Wedding Fair disappointment

Unfortunatly wedding fayres are getting worse in the sense that there are loads of a certain suppliers and little of anything else (photographers a prime example) The larger fayres are expensive and ones i tend to avoid.

Hardwick hall is currently the largest fayre that is on my door step and out of 80 exhibitors last wedding fayre there were 27 photographers... I stopped that one 2 years ago when they booked 22 photographers.

Smaller wedding fayres tend to be better as the wedding co-ordinators pay a little more attention to who they are booking and as it is quieter there is less noise and more time to look and talk to suppliers.

I'm sorry you had a disappointing time there. I might be in the minority as a wedding professional, but confess that I generally loathe wedding fairs and have never felt the need or desire to exhibit at one. I checked out the NWS in London and was bitterly disappointed by the whole experience (although appreciate I'm not a bride) and I've also been to the Kent one as it's my largest local and hated it even more - sorry

I appreciate that they can be useful to see certain items 'in the flesh' all in one place, and you'll sometimes receive special discounts but I think there are so many more suppliers and ideas out there than a fayre can typically show, so please don't be disheartened.

Most of the Wedding Fayres now are the same. Suppliers cannot afford to pay sometimes £1500 to exhibit at them so the organisers take what they can rather than have so many in each category. Also there is not much originality out there at the moment & everyone is doing the same kind of thing, ie, trends in cakes, flowers, dresses etc. A trend starts & everyone follows, I like to be different!

You will find places like Hitched come up with so many different ideas due to the amount of Brides on here & everyone has come across something a little bit different.

I haven't done a Wedding Fayre for over 5yrs now and wouldn't do them for the reasons you have pointed out, too much of the same and your original ideas are on someone elses website within a week of you exhibiting it!

We've tended to do most of our 'wedding planning' via Google, personal recommendations and Hitched - the first wedding fair we went to we found our photographer, we already knew the venue we wanted, the band we wanted I know from years back, and since most dress places at fairs only take a few items to shows - and not 'plus sizes' which my b2b needs anyway - there wasn't a great deal else we needed anyway.

We've been to a couple of shows since - the first one we only really went to so we could sign the paperwork from our photographer who was there - and the other one didn't give us anything else so we probably won't bother with any more.

I think a lot of them are overhyped - and I struggle with paying an 'admission fee' too. Like the majority of wedding related things, they're overpriced.

I was at the Chatsworth Hotel one in Worthing, Sussex yesterday.

Nice turnout and already have two enquiries from it by email on the same day.

Trouble is the stall cost me £300 and the show was on for 4 and a half hours, I'll need to get 6 bookings from it to actually make it pay because I could throw £300 at Google and get the same amount of work in.

I think most fayres limit the amount of a certain supplier, I know the one I was at limited the number of photographers at five...which isn't bad really.

It's the tiara stands that seem to be everywhere....plus tins of celebrations, roses and quality street. Pfft, I made 150 mini muffins and it took me all day...you lot at too polite to take them as well which is why I'm having 6 of them with me morning coffee!

Shoreham Airport, now that was a car crash fayre. 10 people walked past my stand and all of them were there to see the planes land and never knew the show was on!

I stopped doing wedding fairs years ago. I found it the same as you to be honest - extremely pushy suppliers which I despise myself and wouldn't subject my customers to it either!

There are always loads of photographers fighting in lumps (sorry photographers!) and not much variety. I actually went to one wedding fair where one photographer deliberately knocked down another photographer's stand just because he was charging less!! Even when they promise that suppliers are limited to only two of each category, when they are pushed for time nearing the date and haven't got the tables all booked, they will let anyone in and it's generally mayhem. They charge the earth at decent wedding fairs and when you have to make up items to take as in my case, you have that added cost too. It's just not worth it!

I had a brilliant time at the MK wedding show earlier this month, but a massive attraction of that was that it was free entry and it was in the middle of the exhibition hall in the shopping centre, so there was lots of non-wedding stuff to go off and do if we needed a break. The range of suppliers was alright but I think if I'd gone to any great length to get there or had to pay for admission, I would have felt a bit cheated.

Possibly the bigger the fayre the worse it is?

