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Need A Bridal Show Booth Idea

Posted by Anonymous on 12/30/2008 at 1:06 PM ET 250 Points

I'm own a small event planning business in Pittsburgh, PA and have bought a 6x8 booth at an upcoming bridal show. I know the booth size is small, but it was very expensive and I want to get the most out of it. There is a small space to the side of my booth that the trade show guy told me I could utilize, so that gives me an extra 2x4 space for a small table, if necessary.

My idea so far is to take my 6 ft. table and turn it sideways, then decorate the table like a table would be decorated at a wedding, complete with flowers, place settings, favors, candles, etc. I'm also going to drape a nice linen against my back wall to stand out from the normal black curtain.

I need help coming up with something that will draw a crowd that won't cost me a lot of money. I was thinking of maybe serving coffee, or bringing a big ice block and serving sparkling cider on top, or baking cookies...

Any other ideas? I'm the only wedding planner with a booth at the show, but I really want to make an impact. Thank you!!

Posted by kevin.shoesmith on 12/30/2008 at 3:52 PM Accepted

How about setting the table like the main (bride/groom) table at a typical wedding. Then either on the main table or a smaller table at the side, you could have a real nice wedding cake and could serve slices.

Or make up a trellis like entrance to your booth like you might find at an outdoor wedding. A small fountain that flowed with punch would be nice and attract attention. You can get them fairly cheap I think.

Good luck.
Posted on 12/30/2008 at 4:05 PM Member

Wedding Planner Booth at Bridal Show

I would try incorporating live doves in a beautiful dove cage on one side of the booth and live butterflies in a terarium setting on the other side of the booth to attract attention.

Dove releases and butterfly releases are a beautiful inclusion for fair weather weddings.

Simple after-dinner-mints or something to that effect would probably suffice, possibly with your logo on the paper wrapping and that could be taken away from your booth for later.

Another idea would be to design your booth with a "theme" for a particular type of wedding.

Best of luck

MarketingRiot
Posted by wnelson on 12/30/2008 at 8:29 PM Accepted

Greetings from Butler, PA, Desiree!

One thing you state in your question that is DEAD WRONG is you are the only Wedding Planner at the Cavanaugh Bride Show! First off, EVERY bride and EVERY mother and EVERY Aunt there think they are wedding planners - especially in our area of the world! Let's face it, many receptions are at the local fire hall with a neighbor catering from their kitchen! Second, front and center on the website for the show is a big box saying, "click here for your FREE wedding planner. Apparently, the show throwers themselves think they are wedding planners.

What most everyone doesn't realize is what a colossal pain in the bride's derrière it is to take any of these routes - the worst of which are mothers and aunts who want to vicariously live their dream wedding but don't have the same concept as the bride, the risk of important items being dropped and people having to scramble at the last minute, how much stress the bride feels with all this hanging - a wedding planner allows the bride to blush and look beautiful. The other misconception is that a wedding planner will drive up the cost - not that the wedding planner can save her fee plus just in knowing who can do what best. I would think your biggest concern for this show would be to make sure the "consumers" leave with a corrected impression of the value of a wedding planner first and then be concerned with attracting them into the booth.

To get them in - FREE works best. In GIANT letters, offer a prize for people who register of a "free consultation" with the Wedding Planner - a prize worth over $XXX. This will include assessing their needs and budget and then giving them an list of options they have given these constraints. Essentially, what I am suggesting is that your "prize" be what you would give to any bride who stopped by to find out what you could do for them - your sales call. The $XXX would be your hourly rate - your average price for your services divided by how much time you put into it. It should be more than $500, I would suspect. Get all stoppers by to give you contact information and you will draw a name for the winner! You advertise you will notify winners by phone call. Then, you use the data you collect and call ALL of them who are viable prospective clients and tell each of them they won. You get to sell your "stuff" to all of them. As they go away, you give each of them a brochure expressing their pain (of the DYI wedding) and how this goes away with a Wedding Planner. Also, you address the misconceptions - you can do your thing within their budget including your fee because of the relationships you have and the cleverness you have given your experience.

With this approach, you attract them with little cost. You also differentiate yourself from the "feed them" crowd - I mean, how many chocolates can a person take? Well, OK, maybe this is infinite, but it still doesn't differentiate you!

