From Catering Company to Sought-After Wedding Venue: Brackengarth

Russell and Katrina had built a thriving event catering business in Northern Ireland, earning a strong reputation for exceptional locally sourced food. After years of catering at wedding venues across the province — and watching young couples get overcharged for underwhelming experiences — Russell decided to do something about it. With 15 acres of stunning countryside, a paddock, and three large teepees that seat 150 guests, they launched Brackengarth as a wedding venue offering the full experience at roughly half the price of the competition.

By their fourth season, they were comfortably booking 24 weddings a year — almost entirely through word of mouth and the catering company's existing reputation. Their viewing-to-booking conversion rate sat at an impressive 80%. But there was a problem: next season's calendar was worryingly empty. With no dedicated venue website, no CRM, and no separate social media presence, the wedding side was still relying on the catering company's Facebook page, leaving them with no way to generate their own leads. On top of that, a newly renovated five-bedroom country house was about to open for intimate weddings and year-round guest accommodation — and nobody knew about it. Russell knew the product was exceptional. He just needed people to find it.

This was a venue with a brilliant story to tell — it just hadn't been told yet. Russell's reasons for starting Brackengarth were his passion for honest pricing and locally sourced food, as well as the personal touch that he and Katrina brought to every wedding, all of which were powerful differentiators. Our job was to package that into a brand that couples could connect with.

We started with the brand identity. Russell had a strong attachment to the Brackengarth pine tree logo — inspired by an actual tree on the property — so we kept it at the core and built out a full brand kit around it with refined colours, fonts, and a cohesive visual identity that reflected the venue's rustic, personal, and relaxed character.

From there, we separated Brackengarth from the catering company's social media presence entirely, setting up dedicated Instagram and Facebook pages for the venue with consistent branding, new highlights, and a clear identity. We implemented a tailored VenueFlow system to give Russell — who was managing everything himself — a centralised dashboard to manage leads, track conversions, and monitor ad performance without relying on spreadsheets and manual processes.

We then developed a wedding brochure that brought together everything that makes Brackengarth special: the teepee experience, the country house for intimate weddings, the locally sourced sharing platters, and transparent example pricing that reflected their bespoke, DIY-friendly approach. Alongside this, we developed a comprehensive email and WhatsApp nurturing sequence to ensure that every lead was automatically followed up with — turning brochure downloads into viewings and viewings into bookings.

With the foundations in place, we launched conversion-focused ad campaigns with custom creatives and copy designed to drive high-quality leads straight into the funnel.

The results were immediate and spoke for themselves:

• Ad campaigns launched on 2nd March with a first wedding worth £9,000 booked within just two weeks — directly from the ads.
• Total ad spend to secure that booking: just £97.
• Cost per lead of £0.95, delivering highly qualified enquiries from day one.
• The lead came in on 7th March, and the booking was confirmed by 12th March — a five-day turnaround from the initial enquiry to the signed contract.
• A fully implemented VenueFlow system providing Russell with complete visibility over leads, conversions, and revenue for the first time.
• A polished, standalone brand identity and social media presence that finally separated the venue from the catering company.
• A comprehensive wedding brochure showcasing both the teepee and country house offerings.

With a venue conversion rate already sitting at 80%, the missing piece was always lead generation. Once we put the right systems and campaigns in place, the results followed almost immediately. Brackengarth is now equipped with the brand, the tools, and the marketing engine to fill not just this season, but every season to come — including year-round bookings through the newly renovated country house.

"Just to let you know, we have booked our first wedding from the leads!" — Russell, Co-owner of Brackengarth