During your engagement, visiting a bridal expo or two will be a great way to get ahead in your planning. What is a bridal expo exactly? A bridal expo, or bridal show is essentially a convention, filled with the area’s best wedding experts! You will get to meet with potential vendors, try delicious samples of food and cake, watch a fashion show, and enjoy some live music! While not every expo is free to attend, many have a very affordable entry fee, and you will get your money’s worth in free swag and samples!
Why Go to a Bridal Expo?
Bridal expos aren’t only for the fun and food. Bridal expos present you with the opportunity to meet and low-key interview many wedding vendors at the same time in the same place. Rather than browsing through websites, you get to meet vendors in person. This allows you to experience if you’ll click well (which is very important!) and see what they have to offer. When you leave, hopefully you’ll have some clarity on a vendor or two that you’d like to hire.
You shouldn’t go into a bridal expo without a plan. Here is what you need to know and how to prepare to get the most out of your experience at the bridal show.
Don’t Go Alone
Bridal Expos are generally going to be very busy and you will be processing a lot of information in a short amount of time. Bringing someone with you is a sure way to make sure you are leaving with the important information you need and not missing a beat. You can bring your partner, a family member, or a friend. It doesn’t matter who you bring, just make sure it is someone that will be focused on helping you execute your plan, keeping an eye out for anything you can’t miss, and will ask all of the right questions you may forget in the moment.
Show Up with a Plan
Before the day of the bridal expo, sit down and think about where you are in your wedding planning process and what you’d like to accomplish that day. Perhaps you are newly engaged and have no clue where to start – it may be a good idea to speak with some wedding planners and find one that understands where you’re at and can help you get you off the ground running. Or maybe you are well into planning and just need some final touches like a DJ that can work the crowd. Of course, stop and try the delicious slices of wedding cake, but also know what your mission is and make sure you focus on that before you walk out of the expo.
Show Up to the Bridal Expo Early
To get the best experience of your bridal expo, make sure you show up at the beginning of the show. Most expos have raffles and you must be present to enter and win. You don’t want to miss out on a free wedding cake or engagement photography shoot. Raffle drawings will usually happen once every 30-60 minutes, so you’ll want to be there for as much of the expo as you possibly can!
It’s also a good idea to show up early to get the best out of vendors. You may find a vendor whose booth is completely packed with brides at the moment and decide to come back to them later when the crowd dies down. If you show up early, you’ll be making sure you have time to come back. If you come towards the end, there is also a chance that some vendors will start packing up early if there aren’t enough clients still walking around – which means you may miss out on meeting the perfect vendor!
Bridal Expo Attire
You will be walking around a lot. Make sure you are wearing comfortable shoes! You want to be dressed comfortable, but with it being your once in a lifetime experience of wedding planning, you of course want to dress for the occasion! Something like a sundress or cute top will be perfect.
Pre-Made Address Labels
There will be a lot of raffles and drawings you will be entering at the bridal expo. Not only does the expo hold raffles, but often times, businesses will be holding their own at their booths, or you may want to give them your information to follow up with you. Showing up with pre-made address labels will save you so much time filling out forms!
Make a Wedding Email Address
After you attend a bridal expo, you are going to receive a ton of emails from vendors. The thing is, after the wedding, you may not want to click “unsubscribe” for every single vendor’s emails. A quick and simple solution is to create an email address specifically for your wedding. After the wedding, you’ll never have to look at it again.
Bring a Bag
You will be receiving so many souvenirs, samples and literature to go through at home. The problem is, you will not have anywhere to carry it! Bring a backpack or large tote to carry your giveaways so that you can keep your hands free. If you’re coming to a bridal expo that Sammond Events is exhibiting in, stop by our booth for a free tote!
Bridal expos are a fun and productive tool for your wedding planning journey! With some preparation, you can set yourself up for success in checking off a few boxes of your to-do list. Now all that’s left is to find some expos to attend!
Check out Sammond Events at these upcoming events:
- Hello Beautiful Bridal Expo – January 26th, 2025 at the Julian Smith Casino