What are peoples thoughts on wedding fairs?

Great for ideas and info to help with planning go with an open mind not all the exhibitors are pushy its certainly worth a trip to one.. you may even get a goody bag :-)

Hottif and a waste of time!

Sorry, they were full of the same old boring stuff and many of them were really traditional. Not what we wanted at all.

As someone whose partner is often away and everyone else busy doing other things, I found going along terrifying! Personally I went to 4 but didn't find a single supplier there x

If it is a proper one, I think it is great fun and can give you ideas.

I went to the National Wedding Show at London (also at Birmingham I think) and was fun. Went with my BMs.

It was there I decided I wanted a photobooth (before everyone had one!) so really useful for me.

Also, all the cake and invitely people will have all their cakes and invites displayed so you can just get an idea of which ones make your heart beat a little quicker (probably applies more to cake than invites!)

Very crowded though, btw, and very few grooms. Lots of BMs and mums. My Hubby would have hated it.

Plus it's a really good excuse to have a glass of champagne as well.

Thanks for making this post, it's really worth knowing this from the supplier point of view! I do know two people who found their suppliers through fairs, not sure which ones they went to though, sorry!

I've been to one and it was ok, wouldn't need to go to another, one is enough and i sourced mos of my suppliers online. No one was pushy and it was nice to have a mooch

I've exhibited at a couple of wedding fairs in the past.

I took only a couple of small orders but most people go for ideas and to see stuff in the "flesh" (cakes, invites, gowns etc)

And yes they are full of mother of the brides, brides etc not many men. ?

Ooh actually thinking about it, we saw a photographer and really liked her stuff. I asked her if she was free on our date, and she wasn't. She recommended a couple who actually became our photographers, and one of tbe best decisions we made.

So, at best, useful, and at worst, a harmless but fun day out*

*if you don't mind crowds

I went to one just to see the venue, but I'm going to the National Wedding Show and hoping to get some accessories for me and some flower ideas there x

I am glad I went to a few as they gave me lots of good ideas. I preferred the more local ones to the area we were getting married rather than the National Wedding Show though.

I have moaned before about the lack of cake samples at the NWS, but clarehj's post suggests this has improved - maybe they have been reading my posts here?!

It can be a bit intimidating going up to people and either trying to browse their stuff or saying "so, erm, tell me what you do?" while worrying you're going to get a really hard sell. I don't remember many people being too pushy though - they know that weddings are expensive and people like to take their time to decide.

We ended up getting a few things via wedding fairs, though not loads: we met the "wedding ring experience" people at the NWS, had a good chat about venues with the Oxfordshire registry office people, and got our ice cream cart from a local Oxford wedding fair. I used Hitched for hair & make-up, flowers and jewellery though! The one thing I wish we could have had was a cello quartet I saw at a London wedding fair, but I couldn't afford them so we ended up with a traditional string quartet created by one of OH's friends.

OMG there so weren't enough actual cake samples for eating! Never usually enough, but a shockingly small amount!

Presumably there are simply too many through the door to feed all the crazy brides.

As a wedding accessories supplier I have found this thread really helpful too. It really helps to know where Brides prefer to look for their goodies as we sell exclusively from our website but recently I have been thinking about maybe doing some fairs aswell so this has given me some food for thought!.x

We found our tog at a wedding fair, we liked him so much that we actually changed our date so that we could have him.

They were helpful to me when we first started planning to develop ideas and general likes and dislikes. Once we knew roughly what we wanted, Google became more useful

I went to one at Manchester Central with my mum and MOH it was good to see cakes/flowers etc actually set up but I wouldn't have chosen anything there it was just too crowded I took loads of leaflets and over half went in the bin and the wedding fashion show was the most dated samey thing I've ever seen.

On the other hand I went to one at a venue (Sandhole Oak Barn) and it was much better it had a mock ceremony and there recommended suppliers including caterers with canapés to try and menus to discuss, tables etc had been dressed by different suppliers with different styles for each table. Just a shame the venue was way over budget!

I went to the NWS at Earls court last year and there were loads of cake samples but I guess it could depend what day you go on imagine they may run out?

Mixed feeling about the wedding show and wedding fairs I can't say I found any of my suppliers through them.

If your just starting wedding planning I can imagine them being more useful or if one is held at your chosen venue I personally don't like making decisions on the spot I prefer to go away and think about it so would never benefit from discounts at such events.

Advice- if you do go to any, particularly the larger ones research what exhibitors are going to be there and check out their websites before you go so you can prioritise your time/prepare any questions you might have.

I only went to one. Agree that they are a bit samey and most exhibitors are doing the same "in stuff" but I did find my amazing hair and make up lady there.

Hi. I have attended 2 wedding fairs so far and each were very different. I went to the first one at our reception venue. We had already seen and chosen the venue but wanted to visit again and also pick up some ideas. The people at the stalls were not pushy at all. They didnt even give it the hard sell. They just gave the information we wanted and answered our questions. I think most of them realise that if they are pushy you wont choose them.

I also attended a vintage wedding fair in a town hall in London...completely different fair to my venue one. There were singers as you walked in, champagne, goodie bags (with clarins hand cream) and a tea room. Loads of jewellery, vintage dresses, flowers, nick nacks etc. The stall holders there all really had a passion for their items and the vintage genre so they werent really the pushy hard sell type. It was a really pampering experience being surrounded by so many beautiful things.

I went with my chief bridesmaid and to be honest it wasnt so much about finding suppliers but more about enjoying a girly day and picking up tips. ! enjoy it!!

