Why Wedding Venues Are Adding Glamping Pods to Increase Profits

Weddings are always in demand, but modern couples often take much longer to go from engagement to altar than their parents did – in part this is because the cost of getting married is so much higher nowadays and couples want time to save. This extended engagement period means people now spend longer planning their wedding - modern couples often view multiple venues and are much more selective, making the industry more competitive. One major way to help your wedding venue stand out from the crowd is including glamping pod accommodation as part of your venue hire package.

There are multiple advantages to choosing wedding venues with accommodation included; couples get more time to celebrate with their family, and nobody gets stuck as the designated driver left nursing a lemonade whilst everyone else has fun partying. When you add accommodation to your wedding site, you make your venue more appealing and give couples a reason to choose your venue over all the other ones they've viewed. Plus, you give the bride and groom more time to enjoy the happiest day of their lives – a priceless premium.

But what if you don't have the time or the budget to disrupt your entire venue for months whilst new accommodation is being built? Our SIP pod modular buildings are designed to fix this exact issue. Quick to build, suitable for year-round use and cheap to run, our glamping pods are perfect for building a beautiful wedding village without disrupting your normal operations.

Here's why our modular SIP buildings make great wedding village accommodation - and why now is the perfect time to build.

Why Couples Choose Wedding Venues with Accommodation

Couples often spend several months or even years planning their wedding, allowing for more choice and flexibility. This also means they see more venues and take longer to make a decision. Often, it's more than just the venue itself that's the deciding factor; transport, accommodation and logistics are all areas couples consider. When you include glamping accommodation on your wedding site, you remove these burdens on the bride and groom and make your venue more appealing.

Here's why adding accommodation can put your venue at the top of the list for couples:

• Extended celebrations – When guests can stay over, celebrations can start early and end later. The wedding becomes more than just a single day - the happiest day of their lives can become a full weekend, giving more time to spend with family and friends.
• Less stress for the couple – Transport logistics are one of the more stressful parts of wedding planning. Can all the guests get there? Is there a hotel nearby for out-of-town guests? Will it be easy to get taxis home for everyone? Removing this headache is a unique selling point that makes your venue stand out above others. Instead of worrying about logistics, guests can arrive on an evening after work and enjoy all the celebrations to the fullest without worrying about getting to and from the venue, then leave the following morning after the celebrations wind down.
• Premium experience for the wedding party – Bespoke units for the bridal party upgrade the entire wedding experience, turning it into more than just a day hire. Bespoke units for the bride and groom, their parents, the best man and maid of honour shows that your venue has really thought about providing a luxury service.
• Additional revenue stream – Accommodation bookings add an additional source of income to your venue and the cost of building a glamping wedding village will quickly pay for itself over the course of a season.

Why Winter Is the Right Time to Build Wedding Glamping Pods

Whilst glamping is generally assumed to be a summer business, winter weddings are growing more popular. Couples on a budget can take advantage of cheaper off-peak pricing and still have the wedding of their dreams, plus there's a growing demand for the winter wedding aesthetic.

Unlike log cabins or traditional timber frame buildings, our SIP pods are designed for year-round use with a high-thermal efficiency that traps heat and keeps inside cosy even when outside is freezing, meaning you can have a warm winter wedding! This year-round use means that you can expand your accommodation offering to cover a longer season, extending your venue's operational capacity to cover the quieter winter periods where other venues may be shut to generate extra revenue.

There are multiple reasons to build a glamping wedding village in winter:

• Off-peak installation – Installing in the quiet period ensures minimal disruption to your existing bookings, plus you’ll have more choices of installation dates.
• Ready for spring – Spring is when the wedding season starts becoming extremely busy. By installing over winter, you ensure you don’t miss out on a year’s worth of potential additional revenue.
• Quick build times – Our SIP glamping pods can be installed in a fraction of the time compared to traditional construction methods. We offer both flat pack kits and full turnkey installation so you can choose between using your own contractors or have us handle everything for you. Either way, our kits can be set up in a matter of weeks or sometimes even days versus the months traditional building often takes.

What Makes SIP Pods Ideal for Wedding Venues

Not all glamping accommodation is equal and there's a range of options out there. Options like canvas bell tents are popular for their rustic appearance, but they're not secure and are limited to the summer season when it's warm enough to use them. Likewise, timber frame buildings or log cabins can be expensive to heat in winter and effectively cut your accommodation season in half.

Our SIP pods are fully bespoke meaning you can keep the same rustic aesthetic as a bell tent or log cabin, or you can design something with a more upmarket style to match a more luxurious venue – the choices are yours.

Here are 4 reasons to choose SIP structures to build your wedding venue accommodation:

• Year-round comfort – SIP construction offers thermal performance that other building methods can't match. Based on a house-building method from North America, SIPs offer you the same level of warmth as a well-insulated home. Due to their unique construction, our buildings are highly thermally efficient, achieving class 3 as standard with thermal class 4 potential – due to the airtight, stud-free construction they keep warm air in and have reduced cold-bridging. Even when temperatures outside fall into the negatives, inside stays a toasty 20°C. In simple terms, they stay warm inside meaning they cost you less to heat.
• Designed for your venue – We offer pre-built or fully bespoke pods. This means that if you see something you like on our site, you can order it right away or have the freedom to make little tweaks. If you’re looking for something completely custom, we can do that too, simply tell us your vision and our design team will make it possible.
• Secure and safe – Wedding guests often bring valuables such as formal wear, gifts, and jewellery. Our pods are available with UPVC windows and doors that meet modern home insurance standards, giving guests peace of mind that their possessions are safe.
• Grows with you – The best thing about modular construction is it’s completely flexible; you're not committing to a fixed number of units forever. Start with a small set of pods and scale your offering as demand grows – we can add new units quickly and with minimal disruption to your existing site.

Designing a Wedding Accommodation Village

Rather than just adding a few pods to a field, a wedding village is a chance to build a premium experience for guests that will actually make couples want to choose your venue above others.

A glamping wedding village might include:

• A luxury bridal suite – A flagship unit designed specifically for the couple with additional space for safely storing wedding attire and accessories.
• Premium pods – Specially for the immediate wedding party offering a more luxurious stay of key figures in the wedding such as parents of the couple, best man and maid of honour.
• Standard guest pods – Build a mix of other accommodation in a range of sizes, from cosy doubles to family units to accommodate all of your guests.
• Communal facilities – Whilst you might want the premium pods to have their own ensuite, some of your other units may have shared campsite-style shower facilities which should be just as considerately designed as the rest of your accommodation. You might also want to include a community lounge where guests can relax together or even a games room.
• Accessible units – Our bespoke design service means we can also create flexible units to meet the needs of disabled guests with access ramps, railings, and additional space for manoeuvrability built in as part of the design from the outset rather than retrofitted.

The trick is to create well-designed, thoughtful and luxurious accommodation that feels like an extension of the existing venue rather than a bolted-on afterthought.

Getting Started

The initial investment of adding glamping pod accommodation to your wedding venue quickly pays for itself when you consider the additional revenue generated over the course of multiple weddings in a season – each of which is willing to spend thousands of the perfect day. Beyond the direct revenue generated, including accommodation gives your venue a competitive advantage, allowing you to position yourselves as an all-inclusive premium option.

When you're ready to get started, our team will support you at every step of the journey from initial planning through to installation – we can even help you to market your venue after installation.

Reach out today to discuss designing your glamping wedding accommodation. Our friendly team will be happy to answer any questions you have and help you get started.