Bridal show booth opinions

mmmatt

Hey guys!

Looks like I am doing my first ever bridal show this November. Got a call from the coordinators of this show on Friday saying that the wait list I got on 3 years ago finally came my way and I was in.

I decided to do a single booth on the main floor and it is adjoining the walkway by a side entrance and bathrooms. To the right is another booth and to the left is an open walkway, so I am happy with this spot. I could have had a 2nd space for only a couple hundred more, but I decided that I want to really make this nice and that will be a bit easier with a single 8' d x 10' w space. Unfortunately they also have restrictions for height of 8' and no side walls over 36". This is disappointing to me because I wanted to do a 2 sided wall.

So, for sure I am going to build a wall across the back. I'm just one of those guys who can build about anything so I am confidant in being able to do whatever I can dream up or whatever you guys can dream up! After paying for my entry fee I am going to have a budget of about $2K, which may seem like a lot to some but I don't have much in the way of albums or large prints to show so that will be taking up a lot of that, and it is concrete floors so a rug or preferably prefinished hardwood strips will be on the ground.

The Milwaukee area that I operate in is what I would call trendy-wanna-be. Trends in art, fashion, music, food or whatever seem to show up here after they have done their rounds in other major cities. In the clubs and housing, the industrial/commercial look is still quite popular and I saw this awesome booth doing a google search

This booth is very different in terms of size and layout, but I really like how they used the corrugated steel and palet wood. I also like the lack of clutter and the simplicity of the whole thing. In my case it would be a single 10 x 8 wall across the back and I would probably split the wall using the steel on top and the wood on the bottom like a wainscoting. She had lots of great ideas here that I want to rip off including the use of vintage film cameras as deco, and the column with the tv's inset which is something I have seen a few times. I am torn between a single large TV in a corner near the back and multiple smaller screens like this.

This is an example more similar to what I have to work with and I do like how this was laid out. In my case I would have to make the side walls 3' and do posts that extend up to 8' that hold the track lighting.

I also like this concept because it is simple and clean. I can't do the wall on the right like he has so I will use easels on the right side, and I do really like the idea of seating so I will probably do a loveseat or some chairs on the left similar to the way Dawson did his . This is similar to the space I will have, and I think he made pretty good use of space.


So I'm open to any and all suggestions. I really want to make this worth my while and nock these brides out. I'm not even affraid of some simple automation and shadow box lighting or anything like that. there is a time factor of course, but I would love to hear what anyone can come up with!!

Matt

divamum

Matt, I obviously have no personal experience with this, but I've always remembered that thread of Heather's regarding her first show - I managed to dig it out in case it's helpful, and it's here.

mmmatt

divamum wrote: »

Matt, I obviously have no personal experience with this, but I've always remembered that thread of Heather's regarding her first show - I managed to dig it out in case it's helpful, and it's here.

Ha! I xcouldn't find that one because I was searching bridal show instead of fair! thanks Diva

mmmatt

Here is one more showing how I think my booth will be built. I like the separation of the space with walls.

Kinkajou

All I can say is: double padding on the carpet. You'll be standing a lot, and the double padding is expensive but worth it. I think the Dotson booth looks the most clean and professional. The booth that we use at the day job is good because it's easy to move, fast and easy to set up, and easy to update because each panel is printed individually. There are also add-ons that allow you to mount LCD screens and all kind of stuff in there. This booth was expensive, but we'll be able to build on to it in the future, or pull sections out if we're going to smaller shows. This is their site: http://www.multiquad.com/

mmmatt

Thanks Kinkajou.
Your day job booth isn't what I'm looking for. I want it to be a little more quirky and personal. That looks very cold and commercial to me. Obviously perfect for a business 2 business type show. I agree the dotson booth is clean and I think I will be doing something like he did except where he has his counter, I will do an overhang with stools. My thought (now) is that if people want to sit down in my booth, they should be staring at a bunch of my work, and I am trying to get them to let me take down the 3' tall pipe and curtain on the isle side of my booth so I can have people enter from 2 ways which will prevent me from doing seating on that side. I'll put a bunch of albums up there and whatever my handouts end up being, and sign-in cards with pens. I really like that corrugated steel look so I think that will be the ticket. This is not the kind of show where people do knock out booths, but last year they had 1500 people and half of them were registered brides, so the potential for me to land some business is multiplied exponentially if my booth is the belle of the ball. Well, that is the thought anyways.

Here is my booth area with last years tenants in the lower right. They are using 2 spaces for their booth.



This shot shows a "typical photographer" booth in the center of the image. This is the same size as what mine will be.


You can see that nobody does a fancy booth here so if I do, I think I will stand out quite a bit. I don't think I will do carpeting because I like the look of hardwood flooring better. Actually it is about as cheap too. Box stores sell prefinished t&g hardwood/laminate planks for about $1 per square foot, so it will only cost me about $100 to do the wood. The show is only from 10-4 for 2 days, so it isn't like 12 hour days on my feet.

Kinkajou

I definitely get that our booth is uber-corporate and not at all warm and cozy, but I thought that the idea of modular structure and easy-to-change panels might be useful if you'll feel that you'll need something versatile

Best of luck finding the perfect booth for you; I think you've got awesome ideas and will definitely make a much better impression than your average wedding vendor! I'm excited to see what you come up with

sellis

Just make sure the show coordinators will allow you to have a wall. I've been to some where you HAD to use the curtains they provided for some sort of consistent look (BS).

mmmatt

sellis wrote: »

Just make sure the show coordinators will allow you to have a wall. I've been to some where you HAD to use the curtains they provided for some sort of consistent look (BS).

That is a very good point! They do allow walls but only 8' on the back and 3' on the sides. That is something that I am finding, is that they are particular about a lot of things. I am working directly with the coordinator though, and to anyone following along it is good policy not to assume anything.

mmmatt

Bought me some barnwood today.



not bad for a cell phone pic ehh? Even got me some flare !!

Matt

zoomer

Be sure to have a couple cute 20-25 year old energetic girls in the booth to drag potential brides in from the hall. Once they start up the conversations and get the energy flowing then ease into the conversation or have them grab you and introduce you and hand them off and go grab another one.
Have them start conversations out with talking about their weddings and what a beautiful bride the potential is going to be and bring up all the little things, flowers, dresses, hair, etc etc....brides like to talk about themselves and their weddings with other girls their own age.
A little trick I learned by chance.

Also I believe it is better to have a booth where the potential client enters the booth as opposed to standing on the other side of a table....completely different vibe.