Media Coverage
The National Wedding Show 2004
- Report for Die Burger
To a lot of people, London is not only the home of Royalty and pageantry but also the birthplace of all things grand. For us The National Wedding Show held recently at Earls Court certainly lived up to these expectations and produced a dazzling extravaganza that was both professional and slick and certainly most worthy of this capital city. This was Celebration House's third involvement with a London wedding show and this one proved to be the best by far.
From 10am on Friday morning when the show opened until 5pm on the Sunday we were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of visitors to the show. From babes in arms to Grans in wheelchairs they poured in through the doors. By South African standards the attendance was nothing short of awe-inspiring. For nearly eight hours a day we stood and smiled and chatted to thousands of visitors until our jaws ached and our feet throbbed. For three days no one passed our stand without being told about our wonderful country and the advantages of marrying on our shores and we handed out thousands of copies of Under African Skies, Celebration House’s guide to marrying in South Africa.
But at the end of the day it was definitely worth it as we felt extremely gratified by the warm reception we received and the phenomenal amount of genuine interest that there was in our country. South Africais certainly highly regarded and those who had already visited the country used nothing but glowing terms to describe their visit.
The cherry on the top for me though was that never once during the three days did we have to deal with any negative comments about our land. Indeed just the opposite occurred! One British father I spoke to was very pleased about the low cost of his daughter's wedding. He should have been:- by holding it in Cape Town his savings were enormous plus he was able to include in the price a holiday for himself! An average wedding in Britain today, costs in the region of £15 000-20 000 which amounts to between R180 000 and R240 000. The same function in South Africa would cost in the region of R75 000 – R80 000 ie around £6 500! With the rate of exchange still very favourably in their favour foreigners can have fairytale weddings here at extremely realistic prices. Add in the fact that we have 2980 hours of sunshine per annum compared to their measly 1250 hours and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand why South Africa has become a 'hot' destination.
It was also great to chat to the many homesick ex-pats who visited our stand. The backdrop to our stand was an enormous poster of Table Mountain and this was often gazed at longingly! I also heard lots of Afrikaans spoken and one visitor had on an interesting T-shirt that proudly proclaimed – Ek smaak Afrikaans! Even the guy who came by with a broom to sweep out our stand turned out to be a student from Cape Town earning extra money whilst on holiday!
All day the sound of music reverberated around the hall but definitely not as Julie Andrews might have imagined it! Trumpeters competed with gospel choirs whilst string quartets valiantly played on. Sri Lankawas intent on drawing attention to their display and at periodic intervals a bride and groom in national outfits would wander through the crowds accompanied by drummers. Oh I forgot to mention that there was also a four piece band , complete with singer, playing most of the day near the food court area!
Although the entrance fee of £12 was not cheap (R144 in South African terms) the show certainly did not disappoint as there was definitely something for everyone. Everything you could possibly think of (and had never dreamt of) for weddings was on show: from dress designers and photographers to heated eyelash curlers and fountains of chocolate, from stationery and gifts to wedding magazines, exotic locations and beyond!
What fascinated me most was the large number of exhibitors displaying tiaras. Certainly far more than you would find at a local show. I decided that it must be because we were after all in the land best associated with princesses! I chatted over lunch to fellow exhibitor Janie Lawson who makes stunning sterling silver tiaras – many incorporating Swarski crystals in different colours. Janie numbered many South Africans amongst her clients and told me that her miniature crowns in particular, were proving to be a popular headdress amongst brides. Worn slightly to one side of the head they were quirky and most attractive. I personally rather liked her creations of feathers and crystals on a comb – an ideal accessory to wear instead of a hat and an easy way to look ultra-stylish. A nice idea for the mother of the bride or groom. Speaking of whom, they too were not forgotten and Parveen Couture, a designer I particularly liked, had many attractive garments suitable for them. I thought her designs personified both elegance and sophistication. I was also intrigued to see an exhibitor promoting a website entitled motherofthewedding.com!
As at any wedding show there were numerous photographers exhibiting. I chatted to Brent Jones one ofLondon's leading photographers who specializes in weddings and reportage photography. He told me that it has been interesting to see the significant swing over the past few years towards a more documentary style in wedding photography. He felt that an hour spent waiting around outside a wedding for formal photographs is an hour wasted as he believes in finding the unique story in every wedding he covers using documentary techniques.
Wedding dresses are always a big attraction at any bridal show and the London designers were certainly out in full force offering styles to fit all figure shapes. Moss Brothers, a leading menswear hiring company, were also certainly much in evidence and definitely hard to miss. Their large custom-made displays were certainly very impressive as was the array of clothing for hire. The British groom has a far bigger variety of outfits to choose from for his wedding day than our local counterpart.
For many Londoners one of the main highlights was the Fashion Show. These took place four times a day and were held in a large area at the rear of the Exhibition Centre. The shows were extremely slick and polished and embraced lots of state of the art technology with plasma screens and very professional sound and lighting. I found it a delight to watch professional models with a natural gait looking relaxed and at ease on stage and, heaven-forbid, actually smiling!
If the wedding dresses paraded on the catwalk are anything to go by then there appears to be a definite move towards separate tops and skirts. Bustiers and laced corset tops were very much in evidence as was the vintage look that evokes feelings of nostalgia and romance. Straight skirts sported a train with ruffles of net while the fuller ballgown style skirts also put in a strong appearance
Wedding dresses in pastel shades also made a a debut and this appears to be a new trend coming through. The general feel though was a move towards the softer more romantic less austere looking gown. The groom was certainly not forgotten and the male models showed-off plenty of combinations to choose from including flowery shirts. Fairy outfits for flower girls are still as popular as ever. The grand finale featuring gowns in black and white was very dramatic but I think maybe a bit too over the top for the average bride.
Good advice on what to wear on the day came from Caryn Franklin, British TV presenter, who was publicizing her latest DVD entitled How to Look Good on Your Wedding Day and she attracted a large audience as she had lots of sound ideas to impart to brides. I was most interested to hear from her that the different styles of wedding dresses are: traditional, simple, fantasy or glamorous. According to her the advantage of wearing a corset top is that it gives you a good look and shape. She also mentioned that the bias cut is very flattering and another interesting snippet I gleaned was that the V-cut at the base of a bodice elongates the leg. She advised brides to get advice on their body shape as this would enable them to choose the correct style of dress. Her latest video may be viewed at Celebration House.
Off the cat walk we noticed that many visitors (nearly every second person in fact!) were wearing ponchos. These were in an amazing variety of styles and colours - definitely something to include in your wardrobe next winter.
One lesson we have learned from taking part in these shows is that we have an incredible amount to offer in this country. While most of the service providers taking part in the show had excellent goods on display there were many times that we felt we had seen better quality items back home in Cape Town. South Africans generally feel that if something is imported it automatically qualifies as being better than something that is homegrown and I think it is now high time for us to start changing our mindset. If nothing else the National Wedding Show in London brought home to me that many of the top service providers in the wedding industry in South Africa can more than adequately compete in the international arena.
We've already been asked if we would do it again and the answer is a resounding yes – we're presently negotiating our stand for next year!