I had a different hat on this weekend and it was fun, challenging and exhausting in equal measure!

I was asked to work with the events team at The Dairy, Waddesdon Manor (a venue I know well having organised several weddings there) at the wonderful Designer Wedding Show. And it was busy busy busy. Thursday was spent during ‘set up day’ making our 3m x 3m stand look attractive to the crowd and we installed photographic panels to demonstrate The Dairy’s varied spaces from the wonderful barn style West Hall to the light-filled Wintergarden and the lakeside outdoor pavilion licensed for civil ceremonies. Glass topped furniture was provided by the super stylish Great Hire and classical stone urns of magnolia branches and pastel roses were created by the talented duo at Euphoric.
I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to pull together the behind the scenes set up of a very different kind of event, not that I shall be entering the world of exhibitions anytime soon!
As the show opened on Friday, the trade arrived en masse. By 10.30 many of the great and good of the wedding planning world were in situ and if only I had a camera to capture the lovely trio of Siobhàn Craven-Robins, Amanda Sherlock and Zoë Lingard lined up like nodding ducks at the catwalk show as the models paraded their stunning and cutting-edge attire. The day continued at a pace with plenty of networking, catching up and cross-selling to be had and then on the weekend it was time to hand over to the brides and grooms themselves who make it all possible. Much romance was in the air as we saw many a bouquet of red roses arrive particularly for the fashion show models!  On Sunday 15th I was really hoping to see the most proactive bride who had perhaps been proposed to the night before and had marched her now fiancé down to the show. Did anybody actually meet them?

Kelly Chandler is the UKAWP’s Marketing and Finance Director and also owns The Bespoke Wedding Company, operating throughout the South East of England