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Weddingbee Blog
Back in September, I attended my first big bridal expo (or show, or salon, or whatever). My friend and I scored free tickets through Weddingbee (sweet!), and I was pretty excited. But oh, you guys, I was such a naïve little bride. I imagined we would show up, be treated like royalty, find the best vendors in the city, and get so many free gifts that they would have to carry the boxes to our car for us.
Well…no. No, that’s not really what happened (and yes, I can hear you all laughing at me). Here’s the breakdown of what actually occurred:
I went to two wedding shows and I’d have to say that overall, I’m not a fan. The first one I went to with two of my bridesmaids was completely awful. It was big and crowded, pretty much nothing was to my taste, and the vendors were all pretty pushy and annoying. For example, one of the vendors from a big suit company was shocked that we didn’t have at least 4 groomsmen who required tuxes and kept insisting that we needed to dress our fathers in matching tuxes.
The second show I went to with Mr. Knitting was much much better. It was organized by The Wedding Co., one of my favourite Toronto based wedding resources. This show was lovely and elegant with lots of amazing vendors. Mmm… there was so much amazing food to sample. This one was a lot more fun than the first one, but it still wasn’t the most helpful for my planning process because all these amazing vendors were way out of my price range.
For example, here’s the gorgeous letterpress invitation by Sweet Peony Press that I spent a lot of time mooning over:
Photo from Sweet Peony Press
Hey, hey, hey… get your mind out of the gutter. We’re not talking about that thing, that thing, tha-at thiiiinnng (Lauryn Hill, anyone?).
Anyway, although I’m an avid wedding blog reader and magazine reader, I hadn’t attended any wedding shows. I signed up for one way back when, but ended up not being able to make it so I gave my tickets away. I didn’t know what to expect and had a vague picture in my head of tables with vendors showcasing their services or goods.
Well, last week, only two months out from our wedding, I had the opportunity to attend my very first wedding show! I was really excited about seeing what these wedding shows were all about. I enlisted one of my engaged friends to come with me to The Wedding Salon so I wouldn’t be lonely.
First off, it was at a swanky West Hollywood hotel called The London that I’d normally never set foot in.
First off, I can feel your eyes of judgment staring at me… yes, I’ve slacked on blogging. Forgive me as full-time work and part-time graduate school has owned my life the past few weeks. But, I digress.
So, bridal show, schmidal show. That pretty much sums up how I feel about them.
Literally the weekend after Mr. A and I got engaged, there was a bridal show taking place at one of the casino resorts in town. So, with a good friend (Bridesmaid KD) and my Mom in tow, we showed up not knowing what the expect. Not sure if that was good or bad…
I get it. Bridal shows can be helpful to some brides, but not this one. At that time, I already pretty much knew which vendors I wanted, or at least an idea. We had also narrowed down what venues we wanted to tour.
So basically, there should be a disclaimer on how overwhelming these things are.
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Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
This past weekend my mom and I attended the San Francisco Wedding Fair at the Four Seasons in downtown San Francisco, which was recommended to me as the best fair in the Bay Area. It was a very lovely event, with tons of yummy food and drinks, as well as some serious eye candy, but altogether, not really that useful to me, which is why I’d highly recommend that if you plan on checking out a bridal fair, go early in the planning process!
For me, being five months out, I’ve already decided on every vendor except for our transportation. My invitations are designed (I’m starting laser cutting them this weekend!), registry is done, and I’m pretty much just getting down to the nitty-gritty of executing all of my planning for the past nine months.
But I can see how attending a bridal fair would be very useful for newly engaged ladies, as there is a wealth of information to be gathered from one: vendor pamphlets, an easy way to ask direct questions, and the opportunity to see work samples in person, without having to make separate appointments. And so, for those of you who haven’t attended a bridal fair yet, here’s a peek at my visit. It wasn’t quite as crazy as Miss Rainbow’s experience, though!
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I remember, once upon a time, when the thought of attending a bridal show seemed about as appealing to me as going to a Star Trek convention. (Not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just not for me.) I pictured masses of out-of-control brides-to-be, obsessing over the smallest details, crowding booths offering overpriced goods and services disguised as great deals. I’m sure that the images from Filene’s annual Running of the Brides event contributed some to the mental image.
Well, I’m now one of those brides-to-be. While I have been known to obsess over small details that no one else will probably even notice, I don’t quite think of myself as out of control. The truth is, I’ve never been a fan of the wedding-in-a-box. For this reason, I’ve chosen the DIY route for most of our options.
There are aspects to the wedding, though, that I just can’t do myself (though, believe me, I’ve given it some thought). After researching sites like Fifty Flowers and Grower’s Box, I admitted that with limited help available, arranging my own ceremony and reception flowers (in the heat of summertime in Miami) probably isn’t the best idea. And while I’ve taken two cake decorating courses and have baked several lovely creations over the years, I’d be taking on way more than I could manage by making my own cake. The same with the photography, as Mr. Yorkie’s brother is a professional photographer, but also happens to be the Best Man. So began my search for the florist, the baker, and the photograph taker.
