Be honest....Are bridal shows a waste of my time?

raeah219 · January 2014

My friends want me to go to this bridal show this weekend but I really feel like it will be a waste of my time. We are having a small budget wedding. 7K for 120 people. Im really not interested in going to look at a bunch of fancy dresses, designs, foods, and cakes that we cant afford. It just seems like a waste of my time. My friends think I should go to "get ideas", but I think they just want me to go so they will have an excuse to go since they aren't engaged but are wedding obsessed. (They have their entire weddings already planned without a boyfriend in sight, but thats another story lol) I don't want to waste a Saturday, but I don't want to miss out if it will be helpful. What do you ladies think?

Cookie Pusher · January 2014

I went to a handful of bridal shows basically to have a bonding experience with some of my friends. We got to taste some super great food and ooh and aah over some things we knew none of us could afford. And yea, we dreamed about what kinds of things we would want for our weddings if money were no object.

Jessa617 · January 2014

It really depends on the show. Here in Boston it was hit or miss. My favorite one was just this past weekend at the Seaport- I can't remember who sponsored it, but it was by far the best I went to last year. I liked it because they had a lot of raffles and contests for prizes- free wedding dress, free wedding rings, free honeymoon, free photography... it's all about the prizes! And if you don't win anything you still get to eat cake, appetizers, drink champagne and have fun in the photobooths that are set up. It's a great time if you bring a few friends.

Although I didn't book any of the vendors I saw, I still got a lot of great ideas for my DIY projects and I ended up with a free engagement shoot, so I can't complain.

ETA: If you do go and you fill out slips at the vendors stations, create a new email address for junk mail that you will be bombarded with. Also, do not sign up for anything from Laser Skin Care or Mary Kay.Only sign up with legitimate vendors.

Inkdancer · January 2014

If you go with the expectation of not getting anything, I think it could be fun. Free food, other free swag, and time with friends... could be nice. Just let your friends know that they should not try to get you to buy anything, since that is up to you and your FI.

delujm0 · January 2014

You can go to a Bridal Show and be in and out in a couple of hours if you plan ahead. Research the vendors in advance online, make a list of the ones you want to talk to, and make sure you get to them. Some vendors will give you a discount if you meet them at a Bridal Show. We got 10% off on our wedding planner that way. We also found our caterer there. Their food sampes were the best. It's really easy to compare multiple caterers when you can taste several vendor's offerings on the same day.

That having been said, i hated the bridal show in general. It's a bunch of vendors popping out of nowhere to grab you with a fake smile, ask you your wedding date, and then try to sell you things. I don't care for aggressive sales people generally. Also, be wary of the "contests" that you enter - most of them are just a way for vedors to get your email/phone number to try to sell you on their services after the show.

Tami87 · January 2014

I had fun going with two of my friends. My wedding was not local so most of the vendors we would never use. I agree that you should absolutely make up a new wedding e-mail for all the junk mail you will get. Also don't give out your phone number because you will get tons of calls. The best part was definitely the food and cake samples. Also agree be careful about contests, but I did win a free financial planning consultation, which was actually really practical and useful.

cupcait927 · January 2014

Thank you for asking this question! There are a couple of bridal shows coming up this month where I live and I was wondering this morning if it would be a waste of my time or actually useful to go. I think if I get a couple of gfs to go with me it'll be fun but like you, I have a small budget and even smaller guest list so I'm not sure how much I'll get out of it (other than free food and champagne!)

jimandpam87 · January 2014

I think they're fun if you research ahead of time and also know your boundaries/expectations.

If Brides Against Breast Cancer is coming near you (they go all over the country), I do recommend that one. They are mostly a wedding gown show; they get bridal salons/designers to donate gowns. It's great if you are on a smaller budget, I got my gown for less than $500 (brand new)!

That being said, I wasn't a huge fan of how the vendor system was set up. The overall "prize" was 2 free wedding bands. But, in order to win, you had to get each vendor to sign a little sheet, mostly just to get you to talk to everyone and sign up for everything. I didn't bother with that, b/c I didn't want a million different vendors emailing/calling me.

