January is a month that is crammed with wedding shows all across the GTA.
No wonder since 70% of couples get engaged over the holiday season (including Valentine’s Day but definitely through Christmas and New Years). So everyone is trying to capitalize on wedding fever.
As a wedding industry professional, I try to attend these things just to see what is new, meet new vendors and get some inspiration.
Now first a confession. When I first started in the wedding planning business I went to a bridal show and ran into one of the brides who had hired me to help plan her wedding. Being new and lacking a certain amount of confidence, I figured that she would find all her vendors here herself and would take advantage of all these bridal show specials and…. well, what would she need me for then? I was sure I was going to get a call from her saying “sorry, I don’t need your services any more”.
Well, it was quite the opposite. The call I got from her was more like “Help! I got so overwhelmed at the Bridal Show that I don’t know where to begin or who to trust!”
Quite frankly, this bridal show in particular, being so huge (takes up all of the upper floor of the Metro Convention Centre year after year) is very overwhelming. Let’s not forget that it being like -20 degrees outside, we are all walking around for hours in our down parkas getting overheated and fed up.
Sometimes it is worth it. But this year to be honest, I was quite underwhelmed with the offerings. It felt like most of the exhibitors were photographers. The DJs were peppered about the hall, some playing loud and obnoxious music. There were a few florals & decor but most were very uninspiring. I brought my camera with me and these are the only three displays that I could be bothered to take photos of:
Now I love cake and there were some nice ones there but all the bakeries refuse to allow you to take any photos of their cakes! This I don’t understand. They are practically chasing you away when they see you wanting to take a photo but yet all these cakes on display are not real, they are models that are in their showrooms day in and day out but all of these cakes are shown on their websites on their galleries! So if anyone wanted to “steal” their design, they wouldn’t have to work much harder than going to the site and nabbing the photo. Easy! So why the fear?
The invitations providers had their offerings out in full glory. They were decent enough. Your Occasions had a very nice seating chart, framed and matted and it looked very elegant. My photo does not do it justice but here’s the idea:
There were a few venues there but hardly a good cross-section of what is available. But hey, they have to get the word out somehow…
So for those of you who missed last weekend’s bridal show… you didn’t miss much! And here is what I suggest for this or any show: Just go online to the Bridal Show website and look at the exhibitor list. You can find everything you are looking for there without the hassle of going downtown, paying for parking, paying for admission and then enduring the sales pitches and the people practically pushing brochures onto you. It’s just so much more sane.
