Wedding fairs are a wonderful thing. Everyone is happy, couples walk around browsing exhibitors and picking out things to make their dream wedding come true. Exhibitors are happily telling couples about the wonderful weddings they have done in the past. Everyone is cheery, but are they really?
Over the next 12 months, in the South West alone, there are hundreds of wedding fairs, wedding fashion shows and wedding “extravaganzas”. I understand the purpose of these wedding exhibitors, future couples need to see what is on offer, they need to talk to the suppliers who they ultimately need to trust to make their big day special. However, do we really need so many wedding fairs?
It seems almost every wedding event I attend, which is a fair number (yes, I’m spying…), are always the same. You walk around a venue, get a feel for the venue, and then walk around a room full of suppliers. I get it, it works, and everyone gets the exposure they need, but do we really need hundreds of these events? I hold a maximum of two wedding fairs every year, I’ve been asked to hold more but I refuse. The wedding industry is over saturated with everyone jumping aboard to get a slice of the action, that’s not just exhibitors, that’s events “organisers” too. This needs to stop.
I’ve spoken to many exhibitors and there is a general consensus that they are having to lower their prices to become more competitive with impermanent fly-by-nights. They generally agree that there are too many wedding fairs organised by people who, quite frankly, don’t know what they are doing. It is fine paying the hundreds of pounds to attend these events, as events are not cheap to run, but where is that money going? Does the organiser really know what they are doing? Have you seen the advertising? As that is where the money should be going, advertising. More often than not, the exhibitor fee is going into the organisers pocket with the only advertising being a post here and there on Facebook. That is not good enough.
I’m not claiming that my events are the best and not to attend anyone else’s, that would be ridiculous. I use the same wedding structure as everyone else, it’s the structure that works and people are familiar with, but I can assure you I do everything I can to make the day a success, if I feel the say will not be a success, I will cancel. I cannot knowingly take your money for a service I cannot deliver on.
So, how do we save the wedding events industry? Don’t hold hundreds of these low budget, poorly attended, substandard advertised events, it’s just not needed.
