Why The Wedding Guild Of Wales Was Founded
The Wedding Guild of Wales was founded in October 2013 by a group of suppliers with many years experience in the wedding industry. Alarmed at the number of wedding magazines, blogs, directories etc that highlighted suppliers as "recommended" "endorsed" "approved" when in fact they charged to print that recommendation, we felt passionately that an alternative was needed. We feel strongly that when you recommend a supplier, it should be because you KNOW they are the best person/company for the job - NOT because you are getting paid to do so.
After giving much thought to forming The Guild, it was decided that each member (supplier) would need to meet a criteria before being accepted. With an admin team of 4 people, Steve Norman of Embrace Videography, Emma Hall of Emma Hall Designs, Lynne Morgan of Lovey Dovey UK and Glenda Clwyd Harpist overseeing the initial team of 11 suppliers. Between us we had done many dozens of weddings together, and also had others that we worked with regularly, and by the end of that first day we had 20 members, all of whom worked well together with a mutual respect. In fact many of us have now become great friends outside of our work.
Fast forward 9 years and we now have over 95 members that cater for every style, budget and personality. Every one of them has met this criteria of;
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Being in business for at least 3 years
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Having 3 established members to vouch for their reputation
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Registered with HMRC and whatever liability insurances & certificates they need to operate legally
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Able to provide details of recent weddings where the couples recommend them
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Are known to work well with other suppliers, respecting each other and able to work as a team.
The founding members paid all costs for the set up and running of My Wonderful Welsh Wedding, and no member is ever charged for joining The Guild or being listed on this site - and they never will be. It is this that sets us apart from EVERY other wedding directory etc out there. The Wedding Guild of Wales is run voluntarily by Steve, Lynne & Emma in their spare time.
Steve Norman
Lynne Morgan
Emma Hall
So why is it beneficial for you to book with suppliers that have met this criteria and work well together?
We have done the research for you. We KNOW and TRUST each member will be reliable and provide you with excellent service and a quality product. Most wedding suppliers work is solitary, and it is easy to forget that during a wedding, there are other suppliers present who's job is as important as theirs. Working well together is essential not only for your wedding to run smoothly, but for you to get everything you wanted from the day.
We know that for many couples, you will be leaving deposits with suppliers for often up to 2 years in advance. Will your supplier still be in business when your wedding date arrives? For many sadly this is not the case. This is why we ask for our members to have a track record, for them to have been in business 3 years or more. We see many fabulous businesses start up, they have quality products but either no customer focus or business acumen, and that is where they fail. By being in business 3 years or more, the chances are the business will achieve longevity. We also see lots of FaceBook startups. Facebook is a free tool to promote a business, but if they choose that to be their only route to market, chances are there is no investment in the business, and we see posts every day where couples are let down by this style of trader.
We all started somewhere, and were once new suppliers ourselves. We have many new start ups that come to us for guidance, and we freely give our support. We have several businesses awaiting their 3rd birthday so they are able to join us.
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