Wedding fayres....worth going??

Personally I didn't find them that useful to be honest. I sort of found myself finding things I wanted as extras rather than things I had planned on having and managing to tick boxes off. So I didn't go to more than two for that reason. I actually found the internet more useful and cheaper. Not sure if this classes as a wedding fayre I did however find my cake lady in our local shopping centre as a couple of local businesses was having a promo day showing their goods off but it wasnt in my eyes a hosted wedding fayre. We did sort of know what we wanted from the word off maybe they would be useful if u need ideas? Don't get excited by the day though leave your purse at home so your not tempted and later regret a choice made X

Personally I wouldn't bother.

The businesses have to pay to attend . That will all be reflected in your choice of venue.

You may know something locally that is just the job without the expensive price tag. As my OH says mention wedding and watch the price shoot up. Say you want to hire a room for a party and it's wayyyy cheaper.

If you are in the early stages of wedding planning, I would say yes. It gives you a chance to get ideas of what different suppliers charge, and you can have a chat with lots of different people without feeling obliged to take things any further.

I've been to one wedding fayre in my life and all it gave me was a massive head ache. I was stressed out and didn't book or buy a single thing. Sorry but I would not recommend them. Having said that I am quite anti-shopping at the best of imes and always prefer the internet.

I'm over them to be honest. I've been to quite and few and the omly supplier I found was our cake lady. I was either ignored or looked at with horror when I said our wedding was 2015. I think they are fun when you first start planning, watching the fashion shows are the best part, but after a few they become really samey.

I found them really useful in that I went, seen what I liked/disliked, got quotes, went off and then found it cheaper and booked elsewhere, but they did def give me ideas!! They are all similar though so 1 or 2 is more than enough but I think they are worth a visit to be honest!! (I got some freebies too which is also nice!!)

I use wedding fayres to get ideas, then find another (cheaper) way of doing it as I have found that most of the businesses that have a stall are out of my budget.

I found them quite helpful in the beginning getting ideas together, finding out what I did, didn't like. Now I have a plan I won't be bothering except to book the suits for the men. We were told that you get extra discount through the wedding fayres for them. Don't know if that's just a local thing though.

I went to one & couldn't wait to leave! However we did get £500 off our videographer as we booked him at a wedding fair x

Actually I've just thought, we did get 20% off our suit hire at a wedding fayre.

I went to 3 - one at my venue and 2 others. I found 3 suppliers - my florist and my make up artist at my venue and my mum found a great shop for her outfit at another one. I think it's really easy to get overwhelmed by loads of things that you don't need, but I did find a few great suppliers and I'm pleased that I had the fair experience! I didn't take my OH though - just my mum and sister.

I would really recommend wedding fayres (although saying that, I have only been to a couple) but I found it very exciting being around other very excited people! Aside from that, we found a couple of suppliers at them and they usually have special deals and discounts on the day, so if you know what you want then they can be very useful. The fashion shows are great, too. Definitely worth a visit in my opinion!

I think they are useful if you go in with the right head on.

Don't go to more than a couple - otherwise you will just feel bombarded with ideas. Pick one or two that have a good selection of exhibitors - no point in going if there are only a handful of stalls.

Go with the intention of getting ideas, but don't get caught up in "special wedding fayre offers".....we glanced at some handmade invites at the first fayre we went to, and they kept pushing us to book there and then to get a 20% special show discount......funnily enough, every week since, we have received an email from them with another "special" discount offer - bank holiday weekend, end of Summer offer, blah blah blah.

Taste all the cake samples going - it really does give you an idea of what choice there is. When I first got married 25 years ago, there was a choice of fruit or sponge, That's it. Now, you can have red velvet, chocolate, lemon, champagne & strawberry, baileys, etc etc etc....so pick up those samples!

Talk to people, but don't be afraid to say No. Just because the toastmaster has a good sales pitch, doesn't mean you need to get pencilled into his diary! Instead, walk away with the knowledge that you really don't want, or need a toastmaster, and therefore have more money in your budget for other things that are more important to you.

Get ideas - take pictures of a flower display you like, or a colour of bridesmaids dress you like. Pick up leaflets, take them home, look through them in your own time with a glass of wine, and discard the ones that are not for you. Keep the ideas you like and start comparing other local suppliers or the internet.

If you see suppliers you have already booked with, go up and chat to them. The fact that you are keeping in touch, and become familiar (but not bothering them every 5 mins) is useful for both sides I think.

Just enjoy them for what they are - a place to get ideas, sample products, talk to people, and be excited about your wedding. But keep your head about you, otherwise you will have booked up wedding favours at double the cost that you could get them elsewhere!

It depends on where they are - if they are actually at the venue itself then I would say yes. I went to one at our venue and it gave me ideas on how to set the rooms up, what might look like in the hall etc. I saw the centrepieces I liked and lots of other little bits. I also booked the videographer we met there. I wish I had gone before doing my invites as I saw some beautiful invites there too.

I also went to a national wedding show in Manchester and that was a complete waste of time. I was hoping for ideas on stationery and centrepieces and maybe singers but there were none there. It was full of venues advertising, holiday companies advertising, a few bridal shops and a few bits of beauty stuff. The catwalk show of gowns would have only been any good if I hadn't already tried on some dresses. I took my mum and it was nice to bond with her as we had a nice afternoon tea but the actual event itself was a disappointment.

So not all wedding fayres/shows are the same!

We went to a few even though we had no intention of booking anything conventional! Some of them give you goodie bags and free drinks! We did actually book our uplighters through a fayre actually, would not have known about them otherwise so that was productive.

Sometimes they are good to show you what you *don't* want for your wedding, and that can be just as valuable/reassuring!!

Also, if you are thinking of things like sashes for chair covers, there is nothing like seeing the colours in real life, rather than trying to pick a matching colour from an internet site, so for some things, they can be really useful.

We booked our chair covers and chocolate fountain at a wedding fayre, and also managed to see our florist, so could see more displays than we would get if we went into the store, plus found our cake lady. I also discovered when I was at the fayre at our venue last week, that they will arrange my make up on the day, for the very reasonable price of £30 (including a trial), which I certainly wouldn't have realised (or had otherwise missed from the literature) unless I had gone to the event. We had already decided on using john Lewis for our gift list, but they were also there, and so could do the paperwork to set everything up without me having to make another journey to the store.

Yup, I've decided that I am in the "for" camp!!