Hodroyd Hall Wedding Fayre

Some wedding fayres leave you with a few enquiries and a pile of leaflets.

This one left us absolutely buzzing.

On 6 September 2026, we joined Wedding Fayres Yorkshire at Hodroyd Hall, near Barnsley, for the first fayre of our autumn and winter season.

We brought the Magic Mirror, Magic Mini, Magic Mobile and Yorkshire Magic Memories --- including the first ever wedding-fayre test of Memories Live. By the end of the day we'd taken our first Memories bookings from a fayre, confirmed a Magic Mirror and Memories booking for a wedding at Bagden Hall, created a new VenView 360° tour and been asked by Hodroyd Hall about becoming a preferred supplier.

Not a bad way to start the season.

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A Brilliant First Fayre Back

The strongest thing about Hodroyd Hall wasn't one individual sale. It was the atmosphere.

The venue felt happy and settled, the suppliers were in a good space and couples had time to stop, talk and actually try things rather than simply walking around collecting brochures.

Our base was in the Dining Room, and it turned out to be an excellent position. We had good natural light, a useful corner, easy access to power and --- particularly important for what we were testing --- cracking internet.

Nothing glitched. Nothing needed rescuing. Magic Mirror, Mini, Mobile, Memories and Memories Live simply worked.

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Memories Live Had Its First Proper Wedding Fayre Test

This was the bit we really wanted to learn from.

We already knew people liked Yorkshire Magic Memories. What we didn't know was how people would react when they saw their uploads becoming part of a live visual experience at a wedding fayre.

The answer was immediate: they loved it.

In fact, the reaction to Memories Live was even stronger than the reaction to Memories on its own. Couples could instantly picture guests adding photographs, videos and voice messages while those memories became part of the event around them.

A few people told us the demonstration screen should be bigger. That's useful feedback, but it also helped clarify what the product actually is. We're not hiring out a television. We're creating the live visual feed. At a venue it can be displayed on a large screen, television or projector to suit the room.

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And Then People Started Booking It

A new idea getting compliments is nice.

People paying to have it at their wedding is the test that matters.

By the end of the fayre we'd picked up four Memories bookings, including our first wedding-fayre booking combining Yorkshire Magic Memories and the Magic Mirror for a future wedding at Bagden Hall.

There were also enough strong Magic Mirror conversations that we could potentially see around four Mirror bookings come from the day once everyone has followed up.

At one point we were talking to couples who effectively wanted the whole lot.

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Something Interesting Happened to the Magic Mini

The Mini still attracted attention, but Memories has changed the conversation.

One of the Mini's strongest features has always been the ability to leave personal messages. Now that Memories can accept voice uploads directly from guests' own phones, couples were naturally comparing the two.

That doesn't make the Mini redundant --- it's still a physical focal point and a completely different guest interaction --- but it does tell us that the way we position it needs to keep evolving.

That's exactly why we take unfinished ideas into the real world. Couples tell you very quickly what they understand, what excites them and which features matter most.

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Four Products, One Stand

We didn't want four disconnected products fighting for attention. The aim was to show different ways of creating and keeping memories from the same wedding.

• Magic Mirror --- hosted fun, props and instant 6×4 prints.
• Magic Mini --- a dedicated physical space for personal audio and video messages.
• Yorkshire Magic Memories --- guest photographs, videos and voice uploads from their own phones.
• Magic Mobile --- roaming photography that takes the experience to the guests.

Having them together made the differences much easier to explain --- and, judging by the conversations, much easier for couples to imagine at their own weddings.

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29 Prints From 54 Booked Guests

Wedding fayres aren't real weddings, so print numbers aren't something we'd normally judge too heavily.

Even so, with 54 guests booked in through the fayre organiser, the Magic Mirror produced 29 prints during the day.

More importantly, we had some genuinely brilliant guests using it. The props came out, people relaxed and the Mirror did what it is supposed to do: turned a product demonstration into something people actually joined in with.

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The Dining Room Works for the Magic Mirror

We always pay attention to positioning at a venue because the same product can feel completely different depending on where it sits.

