Bridal Shows - Part 1

As the Bridal Bazaar was just yesterday, at least some of my thoughts and efforts lately have definitely been focused on that.  First off, let me say that the Bridal Bazaars, held four times a year in San Diego, are run very well, and I highly recommend attending them (and displaying in them)...  I am going to blog about them in two parts - first, from the vendors' perspective, and second, with my advice on how to attend one successfully as a bride or couple.

One of the challenges, as a vendor, is how to set up your booth, especially for a vendor like me.  You want to get attention - but good attention, and appropriate attention.  Photographers have amazing pictures to show, DJs are using playing some sort of music with a small set-up, and caterers and bakers are the most loved, as they have food to give out!  What does an officiant show?  I've changed it up each time.  And while I don't think that yesterday's showing for me was the most attractive and eye-catching thus far (especially as I was missing my wonderful helper, aka my husband, who usually builds my arch for me), it was the most clear of what I am.  The new pull-up banner helped with that a lot!  I definitely didn't have to use my oft-repeated "I'm the officiant.  I'm the lucky one who gets to marry you!" as often this time, as I didn't have as many confused faces as they walked by.  And I had more folks coming right over to say, "Oh, great - we still need that!" 

I am very aware that I do not need a thousand folks to come by my booth and take material, or even multiple hundreds, to make it a successful show.  Honestly, if there were that many people trying to come by, I wouldn't have a chance to truly interact with any of them, so I don't want that many.  For me, it's important that I am able to have meaningful conversations with a good handful (or few handfuls) of brides, couples, families - for them to understand who I am, what my style is, and therefore, what working with me might feel like.  And I know that I really need to gain five to seven new weddings to make the show worthwhile for me.  Of course, there can be a lag time of months before some of those couples come back to me, depending on where they are in their planning.  But come back to me they do!  Thankfully!

And, what do you give out as a vendor?  Those who know me well know that I have spent a great deal of time, and money, on my branding and marketing efforts, so this is important to me.  I'm also lucky enough to have a family business in the imprinted products industry, so I have access to great stuff!  I think it's important to have a great postcard or brochure to hand out - they are so overwhelmed at the show, picking up so many things, that you need something that both stands out, and makes clear what you do, when they are going back through that pile of take-aways in the weeks to follow.  Plus, something fun, and useful.  I'm not a big fan of giving away candy, unless that's what you do.  Give away something that will stick with them.  I happen to give away good quality pens.  Yes, pens are not unique, but one they like to write with will stick with them for longer than you'd imagine.  A cheap one that doesn't write?  Worthless, as it will be tossed quickly, and they will judge your quality level on what you gave out.

Enough for now, although this is a subject I could go on about for much longer...  Here are pictures of my bridal show booths - let me know what you think!

Bridal Bazaar - April 2010

Bridal Bazaar - January 2010

Bridal Bazaar - Oct 2009

Wedding Party Show - Oct 2009

Cheers,
Bethel