This year I was able to do some work for the Bella Sera Bridal Show! We put together some fun shoots with some beautiful gowns, and they turned out so great! Because of the work I did with them, I was given a booth at their bridal show! The theme this year was Bella Sera goes to the movies so we had different movie themes for each models including, Titanic, Pretty Woman, and Selena. I put together a slideshow for the pre-show for the fashion show, and really LOVED how that came together, but planning my booth was a whole other story.
I was so stressed when it came to putting my booth together! If you look up “bridal show photography booths” on Google or Pinterest, you’ll come up with so many AMAZING booths, and I knew that I didn’t have much time to do mine. There are tutorials to make a backdrop, or a faux wall for the background, neither of them sounded like fun to me. When I started my business, I told myself I wouldn’t do a bridal show. I felt that way because I heard from other photographers how there’s only the “budget brides” that go to them. I knew that I wanted to give my clients more than just a “budget” experience, and didn’t want to be chosen as someone’s photographer just for giving them the best deal. No thank you. Because I was given a booth, I felt like it was something I couldn’t NOT do. If anything, it would just be a good way to get my name out there. The more I started planning, the more I realized how much of an investment it was, even without having to invest in the booth. There’s a few things that I found from posts online, and friends who had done the show recommended that I get for the show.
Ingredients
Backdrop or something to hang your photos on
Some sort of signage with your business logo–you want to make sure the brides can see this
Handouts–I saw so many photographers who did chapsticks, or mints, or anything promotional like that and it was EXPENSIVE. More than I wanted to spend for sure–I chose just a simple postcard handout with some of my images and logo on the front, and an area to write any notes on the back
A giveaway- I think it’s an unwritten law to do so at a bridal show. You can choose what you want to give away. Maybe it’s a gift basket, or a dinner for two, or some wedding day signage, or I think the most popular, an engagement session. This year I chose to give off a certain amount from a wedding package!
Photos- that might be a given
A way to give you more info so you can email brides that are interested but don’t want to take time and chat AT the show–I’m just doing a list on a clipboard
Albums or other products that you offer to show- You can’t sell what you don’t show. I brought my wedding albums-1. because they’re beautiful and 2. because they sell themselves most of the time.
I know that’s not ALL you can have, but that’s all I felt like I needed. I definitely didn’t have the fanciest booth at the show, but it worked for me!
Shoutout to Gariann of Tin Sparrow Events for letting me borrow things for the show, and the BIGGEST thanks to Tammi of Tamra Larae Photography (who also seconds with me most of the time when i’m in and around Wenatchee!) for bringing me lunch, and hanging out for a few hours!!!! You’re the best, lady! 😉
I can say now that it’s all over is that I probably won’t be doing one the future. It was a LOT (repeat: a LOT) of work, and I kept joking with the other vendors at the show that I felt like a car salesman. Couples would come in and there I was just standing there like “LOOK AT ME!! Look at what I can do!”
Then in true car salesman fashion, they would try to avoid eye-contact, and I would never make it in the business because I would just say hi and they would keep walking. The ladies that put on the show told me initially that they would have close to 250 brides at the show, but I think there was only 20 or so that stopped at my booth. I do think that the woman’s march that happened the same day took a lot of steam out of the show. Kind of disappointing. Oh well. Lesson learned.
I hope that good things come out of the show. It was good to make some more vendor connections up in Wenatchee, and get out the house for a bit! 😉
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