Photos by Parrot & Pineapple and Joanna Bongard

We are finally coming out of the crazy whirlwind dream that came true - THE UN-WEDDING SHOW - our debut (annual) wedding fair for the cool bride.

We landed in Leeds, London and Birmingham in February 2019 bringing you a carefully curated collective of 130 of the UK’s coolest independent wedding suppliers. Our main aim was to support our Book Of Love directory suppliers by giving them an opportunity to meet their dream clients - our audience of cool brides, face to face in beautiful surroundings.

We welcomed almost 2500 modern brides and their tribes through the doors having no idea our first events would be this popular! We have been overwhelmed by stories from our awesome suppliers many of whom received multiple bookings (often on the spot!) for creative weddings that they are really excited to be a part of and from of beautiful brides who found their dress, their bridesmaid dresses, cake maker, booked their photographer, stationer, decorations, stylist, florist… you name it!!!

We kicked off in Leeds on 3rd February 2019 at the super-cool Duke Studios. Our talented suppliers transformed the space into a wonderland with their enchanting installations and creative wares for the modern bride. The atmosphere was electric and we have been inundated by suppliers who came want to be involved in the next one. We can’t wait to visit Leeds again for future events.

HUGE thanks to all of the staff at the venue for going above and beyond for us. Duke Studios can be hired as a wedding venue if you are after a blank canvas, warehouse space in Leeds. The venue is fully equipped with its own PA system, bar and HUGE projector screens to give your event another dimension.

Shout out to the Grub & Grog gang for keeping our attendees fed and watered whilst they waited patiently for our epic queues to go down!

2 weeks later on 16th & 17th February 2019 we arrived in London for our flagship event which took place in the STUNNING Core Clapton, Hackney’s latest wedding venue. The former Edwardian parish hall is flooded with natural light… white space at its absolute best. The barrel vaulted ceiling is a real show-stopper and lends itself perfectly to being transformed into a GIANT RAINBOW… apparently!

Our theme for this show became ‘neon brights’ based around our rainbow ceiling and the news that our fantastic sponsors, Vowed & Amazed, had something new up their sleeve for us…

We were delighted to showcase the brand new neon feature that is available to hire from Book Of Love directory originals, Vowed & Amazed. The husband and wife duo were the first people to create the giant light up alphabet letters that took the wedding world by storm a few years ago. The couple who continue to innovate the industry then went on to create even more weird and wonderful props for hire including the iconic ‘Til Death Do Us Party’ neon which is one of the things that inspired me to start our Book Of Love directory (true story) so that people knew where to go to get their hands on this stuff! Their brand new design, a flashing ‘LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY’ neon went down a storm with our brides and their tribe! If you didn’t stop for a selfie in front of it, were you even there?!

MEGA THANKS to gorgeous sisters Eram and Aelia of BOOM BLOOMS for our neon bright florals around the venue including the INCREDIBLE display that framed our neon feature wall! We can’t get over the colours, textures and personality that these girls bring to the table and we can’t wait to work with them again!!

We were so proud of the party spirit displayed by so many of our attendees who quaffed the delicious cocktails from our partners, Sabel. Their cheery bar staff kept our brides sufficiently topped up throughout the day!

We knew we wanted to partner up with caterers who were vibrant, inventive BIG on flavour and the Sabel guys did not disappoint with their array of delicious canapes upstairs and colourful pop up cafe downstairs. The cafe was transformed with a selection contemporary furniture pieces from HIRE IT who have the coolest collection we have seen when it comes to hiring stylish event furniture.

MASSIVE THANKS to the lovely Martha of Anemone who was our venue stylist as well as one of the awesome exhibitors beneath our neon rainbow. Martha has an in depth knowledge of the venue and is due to celebrate her own wedding there very soon!

With just shy of 1000 attendees through the door over the course of the 2 days, our London show was a thriving success with an electric atmosphere. With everything from a mobiles bar in the form of a giant golden pineapple, grazing tables fit for a King, to hand crafted wedding rings made by the man who makes jewellery for rock royalty like Ozzy Osbourne, THE UN-WEDDING SHOW LONDON was an experience that we cannot wait to recreate over and over again!

Our 3rd and final show (for now…) took place in yet another beautiful wedding venue, Fazeley Studios, a former warehouse and church that has been revitalised into a breathtaking space right in the heart of Digbeth, Birmingham.

The 2 day event was a perfect end to spectacular month of shows. Think mirrorball mannequins, giant neon flamingos and stilt walking angels and that should give you some idea of the vibes!

We were honoured to be able to showcase the all new Fazeley Studios and Fazeley Social which has recently undergone a huge refurb and transformation. It was one of those remarkably sunny and warm winter days so many of our brides and their tribe were able to drink their prosecco outside in the courtyard before wandering back in to speak to all of our wonderful suppliers.

Planning, organising and executing THE UN-WEDDING SHOW has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It’s taken a few weeks to be able to look back with slightly less tired eyes and appreciate how much we have achieved.

We couldn’t have done it without the support from our fellow rebel heart sponsors - Way Out Wedding, Bridal Editor and Belle Bridal Magazine who have supported us from the start and helped promote the living daylights out of the events!

From all of the incredibly talented suppliers who took the opportunity to show their fantastic businesses off in such style and brought so much positivity along with them, to all of the amazing attendees who came along and understood the true meaning of THE UN-WEDDING - to forget the rules and #MakeNewTraditions! The shows would not have been half the success without you and we are so excited to do it all again!

Watch out for THE UN-WEDDING SHOW* coming to a city near you!

BIRMINGHAM - October 2019

LONDON - TBC

LEEDS - TBC

MANCHESTER - TBC

*THE UN-WEDDING SHOW began as a way of supporting our Book Of Love directory suppliers and will always release applications early to our members before opening up the opportunity to outside applicants. If you are a cool and unique wedding supplier who is interested in joining our exclusive directory please email aisling@un-wedding.com and ask for a media pack.

THE UN-WEDDING SHOW: A wedding fair for the cool bride

Watch out for THE UN-WEDDING SHOW* coming to a city near you!

BIRMINGHAM - October 2019

LONDON - TBC

LEEDS - TBC

MANCHESTER - TBC

Love Forever

Melissa

X