Are bridal expos worth going to?

blabla89

FBIL sent FI and I a link to a livingsocial deal on an upcoming wedding expo. I said I'd check it out just to be nice. It's only $6 but it's sooo far from where we live. This one is also branded as a "luxury" bridal show which isn't what we're going for.

So...are these things even worth going to? Did you find any good vendors at an expo? Is it any better than just shopping around online? I have no idea...would love to know your thoughts.

ETA: To clarify, it's not actually that far, it's just way out in the suburbs and I hate driving around here. I'm sure all of the vendors would serve the area where I'm getting married...just not sure if I want to spend two hours out of my weekend in traffic to get there.

Sugargirl1019

Only if you're seriously looking for a vendor.

I thought I could go to one out of town for fun - no vendors obviously would be where my wedding was, and I got placed on so many crazy email lists and still get so many emails/phone calls if I've found a photographer yet.

So I hesitate on going to one far from your wedding location.

wandajune6

I went to a luxury show with my friend and it made me feel bad about myself. It was my first (hopefully only) wedding meltdown. I left feeling:

1. Hideously fat ("we find that girls your size prefer...")
2. Too poor to get married (so many things I didn't know I was "supposed" to buy)
3. Too old (don't $@*# call me a "mature" bride)
4. Too laid back (I'm supposed to have opinions on my napkins!?!)

It's very easy to get swept away with the excitement of everything that's available. If you're someone who will get fixated on random crap that you can't afford, skip it. I left feeling like I'm a terrible host if I don't have late night food trucks, an expensive makeup artist, and monogrammed everything.

MadHops21

I go to them for fun. I lie and say I've already spoken to vendors if I'm not interested in them. There is a "luxury" bridal show in Chicago year long in various locations. It has free food tasting, runway show with wedding dresses and BM dresses, lots of good information for vendors, and lots of prizes at the runway show. 

If you give personal contact info, they will call you and say you've "won" cruises and trips when you really haven't. Lots and lots of emails from various vendors. Spam everywhere. But I love going with my mom to see dresses and deals and all the food and runway show. I think I found a bakery to do the grooms cake, so I'm happy I go! 

silver0319

I've gone to 3 bridal expos.  The first one was just to see what it was like (and I made FI go), the second was to actually meet with a vendor that I was interested in, and the third was at our venue.  

To be completely honest, the only one worth going to was the 2nd one.  I met my photographer, found a local gluten-free bakery for our GF guests, got ideas of photobooth pricing, and I was able to see invitation samples up close and personal.  Oh, and my sister and I grabbed a delicious lunch at my favorite Turkish restaurant afterwards. 

Beware of the countless emails that you'll receive just from going; my wedding email is constantly assaulted by unwanted solicitation. 

Cookie Pusher

I went to a few for shits and giggles. I didn't talk to a single vendor since I already knew who I was going to hire. I basically went for free food/champagne, door prizes, free bridal magazines. If you decide to go, don't give your real name or real contact info! I have a fake email set up and very generic name I give so no one bothers me. And if someone gets persistent for my address and phone number, I give an address and number I had when I was in college.

HisGirlFriday13

I went to one, in part because I was covering it for the newspaper. I found it really unhelpful, very overwhelming, and generally unpleasant.

There was a stripped pole -- excuse me, 'fitness pole' -- instructor who was hard-selling her classes saying, 'Just because he put a ring on it doesn't mean he's not still looking! You want to get hot for him, right?' 

Uhm...I find your assumption that my then-FI, now-DH is going to stray demeaning to him, and he already thinks I'm hot enough.

(Evil HisGirl may or may not have said to her, 'Some of us used our brains, charm, personality, and intelligence, rather than our vaginas, to form relationships. Of course, if that's all you have, well, make do with what you've got, I guess.')

Not that this is surprising, but the vendors there were very eager to over-sell, up-sell, add-on, etc. And I get that -- this is their livelihood, so if they can talk you into the heavier cardstock or more expensive cake, or whatever, that's better for them. 

But I felt a lot of pressure, like if I didn't match my napkins to my table clothes to my BM dresses to my flowers to my underwear, people were going to judge me and my wedding. 

JMalettas

 I went to 2 bridal shows with my H, while we were engaged, and enjoyed them both. I would say the first one was better, as we went before we had planned or booked much. The second one we browsed around, (for fun more than anything), and left within the hour. There's definitely quite a bit to look at, and you get a lot of ideas from different booths as you go. We found our videographer, & hair stylists, at the first wedding show. The place we rented the tuxes from, had a promotion going, where if you signed up with them there, & had so many rentals, when you went to actually do your renting, the groom's tux was free. So that was definitely worth it, and saved us a couple hundred $$. There's usually different prize draws you can enter into, and most shows have a door prize at the end. (Here, it's usually something fairly significant). My cousin won a honeymoon at one she attended a few years back. So it's informative, and there's chances to get some discounts/free stuff.

