Sort your wedding plans at a bridal fair

• Wedding bands may not be the only expense when you tie the knot

Were I to turn my head to survey the room of course, I'd be further startled by twinkling crystals adorning everything in sight, from veils to shoes, stationery to tiaras.

I'm at the Scottish Wedding Show in Glasgow - the biggest event of its kind in the UK - where more than 300 exhibitors are touting their wares to thousands of eager brides-to-be, all looking for inspiration to make their special day that bit more, well, special.

The bi-annual event takes place over a weekend in the SECC, and with weddings - of both the "Big Fat Gypsy" and the royal variety - something of a hot topic at the moment, I'm curious to see how the Scottish wedding looks in 2011.

Wedding fairs have become big business. Today the average Scottish wedding costs more than 18,000, and brides and their friends and families pay around 10 a ticket to browse the stands offering everything from hair and make-up to cars and cakes.

Which brings us back to the Swarovski crystal-encrusted mountain of icing in front of me. "You just peel off the strips of crystals before you eat it," explains the baker staffing the stand. "Then once your wedding is over, just get yourself a glue gun and you can stick them to a top or a lamp."

Two women behind me are nodding enthusiastically. I move on. A personal trainer hands me a leaflet for a his-and-hers pre-wedding boot camp.

"It's your big day," reads the flyer. "Don't leave it too late to feel fantastic." Next up is one of many teeth-whitening stands, offering both his-and-hers packages and "tooth polishing parties".

A demonstrator sticks a plastic strip across her teeth while a group of women coo excitedly. Another stand offers to preserve your bouquet forever in a glass box frame.

Yet another offers a "trash the dress" facility: a photography session wherein brides are photographed ruining their dress in creative ways - after the big day, of course.

Bride-to-be Gillian Carr from Barrhead is here with her mother and two bridesmaids looking for inspiration. "It's a fun day out," she says.

"I think it really gets you in the wedding mood. It's been quite successful so far; I've got my invitations today and possibly my car."

Emma Bruce, 27, from Paisley isn't getting married until next June, but she's brought along her mother and sister to look for ideas. "I've got my venue sorted but I came along today looking for a piper and it looks like I've got one booked so I'm really pleased. I'm also looking for a band, but there are some other really interesting things here. I saw a photo booth for hire, which I really liked, and there's a sparkling dance floor which is amazing."

Some women are here for a fun day out, but most look like they mean business. Planning a wedding can take months, or even years, and is often very stressful (though there are, of course, wedding planners in attendance to take the organisation out of your hands, should you so wish) and for those looking to have a traditional wedding with all the sparkly trimmings, a wedding fair offers everything you could possibly dream of under one roof.

Encircling the stands are a series of shiny wedding cars for hire. Most are standard white vintage motors. There is one white VW camper van which is getting quite a bit of attention. The majority of the men in attendance appear to be congregating around a white Lamborghini. Some look like they wish they could escape in it.

Much like weddings themselves, this is a show geared up for brides. And their mothers. Most brides appear to be in their late twenties and early thirties and most have come along with mothers, sisters and friends. Some have brought husbands-to-be. If there are any gay couples in attendance, I don't spot them.

Many stands have staff dressed up as brides, and one of the highlights of the day is an enormous catwalk show of wedding dresses.

What surprises me as I weave between the stands is just how similar the wares on offer are. Brides seem to have a very specific idea of what they're looking for, and their parameters are quite narrow. With some exceptions, shoes are white and covered in sparkling gems, dresses are cream or white, strapless and full-skirted, with beaded bodices, and veils are dotted with crystals.

Seeing so many brides under one roof serves to highlight just how specific the vision of a modern Scottish wedding seems to be. If indeed the women in the room have all been dreaming of their big day since they were little girls, they've all been dreaming of very similar big days.

A number of stands offer hair and make-up trials, and as the day wears on, more and more women stroll around with near-identical up-dos (a pronounced "bump" of hair at the crown, sweeping fringe and loose bun or roll at the nape of the neck.)

One hairdresser tells me that almost all of her bookings for the year ahead come from this one show. Every bride she has catered to in the past 12 months, she adds, has used some form of hairpiece, perhaps inspired by celebrities such as Cheryl Cole. A piper tells me he's had a great day, with lots of interest and bookings.

The owner of a photo booth - which costs up to 600 to hire for the day - is getting lots of attention while over at the "Inspiration Theatre" there's a cocktail demo going on. Catering company 10 Dollar Shake are mixing up the Royal 29, a cocktail created to celebrate next month's royal nuptials. The recipe of Caorunn Scottish gin, shaken with homemade ginger syrup, lemon juice and pressed apple juice, strained into a chilled flute and topped up with Nyetimber West Sussex sparkling wine and garnished with a slice of red apple was a hit with visitors to the mobile bar company's stand.

By this point, the show is getting really busy, and competition between stands for the attention of guests is growing. "Have you set the date yet?" and "Are you the lucky bride?" are common introductory questions.

Men in kilts are handing out flyers and I'm beginning to buckle under the weight of my ever-growing pile of leaflets and business cards. I notice that some savvy brides have brought folders, and are filing them away carefully.

The owner of a stand which is hiring out bow-bedecked chair covers is taking a breather during a rare quiet moment. A bored child pulls on an arch of balloons. A gaggle of women try on tiaras in front of a row of mirrors and a solitary man tugs embarrassedly at a frilly blue garter on a stand. I visit the chocolate fountain display for the third time.

I watch as my baker looks to be on the brink of closing the deal on a four-figure cake. Amongst all the bling and the hairspray, it's very easy to forget that weddings are in fact a very serious business. Today thousands of pounds have been parted with and hundreds of brides have left here that little bit closer to making their big day perfect. For all the fun and frivolity, this is an industry worth around 5.5 billion a year in the UK, and everyone wants a slice of the crystal-encrusted cake.

Edinburgh's Corn Exchange hosts a Wedding Fair and Fashion Show this weekend, 11am-4:30pm, Saturday and Sunday, tickets 5, www.ece.uk.com

The next Scottish Wedding Show will be held during the weekend of 17-18 September at the SECC. Visit www.thescottishweddingshow.com for details.

This article was first published in The Scotsman, 5 March, 2011