It's the peak of engagement season and wedding season is just around the corner. If you’ve recently gotten engaged, that means it's time for you to start planning! Booking the vendors for your wedding day can be one of the hardest parts of wedding planning.  There are so many vendors out there who have different styles, levels of service, and pricing. Finding the right vendors for you is important to ensuring that you have the wedding of your dreams. Lucky for you, January and February are very important months in the wedding industry. With the start of the year, wedding vendors and venues get together and host a variety of bridal events. These networking events are designed for couples like you and are the best places to find the perfect vendors to book for your wedding. You can check out the Bridal Events calendar for 2022 HERE.

Open Houses v Expos

There are two different types of wedding events: open houses and expos. These events are very similar in that they are open to the public and are designed for brides to interact with wedding vendors. Open Houses are typically free to the public and take place at wedding venues. These events have about 8-20 vendors that have a good relationship with the venue. When booking your vendors, it is always best to get recommendations from your venue or other vendors. You can also often speak with the venue site manager, take a venue tour, or even book the venue during these Open Houses. In contrast, Wedding Expos are large scale, convention style events with hundreds of vendors, demonstrations, and even fashion shows. Tickets are often required for these events and are anywhere from $10 to $125 and often include giveaways, and enter you into contests going on throughout the event. These events are perfect if you have just started planning, are looking for inspiration, and haven’t booked any vendors yet. While these events are very exciting, they can also become overwhelming if you don’t have a game plan. Here are a few tips and tricks on how to get the most out of the next bridal event:

Create a New Email Address

If you’re anything like me, you like to keep things organized. When planning your wedding, you are going to send a lot of inquiries and emails to vendors, order a lot from amazon, and subscribe to a lot of newsletters. During these open houses, every vendor is going to ask for your email address so that they can send you “more information”. Your inbox is going to fill up quickly and you might end up with a lot of spam. To keep your wedding planning communications from cluttering up your personal or work inbox and to keep all wedding emails in one place, create a new email for your wedding. This also allows you to receive all of your invoices, and RSVPs together so you can access them easily. Then once your wedding is over, you can simply log out, or delete the email. No more wedding spam haunting you for months after your wedding. 

Create a Label with your Information

Each and every vendor is going to have a contact form for you to fill out at their booth at these events. They will want your name, email, phone number, and wedding date. To make your life easier, and to save your hand from writing the same thing over and over, print some labels at home with your information on it. This way you can spend more time talking and getting to know the vendors, and less time writing. 

Create a list of Vendors

Coming prepared with a list of vendors you need is the smartest thing you can do to navigate these larger wedding expos or fairs. Most of these bridal events will have a website with a list of participating vendors. Taking a moment to read over these lists, doing some vendor research, and making a list of vendors you are most interested in booking for your wedding will save you so much time trying to get around during the event. If all you need is a caterer and a photographer, don’t feel bad about skipping all of the other vendors. This event’s sole purpose is to help connect you with the vendors you need, don’t waste your time on ones you don’t.

Come with Questions

These events are for you to ask any and all of your wedding related questions. Don’t worry about sounding stupid. For most people, it is their first and only time getting married. Vendors are used to getting asked a lot of questions. This is also your first chance to get to know some of the vendors on your list. Take the time to ask them the right questions to really get to know them and learn about the packages and services they provide.  Creating a list of questions to ask your vendors ahead of time can really help to steer your conversations with vendors in the right direction. Here are some questions I recommend asking every vendor:

1. Are you available on my wedding date?

2. What is your price range?

3. Do you provide services to my area?

4. Do you provide the service I am looking for?

5. Which of your services or packages is most popular?

6. Do you offer any additional services?

7. How many weddings did you book last year?

8. Can I read a copy of your contract?

9. What other vendors do you work with often?

10. Do you have a business card?

11. Do you offer free consultations?

Don’t Be Afraid to Book

If you find a vendor that offers the services you are looking for within your budget and you feel like you are ready to secure and book them for your wedding date, don’t be afraid to ask if you can book them on the spot. These vendors will be talking to a lot of brides during these dates, and if you have made up your mind about a vendor, you don’t want to risk another bride booking them on your date. Vendors hate turning down brides. If you wait to schedule a consultation or book, you may end up back at square one; having to restart the search for vendors. If the vendor you are interested in isn't doing bookings during the event ask to schedule a consultation or appointment with them for the following week and exchange contact information. This ensures that you will be continuing the conversation after the event so that you can book them in the near future. 

If you are recently engaged, or planning a wedding right now, grab your fiancé, maid of honor, or your mom and check out the calendar of 2022 Wedding Events today. Whether you attend a venue’s open house or a large wedding expo, come prepared so that you can get the most out of your interactions with vendors and get ahead on your wedding planning. 

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Cheers,