Wedding Fair

Spencer_Li

We're planning on going to a wedding fair in October - http://www.wedding-experience.co.uk/exhibition.php?venue_id=33 - and was wondering what we'd be expecting there.

For example, are wedding fairs places where we would negotiate and bargain on things, or are they really just a place where you get to see everything in one place?

Thanks in advance.

White_Sapphire

It can be either really. I went to a couple of them before we had finalised our date, so we weren't in a position to book people or buy anything, it was just to see what was available and get contact details for future reference. A lot of the exhibitors will offer discounts if you book with them on the day, with some (if you talk to them nicely) extending the discount for a week or so so that you can think about it. At the end of the day, it costs a lot to hire a stall at a wedding fair, especially a big one like you're going to, so they will want to make sure that they get their money's worth through the business they get from it. This puts you in a good position to negotiate. Or you can just have a look round, coo over pretty things, enjoy the free bubbly, and pick up every business card you see!

Spencer_Li

White_Sapphire wrote: »

It can be either really. I went to a couple of them before we had finalised our date, so we weren't in a position to book people or buy anything, it was just to see what was available and get contact details for future reference. A lot of the exhibitors will offer discounts if you book with them on the day, with some (if you talk to them nicely) extending the discount for a week or so so that you can think about it. At the end of the day, it costs a lot to hire a stall at a wedding fair, especially a big one like you're going to, so they will want to make sure that they get their money's worth through the business they get from it. This puts you in a good position to negotiate. Or you can just have a look round, coo over pretty things, enjoy the free bubbly, and pick up every business card you see!

Thank you White_Sapphire.

Our wedding's not for another two years, so I guess we still have some time to find some bargains.

We'll try to go and enjoy this one!

Poppleminster

A tip for wedding fairs. Look in advance at the traders going. Call them and say you are interested to see their stand and ask if they can send you free tickets for entry. When they book, traders are usually given free tickets for promotional purposes.

purple.sarah

Vendors pay for stands at wedding fairs to advertise their services so there is a sales focus. Some offer discounts like 10% off if you sign up on the day but don't be pressured into anything, you could save more money by shopping around! You'll get lots of leaflets and contact details for further reference.

When you arrive you're asked to sign in with your information like your email address. I would get a new free online email address like gmail to use just for this as if you use your usual email address like I did (oops) it will be handed out to all the vendors and you'll get lots of advertising emails. Giving them a separate address means you can either ignore them or check them at your leisure to see if any are relevant to you.

The vendors vary, we had a lovely chat with a photographer at the last one we went to, he was really positive about us having a Winter wedding and said he prefers working at them as the light is better, less bright than Summer. When I asked him if he could recommend a reception venue he said that he wouldn't recommend anywhere too expensive as he's seen village halls decorated beautifully and what matters is the people, not the place. He showed us lots of lovely candid shots he'd got of wedding guests having fun.

There were definitely some shocking pricing moments though, FH simply asked another photographer about her basic prices and she went in for the kill, £1000 for her basic package and extra for the albums, have we seen the albums? Here are all the options for the albums etc... His head was spinning. She was charging hundreds of pounds more than the guy we'd just had a nice informal chat with and we would rather use him for the quality of the customer service alone. Then she asked about the reception venue and when we mentioned we hadn't found one yet she tutted that we needed to get a move on. As if we didn't already know that! That sent me running to the next table, which was advertising a hotel venue and running away again when they said their basic package was £4000!

So wedding fairs can be fun but go into them with a level head and a positive attitude. I was already worried about our budget and not having found a venue yet so it freaked me out a bit! See it as a bit of fun and if you get something useful out of it so much the better. Don't take it too seriously. We got some decor ideas, some contact numbers and free candy from a candy buffet company! Yummy!

SplanK

I have also found that, that a lot of places have a "head stuck up their own ar..." attitude and think they are much bigger than everyone else. We have been put off a large number of good places JUST because of that regardless of cost/how nice/how much we want it! People need to learn that a good customer facing attitude is key to getting a good sale.

All of our suppliers have been selected by attitude first and cost 2nd (ish) - but you usualy find the ones which cost reasonable are nice anyway, and the ones that charge more are uber snobs! If you can't get on with them now, then what are they going to be like on the day!

We have had people saying to us all sorts about we should have had stuff organised by now... to be honest, take it with a pinch of salt - these things can be organised in weeks if you are not having anything OTT. You just need to be aware that some things maybe booked up quicker than you expect.