who came, and follow up personally with each.
A worked example
A converted farm venue in Northumberland runs a Sunday open day each month for about 40 couples. It puts the Ticket Tailor link on its website, social posts and directory listings.
Before
40 RSVPs x 4 minutes + 60 minutes on lists and follow-ups = 220 minutes, about 3.7 hours a month
After
About 30 seconds per booking to check + 20 minutes on the list: about 40 minutes a month
What it's worth
About $80£60€71A$115C$113 a month saved, at no cost, as free tickets on Ticket Tailor cost nothing. That's 3 hours (220 minus 40 = 180 minutes) at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour. The pricing page gives the free-ticket limit as 5,000 a year in one place and 2,000 in another; either covers 40 couples a month (480 a year).
How to set it up
- Create a Ticket Tailor account and a free event for each open day, with a cap on places that suits your space and staff.
- Ask for the details you need at booking, such as wedding date and guest numbers, if the form allows, and add a separate unticked box for future marketing emails.
- Put the box office link on your website, social posts and wedding directory listings.
- Scan couples in with the free check-in app on the day.
- Send each couple who came a personal follow-up within a few days and offer a show-round.
What goes wrong
- Free tickets mean some couples won't come. Cap places a little above what you need and expect no-shows.
- Booking an open day isn't consent to marketing. Under PECR and UK GDPR, add couples to a mailing list only if they ticked the box.
- If you charge for a tasting evening or showcase, paid tickets cost 60p each plus VAT, plus card processing (Stripe UK 1.5% + 20p), so price that in.
- Check the free-ticket limit if you also use Ticket Tailor for other free events, as the page gives two different figures.