My First Bridal Fair

dawssvt

I started a thread a few months back asking for advice on bridal shows. I had a booth in the Bridal Show in El Paso this weekend and it was a blast! I passed out right around 1,000 business cards and fliers. There was never a point where there weren't at least 4-5 people in my booth from 11am-5pm. Often times there was a line to get in and talk to us.

A few things I learned:

• I had several large canvas prints on easels in my booth. This was a good way to get people into my booth. There was probably 7 different people that I saw that passed my booth, looked back to see the sunset canvas photo, turn back around and come talk to me. The brides eyes always lit up when looking at the large prints.
• I had a drawing for 25% off any of my wedding collections. This was a good incentive for people to come to my booth and sign up. It also worked to be great for getting conact names and email addresses from the people who visited my booth.
• My fiancé, Allison, went along to the bridal show with me. Let me say, she saved my life! There's no way I would have been able to talk to all the people coming to my booth without her with me.
• My albums were the hit of the booth. After explaining to the clients about my services, I would suggest they grab an album and take a seat. Often times, this was exactly what they needed after walking around all day. I were able to focus more on the albums when sitting since they were not having to worry about the people behind them waiting to talk to us.

All in all, this was a great experience. I got to meet a large amount of potential clients and I also networked with many other wedding vendors. I've booked 5 meetings thus far and it's only 2 days after the show!

Here are a few photos of my booth before the chaos began!

Scott_Quier

Just one word - impressive!

jdorseydesign

The bench idea is absolutely brilliant.

elizabeth_Luna

Wow very nice! where do you get your albums from?

Mishka

Awesome set up and very creative ideas! Great to hear you've already seen some bookings from the event. I'd love to hear what you think your ROI is for the bridal fair compared to other types of marketing.

heatherfeather

Love your easels! They add a bit of fancy to function!
Your whole setup is very classy. Nicely done!

My next Bridal Fair is this Sunday, and I have to say... it sure is easier the 3rd time around. I am not stressed at all! I have made a few changes to my setup so we'll see how it all pans out. Meanwhile, I have you to thank to remind me to get ready early. It sure is easier if you start a month or two ahead of time.

dawssvt

Scott_Quier wrote:

Just one word - impressive!

Thanks, Scott!

jdorseydesign wrote:

The bench idea is absolutely brilliant.

Thank you!

elizabeth_Luna wrote:

Wow very nice! where do you get your albums from?

Thanks! The flush mount albums are from Black River Imaging and the coffee table book is from blurb.

Mishka wrote:

Awesome set up and very creative ideas! Great to hear you've already seen some bookings from the event. I'd love to hear what you think your ROI is for the bridal fair compared to other types of marketing.

I will definitely let you know how many weddings I booked out of the show. I did a promotion that anyone who booked within a month of the show received 10% any of my wedding collections, so I would think I would see some business within a month.

Since this was my first show, it was quite a bit more expensive than future shows will be since I had to buy everything for my booth. When I started I had one sample album, the coffee table book. So I really had to buy most of this stuff for the show. It will be such a relief to only have to pay the booth fees next time!

heatherfeather wrote:

Love your easels! They add a bit of fancy to function!
Your whole setup is very classy. Nicely done!

My next Bridal Fair is this Sunday, and I have to say... it sure is easier the 3rd time around. I am not stressed at all! I have made a few changes to my setup so we'll see how it all pans out. Meanwhile, I have you to thank to remind me to get ready early. It sure is easier if you start a month or two ahead of time.

Awesome! Definitely take some pictures of your booth and let us know how it goes. It's great to learn from each other

ShepsMom

I have a bridal show coming up at the end of February, i'm printing albums like no tomorrow but i also don't want too many albums.
I have 3 easels to display 3 20x30 prints (with a sunset! ), and 11x14 prints on the back drop/wall
I have a similar set-up except i will have 2 high top round tables and 1 coffee table by the couch. Discounts are the way to go, i will have few available.
Your set-up looks fantastic! I would love to hear about your follow up responses, and hope you will book few weddings from this show.
Nicely done!