Wedding Fairs and the end of Craighouse

Well October is a busy month for wedding events in the capital of Scotland such as wedding fairs and shows, wedding weekends and wedding open days. I get invited to many of these events but as a photographer I cannot do all of them so I have to be selective about which ones I’ll attend and exhibit at. I’ve always endeavoured to go for quality events where I feel there is genuine value for couples planning their wedding.

Many of the wedding fairs, especially the large ones, are organised by companies looking to make a profit from the event itself rather than actually having the interests of the wedding couples at heart. They do this by charging an exhibitor fee from the suppliers and also an entrance fee from the visitors with a portion of this income used to advertise the event. It is for this reason they try to cram as many exhibitors into the floor space as possible as the bulk of their revenue is from the suppliers who may be paying anything from £500 to £2000 and upwards for their stand and exhibitor space. There often seems to be no actual vetting of the companies other than their willingness to pay, so the priority ends up being quantity over quality.

I note with interest that many of the shows that operate on this basis have seen quite a drop in visitor interest this month. Others planned and advertised for the near future have actually ended up being cancelled altogether! I also know some wedding suppliers who were recently contacted just days before a recent event and offered huge discounted rates as the organisers were desperately trying to fill all their stands. To be honest this does not surprise me as I’ve felt for a long time events like this do not serve the interests of the wedding sector at all. They have diminished value for the suppliers and are not a great source of help to couples planning their weddings either.

Anyway as many of you know from past blog posts this Sunday see’s the new, fresh Edinburgh Wedding Fair which I have been involved in organising in partnership with The Hilton Edinburgh. Based heavily on quality over quantity you will not find fourteen Edinburgh wedding photographers and eight cake makers and six florists, etc but instead we have a total of twenty of the very best wedding experts and suppliers across twenty wedding categories. So it will be possible for visitors to book or obtain sound advice on every major wedding category. As well of course as having a lot of fun and picking up loads of idea’s for their own big day. Check back next week to see how it all went.

The other major wedding news in the Scottish capital this week concerned Craighouse. You may recall in one of my posts last year I said I had heard Napier University were going to sell off Craighouse. At the time this wasn’t confirmed, it was just inside information I had picked up ;) but it was announced on the Scottish News a few days ago that Napier has now put Craighouse up for sale. As a wedding photographer in Edinburgh this is one venue I will definitely miss working at, and I know many other Edinburgh wedding photographers feel the same. It stands on an elevated hill overlooking the city with a host of beautiful nooks and crannies making for superb photographs as well as its commanding outlook over Edinburgh. The feeling is it will be bought up by property developers so it really does look likely we’ve seen the last weddings here.

I’ve photographed several weddings at Craighouse and I still have one more to blog about very soon. All the photographs I’m posting today are from Craighouse weddings and if you check back in a couple of weeks there will be some new ones from Gillian and Gary’s wedding, too.

If you are currently in the throes of planning a wedding then please do not miss Sunday’s wedding fair at the Hilton. There will be some amazing offers and promotions including the chance to win an Engagement photo shoot at the Hilton followed by a romantic meal for two and a voucher for £200 off your wedding video in the free prize draw! Alongside the exclusive Catwalk Show we have performances from the sublime Pandy Arthur and the unbelievable Magic Woody, one of Scotland’s most finest wedding entertainers. Plus you can enjoy complimentary drinks and canapés with our special guest. Hope to see you then.