Bridal Fairs...

[jeffc76]

Interesting thread. My wife and I do decoratiions for weddings, parties, etc. What we have done is partner with someone doing a bridal fair and we decorate the booth to make it stand out then we work the booth with them. It seems like what we do (decorations) is a niche and nobody else is doing it. My advice on bridal shows is to never sit down behind your table - welcome people with a question and a smile ("Hi, have you decided where you're getting married yet?") - hand out cards. I like photographers who have big pictures of their work, slide shows on big screen TV's are nice but you have to grab people's attention to get them to stop and look at the TV.

I think that if a bride is going to pay money to get into a bridal show, they are serious so we often see fewer people but they are serious about it. We rarely actually book at shows but our web hits and phone calls go up after shows. We are working on partnering with venues, since they will put our pictures in their book and they almost sell it for us. When you sell to individual brides, you have to sell over and over (yes, there is some word of mouth, but not a lot).

Our web site - mjdecorations.smugmug.com

[CAphotos]

So this is not related to weddings specifically, but a booth it is. I am trying to get my name out there in the local community and our small town has a Saturday Market. I have a (tiny 8x8) booth and it goes for 7 Saturdays for 5 hours; it's quite a commitment however I've gained a ton of exposure, bookings, and sold gift certificates. It's a great way to meet the locals as a business owner. I've played with item placement on tables to gain more visual impact, and convenience for the people a bit shy to come into the booth. I have a weekly mini portrait session drawing, & anywhere from 30-50 entries are dropped in the bucket. Taken with P&S. You can see a few more on my blog. If anyone has any good marketing ideas, I'd certainly be interested.

Thanks for looking!

[ian408]

It's a great way to meet new clients and to get your name out there. Good idea

[dawssvt]

I know this is an old thread, but I just looked through it all. Thanks for all the great info

Heather, how many weddings did you end up booking through this show?

[heatherfeather]

Originally Posted by dawssvt

I know this is an old thread, but I just looked through it all. Thanks for all the great info

Heather, how many weddings did you end up booking through this show?

Gosh this is really going back in the dark places of my mind...

I am having a hard time remembering which weddings were result of that specific fair, but my guess from memory is 7 contracts from that 1 fair... And I met with a bunch more possibles. Guess I should keep better records about where clients are coming from. Anyway, it more than made up the cost of the fair, and was a nice little bump in the income during off season.

But the rewards of doing fairs are not just to get clients... getting your name out to be recognised among vendors / wedding planners is just as valuable. Vendors get asked ALL the time who to use.

Which reminds me... I need to start getting ready for the next one.

[dawssvt]

Originally Posted by heatherfeather

Gosh this is really going back in the dark places of my mind...

I am having a hard time remembering which weddings were result of that specific fair, but my guess from memory is 7 contracts from that 1 fair... And I met with a bunch more possibles. Guess I should keep better records about where clients are coming from. Anyway, it more than made up the cost of the fair, and was a nice little bump in the income during off season.

But the rewards of doing fairs are not just to get clients... getting your name out to be recognised among vendors / wedding planners is just as valuable. Vendors get asked ALL the time who to use.

Which reminds me... I need to start getting ready for the next one.

Great... Thanks Heather! I appreciate your help with all of this. I am going to have a booth in my first Bridal Show in January, so I'm trying to prepare