April 15, 2019

 

My First Bridal Show

My First Bridal Show 



What it's Really Like To Do Your First Bridal Show

This is my first year as a wedding consultant.  So when the email arrived in my inbox about the Marry Me Night Market bridal show I seriously considered signing up for a booth. Of course I wanted to do some research first because a booth at a bridal show does cost money.  I asked in a couple of Facebook wedding groups if bridal shows were worth it.   Hit or miss was the response I received.  It really depends on the show and  the couples that attend I was told.  Well that wasn't helpful.  Now when I said how much a small booth costs,  Go for it! was the answer from everyone who responded.  I signed up for a 5 foot x 5 foot space, the smallest booth I could get. 

The bridal show was originally scheduled for February but our meteorologists "threatened" snow a week in advice and the show was moved to April.  Of course it didn't snow and I knew it wouldn't but to be safe the show was moved. 

I met with Vintage Meets Modern to rent some furniture and accessories for my booth. Once I figured out what furniture would fit into my 5' x 5' booth I was ready to get creative with how I wanted it to look.  I created a secret Pinterest board of ideas to send to the vendors I'd be working with.    Letters and Dust  was creating the signs for the show and I asked her to make me some as well. I sent her a collage based off my Pinterest board and let her do her creative thing.  I also knew I wanted a cake but didn't need a real one. A faux one would do just fine. I sent  Sugarhouse Cake the same collage and told her to create one for me. She had free reign to create whatever she wanted.   All the other items I wanted for my booth I had on hand. 


The day before the show I packed everything up and picked up the faux cake.  The cake was perfect! It matched my booth look perfectly.   On the day of the show I was originally going to arrive 2 hours before the show.  I knew I didn't need much time to set up a small space.  I ended up deciding to arrive 3 hours before the show instead. Thank goodness I did!  I was told when I arrived that the furniture would be in my booth.  Whoops! It wasn't there. It got delivered to the wrong booth.  Thank goodness I arrived early. I had time to move the items over to my booth and get set up. Always give yourself more time then you think you need. 

My Booth! 

My first ever bridal booth!  The photos will be a little dark because it was a NIGHT MARKET! The lights were turned down and only cafe lights and some spot lights were used.  I didn't realize the lights would be this low so I was really glad I used a lot of colour in my booth. Before the show opened vendors walked around to check out everyone's booths and as they walked by mine I heard, "This one is cool", " So creative", "Look at all the colour in this one" 😊😊 Gotta say, I was feeling pretty excited about my booth after hearing that. The last thing you want is for couples to walk by and barely look at your booth. 

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Before this bridal show I was in I attended one to get an idea of what booths looked like and what caught my eye.  SIGNS! That was one thing that stood out to me.  Some of the booths at the bridal show I attended before the one I was in didn't have signs.  You'd walk by their booth and have no idea what their service was or the name of their company. It wasn't inviting to me at all and I saw so many couples just walk right by.  I made sure to have a nice BIG sign. Couples saw my sign and would stop to ask what Fizzy Party was. The 2019 Trends sign by Letters and Dust  added interest, colour and information for the couples. 

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At the front of the booth I had a small bistro table with information for the couples, a wedding newsletter sign up and some candy.  I was told by several brides in wedding Facebook groups that candy is a must for your booth. Funny thing was, more vendors ate the candy then couples did. 😂

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On top the bar I decorated it with colour.  Pink table runner, florals, more candy and a camel for fun. 


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On the opposite side of the bar was the cake created by Sugarhouse Cake . This cake got A LOT of attention at the bridal show.  I loved how it matched perfectly with the sign and the floor covering I painted. 

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Right before the attendees were going to be let in I saw the booth near mine light candles. I didn't think we could light candles so I didn't bring a lighter. They were really nice and let me borrow their lighter. The booth looked SO much better with the candles lit. 

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I didn't know what to expect from the show.  I went in with a positive attitude and hoped that couples would be interested enough to stop by my booth. I was next to a cake baker and because our booths were so small and close together couples thought we were a team.  This actually helped my booth because I would explain to them we weren't a team and then tell them about my services.  The night started out a little slow and couples seemed mildly interested.  However, as the night went on more and more couples stopped at my booth and were genuinely interested in my services and asked for information.  It's too early to tell if couples who attended the show will book my services but I consider the show a success! 

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If you're interested in my wedding consulting services I'd love to give you more information. Contact me at Tiffany.fizzyparty@gmail.com 


Bridal booth styling - Fizzy Party 
Bar, bistro table, cake stand, geo terrariums-  Vintage Meets Modern 
Acrylic signs - Letters and Dust 

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