Alternatives to showing at wedding fayres

hey guys, we have a small wedding favour company that we need to do more with, I have been concentrating on the corporate side of our gift business but know there is huge potential in the wedding side of the business.

I am going to bring in a representative to run that part of the business and get that side of the company growing over the next 6 months.

Can you suggest alternatives to racking up a bill of £200+vat every time we show at a wedding fayre to find brides and show them our products,

I love 4n forums cos I know that you'll come up with some amazing ideas, can wait to hear them.

Are you linked to any hotels in any way?

I ask because many hotels will have wedding packages, that include items from specific suppliers and it is very good if you can be one of these suppliers; in turn a lot of hotels let you exhibit at their wedding fares free of charge as their nominated supplier. Alternatively, why not do a leaflet drop to all the wedding venues in your area, it will only take a day or two and can be very beneficial!

Your best thing to do is get well acquainted with the venues; perhaps you can do an exchange... You provide treats or gifts for a VIP client of theirs and they give you a free place at a wedding fare or similar. Many people start planning the wedding by deciding the venue first, so get your name known in the venues and you will get a lot of recommendations from them!

Thnk you that's awesome info xx

I dont do wedding fayres. I have hotel contacts and event planners that i have spoken to sent samples so they know what quality they are recommending to brides to be.

I have also contacted wedding shops ect with samples so they will recommend me too.

Eunice

Instead of attending events why not put on an event?

Rather than wedding fayres why not put on some sort of wedding fashion show inviting all the best dress makers to show off their dresses etc. If you do it as a charity event getting the designers there and the PR shouldnt be too much of a problem.

Have you tried liaising with bridal shops? I'm sure most brides would look for a dress long before they think of wedding favours 

Good luck

Caroline

Create an affiliate scheme for the clergy..

I too struggle with Wedding Fayres. Far too expensive, and brides to be are looking long-term, (dresses, venue,DJ)  - not short term. Favours tend to be short term - last 3 months pre-Wedding.

I'm also a bloke, and brides like buying from ladies. (Its true).

Enjoying reading the suggestions on this thread.

I too have a side venture in the wedding industry and also put off by the fayre prices, even just leaflets in goodie bags cost a lot. I used my budget to get targetted leads from UK Bride website. There are various packages available but they send you a certain number of leads every month that you can email, again and again. They also supply wedding dates and budget with that info which allows you to personalise your offer, firstname etc ... I would recommend an email service though unless you want to send out a lot of individual emails. You also get listed in their online directory and a mini website within theirs to promote your services.

Thanks for all the responses some great ideas

Hi there,

I'd agree that linking up with other suppliers, such as dress shops and venues is a great idea.  Recommend each other to brides - although make sure you check them out first and make sure you are recommending a good supplier!

Wedding planners will always be glad to hear from you, especially if you offer their clients a good price, or something extra. 

Wedding planning is one of the services I offer so please feel free to send me details of your favours (susie@sobeautifulevents.co.uk)

I also arrange wedding shows, and I charge much less than £200 so it's worth shopping around if you do go down that route at some point.  All the money made goes to the marketing budget to get the brides through the door, and I do deals with suppliers who offer something in return ie. AV companies, entertainers, decor etc so that might also be an idea to get a stand without your costs mounting up, eg. offer to help the organiser with room decor or gifts for brides (worth a try).

Good luck!

 

 

 

Hi Sara,

I agree with the above comment, you should definitely consider connecting with suppliers! There are many websites that act like directorys for these so it shouldnt be hard to find a good list of these. You could check out wedding websites like weddingdates.co.uk although this one specialises in wedding venues at the moment!

Hope this helps

 

Twitter and Facebook, both free and great for generating interest.

I've just started my own business in the wedding market, it's the best thing I ever did.

I do some consultancy work for an online wedding card company and we are just starting on an affiliates scheme with hotels, and generating quite some interest,  More saying yes than no.  They will want an explanatory email and possibly leaflet to support your phone call, and often it's better to address literature to 'the wedding planner' or 'conference planner' as they are often job shared.  cold phone calls definitely work, but it's a bit of a slog, and if you get kicked back just ignore it and move on to the next one, there are hundreds of hotels and wedding venues.

I have a cleint - the happy wedding company - http://www.thehappywedding.co.uk/ - they would be worth getting in touch with.

if you'd like more details please let me know

Lorraine