If you’ve just come through engagement season feeling like you survived the Fire Swamp, you’re not alone. It’s been a slog out there.
So today, something a little lighter. I recently rewatched The Princess Bride (as one does when the world is stressful), and I realized there’s some surprisingly solid business advice tucked between the sword fights and the ROUSes.
Here are three things The Princess Bride can teach us about running a wedding venue:
1) “As you wish.”
Westley says this repeatedly, but what he actually means is “I love you.” It’s service with devotion behind it—not subservience, but genuine care wrapped in action.
How does this apply to you? The best venue teams I see operate this way. When a couple asks “Can we do the ceremony by the oak tree even though it’s not the usual spot?”—the answer isn’t just “yes” or “no.” It’s figuring out how to give them what they *really* want (a meaningful ceremony moment) even if the specifics need adjusting. “As you wish” is a posture, not a script.
2) “Inconceivable!”
Vizzini says this over and over, even when the evidence is staring him in the face. Spoiler: everything he calls inconceivable keeps happening anyway. He’s so confident in his own genius that he can’t see reality.
How does this apply to you? If something keeps happening at your venue—couples ghosting after site tours, leads drying up from a certain source, a package that never sells—it’s not inconceivable. It’s a pattern. And patterns are data. The venues that thrive are the ones willing to look honestly at what’s actually happening instead of insisting it shouldn’t be.
3) “Mostly dead is slightly alive.”
Miracle Max delivers this gem while examining a supposedly dead Westley. And he’s right—mostly dead means there’s still something to work with.
How does this apply to you? That cold lead from three weeks ago? Mostly dead, not all dead. This slower-than-expected season? Mostly dead, not all dead. Your motivation after 47 site tours in two months? Same. There’s life in there. Sometimes you just need a miracle pill and a nice MLT—a mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean. I joke. But take another run at it, you never know if there’s life there.
TO-DO FOR YOU THIS WEEK:
Which of these three resonates most with where you are right now? Pick one and give it five minutes of thought this week.
- Are you operating from “as you wish” energy?
- Is there something you’ve been calling inconceivable that you should look at more honestly?
- Or do you need to remember that mostly dead still means slightly alive?
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