When did you start going to wedding fayres?

We are getting married in 2014 too, and have been to 3 or 4 wedding fairs. A couple of suppliers have commented on it, however venues and togs have all said they have taken a couple of booking for 2014 already, so we didnt feel stupid at all.

As for rudeness about your age, do the sensible thing and walk right away from anyone with the audacity to be rude because you are young - they dont deserve your custom!

oh good! i was just starting to think maybe your only supposed to go to them nearer the wedding! but glad someone else has been to them with a 2014 wedding! as for the age thing i know with the florist i had to walk away as i litrally getting no response so i thought she obviously doesn't want my custom! fair do's!

Ooohh what venues have you been too? u are local to me.

Went to statham lodge, peruga (restaurant) and castlefield rooms

Statham lodge was beautiful from the outside, the ceremony room was a little dark for us (dark blue walls and red velvet drapes etc) but the main rooms was very nice but overall too expensive for us unfortunatly! the lady was v.helpful though!

Peruga had stunning views and would be perfect for a wedding of 70-80 but because we wanted the ceremony and reception in the same venue with a large number they would have to set half of it up for the wedding breakfast after the ceremony in front of all the guests which would be fine if it was sunny (shove everyone outside for some pics and a drink) but if it rained there wasn't really the space for our numbers

castlefield rooms was our favourite up to now, liked the location (more city) and the rooms were fab, the actual food and drink is within our budget (and they were very flexible) but then they wack on a day room hire (£550) and an evening room hire (£550) AND a ceremony room hire (£200) so all in it tipped our budget over by too much...she did say that we could negotiate on the hire price but we want to look elsewhere first as we felt we didn't LOVE it enough to over spend by so much!

Going to see bowdon rooms and quarry bank mill and i love the look of both just hope the venues are as nice in real life and are within our budget!! have you seen any of these venues? its difficult to get prices off some websites!

x

I've sometimes had suppliers giving me rude glares when I've taken one or both of my littlies. I don't think it helps that I look really young too. It certainly helps you decide who to do business with! I think a lot of them don't like it when you just go to research and don't intend to buy anything that day. Barmy really.

I had the opposite problem - I went to my first wedding fair about 7 months before the wedding (we only had a 10 month engagement and for the first three months I was too busy working in A&E to do anything apart from dress shopping and sorting the venue). Lost count of the number of people who tutted and said "Ooooh, you're leaving it a bit late aren't you?" And yet, miraculously, almost all of them were still free for our date when they actually checked their diaries...

We only got engaged in june and i went to my first in sept, my wedding is july 2012, if i had gone earlier i think i would have had more of an idea of what i wanted rather than booking the first things i thought of, i didnt take my children instead i took my nan who was worse lol always after a bargain and can be quite embarassing saying that she got me some good deals, i dont think its ever too early to shop around esp if your not 100% sure on what you actually want, it also provides great ideas that you may be able to replicate yourself just cheaper, have fun and good luck planning x

I got engaged in November 2007 (aged 21) and went to my first wedding fayre in February 2008 (still 21, but nearly 22) We spoke to a few supplier and kind of lied a bit about when our wedding was so that they would give us the time of day. I did kind of get shunned by a few people because i looked about 12 (i now look about 14 according to a taxi driver on my hen night) and they thought i was just wasting their time. My little sister (who was 15 at the time) kept getting asked if she'd picked her X Y and Z for her big day.....It was actually quite funny.

I actually found that to be the same case in a bridal shop. I went to try dresses on and they were very unhelpful. You could clearly see that they thought i was just a wee girl wanting to try on the pretty dresses. Unsurprisingly they did not get my custom when i did pick my dress.

I am not planning on going to any wedding fayres until about January, which will leave me with about 14 months until we get married. If I'm honest I don't want to go before then as I would feel a bit awkward with such a long time to go - but this is just me being silly, you have every right to go along whenever you like. And, as RKB mentioned, if you feel a bit silly then just fib about your wedding date, no harm in that at all.

Personally I don't think it matters when you go, I only ever go to get ideas as the suppliers at the fayres are invariably NOT the cheapest available, and you do need to start gathering ideas as soon as you start planning! Occasionally I see something reasonably priced, then it's nice to be able to support a local wedding business, but I'm not going to put myself out of pocket for that cause. I found word of mouth more useful than the fayres for sourcing local suppliers tbh.

When I got engaged in April 2010 there just so happened to be a wedding fayre 2 weeks later, so I dragged my mum along to that. That was 2 years before the wedding date, I was mainly looking at the photographers at that point, my venue was already booked anyway!

I had a similar problem at a clinique counter recently the woman looked at me and my BM (also makeup guru) as if we were just after a free makeover (which I didnt get!) but did spend £115 on make up for the wedding!!!

Hiya,

I've just recently got engaged and there are no wedding fairs on at the moment. They start in Jan/ Feb and I'm planning to go to a lot of them. I think we are thinking 2014 too so I'd like to go even if it's just to get ideas of what I want/ don't want. I don't think it's ever too early!

Tell anyone to get lost if they are rude about you looking young, at the end of the day they should be trying to help as much as possible if they want the business. They need you more than you need them!

We havent seen any of those venues, but are getting amrried at Styal lodge. its gorgeous and might be worth a look for you. its only 5 minutes from quarrybank mill

Exactly this. Don’t waste your time on people who don’t take you seriously.

As for the fairs, bearing in mind most fairs only happen once maybe twice a year then I think if you’ve got stuff in your area coming up then go to it, but to begin with try to be careful not to buy or book too much on the spot (no matter how good the discount they offer is) as you have plenty of time and may change your mind! So go but use it as an ideas fair rather than actually booking anything. It’ll also help you toughen up in the wedding world and practise talking to suppliers which in turn helps you in your own head to work out what you will like.

