Wedding Fares for Novices

Wedding fares are often exciting, daunting and confusing. Most people think they are just a good way to hike up the already astronomical price of their wedding. But they can come in useful even if you are on a budget!
Recently my fiancee and me (plus a couple of tag-a-longs for moral support) visited a wedding fare in Taunton just to see what it was all about and get some general ideas. As soon as we had arrived and starting heading in we were bombarded in the car park by wedding car companies! They all really do jump on you the second you get there! After reverently insisting that we are only looking and hadn't even set a date they finally backed away swooping onto the next victim! and all before we'd even got into the door. A quick sigh of relief, through the door and back into the frying pan with an amazingly perky sales lady shoving an incredibly detailed questionnaire into my arms. Then we were herded through a corridor of table settings and harpists and into the main room.
Now as a woman, this room was bright and attention grabbing with things I wanted to look as far as the eye could see but a quick look at my paling Fiancee and I realized this may have to turn into a reconnaissance mission. Grab as much info, idea's and get out before the intensity of the cheery room ate us all and never returned us to reality! (you may think i'm exaggerating but i'm really not.)

Wedding Rings

Purely on the mount of information that you will receive from each stall alone is worth the trip, you just have to be willing to put on a brave face, smile and wade through everything until you get what YOU want to know and need. Instead of just letting them talk and explain what they want, have some questions ready, this way they don't really get a chance to go off on a rant trying to sell you all sorts and you can move around the room quicker getting really good advice and ideas.
Another good reason to attend a wedding fare is you can get to know local traders and shops. You can chose who's products you would like to use and what kind of price range different people offer, all in one place! If its a local and independent trader/shop you might be able to bag a bargain to. Say you have found a dress shop you particularly like, if its an independent business you can haggle the price, asking for a discount. A good way to do this is to buy in bulk, say you will buy a dress, shoes, and jewellery or hair piece all from their store and ask if you multi-buy can they slice a bit of the price off? Another way is, If you find a dress with any small defects or problems (stains, loose stitches, missing beads or something) mention it and ask for a discount, you can always fix the dress yourself later!
Me and my Fiancee found the fare helpful, we are in very early stages of planning and basically just looking for idea's. How to decorate, what dress, what venue? etc. All the way around the room we were finding things we like and asking ourselves, how can we make that? how can we use that? This way we cut the cost by hugely and still could create something amazing and personal, which is what weddings are supposed to be about. YOU and YOUR personalities.

Goodie Bags

So all in all I think wedding fare's are worth going to (especially the free and local ones) you can learn a lot and get a lot of your own ideas. Have an open mind, ask lots of questions and pick up lots of leaflets, they usually give you a handy goody bag to hold all your new leaflets (sometimes with free sweets in them!). Just be prepared to be metaphorically jumped on and to have your personal space invaded for a few hours and everything should go smoothly!
Here's a handy sight for up and coming wedding fares in the UK, have a look or keep your eye's peeled for local ones near you!

k.