 We really enjoyed attending them here, & I would say it's worth going to at least one.

 *J

pumpkinsandturkeys

I'm all for taking a look, because every show is different.

However, I had a very unpleasant experience at my last one (the first I went to was so-so, but I was with a friend at the time who was getting married, and I was not yet engaged). FI and I went to one of the regional ones here, and it was ridiculously overwhelming.

First off, it was CROWDED. The layout was very poor in terms of trying to navigate, and we couldn't fit more than 2 people side-by-side in an aisle, so you were forever trying to get around people. Because of that, it was difficult to see the booths and/or talk to anyone. There were also a TONNE of people there, because every bride seemed to bring her entire WP with her.

I didn't see anything that I couldn't look up on a vendor's website, TBH. If I had seen a vendor I liked, I wouldn't have had much time to actually speak with them, and I would have been fighting for their attention and yelling over all of the noise.

We honestly couldn't wait to get out of there, and were sad we wasted the money.

FiancB

I went to one in my town for fun and it was pretty nice. It was free, with lots of cake and mimosas and they gave away a lot of prices. I wasn't really looking for vendors in my area though.

Then I did a last minute replan of basically my whole wedding and went to another bridal show and am soooo glad I did. I found my photographer and DJ for $500 off apiece and found a nice and cheap bakery too. This one didn't have cake everywhere so that was slightly disappointing haha but other than that it was pretty great. I guess it was really crowded in the beginning but we showed up about an hour and a half after it started and while it was busy, it wasn't claustrophobic.

So if you are still looking for vendors it's definitely worth it if for no other reason but they often have specials going on. 

labro

The one I went to wasn't worth it. I had zero interest in any of the vendors I saw and personally didn't take away much from the expo. If you do really want to go then definitely do like PP's said and come up with a special spam email because seriously.....they never ever stop trying to contact you and its super annoying and tiresome!

JennyColada

Someone that works in my mom's office somehow was involved with one and offered her free tickets for me and her.

I thought about going, if just for the free tastes of food and cake. But I figured it'd be just super packed and leave me feeling really anxious due to my slightly introverted nature.

blabla89

@lmhollister which one did you go to?

IMathlete

We went to several. I ended up winning prizes at every show. Real prizes, not the "you've won wedding rings if you listen to our 2-hour sales presentation). We even won a huge portion of our honeymoon. So for that alone, it was worth it. We didn't find many vendors this way, but it was nice to see some of the floral arrangements or table setups in person rather than just in magazines or on pinterest. I did find my boudoir photographer at a show, and that was truly wonderful. She was fantastic, and I don't think I would have found someone as good without that show. FI enjoyed all the free cake tasting, beer, etc at the shows, but I shied away from the food (darn wedding diet). I did stay local, though.

The show I found the least helpful was the HUGE bridal expo. It was overwhelming, crowded, and just too hectic. The other shows we attended were small, and we made the rounds of the entire things within about 30 minutes. Those were where I really got to talk to vendors and got the most valuable information (and prizes).

labro

@lalalaurita My mom and sister and I went to the Georgia Bridal Show. They host multiple shows a year and this one was at the Cobb Galleria Centre. The whole event was about 5 hours long and absolutely massive. You couldn't walk anywhere because of all the people (and strollers! ugh...) and if you had wanted to talk to one of the vendors it was nearly impossible to. I went because I had a list of vendors already and had hoped to see them there before initiating more formal talks but none of them were at the show.

We stayed maybe an hour. The bridal fashion show wasn't until the end and honestly, I think my head would have exploded if I had had to stay for three more hours just to see women walk down a runway in different dresses. I can see what some PP's are saying about the smaller shows being worthwhile since you get more personal attention...but the big ones are definitely more of a hassle than they are useful.

The good points - we ran into one of my sister's sorority sisters who has started up her own stationary business. It was fun to look through her samples. I also enjoyed a big collaberative set up by Anya Bridal, Savvy Formalwear, and the Crowne Plaza Ravinia. They had a walk through with different table scapes that represented romantic, formal, casual, vintage, etc. etc. and they had a couple examples of dresses and suits that fit each "theme". They also had a dessert table put together by the Villa Christina (wonderful restaurant in Dunwoody). This was maybe the only classy part about the entire show.  

Kauris

I went and ended up talking to my hair/makeup artist, because I saw her at the show (I already wanted to try her out) I got my hair and makeup trial free with booking. I already knew what bakery we are using (our venue basically requires one specific bakery) I went and spoke with them and got half off the grooms cake and 15% off my cake. So sometimes, it's worth it. But other than saving money, my friends had WAY more fun with it than I did.

And if you go, create a junk mail email to give to them.

JennyColada

kasmith1 said:

And if you go, create a junk mail email to give to them.

Or can't you just use a fake one?

JennyFakeEmail@email.com