As far as your table and space - you could go opposite. You could show "the disaster" wedding - homemade confectioneries, diner plastic table clothes, plastic utensils, a fire hose, and you dress in a wedding dress that is ripped, with makeup tear streaks down your face. You'd catch their eye and make a point as to what happens with the DYI'ers. At the same time, you have the "free consultation" to bring them in. It's a wild idea, but gets you noticed and makes the point!

I hope this helps.

Wayde
Posted by Mikee on 12/30/2008 at 10:12 PM Accepted

I think it is most effective to give away something that pertains to what you do.

I would suggest giving away a wedding planning to a bride. This does two things. It draws in people to you that are interested in your service. The winner uses you're service and if you do a good job will whole heartedly refer people to you.

If you give away something less related there is a good job you will draw in and waste time on people that are not really interested.

It is important to have a catch phrase that you can say to people walking by to get their attention. My first trade show I wasted a couple hours waiting for people to stop and talk with me on their own. It did not happen. You need to get their attention and invite them into conversation. Perhaps for you it could be something like "when's the big day" or "have you set a date yet"

Hope this helps.
Mike
Posted on 12/31/2008 at 9:18 AM Accepted

I just did a week long series on Effective Bridal Show Marketing on my blog at The Agency. You may find some tips there http://www.thinklikeabride.com/theagency/2008/12/ten-tips-for-bridal-shows-...
Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/31/2008 at 9:23 AM Member

The problem with a single table setting is that people's first impression will be that visual. If the style of the setting doesn't match theirs, then they'll move on. Why not show slide shows of a range of wedding events that you've done? Besides showing your range of expertise, the images change as they pass your booth.
Posted on 1/1/2009 at 4:52 PM Author

Thanks, everyone! I like the idea Mikee and Wayne gave of giving away a free service- I'm defintely going to do that. I think Wayde's idea of showing a disaster wedding is a great idea too. I'm not sure I'm actually going to do that for this show, but I'm going to hold onto that idea. I'll look you up, Wayne, since you're in my backyard.

And JC, you're right about people flocking for food. I made the mistake of doing food at a booth once, but I think maybe coffee or hot choc. will work, so I may serve that since I have some neat decor ideas for a coffee station.

I'm not a big fan of doves and think having them there could become extremely messy- I can only imagine. Ha! And serving wedding cake would be great, but I'm sure extremely expensive.

I thank everyone for their help!!! :)

Desiree
Hello Productions
Posted on 1/6/2009 at 1:10 PM Member

I'd watch your table setting as well. I work for a facility that rents for weddings and other special events and, like you, we don't have anything that's easy to hand out or tangible so we also used a table setting idea with the table, chairs, etc we provide. However, we had many more potential brides look at the setting and china, but didn't realize we were a facility - not selling place settings. Just a word of caution so you're sure you have the right set up and that encompasses what you do and doesn't leave the people wondering. Handing out a planner is a great idea!
Posted on 1/28/2011 at 12:42 PM Member

I have been in business as an event planner for a couple of years now but this will be my first bridal show. The name of my company is A Diamond & Dream Affair and I went withe the formal colors of black & white with red accent. I wanted to incorporate the words that are in my company name into my booth design like Diamond and Dreams does anyone have any suggestions at all. My firm not only does wedding & event planning we do total design, florals and have our own rental company. On my staff I have several musicians, soloists, and just contracted with a caterer, graphic designer and photographer. Everything is contracted under my scorporation which means they are now my companies and they are my partners. I want to express to my brides that there is no need to go anywhere else we have everything that they need on whatever budget they have. Please help!!!!!
Posted by wnelson on 1/28/2011 at 12:55 PM Member

derekiathompson,

This posting is 2 years old and has been closed. Only a very few people will see your question. Plus this is someone else's question and your enquiry will be dilluted among their question and all the other answers specific to their question. If you would like to enjoy the full benefit of this forum and its experts, I would advise you ask your own question by clicking on the "Ask a question" link above and to the right or clicking on this link:

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/acct_postQuestion.asp

I look forward to seeing your question posted!

I hope this helps.

Wayde
Posted by signaturepartiesbynancy on 9/23/2012 at 7:31 PM Member

I am a new Event Planner in a small town(previously , I did it for a little while in California in the 1980"s) and am trying to figure out how to get my name out there. There is a small craft show that I am doing a booth with my caterer ,cake girl and photographer simply because the wedding shows are far away. Most people here do weddings themselves and I need to find a way to show them that I can truly help them do something nice. Any and all ideas of how to do this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Nancy.