Bridal Shows ?

[steelcityphotographer]

Are they worth it? How many bookings do you get?

There is a local show in my area. Cost is STEEP..for me it is anyway...
$1000 for a 10X10 area. Add 75 for electricity. So I thought about sharing well they wack you another $475 to share a booth !!!

[jblaschke]

Are they worth it? How many bookings do you get?

There is a local show in my area. Cost is STEEP..for me it is anyway...
$1000 for a 10X10 area. Add 75 for electricity. So I thought about sharing well they wack you another $475 to share a booth !!!

Yeah, bridal shows can be harsh. My best advice is to research and talk to other vendors who've attended, because all bridal shows are NOT equal. We got burned last year with a smaller local show that did not deliver the promised number of brides. What's worse, the organizer places her "friends" at the entrance so they picked up most of the on-the-spot bookings, being the first photog/florist/caterer the incoming brides saw.

On the bright side, we made some good connections with a couple other photogs and florists as we stood around not speaking to all the brides who weren't in attendance. :D

The best approach is to plan for it, and not make it a spur-of-the-moment decision. Book your table early, and insist on choosing your location on the floorplan. And if you haven't attended a modern bridal fair, check one out so you can plan your booth accordingly.

[scorpio_e]

Thanks for the reply !!!!

[egordon99]

Where is the bridal show you're looking into? I haven't thought about this yet, but I'm curious now...

[scorpio_e]

It's a BIG one...Two days

http://www.lvbridalshow.com/

If you want PM you email address and I can send the PDF.. If you do some digging you can fins it too *LOL*

I sent in for info about a few more but they never replied.They are in your neck of the woods.

[kristyberends]

I would recommend going to one as a guest, first. Not sure if this one charges to get in, but go in and walk around (take your wife, gf, or female friend) and do some scouting. Go toward the end and talk to photographers, see if you can find out how many they booked. I have heard of photographers booking their entire season and its totally worth the booth fee.

I have the same question as you and will take my own advice one of these days. I could be wrong, but a higher percentage of engagements take place between November and the end of Feb, so you might want to time it for that time frame. Those are just my "think outside the box" thoughts.

[ssim]

I've done two of them and the results were positive. You rarely come out of there with bookings but you will find some good leads and those that are definitely interested will let you know.

They charge you for electricity on top of the booth rental.

Word of caution, if you are going to do it, do it right. Yes it sounds expensive but if you want to be a business you have to act like one too. The old saying, you have to spend some money to make some does hold true in business. I personally would not share a booth with another vendor unless you had some sort of marketing arrangement with them. Certainly not another photographer and it would have to be someone that compliments your service.

On top of the rent expense you are going to have to have some big prints made, some albums on the table for them to flip through, printed brochures, etc. The ones we did only had curtains as the backdrop so we rented a collapsible booth background that was just covered with fabric so that we could hand some framed prints on to. At the end of the day it is quite easy to drop a couple of grand. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It has been my experience that there is usually a selection of many photographers. Your work can be outstanding but if your presentation and delivery stinks you may very well come away empty handed. What the bride and her mother will remember are the one that were well, memorable.

[isophotostudio]

I'm terrified of doing a wedding show, we went to the Today's Bride one, and it was so crowded even walking around for 30 minutes was overwhelming! But I second what ssim said, look well put together, see if you can arrange your booth in a way to set aside somewhere calm for couples to sit with you, if it's crowded trying to talk in the aisle ways is intimidating.

[scorpio_e]

Thanks for the reply guys.. I think I will scope it out this year an an attendee and do one next year:)