The Dining Room at Hodroyd Hall worked.

Our corner gave us enough space for the Mirror and the wider display, the light was good, power was straightforward and the internet was strong enough for Memories Live to run seamlessly.

We were told an average wedding at the venue is around 60 guests, which would make the space feel comfortable rather than crowded. Based on what we saw today, we'd happily use that position again.

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We Also Built Hodroyd Hall a VenView Tour

We'd already created a Hodroyd Hall page on our own website before arriving at the fayre.

During the day we went another step further and captured a new VenView 360° tour, giving couples another way to understand the venue and giving us a much better reference for planning future setups.

That sparked a useful conversation with the venue team too. They liked the fact that our venue page can cross-reference back to Hodroyd Hall itself rather than trying to keep people inside our own website.

For us, venue pages and VenView have never just been about ranking for another location. They're useful tools for couples and for us when we're planning an event.

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From First Visit to Preferred Supplier Conversation

Chris from Hodroyd Hall spent the fayre personally showing couples around the venue, and by the end of the day we'd been asked about becoming a preferred supplier.

We were also invited back for a Hodroyd Hall event later in September. Unfortunately we're already working elsewhere, but the invitation itself mattered.

A new venue relationship, a 360° tour, a venue page already live and a preferred-supplier conversation from one fayre is exactly the sort of long-term result we value.

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A Proper Supplier Community

Wedding Fayres Yorkshire were represented on the day by Ebony and Amanda, and the supplier mix was spread through several rooms around Hodroyd Hall.

Alongside us in the Dining Room were Twilight & Sparkle Games Hire, singer Ashleigh Hayton and Altered Images Photography.

The Orangery included Passion Flowers, Tivoli Travel, Ceremonies by Laura and MMM Cakes, with more photography suppliers and Wedding Fayres Yorkshire around reception.

The important bit wasn't simply having plenty of suppliers in the building. It was the atmosphere between them. It felt relaxed, friendly and collaborative --- exactly how a wedding fayre should feel.

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And We Need to Mention the Food

There are serious product lessons to take from today.

There were also mini Yorkshire puddings filled with braised beef.

They were immense.

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Not Cheap. Unforgettable.

One thing became clearer than ever during the day: we're not trying to be the cheapest supplier in the room.

We don't routinely discount the Magic Mirror to chase a booking. We don't build generic experiences and compete on who can knock another £20 off. The exception is when we're deliberately launching and testing something new, as we have with Memories.

What couples saw at Hodroyd Hall was custom print design, a full hosted Magic Mirror, Mini, roaming photography, guest-created Memories, Memories Live and a venue experience we'd already invested time in before the doors even opened.

We're not cheap. We're unforgettable.

That isn't about pretending price doesn't matter. It's about being clear about what we're trying to create.

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Planning a Wedding at Hodroyd Hall?

If you're getting married at Hodroyd Hall, we've now seen the venue properly, tested our setup in the Dining Room and created a 360° VenView tour to help us plan where everything works.

• Magic Mirror Hire
• Magic Mini
• Magic Mobile
• Explore our Hodroyd Hall venue page and 360° tour
• Check your wedding date

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Final Thoughts

This was exactly the first wedding fayre back we wanted.

Great atmosphere. Great supplier conversations. Couples who genuinely engaged with what we were showing them. Twenty-nine Mirror prints, four Memories bookings, strong potential Mirror bookings and our first proper evidence that Memories Live doesn't just work technically --- people immediately want it.

The biggest product lesson might be that Memories is beginning to change how the rest of our range fits together. Voice uploads give couples another way to capture the messages that previously pointed naturally towards the Mini, while Memories Live turns all of that guest-created content into something the whole room can experience.

Then there is Hodroyd Hall itself. The Dining Room worked brilliantly for us, the technology ran without a single issue, we captured a VenView tour and came away with an invitation to become part of the venue's preferred-supplier offering.

First fayre of the autumn and winter season. If this is the starting point, we'll take it.