I spent today at the Solent Hotel in Whitely for their Autumn Wedding Fair showcasing our images and albums. Taking a slightly different stand position to normal we were still situated on the mezzanine floor close to Creatiques Couture wedding dresses and Dominic Reyes, a professional magician.

With four shows happening across south-Hampshire today including one very close by at the Botleigh Grange hotel it was great to see so many people as well as some who had left the Botleigh Grange to come over to us to be able to spend a little more time talking to the exhibitors in a less crowded environment.

Once again I had the opportunity to speak with lots of lovely couples, and brides-to-be including seeing one of our brides-to-be who has already booked us for her 2011 wedding. For everyone that came and spoke to me – thank you for your interest and I hope you find the information in our brochure useful. I’ll be in touch in a couple of weeks to see how you are doing. For anyone that couldn’t make the show – or wasn’t able to speak to me while the stand was crowded then please do get in contact to arrange for some more information or to book an appointment to come and see us.

Here is a quick iPhone shot of our stand to serve as a memory jog.

We have just returned from the Botley Park Hotel following the Southampton Wedding Exhibition organised by De Mellow Promotions – occupying our usual feature stand position in the atrium.

We both had a very good day, managing to speak with lots of couples and brides to be including many who had just got engaged and our congratulations go out to all of you – for those of you who expressed a strong interest in our work and for us to photograph your wedding we will be in touch shortly. With enquiries ranging from later this year through to December 2012 we are excited to be able to work with some or all of you.

The stand showcased some of our new albums and signature album designs as well as our high quality contemporary matted albums and large framed prints and canvas wrap. We were touched by the very good feedback we received from everyone we spoke to about the quality of our photography, design and products which we believe are our strong differentiators in this crowded marketplace !

For anyone that couldn’t get to talk to us at the stand during the busy periods, or who were unable to make the event itself please feel free to contact us directly to talk about your wedding plans. We will be at other fairs over the autumn, but do expect more key dates to be booked over the coming weeks following this show and of course our other normal routes of enquiry.

Finally it was great to see some of the other wedding suppliers at the show, many of whom we work with throughout the year but some who we haven’t seen since January or February.

And finally an iPhone shot of our stand just prior to the start of the show as a reminder for anyone who attended….

The MacDonald Botley Park Wedding Exhibition is fast approaching and takes place on the 5th of September 2010. The show is organised by De Mellow Promotions and is the premier wedding fair at the start of the exhibition season, we will again be present with a significant stand in the atrium area of the hotel.

This is one of our favourite fairs with the organiser attracting many other excellent wedding suppliers from cake makers and florists, make up artists through to fun casinos. However, more importantly we always get to speak to some wonderful couples at this wedding fair, many of whom will be getting married at other churches and venues in the Hampshire area and not just the Botley Park Hotel. In fact we have booked weddings for the New Forest and even East Sussex from couples visiting our stand as well as more locally to Botley.

We will again be showing a range of high quality albums with real weddings, parents albums, bespoke guest signing books, engagement / pre-wedding shoots, and some large framed prints and canvas wraps as well as our high quality proof books. We will have albums on show from Marwell Hall, Cams Hall, Cain Manor, a private barn on Hayling Island, and our newest display album from a lovely wedding at Rhinefield House. Large prints feature weddings from Langrish House, Gate Street Barn and The Potters Heron and a canvas wrap from a lovely wedding at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens. We will also have a feature slideshow running and access to many more of our weddings and album designs.

We very much look forward to meeting you if you choose to come down to the wedding fair and do come to our stand where will be very happy to spend some time with you talking about your plans for your wedding and show you some of our work. On the day we will have some more information to take away, and will be scheduling appointments to come to the studio for a more detailed, personal and dedicated opportunity  to talk through your wedding and how we could be part of your day. If you can’t make it down and are looking for your wedding photographer for 2011 or even 2012 then please do get in touch to make an appointment.

