I was wondering how everyone felt about Bridal Expos? Since they are so expensive and a ton of work, I don't want to look into them if people don't get adequate responses from them.

I have been to several small bridal shows around town and have gotten great exposure, met other fabulous vendors (great networking experience!) and recieved a couple wedding cake orders. So I am wondering if doing a larger scale bridal expo will result in a larger number of bookings?

Does anyone have tips when picking which shows to attend? I am still new when it comes to doing shows and dont want to just throw my money away. I hope this makes sense...

Any info that y'all have about this would be great!

Yes they are worth it.
I did large bridal shows in DC & had a tremendous response, did very well.
Unfortunately in my new location they have smaller ones that don't seem to do very well...
To me worth the work & once you do one you'll get it worked out so that the next one is easier to put together :0)

Yes, absolutely. I keep my "show boxes" packed and can go set up at a show in a moment's notice. Well, after I make samples, of course.

I had the same question so I asked a fellow baker here in my city that is also a good friend of mine. She said NO! not worth all of the work and the money she had to pay. She said that there wer lots of inquiries while she was there ( she does beautiful cakes!!!) but in the end they wouldnt order anything or come back to her bakery. We live in the houston area. So its not like its a small town. anyways hth. if any.

I've only been to 2. The first one was really great and I got a lot of responses. I didn't get near as many brides from the second one, but because it was so dead, I was able to make good contacts with vendors. So, I still recommend them.

Booking a bride is practically secondary to the REAL benefit of going to bridal shows. I'm there to meet and network with my fellow wedding vendors and oh yeah by the way some brides will be there, too!

It gets your name out .... makes you visible in the wedding community .... develops relationships with other wedding vendors who can refer clients to you.

Most shows, except for the REALLY big ones, are priced to the point that if I booked just one or two weddings from the show, then I more than got my money back for the show ..... AND all of the add'l exposure that can't be measured within a specific time block.

If you go to a show with the mindset of "how many bookings will I get" ..... and that's ALL you're looking at ..... then you're missing half the benefit.

Thanks for the responses! I met with a coordinator of the bid bridal extravaganza yesterday and she said there would be about 800 brides and total of about 1600 people show up. There are only about 6-8 other cake places that attend their show, but they have upwards of 200 vendors. It is $750 to do the show, which scared me a little.

They are having another show in September that I am stongly considering going too. I will have been in business for just under a year at that point and will be in my new location in the middle of town. So I think that would be a smart move.

Thanks again everyone!!