Designer vs Luxury

I've now been to two wedding shows and I may have got a favourite out of those two. I first went to the Designer Wedding Show in Battersea. Great location and venue, very expensive sandwiches and drinks and no free champagne, which I always think is a downer when pitching a 'posh' wedding show. There's no goody bag and only a few of the stalls were that relevant.

I think when you go to these 'top-tier' shows, you have to remember that unless you are rolling in money, people like the photographers etc are not going to be affordable. It's great to get ideas, but at the same time, that's what magazines are for. I think you have to see what suppliers are going beforehand and then go and chat to the ones you are serious about. I spent far too long talking to a stationery vendor that I was never going to buy from!

Saying that, I was surprised by a vendor who I had never heard of but who did lovely head wear and veils and got to try one on (well, several) so that was really exciting. However, the catwalk show wasn't great - too bright and too loud - and none of the dresses looked tempting. I also don't think you could try any on - I think they were just for display.

The same was true at the Luxury Wedding Show but here, the catwalk was accompanied by a free glasses of champagne, the lights weren't directed on you and the dresses were interesting and gorgeous. They had a few similar vendors to the Designer show but I saw new faces and tried some delicious cake, something that had been sorely missing from the first show!

There was also an excellent goody bag, with OPI nail polish, Elemis body cream, Dermalogica face cream, Pearl Drops toothpaste, L'Oreal hairspray and a Gu bar, as well as samples. I really enjoyed this one, even though I took most of it with a pinch of salt. I'm excited about the bun fight that will be the National Wedding Show. Any tips? Go early or late?

First wedding show

I'm off to the Designer Wedding Show tomorrow with Future Husband and my mother, who is mostly looking foward to the champagne. She's already in a flap because she doesn't know what she is going to wear and she is apparently too fat for everything. Bear in mind she is the same size as me and I'm the one who has to fit into a wedding dress, I think she has it easy!
I'm really not sure what to expect at a wedding show. I'm anticipating lots of suppliers and coming away with a lot of contact details, but I think we are fairly certain on a number of things we want to do so I don't know how persuasive they will be. I'm also fairly wary of the tag 'designer' because I would like my wedding to be personal and comfortable with some nice touches and not at all designer! So we shall see.

Anyone lurking out there have any tips for going round a wedding show?