Bridal Expos

[islandphoto]

How many of you do bridal expos and for those of you who do, how much money do you put into it? How do you display your images? Do you give special promotions? Give out brochures? Do you have a slideshow running? Big, framed enlargements?

Just trying to get ideas. THanks :)

[ssim]

I've done one bridal fair. I got enough business out of it to justify it. I think the table was 250.00 for the day. I had framed prints hanging on a portable backdrop stand. Didn't offer any specials. I had some flat sheet information that I would hand out (they weren't just there for the taking) after we had an opportunity to speak to them. We also made a sample video/movie presentation using ProShow and handed them out to people that we felt were genuinely interested. We took 100 of them and that wasn't enough but I know for sure that 3 of the bookings we got were people that we handed these out to. We had a couple of albums on display that had around 40 8X10's in each.

One of the things that I liked about this is you get to meet your fellow photographers in person and get to see some of their packages and pricing. I formed a quasi alliance with one photographer there. If either of us couldn't handle a request we would try and move the people over to the other. This paid off well for her this summer when I got laid up with a bad back and I had to bail off 3 bookings to her.

You get to meet all of the wedding planners, dress shops, flower shops, you get the picture. It is a great opportunity for networking.

[JMHPhotography]

I'm going to one this January with a photographer colleague of mine. We have formed an alliance as well where we are both small (just starting out). Rather than staff an associate photographer, we've decided that we would contract each other out in the event that a wedding is to be really large. Without disclosing the financial terms, the arrangement really benefits both of us. Should I be the booking photog, I'm the primary, and vise versa. Both of us also have the ability to offer our clients something extra they could not get if the alliance wasn't made. This bridal show is hers so I'll be there in the capacity that I would be if she booked a wedding and contracted me for the event. Hopefully I'll be able to make my own contacts as well though, but I won't violate the terms of our agreement.

[twinsrus]

Doing a two-day show in January. I am anticipating a privilege fee of about $750 for a table (just a guess), based on a one-day show I attended with my wife..

People never seem to tire of these things. A lot of people go to these to compare prices. One of the photographers we talked to - we went incognito - said he gets a majority of bookings at these shows. Displays go the gamut - light to overly extravagant. Some offer price lists, 10% off if you book within 30 days, etc. Others treat you like you're lucky to be speaking to them. You won't get much from them until you make an appointment.

I think established photographers feel they don't need them. They get their business by word-of-mouth, website, or yellow pages. I think if one is starting out, these may be the best place to introduce yourself to a large audience very economically.

[picturecrazy]

I looked into doing one a couple years ago. Wow, $250 a table? $750?? The price for a table here is $1700!!! That's what shyed me away from doing one.

For $250 though, I would definitely give it a shot.

what I was thinking of doing was bringing either a decent sized LCD screen (32" or bigger) or a projector and playing a slideshow synced to some catchy music. It would be placed so it would be easy to see from all angles and high enough that people could see it from 50ft away. Seriously, who ISN'T going to take at least a 5 second look? It was a suggestion from a friend who does tradeshow booth consults.

anyone else can share how many bookings you got from the show? Any sign right on the spot?

[litwinphotography]

I do the bridal shows here and have already booked up 90% of next years weekends with just 2 small one day shows here.

It costs me about $500 to get a table, then I bring a large monitor/laptop for a slideshow, large framed prints, some stretched canvasses, and all of my studio sample albums / parent books.

I also have a giveaway at each show so people can enter the draw right at my booth. It is an excellent way to gather information and get contact info for potential clients. We give away a $250.00 + prize such as a portable DVD player.

I also have an aincentive for people to book their date within 10 days of the show, If they book and pay their 1/3rd deposit, they are entered to win the rest of their wedding package free. So this can be of great value to them and it trully has worked for getting the bookings!

Hope this helps

[jessiper]

I do the bridal shows here and have already booked up 90% of next years weekends with just 2 small one day shows here.

It costs me about $500 to get a table, then I bring a large monitor/laptop for a slideshow, large framed prints, some stretched canvasses, and all of my studio sample albums / parent books.

I also have a giveaway at each show so people can enter the draw right at my booth. It is an excellent way to gather information and get contact info for potential clients. We give away a $250.00 + prize such as a portable DVD player.