I hate them, both as a supplier and a bride to be.

As a supplier, they just aren't our thing. We're photographers, not sales people. They're long, boring, expensive and in all honesty we've never got much out of them. We did a speciality fair once (a vintage one) and that was much better, although we're not really very vintagey!

As a bride to be, urgh. I hate people jumping out on me and forcing their leaflets and things at me. The blue water one was terrible for this and after 10-15 minutes we just left. Sometimes I just wanted to take a leaflet to look at, at my leisure. I didn't want a 20 minute sales pitch about a cake when i'm not even having one and I definitely didn't want to be signed up to mailing lists. The few we went to were generic and samey (Same faces, same exhibitors) When I did approach someone I didn't like being ignored or patronised because i'm getting married in 2015 and not this/next year.

It's a complete eye opener going to one as a b2b who happens to work in the industry, the amount of blatant lies we were told was unbelievable.

Anyone tell i'm not keen!?

I went to the National Wedding Show with my BM and then to a smaller local wedding fair with my OH. The NWS was fun but in my opinion not that helpful - the majority of suppliers were large national companies, which didn't suit our small rural wedding. The local wedding fair was extremely useful - it had around 20 or so exhibitors from the surrounding area and we actually met five of our suppliers there. We didn't sign up to anything on the day, but used it as a fact finding mission and to scope out suppliers' personalities etc. it was great and I think we would've struggled to find small local businesses without this event.

Personally I've found loads at Wedding Fayres. I met a great jeweller that works from home & he's made our wedding rings for a fab price. I also met a fantastic lady who is now doing my flowers, centre pieces & chair covers. I also found & tried on 'the dress' at a Wedding Fayre!

I would definitely recommend going to some locally :o)

I've been to one and in some ways I think when you've been to one you've been to them all!

I went to one at my venue so I could see the room all laid out. I found my chair cover lady there plus someone to alter my dress and veil (as I bought a second hand dress, so need alterations and not many local shops do this service if you don't buy from them!)

the only thing was, as our venue is quite small, there were a lot of people in a little hall so you couldn't look at everything.

I like them they always seem like good fun and I seem to always seem to get free food and goddies ?

^ this.

They are probably fine if you want a 'traditional' wedding, which I can understand- catering to the masses and all that! I must confess, I've been to a few, but only on the offchance there'll be free grub...sadly only one that I've ever been to actually had free food! (cake & canapes...and champagne ?) That one was very lovely, but it was at a small independent venue rather than a large, organised one.

The big national wedding fairs- took my mum to one not long after the engagement- are worth a punt, even if you spend your time looking at stuff and saying "Bleurgh- I'd never have that!" (as we did!)

I can say though, in my experience, suppliers are generally not at all pushy. Most of them are very approachable and friendly.

The one thing I did like was being able to touch wedding dresses. I know this sounds weird, but as someone who knows NOTHING about frocks, it was nice to cop a feel and suss out the difference between chiffon, satin, etc. so I was more prepared when trying on dresses myself.

Me and OH went to one when we were looking at photographers - the couple I had narrowed down to were at a big fair so we went to there and booked one. Was good to look at their work and they are busy that you dont feel too bad about walking away if not for you.

Im going to the big one again with my bridesmaids in March as one has never been to one and wants to - also last one before my wedding to make sure I have organised/sorted most things and for ideas for everything else.

I've been to more than I can count *Bridezilla* haha!!

Although I didnt book anything with the suppliers there I got a lot of ideas - actually, my OH suits are from one wedding fayre!

I also found a supplier for outside catering that I will definately be using at some stage in my life - the samples were AMAZING!

Plus some goody bags are good - I got a £15 garter in one...Some are naff with free cornflakes - gee thanks....x

I've only been to a couple, and not really found them that great. The first one I went to when I was just engaged, and at that point I just didn't know what I wanted bar a church wedding and a band for the evening. I didn't find that one massively useful as it was quite small.

By the time our second fair came round, we'd got the big stuff booked. It was nice for a mooch, and the fashion show was quite good. We'll probably get OH's suit from one of the suppliers we saw at the second show, who I hadn't heard of until then. I thought the jewellery people (specifically wedding rings) were quite snobby, and I didn't take to any of them, but that's the only bad thing I have experienced.

Me and OH went to a few, the best one by far was at a hotel that was doing their own fair and had got local suppliers in, we found 3 suppliers at this one fair and many more ideas.

the fairs that were ran by big companys (that have wedding fair websites) that do them every so often around a few different places were the same peoplea cross the board and were very traditional things and also very expensive quotes given. for example we were quoted £ 500 for a car for groom to be taken to venue however we contactedthe same comapny after the fair and they quoted us £350 for the same thing!

Thank you everyone appreciate your advice and opinions ?

Zoomo that is shocking! A TOG we met last night said he doesn't go to them anymore cos they charge him £300-500 for a stall which is bonkers. I HATE the rip off wedding industry, both for brides and suppliers alike!

I went to the NWS in London 2 years ago and hated it! I went with a friend, I wasn't engaged though, but it was sooooooo busy and crowded and same-same and just a horrid vibe. W2B and I are are going to 2 little ones in Hertfordshire this month though cos we're hoping to find some local suppliers or a TOG. x

Yeah, I stopped doing them because I was paying £400 to share a room with 5 other photographers and only 150 people walked through the doors.

The prices keep going up but there are more fairs diluting the client base.

I still do them, but only when it's for a venue I'm a preferred supplier for, where the couples who walk through the door are getting married at the venue etc.