Bridal Event Comments & Pointers

This will be our 4th year hosting the CT Bridal Event and every year we ask for couple feedback.  I randomly send out emails to our couples who attended, asking them the likes, dislikes and comments about our event. I've figured this was a great way to see what is working and what isn't. 

Comments we received about the vendors displays and vendors themselves:

"A smile goes a long way, that is all I have to say.  If you aren't willing to seem to be happy to be  there, I'm not going to bother."

"I loved seeing photos of the work, or even better a slide show of their work."

"I like an over the top table, helps me see what the vendor could really do."

"A freebie and business card is nice but wow me with your table"

"I liked being able to sample the product, or when it came to the make up artists I was glad I could try on different colors that might work for me."

"Your work should speak for itself, don't tell me how great you are.  That's just weird." 

"I like to sample more than one cake flavor, and I love being able to see all of the flavors I could do"

"Being able really speak with the photographer made a difference for me.  I loved the photos and then I fell in love with the vendor that would be part of my day."

 

"What do I get for your prices, is this more or less than most vendors"

"The custom one of a kind work was awesome, I liked knowing that you could create something just for me!"

"I found my wedding dress and it was the best feeling in the world. I saved a ton of money and now I'm putting it into flowers"

"Some displays were just confusing and overdone in a bad way.  I don't want to spend 20 minutes figuring out your product."

"Just because I'm the bride doesn't mean you shouldn't introduce yourself to my bridesmaids.  The ones that took a moment to say hello to us all just made me feel better about them."

"Wish more vendors had a place to sign up for a meeting or a newsletter. Sure winning a free prize would be nice but I want to be able to set up appointment too." 

"Bad mouthing other vendors was a huge turn off. Plus I had one vendor come to another vendors table and invite me to theirs. This was just wrong to me."

"Been to big expos and small ones, loved the mix of companies and the choices." 

"I liked checking out the company websites before I came to the event"

"The science project look has to go. I found that if you aren't creative enough in displaying your items, I will find a vendor that can."

"Loving the chance to walk around and then come back around and really connect with the ones that impressed me." 

"I want to buy my tickets online"

"I spent two hours at the event, found accessories for my gown, my invites, and picked two other vendors.  Great great time.  My mom and I had a blast."

"Thank god for the welcome bag, I think we could have used a bigger bag though."

"There were so many nice people to speak with and one of the better shows I've been too."

Couples did ask to be able to see company reviews and I'm thinking it would be cool to check them out at the Wedding Reports table this year.  Just an idea but I will see what Chris thinks about the idea. 


One of the surprising comments I saw was how couples really pay attention to how neatly everything is put together.  They are looking for professionalism in the items they hand out, like misspelling words demonstrates that you don't pay attention to small details.  If you can't pay attention to that, can you handle the small details of a wedding?!?  They don't want to see someone's craft project, they are looking for the professional polished look.




 Here are a few questions we have always recommended you ask your wedding professionals:

~How long have you been in business?
~Do you do this full time?
~If you get sick, who takes care of your services?
~How large of an event can you honestly handle?
~Do you work from home, a shop or a different location?

 As the producer of the CT Bridal Event, it has been important to give couples choices without over loading them and it seems to work.  We had many state that they loved the chance to compare and speak with each vendor.  It is important to take the time at the event to speak with the couples.  If there is a huge rush of couples, invite them to come back and have a one on one meeting with you in 20 minutes.  


This year we will be offering online ticket sales, it will be a special deal for couples who purchase early.  I'm looking into larger welcome bags.  Each year I really make a point to learn and grow with each Bridal event.  The event in my mind is never perfect, and sadly I can't please every single couple, or every single vendor but I do strive to create an amazing event for our CT couples.  This event came together due to two friends sitting around thinking about how we could expand our business, and how we could create something useful for the CT couples around us and the large group of smaller businesses.  Without the smaller business choices, every event would be almost the same. Having choice is so important to my line of work, and I love being able to really showcase off so many different companies.  





We went from being a bridal open house to a large scale stress free Bridal Event.  Save the Date for November 7th at the UConn Alumni Center from 12pm to 4pm. www.ctbridalevent.com