I also have an aincentive for people to book their date within 10 days of the show, If they book and pay their 1/3rd deposit, they are entered to win the rest of their wedding package free. So this can be of great value to them and it trully has worked for getting the bookings!

Hope this helps


Good ideas. A table at a show around here is a lot more, though.

[islandphoto]

Thank you all so much for the ideas. I have a laptop that I was thinking of playing a slideshow on but it's not all that big. I also had some concerns about the music... Would it be distracting. The bridal show hear is about $1000 for 3 days. I have an oppurtunity to share it with another vendor (site for the reception is there business) Is this a good idea or will people get a little confused? Thanks,

[liza]

Thank you all so much for the ideas. I have a laptop that I was thinking of playing a slideshow on but it's not all that big. I also had some concerns about the music... Would it be distracting. The bridal show hear is about $1000 for 3 days. I have an oppurtunity to share it with another vendor (site for the reception is there business) Is this a good idea or will people get a little confused? Thanks,

I recently helped a wedding photographer with a booth at a local festival. While the music that came with the slide show seemed to draw people's attention, it drove me up a tree by day two after listening to the same thing over and over again. :)

[islandphoto]

What type of music was it?

[RobKirkwood]

We're promoting ourselves heavily at wedding fairs and shows at the moment as we try to get our name established.

In the UK, most wedding fairs cost around 100-200 GBP for a 6' x 2' table, and you're usually allowed some sort of backdrop so long as it doesn't take up too much space.

We do everything you mentioned - large prints in frames (all our frames match), big screen with looping DVD of many more still images (screen is 26" LCD TV). We also have albums containing portfolio shots, plus a couple of albums full of shots from a single wedding. We have leaflets with prices that we hand out, plus business cards, and usually some sort of special offer tied to the event. Plus we collect people's details for our mailing list (assuming they're happy to join).

This last weekend we were at a bigger 2-day show "Real Brides Show" in Exeter - which bills itself as the biggest such show for the South-West of England. This one was a proper exhibition, and we booked space rather than have a 'shell-scheme' stand. We had 4 metres x 1 metre space, which cost us nearly 600 GBP including power. By the time you add on all the other expenses of attending, we will need 4 or 5 bookings to make this worthwhile in the short term ...so far it looks like we've definitely got one booking coming our way (but we're only 2 days on from the show, so fingers still crossed!).

Here's a snapshot of our stand at "Real Brides Show"...


Rob

[twinsrus]

That's what I'm talking about! Nice setup.

The subject of music - most of these shows have DJs doing their thing and it is usually crowded enough that unless you're exhibiting in a church or there aren't many people there, I'm surprised anyone would hear the music unless you really turned it up.

[Banbert]

Really good of yah to share that Rob, not done any bridal/wedding fayres yet but that gives me a decent images of what the expectations are, thanks.

[RobKirkwood]

Really good of yah to share that Rob, not done any bridal/wedding fayres yet but that gives me a decent images of what the expectations are, thanks.UK Wedding Fairs/Fayres are more low-key affairs - tables with white cloth for all exhibitors ...we've always taken a backdrop display as well as using the table, but from now on will be doing away with the provided table and using our own stand.

Re music: we don't currently have a soundtrack at all on our looping DVD ...but we might do so in the future if it becomes more of a "commercial" advertising our services. We've talked a lot on this forum about music copyright, and if you use music at such events in the UK you're very likely to be asked to prove you have the right to use it, plus will need a PRS licence allowing you to play it to the public.

Rob

[islandphoto]

The picture looks fantastic!!! Did you bring in that shelf? Where did you get it?

[liza]

What type of music was it?

Top 40 stuff. Not really my cup of tea.

[RobKirkwood]

The picture looks fantastic!!! Did you bring in that shelf? Where did you get it?Everything you see in the photo (apart from grey wall panels, floor and neighbour's balloons) is our stand. The metal grid panels are known in the UK as "gridwall" and usually sold to go in retail stores. The mesh shelving (table with albums, and shelves holding screen, DVD and boxes, etc..) is from Ikea. Lamps are also from Ikea.

Everything we've used is very reasonably priced, it works out much cheaper than buying one of those tiny velcro exhibition panel systems, and, in my opinion, looks much more classy ...only snag is we had to take car and trailer to shift everything for this show.

Rob