Wedding Planning – Brides and the Bridal Show
Helpful Wedding Show Tips from Bridal Shows, Inc. CEO Naomi Hulme
Oct 29, 2009
A bride-to-be is faced with a seemingly never-ending myriad of decisions, and sometimes wedding planning enthusiasm gives way to confusion and frustration. A bridal show can help alleviate worry by centrally locating multiple wedding necessities and by fostering innovative ideas. The shows can also be incredibly fun.
The Art of the Bridal Show Event
Bridal Shows, Inc. is one of the largest bridal show producers in the country, and though the company concentrates its shows in Texas, the insight provided by CEO, Naomi Hulme, is relevant to bridal shows held anywhere.
Ms. Hulme has produced over 250 consumer and trade shows since 1988 and is one of an elite group of show producers who has achieved CEM (Certified in Exposition Management) certification. Her bridal show expertise reflects years of helping brides enjoy their wedding journey, and she is the producer of an online video that offers tips to brides who attend bridal shows.
The first question presented by this author to Ms. Hulme was the most basic one. “Why attend a bridal show?”
Ms. Hulme: “A bridal show helps you plan your wedding by providing the opportunity to talk to many wedding professionals face-to-face in one location. The show spawns fresh ideas and provides lots of foods to taste, gowns to contemplate and accessories and services to consider. And you get all of this without having to visit multiple bakery, catering, bridal shop and service provider locations. A quality bridal show is a great one-stop shopping experience where you will have the opportunity to really get to know any vendors you may want to utilize in planning your special day.”
Ms. Hulme’s answer reflects the benefit of all bridal shows, large or small. Small shows with fewer vendors offer a more intimate experience, and those vendors are likely local businesses well established in a specific neighborhood. However, fewer vendors offer fewer choices. Large bridal shows that draw dozens to hundreds of vendors provide a broader variety of opportunities.
While shows of any size usually offer cake and other food tastings, free samples and door prizes, larger shows may be more likely to offer additional fun perks, like:
- runway fashion shows
- honeymoon raffles
- vendor drawings
- bouquet tosses
- celebrity appearances
- a snacks and rest area
Bridal Ideas and Maximizing Wedding Shows
Bridal shows generate valuable ideas and offer the opportunity for hands-on evaluation of products and services, but the shows can be spread over a lot of square footage and require plenty of walking and standing. It can get tiring, and some brides may be tempted to call it a day before they’ve seen every booth. Doing so can deprive a bride of that one perfect product or service she would have discovered if only she had soldiered on.
In her own words, Ms. Hulme offers the following 10 tips to make the most of the bridal show experience.
- “First of all, remember to relax and have fun!”
- “Bring your own set of address labels. This will save you a lot of time signing up for giveaways.”
- “Bring a friend. Having someone there with a notepad to help you organize information is valuable. This person can also help you to keep bags of information separate—one for those vendors you are interested in, and one for those you’ve not yet decided about.”
- “Maximize your time by focusing on your top priorities first, then work on other items on your list.
- “Be prepared to try on gowns in front of others in a dressing room.”
- “Talk to as many companies as possible and get as much information as you can. Normal traffic in any show runs to the right and goes up and down each aisle. If show management does not provide one, use a notepad to record aisle and booth numbers. If you see something interesting, you’ll want to know how to get back to that vendor without searching the whole show.”
- “Be prepared to make decisions and book with deposits with those companies you feel good about. Taking advantage of show-only specials can really save money.”
- “Attend shows with an eye toward numbers. It helps if the show has a good number of exhibitors to help you plan as much of the wedding as possible. Larger shows are also likely to offer more entertainment.”
- “Remember that it is incumbent upon the bride to check out a vendor’s reputation before doing business with them. A bridal show can help. The bride gets to talk with a company face to face and form her own first impressions. She can ask for references and inquire about vendor policies first hand.”
- “Wear comfortable shoes!”
Enjoying a Wedding Expo
Every bride has questions. Bridal show vendors can provide answers. It’s a winning combination for every bride, and the entertainment that comes with the process is a plus found only at bridal shows. Trying to gather the same information by visiting individual stores would take an extraordinary amount of time and energy. A bridal show creates a “mall” of wedding vendors eager to please every bride, and a smart bride takes advantage of the opportunity to immerse herself in an exciting concentrated world of wedding planning.
Bridal shows of all sizes offer benefits. And by following the helpful insights Ms. Hulme has shared, every bride attending a bridal show will find her day to be more productive and her experience to be more joyful.
The Naomi Hulme and Bridal Show Crowd photographs are provided with permission from Bridal Shows, Inc.
More wedding planning ideas:
- The Joy of a Country Western Wedding Day
- How to Choose the Perfect Wedding Limousine
- Wedding Insurance – Wise or Wasteful?
clicking on photos will enlarge them
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