National wedding show - good idea or not?

I've been to The National Wedding Show several times, both as a bride-to-be and as part of my job. It really is a lot of fun and a great day out.

You may gain insipration by just looking around the different sections of the show - and the catwalk show is always truly impressive.

I'll be visiting the Essie nail bar tomorrow and the bareMinerals beauty bar for make-up advice! Plus there are some really neat new ideas at the show that you may not have ever seen before when it comes to your wedding guest book, table decor, flowers, cakes and wedding story books!

Save 20% on tickets by clicking on our banners if you do book ahead of the show. The offer ends at midnight tonight for London online, but you can still get the discount for both the Birmingham and Manchester shows.

Feel free to ask more questions about the show if you have them.

I'm going to be blogging live from the London show all day tomorrow ?

Fran

I went last year as I started planning and found it really helpful. This time I am going with my Mum and my eldest daughter (8!) to start pinning things down and getting final ideas, it's a good day out - take a water bottle and comfy shoes though!

I'm going abroad for my wedding so there won't be a great deal for me at TWS but my OH, our Mums and my FSiL are going along for a girly day and some giggles - it'll just be a lovely day to look at stuff, talk about the wedding, spend some time together, look at dresses (it'll be the only time we look at dresses together) etc ... I can't wait!

I went last year and found it really helpful - made me pin down ideas or see new things. It also made me see things I defo didn't want. It's a nice day out but it's a lot of walking around so nice comfy shoes.

I say go for it - enjoy being a bride :-)

We're going down today to have a look around, with a view to possibly exhibiting next year. Do you think you would be likely to book your DJ having seen them at an exhibition?

Thanks everyone. I think I will give the Manchester one a whirl. I'll take my mum as she is so giddy at being MOB I think she will enjoy it more than me.

DJ Hire - I'll let you know after I've been whether you could get a good enough feel for a DJ from the show. We have booked our entertainment through recommendations. I can imagine things like stationary or other tangible items you might purchase from seeing them there but not sure about a DJ.

Hi- I went last year and to be honest, I hated it! I am not really a bridezilla or anything but I gfelt it was just people trying to sell me theri things that were over priced. Also if you have already booked most things it is a little pointless.

just not really what Iw as expecting...

Can't think of anything worse.

Here is my round up of The National Wedding Show from today if anyone is interested: https://www.hitched.co.uk/chat/blogs/planwithfran/page/20140221/blogging-live-from-the-national-wedding-show-london.aspx

I had a great time!

Fran

I've not long got in, we had q great day and I was fortunate to be chosen for the bareminerals make up demonstration on the stage. We got lots of ideas and it made me realise what we do want.

We went last year but we didn't find it helpful as we had most suppliers booked. As you would expect there were a lot of the same suppliers e.g. invitation suppliers but by the end of the day, they all seemed the same and I couldn't remember which ones I liked! I think if we were still in the early stages of planning it would have been more useful to get ideas.

I went to the one in Birmingham one in the Autumn and didn't find it useful. I had already chosen my dress, booked my venue, and decided to get my make done by a make up artist. It was good for jewellers though, but as I live a long way from Birmingham it wasn't so useful for me. I think if I had been in the earlier stages of planning, or more local, it would have been more helpful for me - I have found that local, free wedding fayre shave been better for me

We're going to be in Manchester on Saturday 15th anyway as we're going to see the Miranda tour in the evening. Might have to convince OH that we should go to the NWS too if we're there anyway ;-)

I went yesterday. Loved it, even though we have pretty much everything booked for our wedding already. We signed up fir a great deal on a wedding photo storybook, signed up for a gift list, I had a Bare Minerals make under, we got a great idea & contact for our thank you cards, my fiancé got a good deal for a bespoke suit, spoke to a fab accessory designer who can do a bespoke hair thing for me, picked up goody bags, generally enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere. My OH enjoyed it much more than he thought he would and he was also very useful for carrying the goody bags!

Hi,

I guess it depends if you're the kind of btb that likes the craziness of the hard-sell or prefer to approach chosen supplier before hand.

Personally I went with a friend a few years ago, we watched a runway show for the dresses-which was great! Then we had lunch, then left.

X

Hi,

For those of you who did attend the London show, we'd love to hear your feedback here for a blog we're working on full of wedding show tips from real brides-to-be!

Add your contribution here: https://www.hitched.co.uk/chat/forums/p/426733/3518231.aspx#3518231

Looking forward to reading your tips and suggestions

Zoe x

I went last year and felt a little overwhelmed by it all as its huge! The only reason we went was because my cousin had a stand there so we got in for free, I don't think I would have paid money to go. I felt that there were a LOT of over priced photographers there and also photo booth companies however, there were some beautiful stands from small independent sellers and I ordered some lovely flower wedding confetti as well as a gorgeous hair piece so in a way it was a successful trip. Oh and the John Lewis goody bags are pretty special

Hello ladies I am going to the Manchester wedding show on the 15th and I am very excited to go with my bridesmaids. However I have a last minute spare tickets I give it away for £7 better than half price. If anyone interested you can email me at *****.*************@*****.***

I went to the Birmingham one last October, more for a day out with my Bridesmaids and so they could get to know each other a bit better too. The abundance of dresses to try on it great, altough we went on the friday and it was fairly quiet. I could imagine the Sat or Sun could be like hell!

It was defo an eye opener and got a few good ideas as this was early on in our Wedding Planning. I did find it a bit strange that there were Photographers from Kent and Bridal stores from Cornwall at the Birmingham show though. I would rather use local suppliers (no offense to those far away!)

As the afternoon went on, it did start to get a bit tiresome of people trying the hard sell and telling you want to want a your wedding! Although, a few people say they can get really goods deals at Wedding Fayres if you are looking to actually book anything

My H and I went to the show in London a few years ago when we were planning our wedding. I LOVED it! H enjoyed it too! ;-) great day out and by the end of it we were so excited about our upcoming big day!