The ClubCorp event showcased 10 North Texas properties to couples in the process of choosing the wedding venues, including a chance to study all of the options that would best fit their wants and needs. Couples boarded a shuttle and completed a loop, with each stop featuring vendors such as hair and makeup artists, florists, clergy, limousine services, bakeries, chocolatiers and DJs.
All brides and grooms want to have the perfect wedding, and ClubCorp, the Dallas-based management firm, has launched a new event, “Luxe,” to help turn the dream day of couples in the Dallas-Fort Worth area into reality. Held for the first time this past February, Luxe was a curated showcase of 10 ClubCorp properties in the region, to help couples choose the wedding venue that best fit their desires. ClubCorp took couples and their families on an exclusive tour of its venues in the local market, to meet with various wedding vendors and get a feel for what a wedding would look like at the different properties.
“It was a way to showcase 10 of our country clubs all in one day,” says Don Boshears, Regional Director of Private Events for ClubCorp’s North Texas Region. “We provided luxury transportation to and from each club, and each club had a wedding planner who worked with the catering director and brought in their vendors. The planners highlighted the best features of each of their properties.”
Boshears, who plans to make the tour an annual event, modeled Luxe after a similar tour that spotlighted wineries as wedding venues in Washington state, where he lived for 12 years. Participants registered at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas and boarded a shuttle to travel in a loop to the other properties. The cost was $25 per person for the North or South tour and $40 per person for both tours.
All of the facilities on the North Tour were country clubs, while properties on the South Tour included city clubs. The event ran from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and the tours lasted two-and-a-half to three hours. It took all day to complete both tours.
Vendors at the sites included photographers, videographers, stationers, linen services, hair and makeup artists, furniture rental companies, florists, clergy services, limousine services, bakeries, chocolatiers, DJs, and event planners.
“The couples could spend as short or as long as they wanted [at each venue],” Boshears says.
A goal of the event was to have 200 people sign up, and 169 actually participated. Next year, the goal will be 250 participants.
“We had entire families coming on the tour,” Boshears says. “We want it to remain an intimate tour, [so participants] can actually speak with the vendors.”
Another objective was to book 10 weddings from the event, and in less than two months, the properties on the tours had already scheduled nine. In addition, notes Boshears, participating couples who do not belong to any of the properties can now hold their wedding events at a ClubCorp venue if a member sponsors them.
ClubCorp also gave away a wedding as part of the event that was valued at $10,000, to be held at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas. Couples had to compete for the prize by earning the most points in cornhole golf chipping and bouquet-tossing contests. “The golf component was to engage the grooms,” Boshears says.
To be eligible to win, couples also had to get at least five stamps in a passport book they were given at registration. “That encouraged them to go to the clubs and get to know the planners,” Boshears says.
“We want [Luxe] to be a signature event for our clubs that they can promote throughout the year,” he adds. “It’s a lot of planning, like planning a festival. There are a lot of moving pieces—it’s like putting on 10 different weddings at once.”
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