Making Your Way Through the Wedding Fair: Surviving Wedding Planning
And this is probably the last time there will ever be a picture of your favorite Boston Wedding Photographer, Ryan Richardson, on this blog. Here is am manning a wedding show booth trying not to eat all the chocolate I brought.
Wedding shows can be a great way to find out about trends, meet vendors and get free cake samples. But whether the fair is big or small, there's a lot to see and navigate so your favorite Boston wedding photographer has a couple of tips to make the most of a show.
4. The Wedding E-mail: One of the first things you should do when you start wedding planning is to set up a wedding e-mail that both you and your partner can access. When it comes to wedding fairs, that e-mail is extra important because you're going to get signed up for a bunch of giveaways and mailing lists and you don't want that cluttering up your regular inbox because it can get pretty aggressive.
3. Take Pictures: When you see a vendor you like, take a picture of their booth and take a picture of their business card with your phone. You're going to leave any wedding fair with a bag full of swag and pamphlets and it's easy for stuff to get lost in the flood of paper.
2. Giveaways: Speaking of those giveaways, with wedding expos you'll want to forget about everything you've heard about gift horses and their mouths. While all prizes are a marketing strategy, they can range from pretty legitimate deals (like getting free engagement sessions from your favorite Boston wedding photographer) to Trojan Horses for hard sells (like time shares, MLM pitches and more).
Whenever you win a prize at a wedding exposition, there are two questions to keep in mind: did you register (apart from show prizes) for it and what's the catch?
1. Show Pricing: Many vendors will have deals and discounts during the show to encourage booking on the spot. This can make you feel a lot of pressure to book immediately or risk losing out on a great deal, but don't sweat it. If you found a great vendor that you had a good rapport with, they'll often honor show pricing for at least a few days after the event so you have time to contemplate your options and what's right for you.
How are you going handle your next wedding expo? Are you a long time veteran of trade fairs and do you have any tips?
Ryan Richardson is a wedding and engagement photographer serving Boston and beyond; including Cape Cod Weddings, New England Weddings, Massachusetts Weddings and Rhode Island Weddings.