just wondering if anybody is going to the wilton tent sale thats starting tomorrow..any good advice from people that has went before for someone that has never been to one... 
its going to be a long drive but i heard it will be worth it...
Check this out: http://www.wilton.com/events/index.cfm. I found it by googling "wilton tent sale".
if you go to the wiltons site...go all the way to the bottom and at the left hand side it sales "tent sale"...click on that and it tells you about it...
I'm planning on going. I usually stock up then. Depending on when you go will depend on how long it takes you to go through the whole tent. I am going tomorrow night. It will take about a couple of hours then as most people go and checking out that night is usually a nightmare. Plan to take a list of what you have! No doubt you will try to remember what you have and will forget what you needed most. Wear walking shoes and depending on the weather will depend on what you wear. You get a lot of people in that tent and it does get very warm. There are sides on the tent so not much air flow through it. They have not only cake stuff but other stuff as well. Know your prices. Usually the first few isles are the extra stuff-picture frames, other cookware, etc. The last few isles contain the cake stuff. You don't always get the same stuff every day. Some stuff sells out and won't be back. New stuff is added. Most cake stuff is 40% to 50% off in previous years. Can't say what it will be this year. They didn't have the sale last year so I'm expecting it to be crowded this year. But seeing how the ICES convention is this year some people just might wait and spend their money there.
Hope this helps somewhat 
Michele
we are leaving tomorrow morning...driving out then driving back...we wont be back till really late...my husband said he would get us a hotel if we wanted but not sure the other girls would want to stay gone...might have to talk them into it though if the sale is as good as everyone is saying...might have to get up and go back saturday morning
I wanna go. Wah Wah! I wish it wasn't so far away from me, I would love to go. Every year (except last year) I hear about the awesome deals. Me, too, me too. LOL
does anybody know if they take credit cards or should i take cash with me?
Green with envy thats all I have to say. There is no such event here in Vegas. 
I'll be there!! It's not far from my house. Yes, they take cc. Mine gets a work-out every year!! I was really upset that they didn't have it last year and I am running so low on supplies. The first night is CRAZY!!!! I usually go several times during the sale and can't wait to see what they have this year!!
I just came back from the sale. I was there at 7:15 this morning and it opened at 8. I was a lucky one and when I got in line it was about 1/4 around the tent, by the time they opened we could not see the end of the line. They have shopping carts or hand baskets to use
You definitly need a cart if your planning on buying large items such as cake pans, cupcake stands, rolling pins etc. 2 of us went together and we each took a basket. To be honest I had no plans on buying large items. I went for bags, colors, cookie cutters, candles etc. Tthe carts cause most of the traffic, but people do need them if buying big, but the baskets I can just lift above my head to get through lines. The first aisle contains cutlery, pot and pans, tea kettles. The second aisle mostly has picture frames. and scrapbooking items. The 3rd has bridal related items, the 4th has cookie cutters, candles, smaller items, the next aisle had all indiviual bottles of color gel, spray colors, candy forms, candy disc, bags both plastic and decorating, tips, couplers, and the last aisle had just about every cake pan, cookie sheets that Wilton sells. The end caps had your cupcake carriers, cake carriers, etc. usually items that come in boxes. Some of the those items were in several aisles. I did not list every thing they had such as parchment paper, oven mitts, cupcake toppers, boxes, papers. What ever Wilton has in there book they usually have at the tent sale. When you first enter the tent ( and by the way there is only one way in and another way out) you are facing Aisle one and everyone THINKS you have to go that way, and most people start walking down it, this causes a tremendous backup and once you enter Aisle 1 your stuck there for about an hour. It moves very slowly because of the people and carts, it's very hard to see what's on both sides of the aisle. I don't even go down 1 or 2, when entering the tent I go to my left and start in Aisle 3, 4 or 5. Now those aisles are crowded too, but no where near what aisle 1 and 2 are. Most items I seen are 50% off. Most of the time Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or JoAnns has a 50% off coupon, but that is usually for one item, here at the tent it's everything. I spent $41.00 today and I'll go back again before they close.
I only bought on large item and that was the Ultimate 3 in 1 caddy originally $19.99 for $10. otherwise I bought a couple jars of color gels for $1 each, almond extract $1, 16 oz of Meringue powder $8.40, pgk of 50 disposible dec. bags $6.60, some cookie cutters. The comfort grips were 1.60 and others were .38. The 3 piece fondant cutouts were $1.30 a set. I bought the leaf and square sets. I was in and out in 2 hours. That is considered "good timing".
