Say the words “Wedding Fair” to someone, and it may well conjure up memories of THAT episode from Gavin and Stacey. You know the one!

Wedding fairs are an amazing way of getting to meet loads of different suppliers, and they give you the opportunity to gather tons of inspiration for your Big Day.

But… They can be overwhelming. Concerns of being pounced upon by eager sellers wanting to show you their wares can lead to you wandering around aimlessly, avoiding any eye contact.

That’s not our approach in any capacity and over the past 10 years, we’ve been lucky enough to exhibit alongside some phenomenal providers who prefer the ‘you come to us’ approach rather than shoving leaflets into your hands as you walk past.

Use the opportunity to get to meet different suppliers

When I…sorry, we were getting married, wedding fairs became a good source of information. They helped us to talk to a variety of different companies – some of whom we wouldn’t have otherwise considered – without the need to make countless weekend appointments. They also helped us to discount companies who we didn’t want to work with.

For example, I remember being so excited about wanting sunflowers at our wedding.

However, the first few florists I spoke to were very dismissive of them as a flower and actively tried to discourage me from using them. They said they were ‘thirsty flowers’ that would ‘die very quickly’. But there must be a way I thought!

This helped me to make my mind up as to who NOT to use!

Equally though, I got to meet other companies who showed real enthusiasm for my ideas and I went on to meet a fabulous florist who made my sunflower dream come true!

For the most part of the day, they looked bright, sunny and happy, just like I’d envisioned. The vision for our whole day was laughter and happiness.

To be fair, those first few florists were right.

They did die.

But that was much later in the day and by then, it didn’t matter!

That’s when a wedding fair really comes into its own.

You get the opportunity to begin a conversation.

To begin a relationship.

To begin to build trust.

Think locally, but don’t be afraid to go national

It’s good to meet people in real life and get to know them. You could fall in love with a shiny website, book the company, then find out they’re really difficult to work with. And the best thing about local wedding fairs is that all of the suppliers are likely to be located very close to you.

That’s not to say that a national fair isn’t worth a trip either. My sister and I went to the National Wedding Show at the NEC, just for a day out. I didn’t for a second expect to come away with anything, but I ended up buying my wedding dress AND booking a videographer! All because I fell in love with the people running the companies. We hadn’t even considered a videographer to be honest, but it was one of the best decisions we made and that wouldn’t have happened without the input of wedding fairs.

If you go with an open mind and a willingness to do your research, wedding fairs can be a vital part of your wedding planning.

Suppliers and organisers WANT to help you

Jackie Galo is the owner of Central Exhibitions, the company who runs the Central Milton Keynes and the MK Dons wedding fairs amongst others, and says that she gets a real buzz out of putting on shows that helps couples to have “the best day ever. Seeing couples arriving when the show opens is so exciting – I just want to find out about each and every wedding and help them with ideas or point them in the direction of suppliers that can help them”, so you know that if you attend a Central Exhibitions show, you’ll have the offer of expert advice even before you meet your first supplier!

October to March are the months where you can expect to find the greatest choice of wedding fairs to attend and you might be tempted to pop along to just one, but as Jackie says “As you go through the wedding planning journey, you are thinking about different things and your ideas about what you want often change. Going to more than one show or re-visiting shows mean you get to talk to suppliers at the stage of the journey you are currently going through. Also, the shows (even a repeat of the same show) have different suppliers and you might find you like someone that wasn’t at the last show you visited.”

With all that said, if you’re still finding the thought of attending a show a little overwhelming, we’ve worked with Jackie – the organiser of the largest wedding fair in this region – to bring you our top five tips of how to get the most out of a wedding exhibition.

Five Wedding Fair Hacks to Save You Stress

1. Bring a Notebook

This is Jackie’s no 1 tip “There is so much information that you are exposed to at wedding shows. It’s overwhelming and so easy to forget the things you like and the things you dislike. My biggest tip is to bring a notepad and paper and write a note about the suppliers you have spoken to – good or bad. It’s so much easier to know who it was that you have spoken to rather than having their leaflet and trying to remember which supplier that related to.”

2. Devise a System

If you don’t fancy taking notes throughout, it’s a good idea to devise a system to help you remember the suppliers you want to follow up with. We’ve seen some great systems in use over the years including folding a corner over of a leaflet, taking a selfie in front of a supplier’s stand, and having a ‘keep it’ and ‘bin it’ bag! Having a system allows you to avoid any stress after the event sorting through leaflets. This is something I wish I had known as I still have a forest-full of leaflets in the loft!

3. Work out what you want to achieve

This is another of Jackie’s tips. “It’s a good idea to have in mind what you are hoping to achieve from attending. Are you looking to book something or are you looking for ideas? Do you have a budget in mind? A bit of pre-planning really helps you get the most from your visit and means you can ask the right questions, depending on what you are looking for.” 

Don’t forget to factor in the timings for any shows or catwalks that you might want to attend.

4. Look out for show offers

Exhibitions are a great time to get a deal as many suppliers will give exclusive offers to secure your business.

My wedding dress retailed at £1500, but I got it for £850 as a show offer. Fun fact for you; the day before we went to the show, my mum won £800 on a scratch card which more or less paid for the dress, so it was obviously meant to be!

In my dad’s speech, he commented that my dress was sponsored by the national lottery!  Check out my dress below, with my dad sat next to me in the wedding car 🙂

5. Look out for the freebies!

Quite often, companies will give away samples of their wares if it’s appropriate – sometimes you can pick up CDs from bands to listen to, or swatches of fabric.

If nothing else, there’ll be lots of cake!

If you’re lucky, there will be a chocolate fountain to thoroughly test out as well! Usually there will be a whole host of free magazines to pick up; another great source of inspiration.

But trust us, they don’t taste as good as the cake.