My First Bridal Show!
Business By SweetConfectionsChef Updated 20 Feb 2007 , 1:43am by SweetConfectionsChef
I set up at my first bridal show yesterday! It was extremely exhausted but lots of fun! 
I'd do it again in a heartbeat! 
Anyway, I tried to keep track of everything (mostly in my head) so I would have a better idea of what I'd do differently next time and what my numbers were. Here they are:
-6 consultations booked at the show
-5 more consultations booked by phone this morning
-30 (approx) serious inquiries about weddings in the next 6 months
-100 (approx) serious inquiries about wedding 12-18 month from now
-1 booked/paid order today for a 400 guest count cupcake display in May
-talked to 400-500 brides in 8 hours
-networked with endless people but only 2 are someone I would actually do business with
The cupcake order paid for the booth and supplies with about $150 left so I booked a message, pedicure, manicure, tea tree soak for my curly locks, and haircut at the day spa!
I found it hard to make time to do the display cakes. I've been swamped with a lot of piddly sh$t lately and next time I will refuse those kinds of orders. I only had 3 cakes to take and was pretty upset until I saw how much table space I had...it worked out fine with all of the other things I wanted to put out. Next time I will take 2 sized columns..a tall one for a large cake (to put in the corner) and a slightly smaller one for a smaller cake to put out front. I will also take a helper. I missed some of the brides and couldn't go to the bathroom for 10 hours. I also ate 1 grape all day (everytime I tried someone walked up) and didn't really drink knowing I couldn't go to the bathroom! 
That part was tough but didn't hit me until the drive home!
Also, the HD was there checking for temporary permits...I didn't need one because I put my mini cupcakes in souffle cups with a lid (made them prepackaged) and she did get snotty with me. I had taken my lisence off the wall and brought it with me. When I showed it to her she said "I figured you were a home bakery since I'd never heard of you" and I told her "I've been inspected 6 times if you would like to see my impecable inspection reports" as I'm also pulling those out...she said "no that's fine" as she was walking off...with a red face! 
Ah man ape! I could have taken you with me! Why didn't I post something on the forum????? I wasn't thinking! I am already starting to get overwhelmed since not using the girl that runs the front for me. I took her off the schedule after Christmas because I thought it would be slow....WRONG! She doesn't decorate or cook....just runs the front and cleans. My other girl moved to Dallas to go to college but she tries to come and help with the catering jobs...I couldn't do it without her!
Thanks for the compliments. I had no idea what to expect from the show or how to set everything up. It went pretty smoothly though. And I am pleased with the results so far. Every consult I booked at the show (6) are for friday or saturday of this week...I'm interested to see if they'll actually show up!
congrats!! the cake samples in the cup work out great because most bakeries will cut off a piece right there and serve it. so the bride will have tasted 10-12 different cake samples and cant remember what was what. so we bagged up info and cake sample so they could take it with them and taste it when they got home. i think that worked best for us. one thing u might remember is that u do not want to get on the bad side of the health dept. even if you pass inspections with flying colors just the thought of an inspections gets me worked up. you look pretty talented do u just do wedding cakes or do u do everything?
I do everything...or atleast try! 
Good advice about the HD but I will tell you that my inspector is wonderful. She orders from me regularly and everyone in the department that I have dealt with has been okay except the person at the show. She was obviously a bad apple and I will tell my inspector sometime next month when she drops in. You can't let inspectors walk all over you because they wear a badge. They will respect you more and not give you a hard time if you stand up for yourself, follow the rules, and use common sense. In my shop respect runs two ways and that includes employees, customers, inspectors, and myself.
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