Demo Video - Compilation or Individual Highlights?

[Chris Harding]

Hi Edgar

Sorry to hear that but everyone here that does wedding fairs seems to come up with the some sad story!
Yes, there are a few people who seem to score big time at wedding expos but they are in the minority!!

What you have to take into account is the cost of your stall, your own time there, and the cost of preparation and giveaways!! I figured that with stall costs and my time it would set me back at least $5000 for a weekend (taking into account that I would also have been shooting a wedding while the expo is on)
I would have to take a serious amount of "money in the bank" bookings to make it worthwhile!!

I seriously stay away from them..most local expo organisers send me emails offering great deals but I still know I will come out a loser!!

For business leads, as long as you have a decent website FULL of information brides WILL find you!!! The only place I advertise ($350 a year) is a local online wedding directory which also has a discussion forum so you can interact with brides.

Chris

[Nigel Barker]

The problem is not wedding fairs per se but the failure of the organisers to recruit the brides & their families. We too attended a wedding fair in London at the weekend as visitors not exhibitors as we wanted to see whether it would be worthwhile for us to take a stand next year. As it turned out show was much like Edgar's with too few brides. However I did get talking to one of the photographers there who told me that earlier in the year he had a booth at one of the large (& expensive) national wedding shows & had booked up almost the entire 2012 wedding season just from that one show. It's a numbers thing & if you have a large national show where there are thousands of potential clients walking past your stand then if you do your job right then you will take bookings & the show will be worthwhile.

There are far too many wedding show organisers who are trying to cash in & are happy to take money from exhibitors but seem to give little thought to the business of actually attracting brides to attend. Shows that are run by local radio stations or local newspaper groups seem to be a pretty safe bet as they have the wherewithal to advertise extensively. Likewise large well established shows. The problem is the smaller shows of which there are far too many. Just take a look at some of the dozens that are scheduled for London London Wedding Fairs, Bridal Fayres & Open Days That list is by no means comprehensive as it only includes the ones that company is organising & doesn't include the Luxury Wedding Show that we attended at the Landmark Hotel on the 10th March.

It is also true that many brides do attend wedding shows looking for specific basic things for their wedding. Every bride who has any kind of formal wedding will book a venue, a photographer, a cake & a dress. They go to wedding fairs looking to book those services. Everything else is an optional extra or at least will only be chosen by a minority of brides e.g. horse drawn carriage, chocolate fountain, live band, magician, fireworks, dove release, wedding video etc Wedding videography is generally not in the first rank because they simply haven't thought of it or they have thought of it & based on what they have seen of traditional videos at other weddings they don't want it.

[Edgar Vasiluk]

I was thinking that those over £200 spent on wedding fair I could spent on Google ad-words for 3 days and could get more enquiries or even bookings. Plus I could enjoy that day in the garden with my family....
Does anyone knows how much it cost to be in sponsored link on Google? One of my closest friend photographer spends about £1000 a month to be N1.