If you are planning on attending a Wedding Show to get ideas or even figure out where to start on your journey of planning a wedding, attending a wedding show is a great place to start! If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that I attended my first wedding show in January 2020. I had never done anything like that for marketing my business and I want to share with you some of the hacks I learned from Brides and Grooms that made their day more enjoyable!
Have a plan!
This might seem obvious but knowing what you need can help make the day run smoothly. At my show there was probably 12 or so other photographers out of 125+ vendors. If you can narrow down that you are looking for a photographer and a make-up artist (as an example), that’s going to save you time and energy to help you focus in on what you need. That being said, if you are just starting out you might need everything or want to know what all your options are. See if the wedding show you are attending has their vendor list online so you can narrow it down a little beforehand and see the vendors you are interested in first!
Know what kind of show you are attending
Are you attending a mega show or is it more of a boutique show, what’s even the difference? A mega show (what I participated in) is usually in a large space, in my case it was an indoor sports/event venue. There’s was over 100 vendors and the company hosts them several times a year. A Boutique show is usually much smaller, maybe 10-15 vendors, and is held at a much smaller location. It might be held at a wedding venue or bridal shop. Whichever one you decide to go to know that there will be a variety of services to explore from vendors that support the wedding industry! If you have already chosen your wedding venue, ask them if they have a show coming up you can attend so you can see vendors that have worked there!
Bring stickers!
One of the best things I saw couples do is have stickers printed (like Avery mailing labels) with all their information written on them! When they stopped at a booth and wanted to get more information from the vendor, they were able to just put the sticker down rather than filling out all the information being asked for! Here’s an example of what to include:
Your Name
Finance’s Name
Wedding date (or date range, i.e. Spring 2021)
Email address
Primary Address
Phone Numbers
Pro tip: Create an email address specifically for your wedding so that your primary inbox doesn’t get flooded with newsletters, lead follow ups, and everything else you’re going to get through this process. This way, you and your partner can both have access and figure out which things you need to make decisions on!
Bring your tribe!
There’s so much information to be taken in at a Wedding show! By bringing the people that you love and are supporting you through your planning process you are guaranteed to make the most of the day and have your full vision of your wedding day come to life! Have fun with it and go to brunch or dinner, get your nails done or try on some wedding dresses before or after you go!
I hope this post helps give a little bit of insight on what to expect at your first wedding show! No matter how you decide to approach the day, I hope you make the best of it!
