As readers here will know, I was looking forward with anticipation (and a little trepidation, in truth) to exhibiting at my first ever Wedding Fair last Sunday.
The Venue
A lovely venue stood ready at Henry’s Café-Bar, West India Docks. Canapes and sparkling wine were in evidence. A talented violinist played. Stall-holders displayed fabulous wedding-cakes (yes, I did manage to scrounge some samples!), stretch-limos, John Lewis wedding books, glorious wedding wear, photography, post-dinner entertainments, flowers; there was a resplendent toastmaster – forgive me, if I’ve forgotten any others.
So everything was in place for a fabulously successful fair.
The Weather
Unfortunately, this was London. And it rained. In fact, the rain poured down almost all the time we were there, and you had to be really determined or foolhardy to be out in it. As a result, visitor numbers were down considerably.
My assessment
Those that came seemed to enjoy themselves, and clearly got a lot out of their visit. I am not really sure how effective my ‘patter’ was, but I enjoyed talking to people as they came through. Time will tell.
Obviously, though, there could be no question whose stand was the best …!
Virtually nobody had heard of “independent celebrant”, which means that, although I may be in a niche area, there is not much awareness of what I do out there, so taking advantage of it will not be challenging.
At least, those I talked to seem now to understand that they can have a personalised ceremony (which I would conduct on the day), and several seemed to be quite excited by the idea. So perhaps it was not such a bad thing for me to have braved the elements after all!
Michael Gordon can help prepare and conduct a tailor-made life-cycle ceremony in or around London or, indeed, in Europe.