Our scoop on the Bridal Extravaganza and how to be a great bridal show
guest…
This past weekend, the Bouquets of Austin team was thrilled to
participate in the Bridal Extravaganza, held at the Palmer Events Center. It’s
always a great show but this year they took it up a notch with an appearance by
David Tutera - wedding planner extraordinaire and star of the hit show, My Fair Wedding with David Tutera on WE
tv. We were able to attend his dinner presentation and we were blown away by his
honesty, generosity, and knowledge of the industry. To boot, he was lovely
about posing for pictures which made this star-struck crowd pretty happy!
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| Me & David Tutera |
The Bridal Extravaganza is, without a doubt, one of the premiere
shows of the year. In the case of their January show (they host two more shows
throughout the year - in June and September), it is the first of the year –
essentially marking the beginning of the wedding show season. For vendors, this
presents some of our most effective opportunities to meet with brides and
grooms face-to-face and really show them our work. For engaged couples, this is
a rare opportunity to have vendors across the wedding industry - from venues
and photographers to florists and bakers - under one roof.
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| Becky & David |
We love bridal shows because we love what we do and we’re excited
to share our work. Websites are great, email is a necessary convenience, and
we’re always happy to talk with an out-of-town bride and groom by phone; but
nothing is better than being able to talk to you in-person. We count on bridal shows to be able to connect with
couples we may not have otherwise been able to meet.
Bridal shows can be equally effective for you. Let’s face it -
planning a wedding is time-consuming and it can be a challenge to locate and
vet a multitude of vendors. Having everyone collectively at your disposal in
one place can be enormously helpful.
In this manner, wedding vendors and you - those in the market
for our services - come together during these well-planned events. There is
absolutely no denying the effectiveness of bridal shows and we always encourage
brides and grooms to attend whenever possible. Get out there, meet us in
person, and see our work. However, we will ask that, if you do participate, you
are a good bridal show guest.
Yes, yes...we know. But trust us - it makes a big
difference and it can make all of our participation that much more effective.
Here’s how..
Know what you're looking for on that day.
What many couples may not realize is that there is an order of
importance when choosing wedding vendors. First and foremost – after you’ve set
a date, of course – consider choosing a wedding planner. You cannot
underestimate how much help a professional planner can provide you – saving you
significant time, money, and stress. Next is your venue, which should be booked
before absolutely anything else and followed closely by a caterer and a
photographer. Planners, venues, caterers, and photographers often do not handle
more than one event a day so there is obviously less flexibility in their
dates. Once these vendors are booked, you can move on to additional services
such as florists (that’s us!), bakers, and more. From our perspective, these
details are very important, as the time of year determines the type of flowers
that are available and drives the overall design. The venue also very much
determines design and greatly impacts our delivery/setup schedule, as does a
choice of caterer and photographer. We work closely with caterers to ensure
that we schedule our setups for when the linens have been put down and we also
schedule deliveries to coincide with the beginning of photography.
Come armed with good information.
Having a strong sense of the colors that you want can go a long
way towards helping us plan accordingly. So it always helps when you have
colors in mind – and especially helpful if you’ve already chosen your dress and
your bridesmaids’ dresses. Of course, if you know that there are particular
flowers that you would like to use (or some that you definitely don’t ) that is
always good information to have so we can guide you towards appropriate
seasonal flowers. The conversation we have at a bridal show may be an
abbreviated one, but if we all use the time efficiently we can give you a good
idea of what you’re wedding flowers may look like and you can get a quick sense
if we’re a florist you’d like to work with on your big day.
Provide accurate contact information.
We know you would never dream of doing such a thing…but, believe
it or not, some people who attend bridal shows provide inaccurate contact
information – ON PURPOSE (gasp!). In the end, this doesn’t do anyone any good;
nor does it benefit you to opt out of email contact. Bridal show attendance is
an investment on both ends. You’ve invested your time to attend the show and
allow us to provide you with information. We, in turn, have invested our time –
and a considerable amount of money – to be there so that we can introduce you
to our services. When we return from a show, we compile the contact information
that we receive so that we can keep in touch, provide accurate pricing,
schedule appointments, and keep you informed of upcoming specials. We realize
that email can become overwhelming so, if you haven’t already done so, consider
setting up an email address specifically for wedding information. This way you
won’t miss out on gathering the information that will help you make the best
decisions for your wedding. And, it will save us – and other vendors – from
managing inaccurate contact information.
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| One of Our Table Arrangements at the David Tutera Dinner Presentation |
With a new year upon us, we look
forward to many more bridal shows where we can meet all of you in person. Be a
great guest and a strategic planner and you will dramatically increase the
efficiency – and enjoyment – of your wedding planning. And don’t forget to come
by our booth and say hi; we can’t wait to meet you!
