2018 Wedding Supplier Awards hosted by South Coast Weddings

As I sit here writing this, reflecting on the 2018 Wedding Supplier Awards hosted by South Coast Weddings, reading posts and blogs by some of the finalists and winners, I was inspired to share with you all (in my very first blog) what my own experiences are and why I do what I do for the events.

I provide the music, sound and lighting for each ceremony and have done so every year since its creation.  When I first read about the idea of a countywide awards on Facebook,never did I think that 6 year later I would still be involved, but here I am!

So what sets these awards apart from others? Easy, it doesn’t matter if you have been trading 1 year or 20 years. Whether you have 1 like on Facebook or 10,000, 1 follower on Instagram or 50,000, everyone is equal in the judge’s eyes as its all marked ‘Blind’. All that matters is that you are passionate about what you do and that your clients see that passion in everything you do for them, and that this is then conveyed in your answers on the application form. No company names, website or social media links, just the category you are competing in.

That first year I was persuaded to enter in the entertainment category, I came a very close second and then had to get up and DJ the after party, OMG how difficult was that LOL.

I got together with Sam & Eleanor a few days later to see if they were happy with what I did (they were J) It was during that meeting that they offered me the chance to be a sponsor, I thought why not, it was the best decision I made.

For me being a sponsor gives me a great opportunity to mingle with the finalists and their guests at the ceremony, talk to them, make new friends and contacts.

As the years rolled byI set about thinking up how I could improve on what I was doing for them. Each year I added something different, new music, sets, lights etc. I added soundbites to the awards presentation, coming up with fun and appropriate songs to represent each category.

Not wanting to sit back and do the same thing this year I decided to set myself a challenge:

I realised what I was doing was in a sense for myself, it was ‘me’ choosing the music but the night is not about me it’s about the finalists. Once the finalists had been notified and the list published I set about contacting each company on that list asking what song “THEY” would like played should they be the lucky ones to be announced as the winner. The replies were a mixture of ‘what a lovely idea’ to ‘are you mad’ (probably!) But they all gave me a song and as the winners were announced on the night they proudly danced towards the stage to their chosen song to collect their award. It worked really well and the feedback and thanks were very much appreciated.

So, if you run a wedding business and sat there reading this thinking you’re not good enough or haven’t been going long enough, give it a go next year. Remember why you do what you do – to give your clients the best possible experience.

I love what the ladies at South Coast Events have done and will continue to support them and sponsor the event for as long as they will have me.

This year’s other sponsors were

83 Media
Balloon-A-Room
The Wedding Crecherz
ST-Events
Photorooms

That’s all from me for now, hope to see you all on the dance floor soon.

Mark G