About
Our story: designed by venues, for venues
Hostology started in 2018 when five independent UK wedding venues (Dewsall Court, Elmore Court, Iscoyd Park, Pennard House and Wasing Park) decided the tools they were using were not good enough. Led by CEO Emma Hardcastle, they built and road-tested the platform against the problems they were living with as venue operators. Between them they run more than 600 weddings, parties and corporate events a year, and Hostology now powers venues across the UK, from Scotland down to Cornwall and from single-day-a-year historic estates to venues doing more than 100 events a year.
We believe that at the heart of hosting is an enjoyable journey, leading always to a successful celebration. To champion the venue's pivotal role in that, we built a platform designed for higher event functioning, and The Collective to support our peer community.
The Platform
Our practices had served us well for years, but an upgrade was calling. Time to prioritise our client relationships and maximise operational efficiency to deliver exceptional occasions for today's hosts.
We designed the platform to bring together the whole hosting journey, from the first enquiry through planning, catering, accommodation and guest management to the final payment, then packed it with the features we found lacking in other solutions. Designed by venues, for venues: our goal is to make the planning process a joy.
Everything in Hostology was designed and road-tested in our founders' own diaries before it reached anyone else's.
The Collective
From our own experience, we know the value of mutual support. The Collective was created to provide a community for venue owners to connect with, and learn from, each other.
Our venue-exclusive online forum provides a wealth of information, advice and camaraderie. Join us for our regular Roadshow get-togethers and webinars: listen to expert speakers, discuss industry updates, and share tips on everything from surviving cost pressures to coping with your couples' wedding jitters. Side by side, we help each other excel.
Hostology today
Hostology is a live B2B platform sold to venues across the UK. Led by Emma Hardcastle, with Mark Somerfield as CTO and Lucia Pusateri as Head of Customer Success. Every week the team is shipping features that make a venue owner's Monday morning a little quieter. That is the point of the whole thing.
“The systemising, streamlining and efficiencies are a game changer for our business and equally will make planning the wedding logistics less 'dry' for our couples and their guests: it is a win, win, win!”
Hostology in numbers
- Successful events
- 15,000+
- Happy clients and guests
- 5,000,000+