Bridal Expos! Tips and Tricks for How to Survive a Bridal Expo.

You just got engaged and now you’re starting to see targeted ads on social media for bridal expos. Are they worth it? YES! Can they be “a lot”? YES! Should you go? Probably. Here’s tips to make your expo day successful.

• When you get engaged everyone wants to be a part of the planning party. My advice to you is make the expo party minimal. Bringing a whole gaggle of women with you to an expo can be overwhelming and distracting. You’ll get lots of opinions and you won’t be able to focus on conversations from vendors. Instead, make it just you and your fiancé and maybe the mothers. Save the bride tribe for your bachelorette.

• Bring a notebook and a pen! A small note pad will do. Even if you don’t use it, you’ll have it in your bag just in case. You might come up with an idea for your wedding while looking around and you won’t want to forget it. Jot it down. Also, you’re going to need a pen to sign all of the signup sheets and contact cards. Or you could use the next tip….

• We recently attended an expo and we always have a signup list for interested brides to give us their information. One bride recently came with stickers with all her information on it. It was really just a glorified address label but IT WORKED! We stuck one on our signup sheet and voila, we were all set. Brilliant. You can add your name, email, phone number, and even your wedding date.

• Bring a foldable canvas bag. Most expos give you one at check in but some don’t and you’ll need something to carry all of the swag and brochures in.

• When you get home, dump out the bag and organize by category. Flowers, event coordinators, DJs etc. Get rid of the ones you didn’t vibe with and keep the ones you did. As you attend these expos you’ll gather a lot of papers so weeding out what you don’t want right away is important – keeps it from becoming overwhelming.

• Be open and honest with vendors, don’t let them pressure you, especially if you’re just starting out. There are so many vendors to choose from! Keep your options open until you find someone you really vibe with and love.

• Come with an appetite! Most catering and cake vendors bring lots of yummy samples. My fiancé ate (and drank) a whole lunch worth and was stuffed by the end of our last expo (:

Wedding expos can be an exciting and resourceful place to plan your wedding. As always, if you ever have any questions on where to start or just need suggestions, Seas Your Day Events is here to help!