Planning a Glasgow Wedding: Issue #1, Scottish Wedding Show
If you are planning a wedding in Glasgow and have found yourself totally bedazzled and bemused by the volume of information (which comes in hugely varying levels of worth and helpfulness) available to you at the click of the button, you are not alone! This article is the first in a series which will appear regularly on Get Out Glasgow over the coming months and which will be devoted to uncovering some truths behind planning a Big Day in Scotland’s greatest city (not that I’m biased). I hereby promise to give you honest accounts of the people, places and various potential paths to holy matrimony which I discover along the way, in the hope that you will be better equipped as you start your planning than I am at this point in time.
As a devout lover of Glasgow and a self-proclaimed organiser-extraordinaire it naturally transpires that in the few weeks since my now-fiancé(!) proposed, I have unashamedly been spending the vast majority of my free time ruthlessly researching and gathering information on the ‘typical’ Glasgow wedding while desperately searching for any hints, tips or secrets I can find to ensure that our eventual Big Day is one to be remembered. Having hypothesised and waxed lyrical on what sort of wedding we’d like (or perhaps more importantly the sort of wedding we definitely do not want) I was under the misguided impression that all I’d have to do is type ‘Glasgow wedding’ into the search bar et voila! I’d have all the information at my fingertips in an easy-to-digest Excel spreadsheet format with which to do as I please. How wrong I was! If you are reading this article, chances are you are in the same boat as I am in that an actual wedding is on the cards. If, however, you have no potential lifelong partner, no imminent wedding plans or no idea why you’ve even read this far please don’t stop now! It is my aim with this article and the ones that follow to de-mystify the Glasgow wedding experience as much as possible and offer the important bits of information without you having to trail through pages of ‘testimonials’ or before you find yourself crying because (for some reason currently unbeknownst to me) wedding pricing, unlike almost any other industry in this country, is offered ‘exc VAT’. Just one of the joyful quirks I’ve come across so far.
Happily, The Scottish Wedding Show was being held this past weekend (Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd February) at the SECC and boasted “the widest range of exhibitors in Scotland, unrivalled catwalk shows and a host of exclusive features” so, as you can imagine, I had high expectations. It was my first wedding fayre and at £11.50 per standard ticket (no catwalk shows or VIP entry) on the door, it was a relatively steep price to pay, but one I and my sister assumed would be worth it for the wealth of companies we’d encounter and ideas we’d develop on our trip round. We were excited though, due to work commitments, I was worried that the two hours we had available would not be sufficient. I’m afraid to say I needn’t have been worried; we had easily seen all stalls and exhibitors within 45 minutes.
The Scottish Wedding Show’s website was not misleading in itself – there were a huge number of exhibitors and I’m sure if you were wishing to plan and pay for your entire wedding within one day you’d have been able to with the advantage of numerous ‘show only’ discounts made available. What the website failed to mention (and which I hope I can clarify for any other potential brides who are considering attending the next show or ones like it) is that the vast majority of exhibitors offer what could ultimately be assessed as exactly the same thing. If you have an unlimited budget or are planning a traditional, classic Scottish summer wedding complete with Rolls Royce escort, kilted groomsmen, a three-course meal, ceilidh dancing and beautiful flowers then The Scottish Wedding Show is probably a perfect day out for you and your bridal party offering everything you’re looking for and please, enjoy! However, if you are planning something a little different for your guests on your big day, you would have been hard-pressed to find inspiration from this weekend’s show and I hasten to add that I reckon the next show (being held October 1st-3rd 2014) will be no different. I came away having conversed with a minority of – notably, exceptionally friendly – retailers including Bottled Love Stationery, The Butterfly and Bell Jar Stationery, Tipsy Mallows (as the name suggests; a brand new company specialising in booze-infused marshmallows), Anya’s Catering and The Wedding Planner bridal shop who each brought something unique to the show and prompted us to hesitate and investigate further. Sadly, other than this small list, I was left largely uninspired and unsuccessful in my quest for something a little different.
For a country and a city as rich in heritage and culture as Scotland and Glasgow respectively, I fully applaud these elements being brought to the fore at any wedding held here, however for a city which is particularly forward-thinking and boasts such a fantastic live music scene, art like no other from the GSA and where you can walk down the main thoroughfare of Buchanan Street and see 100 different types of people in a minute, I am surprised how misrepresentative The Scottish Wedding Show was of the city I truly love. Undeterred, I shall continue to research for my own benefit and yours, and I hope to find some more unusual companies to share and applaud to you as I continue my wedding planning quest.
If you would like to see more from Kate, the author of this article, find her on Twitter at @CinnamonGirl_KF or on her own website, www.cinnamongirlmag.co.uk.
