I've just done my first wedding show!!

[newcrafter24]

I make handmade wedding stationery and over the weekend I attended my first wedding fayre. It was quite a large one in Glasgow and I paid a lot of money for the stand but I went with no expectations as I really didn't know what the resopnse would be to my designs. I have not really done any proper "paid for" orders for real customers yet (just bits and pieces for friends) so this was the first time my work had been seen by the public.

Well the response was absolutely overwhelming!! The show was very busy and I was lucky to have a very good stand position and lots of people stopped by and were very impressed with my designs. i was doing a special offer for the show whereby if they like a particular design but wanted it done in a different colour scheme, I offered to do them a free sample mocked up in thier colours. Let's just say I am going to be very busy over the next few weeks - I have about 60 samples to make!! But that is 60 potential customers that may buy full sets of stationery. So I am very excited.

So, sorry for the longs post but I just wanted to offer some encouragement for any others out there who might be thinking of doing something similar. It is a lot to fork out at the start for big wedding exhibtions but it really is a captive audience and hopefully worth it when the orders come in.

[Funkyhand]

Congratulations! It sounds like it was well worth the money and effort! I hope you get loads of orders from your samples..fingers crossed for you. :mf::mf:
Anice xx :):)

[Tip Top]

Very well done!!:mf:
I'v only done my own wedding stationery when I got married 7 years ago, but have been asked to do some save the date cards for a good friend, so I'm hoping that I can sort of branch out into that too but I don't really have the patience to make so many of the same at once!!

Good luck and I hope you get many orders! :D

[candles by lisa]

Well done, I was asked to do the wedding show in September at the SECC but it was £500 for a stall - I know that I wouldn't make the money back at the show but like you say it is the potential future orders you get but I didn't have a spare £500 floating about so had to let it go.

Great work though.

Cheers.

Lisa

:D

[icecreamgirl]

Wow. very pleased for you, i expect there were some big companys there as well..
So well done you show em!!

[Pauline@weddingtreasures]

I am hoping to do a wedding fayre next year but its quite daunting as to where to start!! Because I make personalised toppers, I wont have any to sell on the day and I really need to find the time to make some models to have on display.

I have asked hubby to make me a type of fake wooden cake that I can decorate to look like one and have a set of toppers on there.......but apart from that, and a couple of albums/posters, there is really nothing I can have on a table.

I know I can make it pretty by adding bows and wedding 'bits'. but it really is a cake of people plaicing orders and paying deposits.

Thanks for posting about yours and happy that it turned out great for you!

Was there any cake topper tables there at all?

Pauline :b:

[Tinker]

i've done quite a few fayres (not anymore) both crafty and weddings, things to remember

large note book, - always ask for an email address if people seem interested, that way your not leaving it to your potential client to contact you. If you dont have a website you could always make a proffessional looking email to send out to your potential customers with your price liast and special offers etc etc.

if you want to cover your table - dont go with white particularly at weddings white is very nice and if you want to go with white thats fine too, but almost all the stalls i saw had white cloths on, stand out and be different. it will attract attention. not a usual colour but i had a black one, it show cased my cards and albums beautifully. and for the craft fairs i used a pink dotty one ( very kathy kidstn-esque)

if you have elctricity access, take a laptop and make a slideshow of your items. or your website could be shown but you would need internet access for that too. again its different and attracts attention.

be sure to take loads of compliments slips of business cards. scrawling your details on a scrap of paper is not very proffessional (but that one i guess is just common sense.)

dont have a stall under the air conditioning unit it plays havock with card displays (from experience lol, but did cause a lot of attention when i was rushing around picking them all up)

Greet every customer, with just a hello of a smile, it makes ou seem more approchable, but dont badger them ( i know where do you draw the line)

if you can take something to actually make whist there like an album or card or something, it gets people interested in what your doing so more like to stop and chat to you.

have a bowl of sweets on your table. it makes people stop, sweets are always good.

Secial offers for the fayre you are doing is always an idea, but dont undersell yourself. you dont want to be paid peanuts, weddings and craft fayres can be very time consuming.

believe in yourself..

and lastly if you dont have a good day, dont be disheartened its all experience and you can have a think about what to do next time differently.

hope it helps kind regards jo

[Tip Top]

Tinker - really sorry that the little box says I disapprove but my comment doesn't - I didn't click on the right bit and, well, you can see what it's done to your reputation...

I've asked the mods to help out so it should get rectified but big sorry in the meantime :horse:

And if you don't know what I'm talking about, then, hey, its got sorted out!!:D

[Tinker]

hi hun, had no idea what you were talking about, but glad its been sorted ( i think lol)

thanks for your comment
and i forgot to say early congratultions to thoes that did there first fayre lets hope its the start of many. kind regards jo

[deezkatz]

Hello
I have my first wedding fair on the 9th, dreading it.
I do craft fairs and love doing them, but I know that a wedding fair is so different, as in I'm trying to promote my business!
You've certainly given me a buzz though after reading your email.
Congratulations and I hope you get plenty of business from it too. :)

[Pauline@weddingtreasures]

Great to have some sound advice and its also great to hear that people have done well with craft/wedding fairs.

I really want to get started on doing one, but I know its going to take a lot of organising and time - something at the moment that I do not have!

Hopefully, by early next year, I will be ready and can finally get going.

Good luck to all those that have a fair coming up soon.

Pauline :D

[Heart and Design]

Hi, congratulations on doing well at the wedding fayre.

I have done one wedding fayre so far and have another three over the next two months. Although they are a lot of work they really are worth while, its great to be able to chat to people and be able to explain exactly what you have to offer, something which I find difficult to do through my website.

They are a big financial commitment but as the stationery orders are generally several hundred pounds you can easily recoup the cost. You do have to bear in mind that many of the people you are chatting to won't be getting married for a couple of years so even if you impress them you may not get an order for sometime. When I did the last wedding fayre i offered 10% for orders placed within the next month, every order I got mentioned the offer as being a reason they were booking (some were booking quite in advance in order to take advantage of the offer) so its definitley worth having an offer. I didnt get any orders actually at the fayre, they all came through in the month following. One of the reasons is that a lot of brides attend with female friends / relatives so need to consult their husband to be before makine decisions, also most people like to pay on their credit card and at the moment I can only offer this via my website.

I should be working now as my next one is on Sunday and I am introducing 5 new ranges but I keep getting distracted by the forums. Must learn to concentrate.

Paula