Mostly, I would just research ahead of time and only talk to people you think you might want to hear from. But, overall, it can be a useful experience.

misscoffeeplease · January 2014

I was wondering about this too but FI is encouraging me to go a bridal show this weekend. I use to work for a doctor that would do these type of venues. They enter a "raffle" and we would call them saying they won a $100 gift certificate to our medical spa so we could pull them in and get them to buy our services. I might go just to get ideas (like DJs or caterers) that I don't see on TheKnot.

ElcaB · January 2014

I think bridal shows are fun. I went to a few after I was recently engaged, when I didn't have a clue about what type of wedding we'd have. I'm going to one this weekend, which won't really be that beneficial since I've already worked out the big stuff (venue, catering, photography, and DJ). Still though, it's fun to eat cake samples and bond with whoever you go with.

Plus, it's kind of fun to snark on some brides. You wouldn't believe some conversations you'll overhear

MadHops21 · January 2014

Here around the Chicago area, there is a big show that travels around the suburbs, the city, and southern Wisconsin. I've gone a couple times. Free food samples, swag, and pretty centerpieces and dresses to look at. I found a bakery that does amazing grooms cake and they are pretty local to me. That's one vendor out of the couple shows I've been to, so don't expect to get a lot of your vendors from there.

Chipmunk415 · January 2014

I went to two early on. One was a bust, the other was great- I would never have found my venue if I hadn't gone, and I ended up meeting the gentleman who would be my DJ! It's also good to see different styles by different vendors- you never know what strikes your fancy!

I later took my mother to one at the very venue I'd selected, so she could meet the coordinator and the officiant. It also gave me a chance to interact with a florist I was considering, talk to hotel managers, and see how things flowed in the venue with a lot of people there.

I got my dress at a brides against breast cancer event. I'm attending another show this weekend a) for fun/never know if there's something you missed, b) all of the money is going to a breast cancer foundation, c) I want to participate in the silent auction/giveaways, and d) I'm not having any attendants, and this is a way for one of my girlfriends to feel "involved" the way she wants to be (living vicariously).

POD Elca, OMG the comments I've heard!!!

tammym1001 · January 2014

I'm going to a bridal show this weekend. My wedding is in May so I have all of the big stuff taken care of already, but me and my BM's want to go for the fashion show (they don't have their dresses yet) and just to look around to get some more ideas and see if I forgot anything.

kittypolishnbags · January 2014

I thought about this too cause there is one in my area this coming Sunday. If I had the venue and catering pinned down for sure then it'd be a nahhhh, but it's not at the moment (since one of the hotel venues won't get in touch with me!). Still thinking and deciding.

tcnoble · January 2014

I went to my first one last weekend and have tickets for another one next weekend. I have mixed feelings about it.

I went with one of my BMs. A lot of our planning is done (even though we aren't getting married until 2015). We know the vendors we like/want, just waiting to do deposits. So in that sense, it made it easy to navigate vendors when they ask "do you already have a venue/dj/florist/etc?" You can just say yep and keep going.

One thing I liked is that, of the few vendors we were actually interested in aquiring (for example, a photo booth), we got to talk TO THEM and get a feel for their personalities and see what we thought.

The show we went to also had a fashion show put on by local bridal salons, so it was neat to see some of the Spring dresses, and get some ideas for FI for the tuxes. This show also did a TON of giveaways. The grand prizes were a $2500 wedding band, and $1000 gift certificate for a local bridal salon. They did a lot of smaller giveaways - Sephora gift cards, happy hours at local restaurants, etc. - and some brides went CRAAAAAZY to get those. I just stood back and watched haha

Like other PP have noted, make a new email so that your primary account isn't bombarded with all the spam after you sign up for giveaways. You don't have to sign up but whatever we figured why not. I had an email account for that very purpose so no harm done.

Overall it was a fun thing to do with one of my BMs and gave me some ideas. I don't think it's a total waste of time, but thats just my two cents.

KPBM89 · January 2014

I've only been to one bridal show. I went with my aunt last year because she was engaged (I wasn't at that time). Every vendor assumed I was the bride, which was awk, and then a bunch of people tried to sell her on certain packages they had. BUT there was a ton of amazeballs food there and some free bags and junk. If you do go, don't sign up online or give out your real e-mail address because otherwise you'll get spammed like crazy. My aunt gave the group hosting it both of our e-mails and phone #'s and I am constantly getting calls and e-mails from the vendors that were there. Luckily for me, I can easily say "Oh I live down south now! Byyeee!"

