I am looking at doing some wedding fairs in the new year to launch my balloon décor but having no experience of such things (I've not even been to one as a punter for over 10 years!) I could do with some logic ... which is something I do not possess.

I have today found out about the largest organiser of wedding fairs in my locality and been sent a price list.  They have 4 fairs in Stevenage and do limit the numbers of exhibitors to some degree.  In any event they send you a floor plan when you book with all the other exhibitors on and try to arrange it so that no-one is right next door to their direct competition but I can also ask to be moved should I not be happy where I am positioned.

Of the 4 I am considering attending the 3 smaller ones and then advertising in their brochure too.

Basically the costs are going to be £150+VAT for a 4ft table, £200+VAT for a 6ft table and £250+VAT for a 12ft table.  Seems a bit of a mad jump in size but can I get away with a 4ft wide space? So if I were to pay for a 6ft space it would seem silly not to pay the extra £50 and get twice as much room but then again I can only get in 2 hours before the show starts to prepare!  Although saying this I may be able to pre-prepare a lot of stuff and borrow my husbands car (estate) so I only have to assemble stuff on the day!

The Brochure costs are Full page: £250+VAT; Half page: £135+VAT; Quarter page: £80+VAT.  The deadline for the brochure is next week because it is being printed on 18th December and will go out in all their shows and be distributed in some shops too.

For those of you that have done wedding fairs what would you say the best combination would be for me to go for considering money is tight and I would prefer not to throw it away ;0)

Here's something to think about yvonne ....... A while ago I was asked if I could decorate a venue for a wedding fair and in return they would let me have a free stand at the fair. Unfortunatly I couldn't do it as I was already fully booked.

Have you thought about asking them the same thing?

Has anyone else ever done thus before?

If you've had a stand at a wedding fair before, do you find you get much work from it?

I asked that but apparently they cannot allow anyone to do that because of health and safety!!!!  I know Pam and Roger often ask to do things like this and both exhibit at fairs.  Just want to do a bit of a launch so that hopefully it will kick start me to get things done because at the moment I just have no focus or drive because I have nothing to aim for!

Hi,

I don't want to put you off but seems really expensive, make sure it is a well attended event before you commit.

Have you put your cards in local wedding dress shops and contacted local wedding venues? Thats free!

Kate

Unfortunately that seems to be the norm round here.  I was looking at one before Christmas and that was the same price and no I haven't been on the trawl round because I haven't got my portfolio together yet and at the mo my 3 year old has been at home ill half the time so I can't even get out of the house.

I think all of them will be get a good footfall because of the nature of the venues so I am not concerned about not getting enough people through the door but more concerned about whether I will actually get different people through the door each time.  I know when I got married I attended all the local wedding fairs and only came across different retailers when I went to a different town so I suspect that if I exhibited in all the ones in town I would see the same couples at each and am wondering if really it would be worth going to all of them!

Go to the one before christmas as a visitor and see what others do to promote themselves.

Have you considered talking to bridal shops about having decor displayed in their stores? you will have to offer something in exchange, maybe an advert in your car window?

Pam

Hi Yvonne, I have mixed feelings about bridal fairs, their cost and potential revenue stream.
The local wedding dress shop told me they no longer attend as it not financially worth their while, which tells you something, if only in this area.
Have you considered, once you have a portfolio of targeting wedding businesses, dress shops, local hotels first and handing out leaflets to them instead of paying £200 for a one off event?
I would start on networking locally by means that do not cost you much and guage the response. You can always offer them cost price balloons in return if they hand out your details of all their potential clients? Just a thought.
Ali.

I think I would try other avenues first before a wedding fair, try and think outside the box.
How about offering a local radio station free balloons in a competition, the listeners could win there wedding being decorated by you. All the free airplays and they may even interview you as well. Now that sounds like a possible plan which I never had when I started to write this post.

Local radio stations will be looking for Valentine prizes come january = Offer them heart balloons in boxes ( foil hearts are very reasonablethis time of year) you could supply 2 or 3 at a time to the radio station

Pam