Groom Edition; Wedding fairs, tattoos and an industry aimed at the Bride

 

 

 

So I was dragged along to the national wedding fair at Olympia a few weekends ago, I was dreading it to be honest, all the pushy vendors and such and having to explain that my wife is a wedding blogger and I'm not getting married (although if she had her way we would be doing it every bloody year) but was pleasantly surprised that it was all quite laid back and I could browse the products and services they offered freely. One thing that was apparent like every other wedding fair I went to, it was not to groom orientated, a few car stalls and some suit stalls and a suits few in the fashion show but apart from that nada!

 Now to be honest I've racked my brains as to what I would of liked to see at these fairs, I was quite lucky as all I was after was a magician and cupcakes and I found these, but I'm sure there is a market for men at wedding fairs but I can't just put my finger on what it is yet.

Now there was one stall that peeked my curiosity and then enraged me immensely, it was to do with tattoos, now I personally have a fair ole few and couldn't imagine covering them for anything and this included my wedding day! The service they provided was airbrushing skin tone make up on so you look "normal and natural" for your big day, now the friends and acquaintances I have that have tattoos have them because they like them, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks!

 

 

 

 When you go in to get a tattoo it is explained that they are for life, so why you would get them covered up is beyond me (that being said if you have a bad tattoo I can kinda understand the appeal. Then again if you have a bad tattoo it's probably because you decided to get it done on the cheap or while in Magaluf and woke up in a drunk haze with it, if this is the case why not get it lazered off anyway?!), is there really a future market for this?

 

All in all the wedding industry needs a shake up, more businesses aimed at the Groom and more acceptance that every Bride and Groom isn't going to fit into the cookie cutter!

 

Until next time,

Stew

 

 

 

 

Why is the wedding industry so Bride orientated?

 

I mean really? Why is everything apart from suit hire so pushed towards the bride?

 

 

 

My husband was hideous when it came to wedding planning, while every glossy magazine was basically telling me to pick and tell him later, we were constantly bickering at each other choices. Looking back though, why should he have just taken it lying down? We both footed the bill and it was his day too!

 

While looking around the National Wedding Show I noticed that there were only two stalls aimed at Grooms. The fashion show offered suit options agreed, but why so little? Why isn't there barbers offering to do the grooms hair? Why isn't there more adverts for men to get manicures for the big day? Why not have more companies that offer cars and transport for hire aimed just at the Groom?

 

 

 

 

Let's face it, wedding planning is all about the Bride, it's her day! The dresses, the hair, makeup, car, shoes, tiara & accessories. I know women are accepted for dreaming of their perfect day but what about the guys that do it too? What about gay couples? Why do they have to wade through hundreds upon hundreds of companies aimed at the Bride?

 

 

 

 

 

With this in mind, this blog post is just for you gorgeous Grooms!

 

Transport

 How about a Jaguar, X5 or Ferrari?! If this sounds up your street and will make your big day go with a bang then you can find them here www.grooms-cars.co.uk

 

Suit Hire

 I wouldn't promote using Moss Bros as we had loads of problems with them but here's a few other companies worth looking at hughharris.co.uk, www.debenhams-formalhire.com & www.burton.co.uk

 

Groom Pampering

Haircuts, facials & massages, why not lads it's your day too! www.thegroomroom.co ,www.groomlondon.com & don't forget to check out google!

 

Stag Do

Have your night out go with a bang - www.thestagcompany.com, staghen.lastminute.com & www.lastnightoffreedom.co.uk/

 

I really hope the wedding industry does have a shift soon! It really should be thinking about more than just the Bride! So Grooms to be, what would you like to see at the next wedding fair you attend?!

 

 

Weddings - The Groom Edition

Ever wondered what the groom thought of the big day? Here at Cherry Bomb Weddings we wanted to get both sides of the story so we asked a groom who got married back in 2012!

Hi Stewart!

So how involved were you in your wedding planning?
I was fairly involved with the planning of the wedding or so I like to think, at the end of the day what ever the wife wanted, she got!

Did you attend any wedding fairs?
I really enjoyed going to wedding fairs, well the first few anyway. We we're going to 1 a week at one point however I did find a magician inspired by the Gavin and Stacy TV show though so that was an upside.
All the free cake as well!
There is some downsides and that's how pushy some of the venders can be, and it really is aimed at the women, take the wedding dress fashion shows, not a man there of his own free will I'm sure, I even went off for a stroll and a beer when I was taken to one.

Overall they did help, even if its just to get some sort of an idea of what's out there.


If you could do it differently what would you do?
I wouldn't pay the amount I did for the balloons, we should have researched who we used in more depth. They weren't very professional and turned up when they felt like it on the morning of the wedding.
I'd also probably use a different suit hire shop, the one we chose made so many mistakes and at one point even blamed me for loosing a suit when a member of their staff hadn't even given me it!

Best bits?
The stag do was interesting, buying my wedding ring from The Great Frog and our cakes made by Laura from Cupcake-a-licious were amazing.

Did you and your bride have any arguments?
The venue choice, the welcome drinks and the first dance all caused some heated discussions. There's just so much choice and everyone gives you their opinion, in the end we ignored everyone's advice and just chose what made us happy.

Stag Do - is it as bad as every Bride imagines?
I had a pretty mellow one, headed back to my home town in Wiltshire for a meal and a lock in. At the end of the night I was in the best shape by far, one person was so drunk he was put in a taxi and sent home to his poor girlfriend and another fell out of a door, with a pint of beer and somehow didn't spill a drop! We thought he had possibly died the next morning as no one could wake him up in his hotel room.

The Wedding Dress - is it worth the hype?
They are defiantly worth the money! I got a little choked up when I first seen the wife walking up the aisle.

What's your opinion on the wedding industry?
It's too bride orientated! There's bridal fashion shows, hair and makeup trials, shoes, tiaras..... yet not a lot for the groom. There's no male based wedding magazines or fashion shows! If your lucky you might get half a page in a bridal based magazine on groom fashion but that's pretty much it.
I know weddings are generally the Brides big day but it's our day too!

General overall feelings -  Would you do it again?
I would do it all over again, I had an amazing time. It's worth all the stress and arguing over what to put in favour boxes!

Any advice for husbands to be?

Yes! - Happy Wife, Happy Life!

Wedding Details

Venue - Glenmore House

VW Camper Van - Buttercup Bus

Wedding Dress - Cloud 9 Bridal

Suits - Moss Bros

Cupcakes - Cupcake-a-licious

Photographer -Jane Alexander

Bridesmaid Dresses - Ebay

Tiara - Wedding dress fair