Planning a Wedding Fair

Well there’s not too much in common between wedding fairs and cats, other than perhaps a catwalk lol, but that’s what most of my time has been taken up with last week. I’ve been doing some work for a small business that offers a cat sitting service in Edinburgh and also I’m in the initial stages of planning an exclusive Edinburgh Wedding Show which I hope will become a successful regular event. Let me tell you about the wedding fair first…


As a photographer wedding fairs play an important part in my life as they do for most wedding suppliers. There is quite an abundance of them and sometimes it can be difficult deciding which ones you will attend. Very often it’s a case of learning by trial and error as it’s not until you’ve actually exhibited at a fair that you can gauge its value. As a wedding photographer I’m in a rather unique position of being able to see a wedding fair through the eyes of both a wedding supplier and also those of future brides and grooms as this is often a popular subject we end up discussing when we meet together. So for some time now I’ve had this idea germinating at the back of my mind of organising a wedding fair myself which would be specifically suited to couples in the throes of planning a wedding and also wedding suppliers themselves.

Currently, virtually all wedding fairs are organised by either media companies or venue’s. Each of them, understandably, have their own agenda. The venue obviously wants to showcase itself and its objective is to get couples to book them for their wedding. And the media companies want to stage an event that will turn a financial profit. However, wouldn’t it be interesting to have a wedding fair organised by someone independent and impartial who could tailor the event specifically in the interests of the brides and grooms themselves? Well that’s my idea anyway.

Most wedding fairs fall into one of two categories. There are the very large shows, held in big arena’s with hundreds of exhibitors and that generate several thousand visitors, and then there are the smaller fairs generally held in a wedding venue such as an Hotel. The main complaint regarding the large shows, from both wedding suppliers and visiting brides, is that there are just far too many exhibitors! For the exhibitors it means they may very well be alongside dozens of other companies all operating in the same area. I constantly get sent invitations asking me if I’ll consider booking a stand at Murrayfield's "Thee Wedding Fayre" but if you look on their website you see they have fourteen photographers already! This is good for the organisers because every exhibitor is paying a fee, but not so good for the photographer. But its not good for the brides and grooms either. If they are looking for a wedding photographer in Edinburgh do they really have time to visit fourteen photographers? The same goes for all the other categories, too. Wouldn’t it be better to just have the best two or three suppliers in each category? And then you can end up with the opposite problem at the smaller weddings fairs of not having enough choice. The last show I attended there was twenty exhibitors in total with eight photographers and four videographers who also claimed to offer still photography! Additionally, no one is vetted at most of these events either. Its simply down to whoever is prepared to pay the exhibitors fee gets in.

So, in my opinion what is needed is something in between. A smaller event but with hand picked exhibitors across all categories. This means that only those operating at the very top are invited so there will be a genuine expert available in each wedding category. Much better for the couples visiting, and better for the suppliers themselves, too. Because many of us as suppliers are in such close contact with our wedding clients we will be able to incorporate unique features into the wedding fair that brides actually want and will find genuinely beneficial. So the show will include special offers, promotions, competitions and I also have some exciting surprises lined up, too! My intention is to put on a wedding show that’s something special and different and will become the number one wedding fair in town! Lets see if I can do it, lol.

The first show is planned for the beginning of October so I’ll give you more information as we get nearer. I’m looking at either October 10th or 17th but can’t give you the exact date right now until I hear back from Sean Connery. Oops, I’ve just given away one of my secret surprises. Now I’ll have to go back and delete that sentence ;)

Finally, coming back to the tenuous cat link, if you are a cat lover please check out this Cat Sitters Edinburgh website. This is the one I’ve been working on this week, including doing all the photography. It’s only just gone live so if you can take a couple of minutes to click the link and visit it will at least let google know its out there and start generating some traffic. Watch the Home page slideshow and see if you can avoid saying "Awww" at the cute cool cats. One of them is mine :)