My shop did 72 weddings this spring and it's making me rethink our whole business model

I just ran the numbers for March through June, and we booked 72 full wedding packages. That's up from 48 last year. The crazy part is, we're a small three-person shop in a town of 30,000 people. I always thought we'd cap out around 50 because of our size and the local market. Now I'm stuck between two ideas. On one side, this growth is amazing and we should ride the wave, maybe even hire a fourth person. On the other, I'm worried we're becoming a wedding factory and losing the personal touch that got us here in the first place. My lead designer is already feeling the strain, and I caught myself mixing up two brides' color palettes last week, which is a first. Has anyone else hit a volume number that forced you to choose between growing bigger or staying small and hands-on? How did you decide?

3 comments

3 Comments

diana69013d ago

Wow, 72 weddings is insane! That mixing up color palettes thing is a huge red flag. When my shop gets too busy, I start forgetting which car needs what part. It feels like the wheels are about to come off. Have you thought about raising your prices a lot for next season? That could slow things down to a number you can handle without losing your mind.

henderson.val13d ago

My buddy who runs a bakery took 40 custom cake orders last December. He mixed up two wedding cake flavors and had to remake them at 3 AM. After that, he doubled his holiday rush fee and now he sleeps like a normal person.

masonm8513d ago

Mixing up color palettes is a clear sign you're past your limit, even if the money looks good. Your lead designer feeling the strain is another huge warning. Raising prices might help, but you also need to look at maybe not taking every single booking, even if you have to turn some people away. The personal touch is your whole thing, and losing that is way worse than saying no to a few extra weddings.