ChemFanatic25 · January 2014

jimandpam87 said:

I think they're fun if you research ahead of time and also know your boundaries/expectations.
If Brides Against Breast Cancer is coming near you (they go all over the country), I do recommend that one. They are mostly a wedding gown show; they get bridal salons/designers to donate gowns. It's great if you are on a smaller budget, I got my gown for less than $500 (brand new)!
That being said, I wasn't a huge fan of how the vendor system was set up. The overall "prize" was 2 free wedding bands. But, in order to win, you had to get each vendor to sign a little sheet, mostly just to get you to talk to everyone and sign up for everything. I didn't bother with that, b/c I didn't want a million different vendors emailing/calling me.
Mostly, I would just research ahead of time and only talk to people you think you might want to hear from. But, overall, it can be a useful experience.

I just looked up the Brides Against Breast Cancer and they have an event at the end of this month right in my area! That was so convenient and I'm glad you suggested it. I have been trying to find a dress under $500 so hopefully this will prove fruitful

Also, OP I'm attending a bridal show this weekend. I'm going with my mom and FMIL. I'm not attending to find vendors but I thought it would be a great bonding time for the three of us. My mom and FMIL are close and I know they would enjoy this.

thisismynickname2 · January 2014

I went to one in the Chicago suburbs, and I wished I'd chosen the same show IN Chicago instead because I didn't realize all the vendors would be from that particular local area. (We went to one near FI's hometown, but we're getting married in the city.)

I took my mom, FMIL and FI and our moms bonded like white on rice, which is great. This particular show had a really awesome fashion show and I was able to really get a feel for the styles that FI liked and which he didn't.

All that being said, I totally wasn't paying attention to other brides. If you don't mind a threadjack, what kinds of things did you ladies overhear??

mulloyas · January 2014

I've attended two wedding shows, one was worth it, the other was not. The first one I went to I went by myself last minute and didn't really know what I was looking at. The second one was way more productive and I was with two bridesmaids. I knew I was looking for a photographer and DJ so I pretty much only talked to those vendors and ended up saving about $500 between the two, so I'd say it was a successful trip. I do agree that setting up a wedding email address is the way to go. You'll get a lot of promo emails but at least they'll all be filed in the same location and you can ignore that account when you're not looking for a vendor. I've used my wedding email address since the beginning and just used a 25% off email coupon to purchase our invitations.

CaliMel11 · January 2014

I think it can definitely be worth it. For us it was nice because we got to meet our DJ in person, and it was just nice to put a face to the name.
We also found our photographer there. It's one thing to look at photos online but some of them I loved online and in person totally thought they were just...not for us.
It's a really great way to judge your gut feeling about vendors and see how you like them as people, which is extremely important since you'll be working with them to plan your wedding.

doeydo · January 2014

I went and I really liked it. You get free stuff and get to enter a lot of contests. You could probably afford a lot of the things they are offering, actually, with a 7K budget.

Chipmunk415 · January 2014

@thisismynickname

I heard a lot of discussions of PPDs, and how each individual one would be "the best thing EVAAARR"

I heard a bride asking a vendor if they were available for X date, as the day after X, the groom was to report to a prison work camp as part of his plea bargin, and wouldn't be able to get out for a while.

I heard an MOB arguing and whining with a floral vendor that they needed more albums of their work to give the MOB ideas for the wedding SHE was planning for her daughter, as her daughter obviously had no taste (vendor had three thick albums out with tons of designs, colors, etc)

I saw a bride get in a screaming match with a bridesmaid outside the building because bridesmaid won a bottle of champagne in a raffle and didn't automatically hand it over to the bride for the bride's enjoyment and consumption (both had been hitting the bar pretty well).

I saw an MOB get in a verbal argument with a photographer, as the photographer remembered her and her daughters from eldest daughter's wedding 2 years prior, and politely refused to do further business with them.

I had three vendors give me hugs when I said "You're the professional here. You know what you're doing better than I. What would you recommend for this issue/request/situation?" as apparently a lot of brides that day were telling them how to do their job. All three are now vendors for my wedding.

PrettyGirlLost · January 2014

I went to one last January and my sister was like a pro and had a game plan set for us- "What do you need info on? Transportation, photographers, DJ's? Ok we got this. Oh and PS you NEED to have a Photobooth or I won't come, so I will handle that."

