Hey, ladies. I went to a bridal show a couple of weeks ago and I had a really craptacular experience and I was wondering if any other brides had bad experiences at any of the bridal shows they went to.
First, when I signed up for the bridal show were were promised several gifts, although some were first come first serve. One of these gifts was a wedding planner. I was, literally, the first bride in the door, and when I got to the registration table the woman working it told me that since I was carrying a notebook with me (which was just filled with magazine tear outs, btw) that she was wondering if I'd forego my planner since they apparently hadn't made enough. I was slightly irked, but in the end I agreed to forego the planner.
Then, when I got inside some vendors were pushy and some were downright rude. David's Bridal was offering a $50 off coupon, but when we went to redeem it we found out that in order to get it, we had to make an appointment before a specific date. That was fine with me, but there was a woman beside me who was trying to explain that she only got her schedule week to week and wouldn't know what date she could come yet. The woman at the counter was horribly cruel to her in front of all the people at the booth.
Other vendors, I found, made it very clear that they didn't want our business after they asked our budget. I'm a budget bride and I understand that weddings aren't always cheap, but I was surprised at how many vendors quickly went from open and wanting to talk to cold and wanting to move on to the next customer just based on the amount total we wanted to spend on the wedding.
We did, however, find a few vendors that understood my needs as a budget bride and were excited to work with us in the future. Sadly, those booths with all of their love and enthusiasm for the job were the ones I noticed being visited the least.
Afterward, we received phone calls from several booths saying we'd won, but even that was an issue. The first thing I won was supposedly a 3 day, 2 night trip, but after a little research found out the company is a scam. The second thing I actually legit won was $300 for a cosmetic procedure of my choice. However, when I signed up for that booth, it said I'd get the procedure free. Now they are telling me that they'll only give me $300 and all of the procedures offered are $600-$5000 dollars. So that is a no go. Finally, I got a call today about a cruise we had registered for, and when the guy on the phone was confirming our info and found out that we made less than $50000 a year, he took back the prize. He said we were no longer eligible when the booth had made no signs that our income would determine whether we won or not.
It was just an overall crappy experience. I know that not all bridal shows are like that, but I was just so sad to have had that as my bridal show experience.
Anyway, sorry that this was so long. I needed to vent. Anyone else have any bridal show horror stories to share?