Our First Wedding Fair!

Hey guys! It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but as I mentioned last time, we took a small break from planning after securing our venue, just to enjoy being engaged. Therefore, there isn’t actually much to update you on! The main thing that I’m going to be writing about is the wedding fair that we attended together on Sunday, which was a first for both of us.

So as most people will know, I’ve always loved weddings, and have always wanted to go to a wedding fair. There were days before we got engaged where I was tempted to just pop along to one just for fun! However, now with hindsight, I’m so glad that I didn’t – the fact that it was a first for both of us made it all the more special.

When we went to this wedding fair, we went with no intention of buying anything – our wedding is in Oxfordshire and this fair was in Stevenage, so logistically it made no sense for bookings and also we’ve still got loads of time to decide on exactly what we want (Anthony’s pretty determined to keep me from making spontaneous decisions, and so far he’s doing pretty well!). We’re both trying to make the wedding relatively unique and not to clichéd so the intention behind going to the fair was to get ideas.

So the first thing to note about the day was the horrendous weather. It was rainy and grey all day, so we didn’t really get the chance to look at any of the cars parked outside; typical as one of the main things we wanted inspiration for was cars! We arrived relatively early so it wasn’t too busy which was nice, it meant that we could see exactly what each stand was for and we were given the time that we wanted by each individual stall-owner.

Initially we just walked around to get a sense of exactly how many stalls there were and what they were offering. It was so exciting, and made it all seem so much more real – it's amazing how telling strangers your wedding date can make it really hit home! We also had plenty of “bridal bias” displays – firstly, every single form to put details on asked for the bride’s details, not the grooms. There was one photography stall at which I felt out of my depth, so we agreed to put Anthony’s details down – even after us discussing that with him he still handed the form to me! It still hasn’t lost the element of fun watching people’s face when Anthony reels off a load of questions!

The first stall as we entered was a married couple who provide photo booths, and they were amazing. We had been pre-warned that people will jump on you the second you walk past to try and sell you a product, and they didn’t do that at all! We just spent 10 minutes talking about our wedding, and I mentioned about my blog, which is when the lady (Nicky Tribble) told me about her blog! She blogs from a professional perspective, and I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, but I believe it is called “The Wedding Insider” if anyone is interested in having a read!

After about twenty minutes of wandering around, we went and got ourselves seated ready for the fashion show, which was going to display bridal wear, grooms wear and attire for page boys. The little boys modelling the page boy outfits were so cute! I wanted to hire them to walk down the aisle with us, they were so adorable! Definitely wish we had more children in the family. However the thought of getting married without having to worry about children screaming through our vows does bring me back to earth, and actually I think we’re getting married at the best possible part of life for us. The clothing that we saw was nice to get ideas from, but nothing grabbed our attention too much. There was more that we didn’t want than did want, but even that was great – just any inspiration or ideas are great at this stage!

After the show we went back into the fair and went back to some of the stalls that caught our eye – we haven’t actually looked any further into any the businesses since the fair (we've been so busy with work etc!), so I’ll just be talking about them from the face value impression that we got. One of the companies which made a sensational first impression were Lord Cars. We haven't checked, but I get the impression that they are probably pretty pricey, but from what we heard they are worth the price! Their level of service seemed exceptional, they even hang around during the day to help with any small jobs that need doing. We haven’t been inspired by any particular style of car, Lord Cars deal with vintage/classic cars which is a potential for us, so we will definitely be checking them out!

There were a couple of jewellers who also caught our eye – Godshaw Jewellers and Smooch. Both of them can custom make rings to fit around engagement rings (useful for me as my engagement ring is not a straight shape) in any metal, with or without diamonds, and are very flexible to our needs. We’ll probably look at both – I still really like the idea of getting our wedding rings from the shop my engagement ring came from (Newey’s Jewellers), but at this stage I'm staying open minded (check me out Anthony!).

Carole Smith’s floral designs were also beautiful. We’ll almost definitely use a florist in Oxford for our flowers, but we got so many great ideas of colours and designs from Carole! Neither of us have come up with any
good centrepiece designs, but she really inspired me – I’ve put in photos of two of the designs that I particularly liked. Anthony isn’t keen, but I'm confident that we can find some sort of compromise. She was also really helpful with flower types, prices, and colours – basically if you’re having an event in Hertfordshire which requires flowers, then look her up!

Only two more I want to mention! A Touch of Sparkle are amazing for any stationary needs! We’ve done our own save the dates but if we decide to buy invites, we will almost definitely use this company. She also does table plans, place names, menus etc. and also had nice little quirks like a “good wishes well”. Definitely been inspired by her creations!

The final one was our favourite, we have looked at prices and tried to find a way to make them work but we just can't justify the cost. However, for people with larger budgets, Tell Your Story Photography take such beautiful pictures! The main thing that made me interested was the fact that there are two of them there on your day, so you get professional photos of both the bride and groom getting ready, and loads of different shots throughout the day. They seemed really professional and take very natural, un-posed photos. Very much our style! But the cost was too much for us personally, and we have seen so many other beautiful photographers, and are in the pipeline with enquiries, so we’re not too gutted.

That just about sums up the wedding fair! It was a really fun day and I love how much Anthony was genuinely into it, I'm so thankful for him every day. As ever, I'm not sure when or what the next blog will be about, but keep your eyes peeled and I'm sure that there will be another one soon!