Back in August I found out I'd been selected as a finalist in The Wedding Guide UK North of England Wedding Awards 2016. I was absolutely over the moon to know that enough brides had made enough positive comments about my services for me to be selected above other suppliers to be in the finals. The dinner was on Monday 19th September at York Racecourse in the Knavesmire.
I was there with two hats on. Not only was I a nominee but I was also providing a service, playing guitar and singing during the meal. I played for 90 minutes and even managed to capture about half of it in a live facebook feed which you can see here. I was followed by Yorkshire based Richard Swing Daniels who, totally coincidentally, has the same name as the style of music he sings. What are the chances!? He was excellent, not just at singing but at interactions with the audience. He encouraged the guests to tweet requests to him which he then sang. Lovely stuff that got the crowd interacting with him. A real stand out crooner with his own personal style and silky smooth vocal.
Sadly, 2016 wasn't my year but I was up against some stiff competition which must have given the judges a real headache deciding who should receive the awards. A full list of winners are available on the NOEWA website. The winners included my good friend and extremely highly rated Magician Mark Waddington who I have worked with on numerous occasions.
The venue was remarkable. So much work had been put into making it look beautiful. Particular credit should be given to Illuminate Letters who provided 5 foot letters spelling out #NOEWA, A Perfect Wedding, Hull for the beautiful room decorations, Wedding Venue Lighting for the star cloth and lighting and Saville's Audio Visual for providing a sound system robust enough to cater for 400 people. Special thanks to Chris and Jayne from Vale Radio who hosted the evening and David Harrison Photography.
Personally I would like to thank all of the brides and grooms who voted for me. I received my feedback the following day and I was totally humbled and blown away by the warm and encouraging comments I received. Each area was a mark out of 5 for which I didn't drop a single point. 5s across the board. The comments were of such a high quality it did make me feel sorry for the judges who probably had to pick out the winners in each category by very fine margins.
Congratulations to every winner, although many of them are suppliers I have never personally worked with I do know that I work in an industry which upholds extremely high standards of customer service. Events like The North of England Wedding Awards serve to raise that standard and keep it high and for that I am very grateful.
Until next time.