We are already booking heavily through the popular months of June – August, and turning away some couples because we are already booked for their date although we still have availability through the summer – do check with us to see if we are able to cover your wedding. Demand for the months either side of these is also increasing as many couples plan their weddings having waited to see how 2010 turned out, some having delayed their weddings for 12 months. The wedding fair season typically sees an increase in enquiries and bookings and we recommend making your selection of key suppliers for your 2011 wedding as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. The show is an excellent way to view many of us in one place, make comparisons in quality of work, personality, and products and get to meet us in person rather than trying to make a decision on such an important choice over the internet.

I’m looking forward to the day and hope to see you there if you are planning to attend.

We will be attending the De Vere Grand Harbour wedding fair on the 21st February (this coming Sunday). Based in Southampton, Hampshire this wedding exhibition is central to the area we normally cover for weddings through the New Forest, Romsey, Winchester, Southampton, Wickham, Fareham, Portsmouth, Chichester and Petersfield and then up to Basingstoke, Hook, and Guildford.

This show we will have some new items on our stand, and look forward to speaking with couples looking for quality wedding photography in fine products with a relaxed and friendly service. We will also be showcasing two items which we launched at the Botley wedding fair earlier in the year – our large premium large, canvas wraps and also our new style coffee table book style digital album designs.

We have some 2010 dates available for those couples looking to book a photographer for 2010 weddings and are now starting to take bookings for 2011 with some key dates starting to go already. This show will be our last of the spring, and our 2011 prices will be revised following the show so if you are looking to secure a photographer in the next 4-5 weeks for next year you should be able to benefit from our 2010 prices if you come and see us.

Do come to the stand and take a look at our photography and get an excellent opportunity to speak with us about your day. Studio appointments for detailed meetings can be booked at the show – or if you miss us or can’t attend  then please call 01329 3103104 or contact us via the website to arrange a time to come and see us.

We have just had our stand position confirmed and we will have a large feature stand against the wall just inside the doors of the main exhibition hall, and are looking forward to meeting you.

A very quick thank you to everyone that stopped at the stand earlier today at the MacDonald Botley Park wedding show – organised by de Mellow Productions. It was great to speak with everyone and to talk to you about the albums and prints on the stand as well as our photographic style and album designs, and to find out a little bit about your own weddings.

We did have a very big response, and ran out of brochures and showreel DVD’s right at the end of the day, we hope that you find the information useful and of course that once you have worked through your show bags that you give us a call. We are taking appointments to meet up in the studio and spend much more time talking about your wedding plans and how we can work with you on the day to create some timeless and elegant wedding photographs, and hope to hear from you soon.

For anyone that we didn’t get to speak to, or if you couldn’t make the show, then please do call the studio on 01329 310314 or contact us via this blog or the website to make an appointment or to ask any questions.

Finally a quick iPhone shot of the stand as a refresher for you, and for me so I can set it up in a similar way when we go to the De Vere Grand Harbour wedding show on the 21st February.

We kick off our winter wedding fair attendance with the Solent Hotel show next Sunday – 10th January 2010. Situated at Whitely just off junction 9 of the M27 (Fareham West) this is one of the De Mellow Promotions shows, which are always high quality and very well attended by suppliers and couples. We were unable to attend this fair in September as we had a wedding on the same day (20th) up in Surrey and of course this had to take priority. We have returned though and will be on the same stand as previous times up on the Mezzanine floor between the doors to the stairs – we should be fairly obvious as you enter that area.

On the stand will be our display albums created from real weddings at venues in Hampshire and Surrey, our pre-wedding shoot products and images, and some large prints to showcase some of our signature images. We will also have plenty of information to take away and look at once you have finished with the hustle and bustle of the show. Of course this is a good opportunity to meet me, and to begin to let us know a little bit about you plans for your wedding. We will be able to supply prices, and give availability for both 2010 and 2011 weddings.

We are also ordering new sample canvas wraps, and albums and I’m hoping some of these will be ready for Sunday, but if not then the Macdonald Botley Park show the following week.

If you can’t make it, or can’t be doing with coming to the show but would like to meet up with us to talk about your wedding plans and see some of our work then please contact us through the website/email or by calling on 01329 310314.

We have now entered the peak wedding enquiry months of January and February which will see many of the remaining key dates of 2010 booked up, and early bookings for the very popular dates of the following year as well.

I’m looking forward to meeting some of you there.