It can be so much fun to take an afternoon and attending a bridal show or two with your bridesmaids, groom and any family you want to bring. Believe us, we’ve been to our fair share of shows. There can be hundreds of business, so many ideas, tastings, giveaways and more. What can be more fun than food and prizes?!
The end game is what is important though. You are getting married and you are usually spending money (not at DC Centre’s Bridal Show!) attending a bridal show so you can meet with all of these businesses in the industry at one place. It should be a big time saver for you…should be!
Here are some of the tips we’ve picked up over the years for brides and their families and friends to get the most out of attending a bridal show.
- Pre-register! Nothing is worse than bring people along with you only to be stopped at the door because you haven’t registered yet. Take the 5 minutes and pre-register online prior to the show so you can drop off your tickets and just walk in and enjoy.
- You know those mailing envelope stickers you put your information on? Time to break those out (with a few tweaks)! You want to put the following on the stickers: Full Name, Address, Phone #, Email Address and Wedding Date. Every time you want to sign up for a giveaway or give your information to a business to have them contact you while you are attending a bridal show, you don’t have to waste time standing and filling out the form! Just slap one of those stickers on and you are off to the next one.
- Let’s address a few things in this list. Why should you put your Address & Phone #? Because half of the time something will go wrong with email, whether it is sent to your Spam or it blocks the business. They have no option to contact you then. Give them at least a second way to reach you, just in case. Email is usually the preferred method though so don’t worry about getting a ton of phone calls or things in your mail.
- You will use your email for everything for your wedding. From contacting your venue, to your florists, even your bridal party! Want to keep all of that in order? Make a wedding email! It will make such a huge difference in your life, we promise. Once you are married, you can go ahead and just delete that account and all of the things with it, and they stay out of your regular email.
- Bring a pad of paper and a mini stapler with you. The pad of paper is so you can take notes on the vendors you talk with. After you’ve received information from the vendor, you can go ahead and just staple everything together and drop it into your bridal show tote.
- You may want to bring your check book or credit card that you are using for the wedding. There may be a vendor that you just love and you’ve seen their work and you are ready to book as you are attending the bridal show. They may also be doing a deal specifically for attending the show that you want to lock in. Better to be prepared than not!
- Our last piece of advice…Have Fun! After all, this is all about your wedding day!