I'm getting married at the end of 2014 and I went to my first wedding fayre in August 2011. I got ignored a lot once I told some suppliers when i was getting married, and like someone else said, the suppliers at weddings fayres aren't always the cheapest so I just went for ideas.

If you're worried, just make up a wedding date when they ask you, but be prepared to back it up, I made this mistake a few times!

Ooo i know someone else getting married at styal lodge looks fab! unfortunatly out of our price range (room hire was expensive if i remember correctly?) were determined not to look anywhere we can't afford incase we fall in love haha

Thanks for all your replies,

I think it's true what some of you have said about them needing me more than i need them so if they can't be bothered talking to me or decide to make presumptuous comments then thats fine by me, will help me to narrow down who i want to spend my money with!

As far as the age thing goes, venues have all been fine with us and MOST suppliers up to now but i have heard about wedding dress shops being a tad 'unhelpful' to younger brides so not really looking forward to that aspect!

Anyway it's interesting to see what others experiences have been like!

x

I'm planning on going to my first wedding fair in January but getting married in August 2015. I can tell you now after reading these posts about suppliers being rude about far off wedding and young brides (I'm 21 and my partner is 23) i will definately be taking my MIL2B. She won't take none of their rubbish lol. If any ignore us she'll walk straight up to them and say "Excuse me do you want our bussiness or can't you be bothered. Thats not good customer service." She was in retail for many years and a manager in loads of different shops so her biggest pet hate is bad customer service so if ever we have problems with companys we ask her to help. She's even scared companies into giving us discounts so hopefully she'll work her magic lol.

I started oing as soon as we were engaged ?

Hi

From a supplier point of view I see people at wedding fayres who are getting married in a couple of months, those who are getting married in a couple of years time and those who havent even set a date yet. I think you should go to fayres when you want too. Plus at different stages you want different things eg now you might be going for inspiration where as later you might be going to find/book suppliers.

I wouldn't worry about suppliers that dont give you any time or are rude, just don't give them your business! You wouldnt want someone like that involved in your special day anyway.

Anna

I'd say it's never too early! Just be wary of booking things on the spot, as has already been said, because with such a long time to go you may well find you change your mind about things. But definitely a good idea to go along for some inspiration! Venues and togs can be booked up years in advance, so from that point of view you are definitely not starting too early. I got engaged in September and have been desperate for February to come round so I can go to the big wedding show! If you have a venue/tog in mind then see if they'll be at any wedding fayres before you book, most will give discounts so if you know what you want, it might be a good idea to wait until a wedding fayre they'll be at to book because it could save you a fair bit. The wedding co-ordinator at our venue told us to wait until the wedding show to book because we'll save 10%, that's good customer service if ever I saw it ?

I got engaged in June, and then went to a wedding fair in august and im getting married august 2013 so don't worry about being early and anyone who is rude just dont use!!

Hi

We have had similar responses and were getting married in march 2013.. I've found some suppliers to be quite rude at wedding fayres and very exspenive too! I think they up their prices at those things cos when you go on their websites they are normally cheaper.

I went to the wedding fayre at my venue which was great as got to see it all done up in all its glory but dont think I'll bother with any more now.. Like you said people are always commenting on how far away our wedding is (even our tog did when we booked him last weekend)

dont be worried to go though, i suppose they are all like robots anyway at the fayres as they see so many people during the day and are asking the same questions over and over... why dont you try the national wedding show? they do that twice a year at Birmingham and Im sure thats huge with lots of ideas.. but i have to say I've got alot of my ideas from hitched.. havent bothered for a while with magazines or wedding fayres

x

I must say, I'm really surprised by some of your experiences with suppliers. I'd like to think most of us are decent people in this business for the right reasons, but obviously not!

If anyone is going to look down on you or pass judgement for your age, or the fact that you are planning ahead, then more fool them. Take your business elsewhere.

Don't be afraid to walk away from suppliers either, no matter how good their on the day deals are. Do your research, make notes of anyone you spoke to and go home being very clear about who you liked and who you didn't (and why). Then go on to check out their website, reviews online etc.

Unfortunately, many fairs operate on a "first come first served" basis with regards to suppliers and pitches will be given to anyone willing to pay the fees as opposed to who is actually good at what they do- so just because someone is exhibiting at a Wedding Fair, it wont always mean they are the best at what they do. Not many couples seem to realise how fairs operate, so it's worth keeping in mind.

Hello

I am surprised to hear some of your experience that suppliers put up their prices for fayres - I am the opposite! I often do special offers exclusively for fayres but maybe that doesn't go for everyone!

I just love chatting weddings too much, its the best part of my job hearing all about peoples plans!

Anna

We started going Sep 2010 for Aug 2012 wedding. Didn't come across any rudeness as a result of the wedding date, but did encounter general rudeness among exhibitors- Mostly florists and cake people (but to be fair they were a minority, and most exhibitors were generous with their time and very helpful). To be honest though, I didn't get much out of fayres at all and found them far from enjoyable experiences, so I'm glad that we're past that stage now! None of the suppliers we have booked were found through a fayre, so I'd recommend doing lots of research online too.

I got engaged on Saturday 26 September 2009, and went to a wedding fair the following Sunday (I would have gone the following day but was too busy showing everyone that I was engaged). We are getting married July 2012. It's never to early to go. When I went in 2009, some of the people already had bookings or pencilled in bookings for 2012.

I would say go for it, the more research you do, the better equipped you will be when it comes to selecting the actual things you are going to get.

:-)