We
confirm that in relation to the subject matter of this BlogPost, Balbirnie
House has now been invited by Guinness World Records, to submit a full
application for a World Record.
The hotel manager is informed-
‘We
don't have a record title for:
"MOST WEDDINGS EVER PLACED INTO A HOTEL EVENTS DIARY IN A ROW”
You are welcome to suggest it as a new record’.
So,
to begin. My father went to the big hotel in the sky on 20th
September 2008. Over the next few days I helped my mother to begin to tidy my
father’s possessions.
In
amongst a very significant collection of ties, there was one tie still unworn, an
expensive one which had been received as a gift. Obviously it had been awaiting
a relevant opportunity to be worn for the first time.
I removed the silk tie from beautiful packaging.
It was Golden, with small white
and shaded gold sections.
An
absolute work of art. #ArmaniCravatte
I
decided there and then that I would break with the established tradition of wearing
dark ties at funerals, and I would wear it to my father’s funeral. I felt that
it was exactly what he would have wanted me to do. I heard the words in my
mind, ‘a celebration of life’. After
the funeral, I went home and put the tie into storage.
Fast
forward 3 years through the recession, to late autumn 2011. Having been at
Balbirnie for almost two decades, I was trying to figure what I should do for
the remainder of my working career. Following long discussions with my wife
Gaynor, we decided together that we would dedicate ouselves to at least the
next two decades at Balbirnie. Thus aligning the hotel manager, to at least a
potential 40 years in total!
I
could tell you that what then happened to our incoming wedding bookings
starting in late Autumn 2011 was a convergence of many factors. Packaged
pricing. A quite incredible new LED underlit black dancefloor. LED event uplighting.
A brand new revolutionised cutting edge website. A slight change in my own
mindset. A much deeper more resonant developed understanding of selling
techniques. The arrival of Miss Kirsty Balbirnie, in a brand new additional
support role in our wedding planning department. Flawless pre-meeting event
planning preparations. New Ipad galleries. New methodology for meeting and
greeting, and further extending our warmth of welcome. New tools at our
disposal on YouTube.
Those
aspects and many more, they all certainly combined in some form or another.
But
the actual magic occurred one fine day in late 2011, when I put that Golden Tie
back on! You see, I would normally always align a tie choice for meeting
prospective new wedding clients, with a consideration of ‘sophisticated
understatement’, but the moment I had The Golden Tie on for a first prospective
new wedding client showround, it felt completely and utterly, as if it were
simply meant to be!
I’ve
thought about it long and hard over recent years, and I’ve concluded that The Golden
Tie is somehow in itself reflective of wedding celebrations, a component of
bridal couture for bridesmaid dresses, and it is instinctively trustworthy as
well. It reflects an absolute confidence in ‘the product’, based firmly upon
history, tradition, and evolution.
It
is relevant to tell you, that up until starting with The Golden Tie, the most wedding
client bookings I had ever had in a row, when it comes to talking to
prospective new wedding clients, was 5!
Bear
in mind, some clients can be considering and visiting up to 15 different
venues! And they might have started their journey of discovery, thinking of a city
centre venue, or an ancient castle, or a modern venue beside a loch. We were
visited for an overnight stay last week by the very lovely Natasha Radmehr,
Editor of The Scottish Wedding Directory, who informed us that Scotland’s main
wedding publication is now listing 349 wedding venues, there’s certainly plenty
of choice.
Anyways,
over the first few days, and into 2012, I managed 10 wedding bookings in a row,
all entered into our forward Special Events Diary, at the point of our initial
1hr client meeting and showround. This really was quite miraculous stuff.
We
kept going. Unbelievably to me, we got to 20 in a row, and by now this had
become a big talking point within the hotel brigade. At our team briefings each
day, we would discuss the accumulating statistics. I began to start saying,
‘the run of luck will surely end sometime soon’. But I didn’t actually feel
that way.
Then
we got to 30 in a row. Blimey. This was simply staggering.
Then
we got to 40 in a row. Sweet Jiminy Cricket, the hotel manager’s wedding chat was
clearly in The Zone!
And
you know something? I would never ever take one single thing for granted. Ever.
Our blessings counted every single day.
