Full-Time Venue Manager

Company Overview:

Happily Hitched is a company based in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, VA serving the Virginia, DC and Maryland wedding markets.  

We provide elevated wedding planning and coordination services to diverse couples, venue management for local venues, marriage coaching services and handmade farmhouse table rentals that were built by our family. Our couples value and expect a personalized experience with exceptional customer service and timely communication.  

Our team of planners understand the deep significance of this particular time in our couples’ lives and value the invitation of being asked to participate in such an intimate gathering of family and friends. 

Job Description:

We're seeking an ambitious, professional, extremely driven and kind-hearted Venue Manager to join our growing team! This is a position ideal for someone who has a passion for weddings, considers themselves an avid relationship builder, thrives in a sales environment and is dedicated to bringing order and organization to any situation. 

We’re looking for someone who is reliable, and who will approach their work with excitement to create growth for our business and the venues we manage. This position demands the highest level of hospitality, both creating a warm and welcoming environment for our planning couples and the couples and guests enjoying events at our venues. We expect our new team member to be driven, a social connector, eager to network and build relationships with industry peers and non-industry businesses, and have a creative knack for brand messaging. This position will be full time and the candidate can expect to work very closely with the Owner to meet and exceed company goals.

Responsibilities would vary throughout the year, but a majority of the time would involve serving as a venue manager to local venues, followed by assisting our Owner and team of Lead Planners with planning and coordinating weddings, strategizing with the Owner to create and implement marketing plans, and miscellaneous other administrative and operational tasks. 

Roles and Responsibilities Include:

Venue Operations & Event Management

• Oversee the full operation of events at local venues from open to close, ensuring all logistics are executed smoothly
• Serve as the primary point of contact for venue clients, vendors, and guests during events
• Manage multiple venue email inboxes and respond to client inquiries in a timely, professional manner
• Conduct venue walkthroughs, tours, and ceremony rehearsals for prospective and booked clients
• Coordinate monthly festivals and events, including the booking of musicians and food vendors
• Prepare, issue, and enforce venue rental contracts
• Ensure compliance with all venue policies, local laws, and safety protocols
• Track and report key metrics, maintain venue records, and create/update SOPs for venue operations

Wedding Planning Support

• Assist Happily Hitched Lead Planners with planning responsibilities such as managing timelines, budgets, and vendor communications
• Support wedding design through idea generation and sourcing of décor elements
• Prepare materials for client meetings and follow-up communications
• Attend client meetings, vendor appointments, and planning sessions as needed
• Act as a Wedding Assistant or onsite Venue Manager on wedding days 
• Resolve last-minute day-of challenges while maintaining professionalism and poise

Administrative & Relationship Management

• Attend internal team meetings and contribute to operational improvements
• Represent Happily Hitched at local networking events, venue open houses, and industry gatherings
• Build and nurture relationships with venue clients, vendors, and industry peers
• Perform various administrative duties to support the Owner and ensure business continuity

Expectations:

Venue Manager will be expected to:

• Have a heart for service and genuinely enjoy helping others
• Have a great sense of humor, knowing when it’s appropriate to make use of it in our marketing efforts, stressful situations or to bring a lightheartedness to the planning process.
• Enjoy being social both online and in-person, and display a genuine excitement to increase company and venue visibility through various marketing channels
• Collaborate well with others
• Display a high level of professionalism at all times
• Show up to all scheduled meetings and events on time
• Have impeccable attention to detail (you notice the small things others miss)
• Easily follow instructions and follow through on assigned tasks as directed
• Work well and keep calm under pressure and within limited timeframes for wedding day set up and tear down
• Have strong writing skills to craft copy for social media, blog posts, emails, etc.
• Avoid typos when sending written communication
• Exhibit exceptional interpersonal skills
• Be a fast learner with a willingness to go above and beyond
• React quickly and confidently to solve any problems (while keeping calm and collected and not losing your cool!) that may arise unexpectedly to ensure couples are still able to have a successful wedding day
• Build and maintain professional relationships with venues and vendors
• Communicate clearly and effectively with couples and their vendor teams
• Provide emotional and logistical support to clients leading up to and on the wedding day
• Be patient and understanding (you will be working with couples and their families during a high stress season of life)
• Be a team player and helpful to vendors (willing to pitch in when needed!)
• Be able to lift between 25-35 lbs
• Maintain good energy and a positive attitude always, even at the end of a long day
• Service weddings throughout Virginia, DC and Maryland
• Work nights, weekends and holidays as required for the position
• Participate in training sessions to improve processes and systems within Happily Hitched as needed
• Regularly attend monthly networking events to build relationships and increase brand awareness and visibility
• Live within or within close proximity to Loudoun County, VA 
• Have transportation to get to and from meetings throughout the DC Metro area
• Degree in hospitality management, public relations or relevant field is preferred

Skills/Qualifications:

• Wedding/event planning experience: 0-2 years 
• Venue management experience: 1-2 years (preferred)
• Marketing background: 0-2 years 
• Hospitality industry: 1+ year (preferred)

Wedding planning and venue management requires incredible customer service skills, impeccable attention to detail and completing tasks with great consistency and accuracy! We're looking for a quick thinker, someone who's extremely driven and a self-starter who can take a challenge head on and work to implement the best solution possible. Ability to enforce venue policies and rules in a kind, professional manner and deal with unforeseen issues in a positive way is a must. 

Success can often hinge on how well we've communicated with clients and vendor partners, so we're looking for someone who excels at verbal & written communication using proper formatting and without typing errors. Sticking to the wedding day schedule is key, so you'll also need to have a strong sense of time and people management. Excellent management of details and logistics is a must. You'll be responsible for building client and vendor relationships. Prior experience with Google Suite and Canva applications required, and experience with Honeybook is preferred. Most of all, we’re looking for someone with a naturally great vibe and attitude who will be the best fit for our team. If you’re often referred to as a social butterfly, we want to hear from you. We can train you on the rest!

Work Location, Hours & Compensation: 

• Hybrid - Job location will be mostly remote for daily office work, with on-site venue management responsibilities in Loudoun County, VA
• Additional travel required to venues and various meet up locations for networking, team meetings, events, rental showroom appointments and wedding days all throughout the VA, DC, MD area
• Daily weekday business hours from 9am-5pm, plus nights, weekends and holidays 
• Weekend availability is a must. No exceptions.
• Full time, annual salary of $40,000
• Paid time off, to include company holidays + 2 weeks of paid vacation/sick leave

To Apply:

Please complete our application form and make sure to include the following:

• A summary detailing why you'd like to work in the wedding industry and why you think you'd be a good fit for the Venue Manager role on our team specifically (please keep it to no more than one page and upload to the application form as a PDF!)

• Resume (upload to the application form as a PDF)

• Please provide 2-3 professional references in the application form (include full name, email address and phone number)