How couples inquire and book venue tours

Most venues reply to inquiries on weekdays from 9 to 5. Most couples write outside those hours. Here is what we found:

1. 62% of couples reach out outside 9-5. They book tours just as often as daytime inquiries.
2. 56% of venue tours are booked outside office hours.
3. A website inquiry is almost 2x as likely to book a tour as a Knot inquiry.
4. Almost 1 in 3 tours comes after a follow-up. One reply is not enough.
5. 64% of tours are booked within 24 hours of the first message.
6. Couples research on Sunday and book tours early in the week.

In this report, "office hours" means Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, in the venue's time zone.

62% of couples write to the venue outside office hours: 37% on weekday evenings and nights, and 25% on weekends. Tours follow the same pattern. 56% of tours are booked outside office hours.

Evenings are the busiest time. 33% of inquiries come in between 6 pm and midnight, and 30% of tours are booked in those hours.

Some venue owners think late-night inquiries are not serious. The numbers say otherwise. 15.6% of couples who wrote after hours booked a tour. For couples who wrote during office hours, it was 14.7%. That is about the same.

Couples write and book tours on different days, and at different hours.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the busiest days for both. Tuesday gets the most inquiries (17.0%). Monday gets the most tour bookings (18.2%). Saturday is quiet for both.

Sunday is different. It is the 4th-busiest day for inquiries (14.6%) but the slowest day for tour bookings (9.6%). Couples look at venues on Sunday and book their tours early in the week.

Inquiries come in at a steady pace from 9 am to 9 pm. The 9 pm hour is as busy as most office hours. The busiest times are 3-5 pm and 7-10 pm.

Tour bookings peak at lunchtime (12-2 pm) and again at 7 pm. Late at night, couples still write, but fewer of them book a tour.

For inquiries, the busiest hours are late morning and early afternoon on Monday. Sunday at 7 pm is as busy as Monday afternoon. For tour bookings, the busiest hours are on Monday to Wednesday. Monday at 1 pm is the busiest hour of the whole week.

Couples reach venues in different ways: by email, through the form on the venue's website, or through wedding sites like The Knot, WeddingWire and Zola. Some of these lead to many more tours than others.

Couples who email the venue directly book a tour most often: 25.4%. Website form inquiries come next at 18.1%. Inquiries from The Knot (10.0%), WeddingWire (7.4%) and Zola (4.0%) book fewer tours. A website inquiry is almost 2x as likely to book a tour as a Knot inquiry.

A likely reason: a couple who emails you or fills in your website form has already picked you out. On a wedding site, it is easy to send the same message to many venues.

More than half of all couples (57%) never write back after the venue's first reply. For direct email, it is only 25%. For the website form, it is 48.5%. Wedding sites are higher: WeddingWire 58.5%, The Knot 66% and Zola 83%.

This does not mean wedding sites are a waste of money. These numbers do not include cost. They show that inquiries from wedding sites need more follow-up before they turn into tours.

When a couple wants to visit, they book quickly. And many of them only book after a follow-up.

64% of tours are booked within 24 hours of the couple's first message. The typical tour is booked 9.8 hours after the first message. If a couple writes on Friday evening and you reply on Monday morning, those first 24 hours are already over.

It does not take a long conversation. The typical tour is booked after 2 messages from the venue and 2 from the couple.

31% of tours, almost 1 in 3, were booked after the venue sent a follow-up. Those couples did not book after the first reply. They booked after the venue wrote again.

Some venue teams wait for a "good time" to reply or follow up. We checked if the time of day matters.

It matters very little. 41.5% of couples write back within 24 hours when the venue replies between 8 am and 12 pm. 35% write back when the venue replies between 9 pm and 8 am. Weekdays and weekends are close too: 39% and 35%.

When couples do write back, they are quick. The typical reply comes in 24 minutes. Replies to follow-ups are slower: about 1 in 10 couples answer a follow-up within 24 hours, and the typical answer takes 4.6 hours.

Six simple habits come out of this report. A strong team can do them by hand. Mikla can do most of them for you, at any hour.

1. Reply at night and on weekends.

   62% of inquiries come in outside office hours, and those couples book tours just as often as daytime inquiries.

2. Reply within a day.

   64% of tours are booked within 24 hours of the first message.

3. Always follow up.

   57% of couples never write back after the first reply, and almost 1 in 3 tours comes after a follow-up.

4. Don't wait for a good time to send.

   The time of day makes little difference to whether a couple writes back.

5. Keep tour times open early in the week.

   Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the top three days for tour bookings.

6. Make it easy to write to you directly.

   Couples who email you (25.4%) or use your website form (18.1%) book the most tours.

Based on anonymized sample data from 5,500+ couples who contacted wedding and event venues.

We counted each couple from their first message to the venue. A tour counts if it was booked within 30 days of that first message. All times are in the venue's time zone. Some totals may not add up to exactly 100% because of rounding.

Office hours

Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, in the venue's time zone.

Booked a tour

The couple booked a venue tour within 30 days of their first message.

Never wrote back

The couple never wrote again after the venue's first reply.

About Mikla

Mikla made this report. Mikla is an AI agent for wedding and event venues. It replies to inquiries in under a minute, follows up with couples who go quiet, and books tours on the venue's calendar. See how Mikla works for wedding venues.

You can use these numbers in your own articles, slides and posts. Please link back to this page. The full data is free to download.