Bridal shows are an excellent tool for getting a lot of wedding-related tasks tackled all at once. These shows are also an amazing source of wedding inspiration plus they can be tons of fun when you show up prepared!
WhereBridesGo.com has a few tips and tricks for you today that will help you get ready to attend a bridal show. Next week, we'll add to that list with helpful tips for show day. The entire list should help to make your bridal show experience both pleasant and successful.
Pre-Register
If the bridal show you will be attending offers pre-registration, it's a big time-saver. Instead of filling out paperwork when you first get there, you can get bypass the long line and get to the main event faster. You might even be eligible for additional giveaways by getting your name on the list early.
Do Some Homework
A bridal show is the perfect place to get a close-up look at what your local wedding vendors can really do and find out if their personality and wedding planning philosophy will gel well with yours. Research the vendors that will be there and plan to visit the ones that you are most interested in first. The other booths will still be there to browse at the end if you have extra time.
Gather Your "Team Bride"
Take friends or family along with you that will enjoy this type of event and can also help you accomplish everything that you need to get done. It can be a really fun girls' afternoon for your entire wedding party or you can simply go with only your maid of honor.
Some brides bring along their mom and future mother-in-law, and a few even persuade their groom-to-be to join them. Avoid taking children if at all possible. Their attention spans are most often a lot shorter than what is required for this type of event.
Create a Wedding Email Address
You will be giving out your email address every time you sign up for giveaways at vendor's booths. Rather than trying to separate all of the emails that you'll be getting about the wedding after the bridal show (both wanted and unwanted,) set up a temporary email address specifically to handle wedding information.
Once the wedding planning is over, you can shut down that address and never have to get an email from those vendors again. If there are some that you may use in the future for other events, you can share your permanent email address with them later.
Save Your Writing Hand
Nearly every booth will have giveaways, so there will be a lot of signing up to do. Even with "Team Bride" helping you out, all of that writing will get old quickly.
Instead, print out all of the information that may be needed on sticky address labels. All you will have to do then is put that label on each giveaway sheet. No writing involved plus it takes up a lot less of your time. Information that you should include is:
- Bride's Name
- Groom's Name
- Wedding Date
- Location of Wedding (city and state)
- Email Address
- Phone Number (only if you are okay with them calling you.)
- Home Address (Optional, but you should at least include the city and state.)
Next week we'll be back with 5 more helpful tips that will benefit you on bridal show day. Until then, head on over to our online wedding store for a bit of inspiration about the type of wedding you will be planning. While you are at the bridal show, you may see some new trends you will want to try, but going into the show with a few ideas already will help you to zero in on the vendors that best fit your vision.
~ The WhereBridesGo.com Team
Post by Deanna Powell, Certified Bridal Consultant