Our First Craft Fayre

Our first Craft Fayre was a sucess for all – For both stallholders and from the feedback we received, for the people who came and browsed the stalls and bought. It was lovely meeting the other stallholders and seeing what they had to offer. Both Terry and I went round and talked with all of them and checked that all was well and we had some very nice feedback from them.

Fiona who runs her Phoenix card business was really impressed that she got a mention on the flyers that Terry had delivered to the householders round the village and one lady who attended the Craft Fayre said that she had come because she’d seen that Phoenix cards were going to be there. A local reflexologist Jennifer Campbell had rung Terry during the week after seeing one of the flyers and asked if she could come and have a corner to set up and offer 20 minutes of reflexology. Jennifer was busy all afternoon doing her 20 minute session and said she like to come to this Saturday’s fayre at Edge Village Hall.

Margaret Gardner and her husband from Gardner Designs had come all the way from Barry in South Wales and Margaret told us that it was well worth the trip and although they were booked for the other dates we have before Christmas they would like us to send information on any that we do in the New Year. Jenny Harding selling Usborne books said she had a good afternoon and said she would arrange for someone to attend the Cranham Village Hall. Terry bought his first Christmas present from her for one of his grandchildren.

We were all kept busy with a steady stream of customers but the atmosphere was very friendly and relaxed which was great as one of the things that Terry and I wanted to achieve was a friendly and personal service for stallholders and customers. We also had a couple of local craftspeople who were interested in having stalls at our other events. So all told it was brilliant day and although Terry and I were tired at the end we were very happy with how it had gone and looking forward to our next Fayre.

Everyone tidied up their own stalls and put the tables and chairs away at the end and my sister did a grand job manning the refreshments and then cleaning up the kitchen afterwards so that we only had to worry about our stalls and check the hall was tidy and lock up, which was great. Terry took me to dinner at The Royal William on the way home through Cranham, which was a perfect end to a busy afternoon.

When we got home we were still on a high and while I did the associated paperwork we chatted about how it had gone and what we’d learned. One thing we want to do differently is to have more of a plan when the other stallholders arrive – It was a bit disorganised at that point and the refreshments ended up getting squashed into a corner, which wasn’t ideal. We decided it would be good to actually go round the halls so that we could see what space was available, the size of the tables and where the kitchen are. We had peered through the windows at Leonard Stanley Village Hall, but that had only given us an impression. While Terry was out posting flyers and putting up posters in Edge this week he met with the keyholder for the hall and went round with him.

One thing too which we both forgot was our cameras so no photos I’m sad to report. Saturday I won’t forget!

Originally posted to Webjam 11th November 2009