Wedding Fairs

Yeah, we have managed to find about half of our suppliers through attending wedding fairs and it's also a good way to get ideas! 😀

View quoted message Brilliant! Thanks Sophy. Are they really pushy sales people? I get really put off if they are.

View quoted message Some of them are, but not many! Most of them are lovely and just want to help you have the best day!
I would do a couple, our first one was very small and didn't have much of a variety of suppliers there, but I've been to a few others since and they've been much better with a full variety 😀

View quoted message Okay great. There’s one coming up at Selden Barns - which I’m interested in for our reception venue so I think we’ll give it a go.


It will be nice to see suppliers and get some help with the ideas I already have and whilst the internet is fabulous, I am a little old school with some ways and like to physically see things
Thanks 😊

I really recommend them! I feel much happier with our suppliers knowing I’ve met them as some of them play quite a big role! Your photographer for example will be with you all day! And your hair/makeup all morning!

View quoted message That’s a good point. Photographers are something I really want to explore and caterers.


Hair and makeup, I’m doing my own so not a necessity but I understand what you mean and hadn’t considered it.
Thanks 😊

I think it partly depends on the size & scale of your wedding. We were having a small, low-key wedding so didn't feel the need to visit any. Having said that, we did end up coming in on the tail-end of one wedding fair because we were driving past a hotel that did wedding receptions and thought it was worth popping in just to get a feel for the place. We were there for all of 15 minutes, but in that time, we did wipe 2 potential photographers off the list and picked up a card for a third one who we ended up booking.

If one of your prospective venues is having a wedding fair, then I would say it's definitely worth going to that - for wedding fairs, they usually set up the various function rooms the way they would be for a wedding, so it's a good opportunity to get a feel for how the place might look if you booked it for your own wedding.

View quoted message Thank you, that’s really helpful. I think I’ve just been cautious as a result of not really liking pushy sales people but I don’t want to miss out on things because of that. I’ve registered us for 2 wedding fairs in the next 3 weeks.


Looking forward to seeing what’s there.
Thanks so much ladies

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If someone is too pushy, just walk away. And look on it as a good way of filtering out suppliers you don't want - if you feel uncomfortable around them at a wedding fair, you're not going to be comfortable discussing your wedding with them at a later date, and you certainly won't want them around on the actual day.

One of the photographers I wiped off our list at the fair would never have made it to an initial meeting anyway - I didn't like the quality of the photos she had on her display, so assuming her website was more of the same, I'd have scratched her off the list as soon as I saw it. But the other guy took really great photos, but had a creepy personality. (Was really flirty with me in a very inappropriate way!!!) If his website had been the same quality as the photos on his display, we probably would have shortlisted him to meet up with, which would have been a real waste of time!

View quoted message That’s so true. I definitely wouldn’t want to discuss our wedding with them if I’m not comfortable around them.


Eww! No one wants a creepy photographer. Really liking the usefulness that these fairs appear to have.
Thank you so much ☺️

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A tip for avoiding the pushy sales is to say you have not booked your date yet, you are there to get ideas and help you understand costs so you can then work out your budget and how long it will take you to save and then set a realistic date. To be fair, you have not yet booked a venue, so you genuinely don't have a date! so are telling the truth. If they ask you for your info just politely decline and say you will be in touch once you are in a position to be sourcing suppliers

View quoted message That’s a great idea. Thank you. You’re right, It’s partly accurate. We have our ceremony venue but not our reception venue yet.

We went to a few and they was absolutely rubbish didn’t help in the slightest and this was way before covid!!!

Use a separate wedding email address for signing up to fairs. I've heard that the contact details of attendees are routinely released to vendors and people can get soamjed with wedding related things.


Personally I'm not going to any fairs.

View quoted message That’s a shame. I guess it’s just the luck of the draw. We’re going to try these couple and see what we feel.

View quoted message Ooh! That’s a good idea. Thanks Christina. I wasn’t planning on it but I think for me, having spoken to ladies on here, it will be useful to see photographers and caterers.

I think so definitely! Especially if you have nothing / little booked. Although they can be overwhelming! 🤣

View quoted message Thank you Sarah. I definitely think it will be a good starting point for us to get more ideas and explore supplier options

View quoted message Definitely! Especially if it’s local to your chosen venue too.
I pretty much chose most my things off Instagram but have been to fairs and met the suppliers in person even post booking or gone to see bands live etc x

View quoted message Agreed. Ooh I haven’t even thought to look at Instagram x

We found our photographer and venue decorators at a wedding fair! It also really helps if you go to wedding open days at your chosen or prospective venue as you can see it all done up

View quoted message Thanks Lex. Everyone’s been so helpful and given such good advice. I am enjoying wedding planning so much and having spoken to all of you lovely ladies I have seen that the use of these definitely outweigh the concerns I have about them

Here is the view from a suppliers side. I have done them for many for many years. And it can be a balance between coming over pushy or just not interested or engaged at all. But my first question is always "when is the wedding" because If I am booked then there is little point in moving any further. If you say not booked yet and just getting ideas then that is fine. But if you have booked a date then please just say so.

Some fairs are run by companies who make their living out of fairs and charge the suppliers a lot of money to be there and so those may be a little more "pushy" than a venue that arranges their own fair and invites recommended suppliers.

Also companies who make a living out of fairs will give preferential treatment to those who pay to advertise with them and so that can mean you keep seeing the same suppliers at these fairs.

Its also more likely that those type of fairs will send out a list of names and email contacts as that is part of what you are paying for as a supplier. personally I do not do those type of "business" fairs or bother contacting people afterwards from a mailing list as I take the view that if they were interested then I would of spoken to them at the fair.

One tip - your other half, they may be interested in the first couple that you visit but in my experience they would rather be somewhere else. Most of the time you are "oh go away for a min" as you are looking at dresses or other items that you do not want them to see anyway. That's when they wander over to me and say they have been sent away while you look at dresses.

I'm going to one just for the fun of it and hoping to get some ideas.