I have been preparing for my first wedding fair for the last couple of months and on the 12th of May, the day was finally here. I was exhibiting at The Ravenswood and the event was organised by Empirical Weddings and Events. I was feeling so nervous as exhibiting my wedding stationery makes me feel quite vulnerable just like Anna Scott in Notting Hill when she tells Will she loves him, so I hope the title of this blog post now makes sense. “I am just a stationer, standing in front of her invites, asking you to love them.”
All my wedding stationery is created by me, and me alone. Each idea, illustration, each word lettered in calligraphy, so knowing that people were going to walk past it and make a judgement about whether they liked it or not was terrifying
However, when I arrived at the stunning Ravenwood venue, I immediately saw my sister’s beaming face. She had come all the way down from Hertfordshire which is a 2 hour drive and the poor girl left her house at 7am on a Sunday. I immediately relaxed by being with my sister Clare, she is my biggest fan and her excitement was contagious.
I was given the most beautiful space to set up my stand, it had lots of natural light and views out into the grounds. I was very pleased and quickly set it all up. Once it was all up, I felt quite overwhelmed as months of hard work all stood in front of me. I only created my first invitations in September last year and I couldn’t believe how much I had done in that time and how much my work had improved.
It was a busy day at The Ravenswood, lots of excited couples wondering round and getting ideas for their special day. I loved chatting to people and talking them through their ideas.
It was also so lovely to meet other wedding suppliers. We were next to Dirty Roses bridal shop who had some of the most gorgeous dresses and Purita Hyam Wedding Cakes which smelt and tasted amazing. We also couldn’t resist going in The Brass Photobooth which was so much fun.
A wedding fair is a long old day, it’s amazing how tiring standing for five hours is, especially if you’ve been celebrating your friends wedding the day before! I won’t be doing that again!
Once it was all done we were ready for bed, but of course we had to stop off for a delicious Sunday roast first. I had such an amazing time. I received such lovely feedback about my work from the organisers. I just feel so excited about the direction that The Amyverse is heading in.
On the 4th May, I was also invited to have a stand at Ditchling Festival Wedding Open Day organised by Bower Events and Wildflower Tipi events. An open day is quite different to a wedding fair as it is a lot smaller but it was still a really great experience and it was a great opportunity for me to practise setting up my stand, speaking about my business and testing out my stand. My husband Mike (or Mr Amyverse as I like to call him) joined me for this one, he very much enjoyed the cake and pizza samples and the bar. He has been so supportive about me pursing my dream and I feel very grateful to have him and Clare helping make The Amyverse grow.
These two events really pushed me out of my comfort zone, I am rather introverted and so having to stand in front of my work and talk to strangers felt so daunting but I actually loved it. When you are talking about something you love and care so passionately about it isn’t as frightening as you imagine.
