Hello All,

I am seriously considering signing on to participate in a bridal showcase in August. This will be my first major showcase event. I will be making a solid decision in a week and im pretty much looking for advice at this point. For those of you out here in cake world who have participated in such events please give me your input. Do you recommend venues of this type? What are major showcase DO's? What are the major DONT's? BTW: the anticipated guest number is over 1000

Thanks in advance for all of your help

And the wedding cakes you have made are...?

Sorry, didn't get to finish that, and it probably sounded bad. Have you made a wedding cake before? They can be a bit of a let down quite frankly. I don't really like doing them, and I think I got 3 brides total from all 3 that I've attended so far. I'm booked to the gills no matter what, but the show here is a joke. But I can't stop myself from going....go figure.

Bridal shows can be good and they can be a total flop I have participated in about a dozen over the yrs I had my shops. Do NOT rely on the figures quoted by people trying to get you to sign up....they will always inflate the figures. Look at the # of yrs the event has been in existence; have you ever heard it advertised? On TV, raido or posters? Many of them rely on the vendors to advertise them!
Find out who has been a vendor before and talk to them......I don't care if it's a florist or photographer or caterer or what...take to as many as you can find out about.
Major DO's: Be legal!! Give out samples. Most health depts *require* samples be individually cupped w/a lid. This can be done at the shop the day or 2 before. Bake sheets, cut into 1 or 1 1/2" cubes, squirt on a bit of icing and snap the lid on. Most brides usually go out to bkfst, brunch or plan on lunch and don't want a big piece of cake. If they can take a small bite home they often will so be sure to have lables on w/your shop name & addy.
I could go on w/another hours worth of reading but don't think it's necessary at this point. If you search on the site you will find many threads that address this issue and lots of ideas included there.