The one I was at was quite small and relaxed, apparently I was roughly half the price of the other photographers there and had the nicest looking stand...but nobody knocked mine over haha.

There's a lot of bitching going on, usually more with the tiara, dress and cake ladies...especially the cake ladies!

I was talking to one photographer who was quite nice and chatty, the rest don't make eye contact despite me looking over and smiling to break the ice.

Odd bunch.

I only went to one and found it a disappointment - although thankfully it was free. The one thing I think it IS good for is togs - because you can actually see their work. The one we went to there was one who'd have been a potential if we hadn't found the lovely ladies who did our's. The problem was at the one I went to a lot of it seemed to be exhibitors doing the personlised chocs or similar - there seemed to be hundreds of favour people!

Always taste the cakes, always.

Chuckle - better get cake making!... Or perhaps I could make some campervan biscuits... ha ha! Great advice guys! I am going to attend my first wedding fair in Jan... and it is always good to learn what to avoid and what people like. These fairs are really expensive to exhibit at - especially if you are just starting out... I will have to see if it is worth it...

Am I the only one that likes Wedding Fayres lol :/

I went to one yesterday and had a great time with my Sister and Niece who are both bridesmaids. We tried yummy cakes, got hounded by a strange irish woman claiming to be a 'fashion designer' with horrid medievil dresses, my sister and niece got their caricature drawn by a lovely lady who I will be booking for our wedding and we got to look at lots of pretty bunting and sparkly things. Then I think I freaked a florist out when she said "Have you thought about flowers?" and I replied "Yeah.. I'm not having any." She didn't say much else so we wandered off lol.

One thing I don't like - Companies who wont take no for an answer.

I love sifting through my leaflets after a fayre or show and checking out websites of the people who catch my eye.

Chris that's really funny you say that you usually see loads of tiaras jewellery etc. When I was planning I don't think I saw a single tiara stall. I've been to 4 wedding fayres in the last two weeks and have only seen 2 handmade jewellery/tiaras stands between 4 fayres. Really surprised me.

I agree there seems to be a majority of photographers there - great if you haven't booked yours because I do think its a great place to find them without booking an appt just to see their albums etc - but pretty dissapointing for brides if its something they have already booked as there doesn't seem to be much else.

You know you can always post me some muffins if you don't want to eat them. I'm helpful like that ;-)

? I like your style LOL!!! You see, I'd have been nosey and asked what you were having instead cos I'm like that! ?

The best ones are the ones that are run as a Wedding Evening rather than a Fayre. We have done a few at venues where I am a preferred supplier & you then get a more relaxed atmosphere where we sit and talk to the couples who want to talk to us. I too hate the pushy suppliers, who are just out to get a sale & not really interested in the couple at all.

I actually thought the wedding show was quite good although it did have a serious lack of bridesmaids dresses and the wedding singers they had before the dress show were awful! I thought they had some beautiful dresses and a few really helped me with the vintage theme that I want to go for. I also managed to get a discount off of our tog. It was also a lot quieter when I was there too, probably because I didn't get there till gone half 12.

It depends what your looking for I suppose. For someone like me who hasn't really organised anything I found it quite helpful. x

I said "I've got my Bridesmaid bouquets, they're fake and mine is made out of buttons". Her face said it all, she just muttered "Buttons.." and looked at me blankly haha!

Lisaloulou, were you at Brighton Metropole a few weeks back? Your name rings a bell?

I cant really fault the National Wedding Show as me and my BM's had an awesome time! But i've been to a few others and have felt like i was raw meat in a lion's den! Not naming any names but a rep from a particular ring supplier wouldnt leave me the hell alone! I agree that the smaller fayre's are usually better! I went a lovely one at the Hilton in Southampton where i found the most fantastic cake lady who is gonig to recreate my dream vision of a black cake!

She obviously doesn't come on here then! She needs to keep up to speed LOL! Buttons are definitely "in" !! Good for you!

Chris - Nope wasn't me, I'm in Hampshire. Unfortunatley there are quite a few jewellery/tiara companies with a similar name to mine.

I don't understand this either. There's no point buying an amazing looking cake if it doesn't taste very good! I went to a wedding fayre on Sunday and all of the cake stands had samples, but I have been to fayres where there haven't.

