I'm Daniel. I'm the Groom.
This past Sunday Nicole and I went to a wedding expo and that's what I'm going to talk about. First, I should be more accurate and call it a bridal expo because it was definitely for the brides. There were almost no men there, not counting the working ones. I can say counting, because I did try to count. I almost had to use both hands. I'm sure I missed some, so I'll estimate there were 10. It was like swimming in estrogen. And I do mean swimming.
Why do I mean swimming? Is the Groom misogynistic? Nope, I say swimming because it is the closest description I can think of to the physical experience at the expo, swimming through a sea of women. When you picture a bridal expo, you might picture something open, with a big room and lots of different booths from vendors, photographers, florists, etc. That's what I pictured. And Nicole says that the other one she went to was like that. Not this one though. Oh, the vendors were there. Lots of booths. But open space? Nope! The ENTIRE expo was arranged in one gigantic line. The booths were in a giant snake coil going back and forth so that every single attendee was stuck going past every single booth. It was sooooo slooooow. Did not like that part. Nicole didn't either. Bad idea by the organizers.
But, wedding expos are not usually like that (I'm told) so I feel like I should discount that part off of my impressions. What does that leave? Well, there was some good stuff. The various florists had pretty amazing displays. It helped to see things in person to get an idea for what I actually would like to have at my wedding. We both really liked the flowers that were underwater in jars. It sounds silly, but it looks really good. The contests were nice. Didn't win anything that I know of, but maybe. Also there was free candy. Got a few chocolate strawberries.
The bad? No free cake. Where's the cake?
Long story short - Bad Expo, but I'd totally go to another one. Besides, it's fun to take your bride to a bride thing.
Nicole's Note: The expo we went to was called Bridal Expo Chicago or more generally Bridal Show Expo. And I definitely wouldn't recommend it. Like Daniel said, the other one I went to was far superior in setup and free cake options.
Showing posts with label bridal expo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bridal expo. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Great Bridal Expo
I had quite the wedding-filled weekend, topped off with my very first bridal expo! I have been intrigued with these galas of wedding goodies for a while now, but I haven't been seeking them out because, well, Chicago vendors aren't going to do much for my California wedding. But when The Knot sent me two free tickets to the Great Bridal Expo in Chicago, I knew the time had come to check one of these babies out.
I wasn't expecting much. Mostly, I went for the free food and stuff, the wedding dress runway show, and the chance to be surrounded by pretty wedding goodies. I was surprised to find that the expo was really helpful. Having done almost all of my research online so far, it was nice to be able to talk to actual, genuine people about their products. For instance, I've done a little bit of cake research, but it's hard to get a sense of how big of a cake you need to feed x amount of people, and I was able to talk to a vendor who showed me how big their slices are and about what size cake I would want for my small tiered cake plus cupcakes plan. There are some things that are just better discussed in person.
The biggest surprise for me though was that there were A LOT of honeymoon vendors which was great because them I can actually use. For some reason, I never really associate the honeymoon with the wedding. I think it's just too many things for me to think about when you add a vacation into the mix, but I'd say almost half of the vendors were honeymoon-related which was really helpful. I now have a very large stack of packets on Caribbean cruises and resorts to go through, and while I haven't looked through them all yet, several have given me hope of actually having a tropical honeymoon. There are quite a few all-inclusive cruises that we might actually be able to afford :).
So all in all, the Great Bridal Expo was definitely worth a visit. If it's coming to a city near you, I would definitely go check it out, especially if you take advantage of the free tickets from The Knot.
I wasn't expecting much. Mostly, I went for the free food and stuff, the wedding dress runway show, and the chance to be surrounded by pretty wedding goodies. I was surprised to find that the expo was really helpful. Having done almost all of my research online so far, it was nice to be able to talk to actual, genuine people about their products. For instance, I've done a little bit of cake research, but it's hard to get a sense of how big of a cake you need to feed x amount of people, and I was able to talk to a vendor who showed me how big their slices are and about what size cake I would want for my small tiered cake plus cupcakes plan. There are some things that are just better discussed in person.
The biggest surprise for me though was that there were A LOT of honeymoon vendors which was great because them I can actually use. For some reason, I never really associate the honeymoon with the wedding. I think it's just too many things for me to think about when you add a vacation into the mix, but I'd say almost half of the vendors were honeymoon-related which was really helpful. I now have a very large stack of packets on Caribbean cruises and resorts to go through, and while I haven't looked through them all yet, several have given me hope of actually having a tropical honeymoon. There are quite a few all-inclusive cruises that we might actually be able to afford :).
So all in all, the Great Bridal Expo was definitely worth a visit. If it's coming to a city near you, I would definitely go check it out, especially if you take advantage of the free tickets from The Knot.
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