Asian Wedding Exhibition 2011 Sat 12th - Sun 13th November 2011 Saturday 11am to 7pm / Sunday 10:30am to 6:30pm Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, Wood Green, London, N22 7AY Tickets (At Door Prices): Adults £8 (£10), Children £5 (£7) (Children up to and including 10 years old), Family £22 (£28) ( 2 adults and 2 children), Group of 4 Adults £28 (£35). Booking Line: 0871 873 2656 www.aweuk.com

Asian Wedding Exhibition 2011 to host Pakistani couture designers

The Asian Wedding Exhibition 2011, in association with PureJewels and Pharamclinix, returns to Alexandra Palace in North London from on the 12th and 13th November 2011. It will be the first time that the exhibition has hosted Pakistani couture designers alongside Indian names. Europe's first and largest exhibition sees just over 10,000 visitors travelling from across the UK and Europe as a first port of call to plan and prepare for their weddings. This year the exhibition showcases intrinsically English wedding trends and services as the Asian market continue to look to fuse both eastern and western styles. With the average Asian wedding today costing anywhere between £26,000 - £50,000, consumers look to get an "inside edge" on everything from bespoke cake designs and colours, hair and make up trials, ring design and fitting, henna trials to finding the most spectacular venue for "the Big Day" itself.

In the face of the recent recession, the cost of Asian weddings seems almost recession-proof. Figures published earlier this year by CompareWeddingInsurance.org.uk showed that the average amount spent on an average English traditional wedding this year is £15,500, down from £20,000 in 2008. The average Asian wedding today in the UK is still costing regular couples anywhere between £26,000 - £50,000 (AWE UK Research). The numbers continue to grow as couples look to create spectacular days and unusual elements to make their day outstanding. Yogesh Kanani, Founder of the AWE says "Last year we saw many visitors attend with a wedding checklist and many left making decisions and bookings on the day itself."

Yogesh Kanani, entrepreneur and founder of the AWE sowed the seeds of the exhibition after seeing an advert in the local newspaper promoting an English Wedding show. While planning his own wedding he and his fiancé realised that there was nowhere simialr for them to visit for Asian weddings. They took this up as a challenge and the Asian Wedding Exhibition was born. For the first exhibition in 1994, they secured 30 exhibitors, Wembley conference centre and attracted 3,000 visitors.