I went to one wedding fayre in Brentwood with a friend who is also getting married. We paid £5, walked around for 30 minutes and walked out with enough paper leaflets to deorated my house. Needless to say they all went into the recycling bin when we got home.

I am going to another one in a couple of weeks though, but only because it is at our venue and we haven't been back there since we booked 18months ago.

Wedding fayres are definitely not for me

We do wedding fayres - we have done 2 in 2 weekends

Here is the view from "the other side of the table"

- The fayre organisers charge the exhibitors a fortune just to let you attend, and pop on a lot of terms and conditions too. Overall as a supplier, the experience is hard work and expensive

- The fayre organises generally only have one motivation - to make money, and (if it is the venue themselves) to book in couples

- The suppliers that attend are really those that can afford to, both in terms of time (they are normally on a Sunday which for some is after the day before) and money. On top of that, there is the list of "prefered suppliers" and usually a new supplier can even get a foot through the door

- Once you have paid for your stand, you still need to commit a lot in terms of advertising materials and display

- the way most industries work.. (especially in retail) is that you buy what sells (bluntly, you cant afford to buy stock what doesnt sell). The only exception is when you buy to inspire.. in otherwords, you buy the "top line dress" that's a magnet - no one will buy it, bit you will sell lots of others. Thats why all the high ticket items that are off the rack will be fairly similar between exhibitors

- The fayre planners love making more money off the people attending, or getting "a supplier" to feed everyone and then claim thhat as a beneifit for anyone turning up

It's increasingly really hard for independant wedding professionals that provide any product or service INTO THE VENUE - e.g. wedding florists, stationers, photographers, cakemakers caterers, wedding planners, DJ's, Firework companies - to make an impression. More often than not, a venue allready has "prefered supplier lists" and "people they work with". So when you attend a wedding fayre, as say a photographer (which I did yesterday) it is tough when the "ones on the prefered lists get the best spots, and all the brides immediatally go to them, because the venue has "invited them to do so" We saw several brides actually love the cakes form the stall over the way from us, but then have to go tripping back to the "prefered supplier" to make up which "prefered supplier" they actually like

Something else worth bearing in mind is how you get to become a prefered supplier ........ ...... . ...... ...... (pop your cynical hat on and fill in the dots). It usually has a lot to do with how much you charge, and again, increasingly, it is the venue that is the winner

Back to wedding fayres... For a lot of of the local smaller more creative companies, they are simply to expensive and to restrictive and not in the slightest bit cost effective. This is a shame, because yesterday I was speaking to Brides who were just like you - they wanted a special theme, a special idea for a cake, a special type of stationary etc. Bespoke things can generally only be supplied by the smaller more flexible companies that generally are excluded from the bigger venues packages

Something else you may want to bear in mind. You say you only went for inspiration not to book something. Without exception, the suppliers are there to generate business. Photographers especially are generally having a fairly tough time at the moment - on the on hand the market has filled with cheap budget photographers who also have a day job, and on the other, many brides are cutting back a lot what they want to spend. I know a lot of really good honest Joe photographers, who produce excelent work, who a few years ago had plenty of bookings, and are now struggling to get any at all - its possible you walked past a load of these at your fayre

The good news is that the internet, and places like hitched are full of independant, creative suppliers, who are truly inspiring

Hilight of yesterdays show - the little independant florist I have never heard of that lives 3 miles down the road from us - amazing stylish work..

I hear what you say Wedding Photographer, and I whole-heartedly agree with you on many points. The fair I went to yesterday was not at a wedding venue, so was not touting for business themselves, but obviously the exhibitors were.

I know what it's like from their point of view - I do craft fairs myself - so I can appreciate the effort and planning that goes into one of these things.

I was just disappointed at the lack of variation, with so much space and so many exhibitors ther should have been more choice. And even if a cake artiste can't bring along dozens of cakes they could at least have a photo album, not just a business card and 'have a look at my website'. And there have to be more than 6 styles of wedding dress - I'd be far more inclined to visit a shop if I could see they had a decent variety of stock.

But never mind, I know to do my own research, online from the comfort of my own sofa in future - easier on the feet!