Hello Ladies!

nfavazzo

I'm a new bride to be here on the Phoenix Board! I have been on here a few times over the last couple of months, but as my best friend's maid of honor turned wedding coordinator!

Anyways, I just got engaged two weeks ago! Now my best friend and I get to plan our weddings together! Let's just hope it doesn't turn out to be like Bride Wars! ;-)

Anyone going to the bridal expo this weekend!?!
 
Better question ... has anyone been before? How is it?

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

Hi and welcome!  The ladies on this board are great and have so much information!  I have never been to the expo, but I hear it is a bit overwhelming.  Totally worth going to I am sure, but there are a lot of vendors there!

fisktobe

I have been.  Tons and tons of vendors.  Definately wear comfortable shoes.  And plan to spend a good half a day if not longer.  Take someone else with you if possible.  Its easier to collect everything with more hands.  I had a really good time it was just a lot of stuff going on and very very crowded.  Have a good time

stahlop

Definitely a ton of vendors.  It's at least a mile or two walk if you try to get every vendor.  My suggestion is to find a few that you want to talk to (from the boards and the knot's vendor list) and then go talk to those.  If you see one that peaks your interest, go talk to them too, but if you try and talk to everyone you will probably just be more confused.

1104*Celsius

BIG TIP - unless you LOVE spam and writing until your hand falls off - create a WEDDING ONLY email address via one of the free email providers (gmail, yahoo, etc.) and then print out small mailing labels with your name (and maybe your fiance's name, too), wedding date (if you have one set) and your WEDDING ONLY email address on it.

A lot of these vendors will have contact forms for you to fill out, and this will save you time and tons of emails cluttering up your normal inbox. You just stick a label on their sheet and keep moving.

NillaWafer10

Second creating the wedding email address and creating the labels.  I went to a Phoenix expo a few years back, and I am still getting emails from bridal shows in Tucson!!!!  I swear they sell those email lists to the scummiest vendors.  Wear comfortable shoes, bring your planner to set up consults, and wear a light purse.  They will give you pounds of fliers and favor samples to take home.  Welcome to the board!

nfavazzo

Noted! Seperate email account - check!
Thank you all so much for your advice! I hope I can go there and come home with my sanity still in tact!

Gogalina

Welcome & congratulations! How exciting that you & your friend are planning together. The pps gave you some great advice. I attended June Bridal Expo in downtown Phoenix & I attended with my FH along with our immediate families & 2 of my BMs (10 people total, lol). They all wanted to go so I couldn't deny them. It was really helpful having them there though because we split up so we conquered more. Looking back, I scored my videographer from there & learned more about wedding cake bakers. That's about it though. It was a bit overwhelming coming out of there with all that info so take it all in stride. Doing some research helped me beforehand too because I got to meet with certain vendors before actually setting up a formal meeting with them. GL!

sms274

Welcome and congrats! Did you wind up going to the show? I checked it out for a few hours but I'm almost done with plans as far as shows go so didn't find it extremely helpful. What did you think of it?

mresendez

Welcome!!