You
see, there’s something I don’t know, when stepping into a new client meeting. I
will certainly know the names of those getting married, the potential numbers
and logisitics, and geographical start points. But what I don’t know, is if the
client is either (a) a multi-millionaire Lottery winner, or (b) if someone has been
saving hard-earned cash since the day their wee boy or wee girl was born,
knowing that one day in the future they would come to visit Balbirnie to have
this conversation. It has guided me so very well over 3 decades, to approach
every single meeting with a perspective of the latter.
When
we got to 50 in a row, well that night at home we popped the cork on a bottle
of bubbly. By this point, each time I was putting on The Golden Tie, it felt as
if we were now creating a wee piece of history. I started wondering if there was
any hotel in the world, in which a hotel manager had ever taken more than 50
wedding bookings, in a row.
And
I confirm, many of these couples who had booked their special day with us, had
already firstly visited between 5 and 15 other wedding venues!
We
reached 60 in a row, Oh My Oh My! Oh Boy Oh Boy!
That
day, I ran outside and jumped over a hedge, with absolute joy.
Then
we reached 70, I downed tools and we went to Edinburgh’s Café Royale, my favourite
pub in the world. We sat drinking Schiehallion lagers in front of tiled mosaics
of famous Scottish inventors, and I wondered LOLZ if the tie and I should write
down and reveal our secret!
By
this point, every single incoming client new meeting was individually a very
significant brigade talking point in advance, at our morning meetings.
Surpassing 75 I nonchalantly proclaimed, ‘we appear to be on a roll’. At every
stage however, knowing I was dealing with something so incredibly special and
emotive, that mere words would not ever begin to convey.
At
80 in a row, I confirmed to the team, ‘I am not a gambler, I never will be,
you’ll never ever see me standing quaffing champagne in a casino, but, my dear
colleagues, one thing I can certainly say is that we are clearly onto something with our new client
meetings’.
On
the night we surpassed 85, late that night I went out to the south lawns,
looked up to the stars, and very quietly said two words, ‘thank you’.
We
achieved 89. On the 90th client meeting, after the 1hr discussion
and showround the groom said, ‘I think we’re going to take our time, as it
could well be the case that a city centre venue will work better, for multiple
reasons’. I replied, ‘you should only ever book your wedding venue, if you feel
the Love’.
My
colleague the very lovely Meghan Davies and I returned to our office. We both
knew we had reached the end of something incredible. Mind you, Meghan still
called that groom 2 hours later, just to check once again! But no, they wished
to take more time to think.
Late
autumn 2011 into summer 2012, some 8 months and 89 wedding bookings in a row. There
stands the record.
Early
the following year, having entered a competition in a catering magazine,
Balbirnie House won an entire collection of the most amazing steak knives, for
our customers. So we got them all engraved!
I’ll
always reflect back on those 89 client conversations, with such incredible
fondness. I still can’t believe it actually happened, but it all confirms once
again, yet another reason as to why we work in Hospitality. It was such an
honour and a privilege for me to have been here at Balbirnie, and had all those
client discussions.
After
the 89 result, The Lucky Golden Tie was immediately retired. The replacement,
aka The Lucky Golden Tie 2nd – well, that one remains in use today. #ArmaniCravatte,
still Golden, but with a different style.
And
whilst the original Lucky Golden Tie and I were at the sharp end leading each
and every conversation, the real magic of course actually happened elsewhere.
The
real magic you see, is the preparation, consideration, consultation and support
provided, by the amazing team in our Special Events department. It is to them,
of course, that the real credit is due.
My
sincere gratitude as always.
Meghan
Davies, Kirsty Balbirnie, Gaynor Russell xxx
Balbirnie's Wedding
Planning Special Events Team 2012
(Image via Rob Thomson, Lifetime Photography)
Nicholas
/ MD Balbirnie
1992
– present
My late father, Alan Russell
'Cheers Dad'
This
Blog post is dedicated to the very lovely Reni Korosi, Balbirnie’s 2014
Employee of the Year. Thank you Reni, for suggesting I should write about my
ties x
I
take it you meant ‘my ties’ … ???
As
opposed to ‘Mai Thai’s’ - !!!!
Balbirnie House is Scotland's 10 time winner of The Scottish Hotel of the Year Awards - 'Scotland's Wedding Hotel of the Year'
Via Haute Grandeur, 'Europe's Best Destination Wedding Retreat'
www.balbirnie.co.uk