I did hear others say that Wilton is only going to have these sales every 2 years now. They use to have it yearly. That was heresay, I don't know if that is true.
When I was younger and was baking up a storm, this sale was a god send to me and I would spend $$$. I still bake, just not as much as I use to, more cookies than cakes so I really don't need a lot. I still go every time they have it, and even this morning I was soooooooooooo tempted to spend $$$$$$$$$ again.
Hope this helped some of you.
Carleen
Carleen you must have been right in front of me! I got there about 7:20 and was amazed at the line when I got out of the tent. I went into the sale knowing what I wanted so I was on a mission. I will probably go back this week in the morning when it's less busy just to take a look to see if there is anything else I can't live without. My cart was over flowing and I spent waaaaay too much money but I try to look at how much money I really saved instead.
I talked to some of the workers and they said opening day was crazy, that some lady passed out and some ladies almost got into a fist fight.
So for those of you that are headed to the sale....wear comfy shoes, go to the bathroom before, don't plan on being in a hurry, and BE NICE!!!!
We got to the tent sale last night around 4:15pm. The entrance wasn't supposed to open until 4:30pm but in previous years they have let people in early. Heard through the grapevine of people that they opened the entrance around 3:50pm.
Yes there was a lady that passed out. She was about oh 50 women or so ahead of us. She collapsed in aisle 2 so they cleared out that aisle while waiting for the ambulance to show up. Needless to say those people ended up in aisle 3 and we moved no where! Once she was taken away and people could go back to that aisle things started moving again. Once you got to the last aisle you ended up in the check out line. It took about 30 mins from there to check out. Not bad all in all.
What amazed me was we left around 6:15 and the line to get in was as long as it was to get in when we got there! In the years I have shopped there I don't every remember it being this crazy.
As far as the fight I didn't see or hear about that. That must have happened after we left. But there were people with tempers there. You have to have patience if you go to something like that. It's needed.
I'm going back sometime soon as my future d-i-l just found out that the lady doing her flowers isn't doing them anymore and needs petals.
Carleen gave you a good description of what was there.
I live in Chicago, Illinois and I have never been to the tent sale. But, I am going this year. I just enrolled in pastry school and they gave us a list of items that we need in our pastry kits. So, I figure I can go to the tent sale and get a great deal. Thank you guys for all the good advice, I will wear comfty shoes, use the washroom before I go and go down isle 3 and 4. I'll let you guys know how it went.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! This thread is driving me crazy!! I live 10 minutes from the tent sale, and I haven't had time to go yet. Oh, I've had a spare 1/2 hour here or there, but not a big enough chunk of time to devote to shopping for cake stuff.
I baked and decorated a cake, made 3 kinds of pies and 2 kinds of cookies on Friday. Yesterday and today are full of volunteer obligations, then I'll be spending a lot of time with my daughter at the beginning of the week before she moves to New Orleans on Thursday.
As soon as she's on the road that morning, I'm off to the tent! You all had better leave some good stuff for me to buy!!
It was ridiculous yesterday! I got there late ( 7:40) and we were in line already where the exit was, by the time the doors opened, the line was all the way to the end of the parking lot! They had alot of scrapbooking stuff, I wish they had alot more housewares stuff since I don't scrapbook. Was it me or did they seem like they had alot of Martha Stewart stuff?
I think it was so busy because they cancelled last year and people weren't able to go. I sent about $100, got a bunch of basics like the parchment paper and vanilla and a couple baking pans. So much more I wanted to get! You can really get carried away!
This is the craziest thing! Last night, I DREAMED I had happened upon THE tent sale! Seriously! I was walking along and entered this canopied area and exclaimed how upset I was that no one had told me that THE tent sale was going to be here in *********! I wish I had known! I wouldn't have gone grocery shopping!!! Now, I'm broke! This is so messed up!
It must've been the cheddar peppers and hot buffalo wings...'cause I was sure fired up!
i went the first night and it was crazy...i got everything i rea;;y wanted plus more...spent about 160 dollars...we drove from ohio though...about 6.5 hour drive for us...we got there about 3-3:30 because of the time change(we forgot about the it)...but was glad we did..they ran out of carts...my friend was was of the people that helped the poor lady out that black out...alot of the people was nice but a few was just plain rude...they didnt have patience at all...they was mad cause the checkout line was so long...hello when you go to something this big you got to have patience and expect long lines...
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