At Celebrated Affairs, we believe in giving you this "inside track" on how the wedding industry is performing. Ony with accurate information can you evaluate how to promote your business within the next 12 months.
"With over 17 years experience in organising wedding fayres , I've seen the many changes the industry has faced. Despite the new and exciting technology, Wedding shows remain the best way of communicating your service to brides"
"The internet is an excellent ,additional advertising tool and every effort should be made to update websites. I urge companies to include information on the wedding shows they are participating in and keep their clients aware of their activity. We also have a great PDF invitation compnies can email to their clients/enquiries - let's use this technology"
2010 News Dear Company
We've had to make some changes over the past 18 months to maximise the opportunities for wedding companies and to provide visitors with the best variety of companies to choose from.
2009 was a very testing year but looks to improve in 2010. That's good news for the industry and those who weathered the storm in the past 2 years. There have been a number of company closures and those who have simply decided to cease trading during this time.
Whilst we have seen a drop in the number of new companies entering the industry, we expect to see a healthy increase in newly formed companies towards the latter part of 2010. Our response to the economic downturn has to simply "do more". More advertising and more networking.
The good news is that couples are still getting married and still wanting a quality, professional and friendly service. They want to meet people that will work with them and shows provide the ideal opportunity to do this.
The wedding industry is full of people that go that extra mile and provide a personal service. When you work for yourself you are driven by a passion to succeed in your own personal dream. However, we know that it's difficult and expensive to keep your name at the front of customers minds and many of you are concerned about the most cost effective way to promote your business.
Every year there's lots of complaining about the number of wedding shows that are diluting the marketplace. I've been repeating the same message for the past 10 year (or more!) - the answer is simple - don't do them, you are wasting your money.
There's are some very genuine situations, where venues organise their own open day for themselves and give their suppliers a free space to show their support - these events are mutually beneficial to all concerned. Some of the venues who opted to let magazines organise their event have now made alternative arrangements. Some of the magazines have closed down or have found their distribution and advertisers dwindle. It can seem pretty frightening when established companies disappear around you but in many cases, these magazines diversified into wedding shows and were not wedding show specialists.
Another question is where to advertise.... There's a real struggle going on at the moment for the bridal publications. How many different publications have been asking you to advertise with them?
We took the decision a long time ago NOT to pay for advertising in bridal magazines that had a cover price (paid for). From our experience,the most successful publications are those that are given to brides FREE and have a good circulation.
In conclusion, and I know it's hard work even harder and to part with your cash, the only way to keep ahead of this situation is to do exactly what you've always done and just that little bit more. Work hard, advertise your business and look at ways to network - just do a little bit more of each and you will become stronger.
Research the companies you intend on spending your money with, don't waste money on advertising that's not directly linked to weddings, tell those emails and telephone callers that you are simply not interested. Make your pennies work for you.
2010 has been a year of change and we are committed to helping our partners through this year.
We have our new wedding suppliers section which enables us to promote you 52 weeks of the year- please come and join us.
We are currently organising the 2010 shows. Please visit the events page for more information.
I love our industry but that it doesn't mean that I have to look at it "through rose coloured glasses". I hope that we continue to give you honest and accurate information that enables your business to move in the right direction - together we can make a difference.
On behalf of everyone at Celebrated Affairs, may we wish you continued success and we look forward to speaking with you throughout the year.
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At Celebrated Affairs, we believe in giving you this "inside track" on how the wedding industry is performing. Ony with accurate information can you evaluate how to promote your business within the next 12 months. 