Bridal Shows - Worth the time?

rachelreneeup

Hello, This is my first post, I've just set a date 10-15-11.  I have some time and was thinking of going to some Bridal Shows.  Do you fellow Knotties think its worthwhile or too overwhelming to go to a show?  If so which ones did you like or does anyone know of any good ones coming up?  Thanks for your help and advice!

Melgor78

I wouldn't pay to go to one.   I went to one that was free.  I didn't really get any useful info from it.    Just something to pass the time I guess.  Don't give them you phone number or e-mail address.  You will be spamed by just about everyone.  If you give an e-mail out make one just for wedding info. 

crhein26

Congratulations and welcome to TK.  Please feel free to share your proposal story and anything else you want to share.  We love details.

As for the shows, I have been to a few.  IF you are going to go, do 2 things:  Make sure you create a seperate email for wedding related items, and make up labels with your name, wedding date, phone number and email address on them before you go so you don't have to write out all the info 100 times.  But I will advise that it will lead to tons of junk mail and phone calls that you don't necessarily want.   I found out who I wanted my vendors to be and checked to see if they were going to be at a particular bridal show so that I could get their discounts if they were offering them.

If I can suggest something, it would be to look at the vendor stickies at the top of the board.  You can get an idea of who everyone's vendors are.  You can also look at the vendor reviews which will give you an idea of how well people liked their vendors.

Good luck and I look forward to chatting with you over the next year!

rachelreneeup

Thanks for your help ladies, I'm more interested in checking out places to get my dress.  I'm assuming that those shows will have various wedding dress vendors?

emarston1

Personally I don't think they are worth the time or money.  All my vendors I have booked based on recs from brides here on theknot.

emily1004

The one I went to I won some stuff... but I had already hired those vendors. So I just gave them away. Use a separate email. They spam you like crazy. It was worth going to one. I wouldn't go to others.

mybestfriendsfuturemrs

I agree with Cori. I went to a couple of bridal shows. They're stuffy and overcrowded. You get handed tons of stuff that is somewhat useless. I get spammed all the time so I created a separate email address. I am now trying to remove myself from the 100s of mailing lists that I'm on.

I created the labels and that saved a lot of time.

I have booked al of my vendors except for one due to knottie recommendations. I am now having second thoughts on booking them, but I don't think I'd be able to get as good as a deal.

crhein26

Rachel, all the shows I have been to do not have wedding dress vendors.  Tux vendors yes, annoying DJ's, Photobooth people, some food tastings, chair covers, and wedding coordinators, but never dresses.  If you do a search for wedding dress on these boards, there should be a ton of dress shops.  Try that first, and then if you haven't seen anything in your area then you might want to try asking again and mentioning the area you live in.  I believe the vendor posts list where people got their dresses from too.  But definitely read through all the posts at the top.  It is very helpful.  I got my photographer and DJ from the knotties.  I have yet to book my remaining vendors, but I know that I will definitely be using their reviews!

lndskelly

I have mixed feelings about the bridal shows. The first time I went I was a year and a half away from my wedding and wasn't actively planning, just looking for ideas. That time I found the show to really REALLY overwhelming and not helpful because I hadn't had anything specific I was looking for. 

The second time I went to a show I want with the goal of finding a photographer and a DJ. I found shows to be helpful especially for these vendors because personality matters so much. You could get a feel for 10-15 Djs and 20-30 Photogs quickly. I ended up booking those two vendors from the show so I thought it was incredibly helpful (especially with their bridal show discounts). It's also helpful because you can get everyone's pricing info up front and don't have to deal with emailing/calling them when it's not on their website. 

So, if you're going with a vendor goal in mind, totally go for it. Also, when you see a vendor that just looks awful but they are about to talk to you remember the line "I already have a photog/dj/florist/etc" even if it's a lie, they will leave you alone

Sue-n-Kevin

I think the prior posters have captured everything. I pretty much went (and dragged my fiance, LMAO) because I wanted to "see" stuff...... flowers, candy, etc, for ideas, but that's all. I took a bunch of business cards away, and ultimately booked all my vendors from recommendations on this board. I'm not all done with vendors, but if you use the internet a lot, you can google for just about everything, and get info that way as well.

I also agree, there were very few dress vendors at the 2 shows I went to. For dresses, use the vendor list at the top of this board, because they are tried & true.

Good luck & welcome Rachel!

rcj2rcd

Hi Rachel!

My MOH and I went to the recent bridal show at the Palace. It was $10 per person and, as far as I'm concerned, was a waste of time. My MOH and I figured it out pretty quick, so, we just went to the photobooths and took silly pictures and chalked it up to a loss.

I've done a lot of research on vendors and there weren't too many good ones at the Palace show - you are much better off using the reviews from the Knot boards.

From one Rachael to the other - Good luck with planning!