In November, I received an email from The Knot informing me of The Wedding Salon event planned at The Biltmore Hotel. With a little hesitation, I signed up for Mr. Yorkie, my mom, and I to attend. I didn’t exactly know what to expect, but based on the venue, I anticipated something well-organized and was hopeful to meet some decent vendors. Little did I know that I would have an AMAZING time and find both my photographer and my florist! Mr. Yorkie even admits to enjoying himself. Plus, the great gift bags were an unexpected incentive (filled with lots of great goodies!).
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Bridal shows can really be hit or miss, and if one was good a particular year, it isn’t necessarily indicative of whether it will be good the following year. I typically don’t attend bridal shows, but I ended up going to three in the past month, and luckily… they were all great!
First up was BFF Bridal. Unfortunately I accidentally deleted the images on my camera from that event, but the venue was great, the food was superb, there was a great selection of high end vendors, and the gift bag was tres awesome. I think it’s a mistake when bridal shows don’t give press attendees gift bags, because how else will we write about them? I always give mine away anyway, but who doesn’t like receiving a little gift? 
Next up: The Wedding Salon. This event was packed! A little too packed for my claustrophobic self, but there were some big names in the house!
So although the original intent of going to the bridal show was to have a bee meet up, it was not to be. I also forgot that wedding shows/bridal shows/wedding fairs really get on my nerves. So, Mr. D and I hung around the show for as long as we could stand it, and I was able to snap a few photos before I was reminded that photography wasn’t allowed… whoopsies!
There were TONS of dresses at the show: booths full of dresses, models walking around in dresses, and girls trying on dresses… everywhere! Most of the stands were all the same, and they looked like this:
There was lots of white/ivory/champagne/gold poof. My favorite booth? Fur Coat, No Knickers.
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Let me count the ways…
I loved Trista & Ryan’s super pink wedding
I loved Jessica & Nick’s gorgeous Texan wedding
I love all your cute & innovative ideas
I love how my heart pitter patters at the mention of your name
I received an e-mail from Mindy Weiss’ blog that she will be at the Wedding Salon at the Beverly Hills Hotel for her book signing.
Ummm.. need I say more?
I convinced/bribed my bestest friend and Mr Jelly Beans to accompany me to the wedding show. 
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This weekend, newly engaged bridesmaid L and I experienced one of our first rites of passage as brides to be—the local bridal extravaganza!
We arrived pretty early (about one hour after it began) and were quite surprised that there were so many girls up and milling around already. Seriously, there were a lot of engaged ladies there!
Anyhow, before we could get too overwhelmed, we decided to take a strategic approach and walk up and down the aisles, booth by booth, so as not to miss anything. The vendors represented everything from local venues, to photographers and videographers, to honeymoon hot spots. They were particularly helpful to L since she was just starting her planning. Although I have most of my vendors on the lock down, I was also able to find a few fabulous resources that I didn’t know were out there (more on them later).
Since I’ve been planning almost exclusively via the internet, it was pretty cool to see actual examples of linens, place settings, and florals all set up:
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I wrote a teaser post a few weeks ago about the bridal event that I attended at The Crescent Hotel in Dallas, but I forgot to share the pics and details of the event. Mom H and one of my bridesmaids met up with me at the hotel, where we had a couple yummy cocktails, tasted a little cake and viewed several rooms decorated by various florists, lighting companies, etc.
Flowers at the entrance of the hotel.
If you have attended a bridal show I am sure you have then received a call congratulating you on winning one prize or another. A couple weeks after dragging Mr. Pineapple to a fairly horrifying bridal event I received such a call. Congrats to us! We had “won” a free honeymoon. The catch being that we would have to attend at 90 minute cooking demonstration.
Just wanted to give a little heads up to the local brides around here. There are a couple of good bridal events coming up in the next few weeks that you might be interested in!
1) D Magazine’s 4th Annual Bridal Show
When? Sunday, June 22, 2008 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where? Bass Hall in Ft. Worth
Cost? $15
Details? Join D Weddings and Bass Performance Hall for the fourth annual Bridal Show 2008, an extraordinary display of Dallas-Fort Worth’s bridal industry offerings. Plan your special day at this uniquely upscale event featuring an array of vendors, including wedding planners, caterers, florists, photographers, video services, music, and more. The show is spread throughout the beautiful Bass Performance Hall and its adjacent facility, Maddox-Muse Center, which houses both the Van Cliburn Recital Hall and McDavid Studio. Admission is $15. For more information, visit www.basshall.com or call 817-212-4280.
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Last week, Mom H and I were fortunate enough to attend the W Hotel Wuv Event. It was exciting because we could finally see our venue setup at night, with the windows to the skyline open and wedding decor in the room. What was more exciting, was that the theme of the event was black and white! While the floral colors at our wedding will be a lot different, the arrangements were also by the same florist that we will be using, Bella Flora.
I recently went to check out the rooms at The W to get an idea of how big they would be for getting ready. While there, Ann, who is helping us with our wedding, mentioned a bridal event that they would be having soon. I received an invite in the mail, but was unsure if it was open for everyone. Today, when I was checking e-mail, I saw this in my Modern Luxury weekly event newsletter:
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