photo by: Craig Paulson Photography

My heart started pounding quickly as butterflies fluttered around in my stomach.  I had just gotten off the phone with one of my best friends Mekina Saylor and she had offered me the opportunity to showcase in my very first bridal show!  I was excited and nervous all at the same time and all I could think about was how I was going to prepare.  I pulled up the notepad on my iPhone and started to write.  I am by no means an expert on the subject yet, but I wanted to share my top 5 tips on how to prepare for your first bridal show!

1. Decide on the FEEL you want your booth to have.  The client’s experience with your booth is SO important and the way you decorate it can tell them a lot about you and your brand.  When brides stopped by my booth, I wanted them to feel immediately comfortable and at home.  I decorated my space with an ivory lace table cloth to evoke a feeling of timeless elegance and placed vases of red and white flowers all around.  I put any signs I had made in clean, white photo frames and displayed my logo neatly on my iPad.  My 15″ macbook showcased a repeating slideshow of my favorite wedding images and my two sample albums rested open for easy viewing.

2. Create BUZZ.  You want to make sure brides have a reason to stop by your booth.  To do this, I partnered with another vendor at the showcase, Denise of Prequels and offered to giveaway a FREE engagement session paired with the couples artfully written love story.

3. Make sure you have a way to collect contact information.  I had small white cards (with my logo printed on them of course 🙂 ) for brides to leave their name and email address.  Once they filled one out, they were entered to win the free engagement session!  After the showcase I followed up with each bride saying how wonderful it was to meet them, provided them more information on my collections, and ask if they wanted to grab a cup of coffee to talk further.

4. This one is a no brainer but SO important!  Make sure to bring plenty of BUSINESS CARDS!  I had mine placed for easy grabbing at the front of the table.

5. Show your SMILE!  Wedding days are so important and brides want to work with people who make them feel good.  I made the decision to stand in front of my booth instead of behind it and greeted people with a huge smile, thanking them for stopping by.  I made an effort to talk with each person that came by my booth, asking them how the wedding planning was going, where they were getting married, and how they got engaged!  Instead of pushing my products and services on them, I tried to connect with them on a personal level, hoping this would leave the lasting impression I was hoping for.

I hope these five tips have helped!  One thing I wish I would have done for my first bridal show is order a couple of large printed art pieces to place in front of or behind my booth.  I believe this would have visually drawn people in and made the clear point I was a photographer right off the bat!  You live and learn…and there is always next time!  A big thanks to Hornblower for inviting me to participate in your Sip Sway, and Bridal Play Showcase!  It was such an amazing experience and I hope to work together again soon.