Case Study: Why Email Marketing Matters
It’s very easy to think that marketing as a wedding business just means social media. A client recently said to me that they don’t do email marketing because they don’t believe couples will book more than once. And while they probably will only book you once for a wedding, so many wedding suppliers offer services that can work for events and parties too.
I had a real example of this happen in my own wedding business recently - Harriet Flather Musician. I am a harpist and perform for weddings and events all over the country.
Settle in for the story…
Back in 2020, I played at a wedding at a venue that I instantly fell in love with. It was one of those venues where everything felt considered, from the setting and atmosphere through to the way the team looked after both guests and suppliers, and I remember finishing the day thinking that I would really love to work there again. Not just for a one off booking, but properly, as a regular supplier or as part of their recommended list.
The following day, I sent a simple email to say thank you for looking after me so well. It wasn’t a strategic pitch or a carefully crafted piece of outreach, just a genuine message following a really positive experience. They replied, and their email address was automatically added to my mailing list.
Simple!
Then, as it did for so many in the wedding and events industry, the pandemic hit. Weddings stopped, events were cancelled, and any immediate opportunities to build on that relationship naturally disappeared. However, the desire to work at that venue again never really went away.
Over the following years, I continued to share that wedding on my social media, as it remained one of my favourite examples of my work, and I also continued to send my email newsletters on a regular basis. There was no direct conversation with that venue during that time, and no obvious indication that anything was happening behind the scenes.
And then, in 2025, an enquiry landed in my inbox from that same venue.
Five years after that initial wedding, they were hosting an exclusive event for one of their shareholders and were looking for a harpist. There had been no chasing, no repeated follow ups, and no pressure to stay in touch. The connection had simply been maintained through consistent visibility over time.
This is exactly why email marketing plays such an important role in your overall marketing approach.
Social media is valuable, but it moves quickly and is not always seen by the people you want to reach. Even when it is seen, it can easily be forgotten amongst everything else. But email works differently, it allows you to show up in a more direct and consistent way, building familiarity over time and keeping your business in people’s minds, even when they are not actively looking to book.
It is not about immediate results or quick wins, but about creating a steady presence that supports your business in the long term. If you are currently relying only on social media, this is a good moment to think about how you are building that wider visibility. Because sometimes the opportunities you want do not come from what you do today, but from what you have been consistently doing over time.