Today we welcome Andri Benson of Always Andri Wedding Design. Andri has recently launched her company and joins us today to share her experience of a bridal fair.

“On Sunday 1st March I launched my wedding planning company Always Andri Wedding Design at the Best Brides Wedding fair at Dulwich College.  Having worked hard to prepare for the fair and make sure everything was perfect it would have been easy to get very nervous about it but I found that it was quite fun and a great opportunity to talk about my business to potential customers. I think small local wedding fairs are not the natural choice for brides to find a wedding planner; if they have the time to attend a fair they probably have the time to plan their own wedding. Instead I used it as a chance to talk about the advantages of hiring a wedding planner to help them on the day. I made the point that no matter how well you’ve organised your wedding, do you really want to be thinking about the time the suppliers turn up and leave, have the place cards been laid correctly, particularly if you have vegetarian guests or is Mum wearing the correct corsage.

Having also just returned from Wedding Planning Excellence 09 the day before and feeling thoroughly inspired and excited by the event, I found talking about the UKAWP and the professionalism it encourages was a great benefit too as it gave me the confidence to talk about wedding planning as my career rather than a hobby.

On a final note the fair also proved an invaluable opportunity to introduce myself to local suppliers. I had hoped to make a good impression and was, obviously pleased when one supplier recommended a couple of attendees to come and talk to me. Only time will tell whether I will get any work from the fair but the experience none the less was well worth it. I’ll be exhibiting again at the Croydon Clocktower on Sunday 15th March and hope it goes just as well.”

Many thanks to Andri for joining us today, we hope to hear more about your first experiences as a planner over the coming months.