Surviving the Wedding Fayre Season: As a Bride & Groom

Wedding fayres... Love them or hate them.... January to April is prime wedding fayre season as couples who got engaged at Christmas, New Year or Valentines begin making plans for their big day!

There will be at least one wedding fayre taking place every weekend (mostly Sunday’s) between January & April in your local area, so there are more than enough to choose from.... although a piece of advice, as much as they can be exciting, don’t go to all of them as this will just simply confuse you and you will just bump into the same suppliers over and over again!

My top tip would be to choose at least 1 large fayre to attend such as the NEC or the I Do Shows – go as a group and make a day of it! (Guys you might want to steer clear of this one unless you are feeling very brave as these fayres are very busy and predominantly full of ladies!)

National Wedding Show 16^th – 18^th March 2012 NEC Birmingham

 I Do Wedding Show 12^th February 2012 Leeds United

If the venue where you are getting married hosts its own wedding fayre, make sure you add this one to your list as it’s likely to be full of trusted suppliers who know your wedding venue well.

Then choose another 2-3 local wedding fayres that are taking place at hotels or venues near to where you live or to the area you are planning on getting married in... This will ensure that the suppliers you are talking to are local and hopefully know your wedding venue, as this is always a bonus!

Choose carefully; think about who is hosting the fayre and where it is taking place, this usually reflects the type of suppliers who will be exhibiting... for example, a beautiful stately home will have suppliers exhibiting who are traditional and offer a high end quality service.

Before attending any wedding fayre, think about what you want to get out of it, is it to...

A) Find and book certain supplier(s)

or

B) Find inspiration & Ideas

As you are walking around looking at all the exhibitions, keep focused on why you are there... it’s very easy to get caught up watching the fashion show and tasting cake samples (even though you already have your cake maker booked!)

Remember that ultimately the suppliers are there to try to sell their product or service to you... As lovely as something might be ask yourself, does it fit within the theme/style of your day, do you need or want it and most importantly can you afford it?

Do try to come away with something from every fayre that will contribute towards your big day, even if it is as simple as a decision made that you do definitely want chair covers for example!

But most of all, remember that planning a wedding is fantastic fun and visiting wedding fayres is just part of that fun.... so enjoy! 

 Images taken by Firestar Photography  at The Peak Edge Hotel Wedding Fayre 2011 

2011 Summary

As I begin 2012... it's nice to have a quick look back over last year... 

I had the privilege of working with 22 amazing couples, all of whom celebrated their wedding day during 2011...

They each chose a planning package that I tailored to suit their individual requirements, but the most popular packages still remain Full Coordination and On-the-day Coordination. 

Although most of these couples live in the Midlands in the UK, a number of my couples were from different parts of the world, including Shanghai and Thailand... they all had the same thing in common... they had chosen to celebrate their wedding day in the Midlands, England.

It was an honour to coordinate these weddings at such beautiful venues... including The Peak Edge Hotel , The Maynard, Aston Hall, Prestwold Hall and Thrumpton Hall to name but a few... and I really look forward to working with many of these venues again this year.

Not only was 2011 the year of the Royal Wedding... it was also the year I married the man of my dreams! 

It really was the best day of our lives!! With thanks to our venue Hodsock Priory and on-the-day coordinator Joy from Unique Wedding Planning who together made sure I switched off from wedding planner mode and enjoyed my day as the bride!!

2011 was also the year that I launched The Wedding Planning College with Joy, which offers training and guidance to those wanting to follow in my wedding planning footsteps, the college is going from strength to strength and I look forward to meeting lots of new delegates this year...

And just when I thought the year couldn't get much better... I found out I had won Best Wedding Planner East Midlands at the Wedding Industry Awards!!
What a fantastic end to a fantastic year!

Bring on 2012!! 

Best Wedding Planner East Midlands!!

What a fantastic start to the year.... to find out that I have won Best Wedding Planner East Midlands at the Wedding Industry Awards, which means I am now a finalist for the National Award... Best Wedding Planner UK! How exciting!

It is the biggest compliment and fills me with pride to know that the couples I have worked with during 2010 and 2011 have voted for me... I beat off the 5 other regional entrants to claim the title Best Wedding Planner East Midlands!

The awards are taking place in London on the 18th of January and the national winners will be announced live on stage! Wish me luck...

For further information about the awards click here Wedding Industry Awards 


I had a mention in my local news paper, The Derbyshire Times about the awards click to read the full article