So those are the vendors we focused on, my sister ran around like a mad woman and got me printed info, scouted out vendors she thought I would be interested in while I was talking to other vendors. . . it was amazing to watch lol.

The bridal party and parent transportation, DJ, and Photographer I ended up booking with were all vendors I met at that show.

Now, here's is the best advice I was ever given about Bridal Shows, again from my sister: Get adhesive mailing labels and print your contact info on them- name, address, email. When vendors ask you to write down your contact info, you just peel off a sticker and BAM! You are done in a second, rather than having to write out all of that information every.single.time.

Some of the vendors hadn't seen this technique before and they were impressed, lol.

FiancB · January 2014

I went to my first one yesterday. Even though I'm not even having a wedding in this town I didn't think it was a waste of time. They were giving away a lot of stuff and there was some really good food. I went with another girl I know that's getting married a month before me, and it was in a small town.

My friend said she actually liked it better than one she went to in the cities. At the small town one there were probably around 200 brides, rather than 2000, so the odds of winning something were much better. This one was giving away a $20k reception as a grand prize among some other goodies that they publicly handed out. At the city one my friend wondered if they were actually giving away anything at all.

Plus at the small town one brides got in free while others often charge. And we had free mimosas. We mostly went for the mimosas. So it depends on the one you go to I guess. Some give away honeymoons and stuff. Sometimes vendors give a discount if you book at the fair. Sometimes dress shops have good sales on dresses to buy off the rack.

AddieCake · January 2014

I have fun when I go to them b/c I like wedding crap and I like the cake samples. However, I did have to turn the ringer to my house phone off for over a month when I went to one when I got engaged. I also learned then that you need to have a separate email JUST for wedding stuff that you can delete as soon as the wedding is over.

firebabe6519 · January 2014

FI and I went to our first one today. Of was fun, plus lots of yummy samples always make it fun. I figured this would be a look at what you can't afford kind of deal too. But we actually ended up getting some great ideas and even finding a not too pricey higher class caterer than our current one that we might be going with.

bmydesigner · January 2014

FI and I just went to our first yesterday, it was a blast. It was held at our reception site so we got to sample their food (yum). There was also a bunch of prizes to win and we ended up winning a small prize. Brides Against Breast Cancer was at this show and I HIGHLY recommend it! I got a brand new, beautiful gown for a very good price.

hellohkb · January 2014

I've heard it really depends. I went to an indie/offbeat expo called Lovesick Expo and it was awesome. My FH and I loved it. We met with a lot of vendors and I found 2 people I want to do my photos as well as 2 officiants.

They also had giveaways and raffles. One couple won a 3 night stay to Mexico and the two guys who put together the expo gave them a $750 check for airfare. Another couple won a photobooth, another won a photography session, etc.

thisismynickname2 · January 2014

@chipmunk415

Holy cow, I should have kept my eyes and ears open when I went. Unbelievable! Hahaha.

abbyj700 · January 2014

The first one I went to was overwhelming (though apparently it was small) and I really didn't find that I loved it. BUT we ended up getting a call from a vendor to go sit through a sales demonstration and got $800 off of our wedding bands - so chalk that one up as a win. As others said - there are tons of things to sign up for that could result in free stuff - so that can be nice.

We just went to one this weekend - me, the FI and our two local bridesmaids and let me tell you - it was wonderful. We had a few drinks while we were there (and beforehand) to losen up, we went in knowing what we were looking for and I got a lot of thoughts from my SI by saying "which dress" if there were 3-5 at a vendor. Even better - we came up with what will be our invites by doing the same thing to him at a printing company table. Have fun and relax and go in with clear expectations!

Chipmunk415 · January 2014

Another thought- going to bridal shows can result in discounts. I went to one on Sunday, mostly because it was benefiting a breast cancer foundation, but also because I hadn't determined transportation yet. I decided to go with one of the vendors there, and when I contacted them, I mentioned I'd spoken with them at the bridal show. PS- they gave me a discount. $15 might not seem like much, but that covers two of the kids meals at the reception and helps me save a little.

Be honest....Are bridal shows a waste of my time?

Re: Be honest....Are bridal shows a waste of my time?

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