Bridal Fair / wedding expo

grego · Mar 7, 2007

Call it what you like. I am doing my first in about 5 weeks and I am looking for ideas on the best way to set up my stall at the expo.
What should I include?, what should i do to stand out from the others?
how do I best promote my services and make each couple remember my company when they return home with a bagful of stuff to wade through

Thanks
Greg

http://www.creativeclips.com.au

emogirl · Mar 7, 2007

HI Greg...i have been doing bridal shows, big & small for about 9 years and Ive always had great success..even at large shows where photographers are in abundance.

#1 thing...people LOVE to look at pics...not just some big framed prints...you want them at your table LONGER, so you can talk to them....i keep about 4, 8x10 albums on the table and as they are walking by, i invite people to 'stay a while and have a good look'....keeps them at the table while i do my 'spiel'....(does help that i was great in sales in my 9-5 days). Just give them LOTS to look at. I find that because people are spending time looking thru albums, they dont really notice the big prints as much though....so i dont do tonnes of 16x20's, just 2or 3 on easels at the side and behind my table. I keep several 8x10's framed on the table....all in black frames by the way, with black albums....keeps things neat and 'pops'.

My booth setup is just a long table with pale green table coverings, and then all the black frames/albums.....my easels are black also, which are behind and at the side of the table... i stand behind the table to talk and hand out brochures, keeping the viewing area free for lots of brides.

I hand out business cards to those who are 'passers by', who likely arent interested at all, but they still have my name, IN case. I give out brochure to anyone i talk quite a lot with and the 'somewhere in between' I hand out a collage 4x6 black and white, with thumbnails and all my contact info....those 4x6's are fantastic!!!!!!!! ( i hand out the different stuff for cost management...brochures get expensive!)

some bridal shows i am required to give a token gift to each bride...i used to give fridge frames with my business card inside, but now I have changed to chocolate bars (aero bars seems to be the best price for all chocolate) and i put an over wrap with a tranparent pic and all my contact info and 'congratulations on your engagement'..... the nice thing is, who is going to throw away a chocolate bar???? you know your money istn wasted...its totally clever...i get lots of feedback on it too!

OHHH, when you are chatting away at ;your booth...what to say? YOu will repeat yourself a million times over....tell them your best attributes, what they get when they book you..if you have different price points, say wedding coverage starting at ????

good luck with the show!

emogirl · Mar 7, 2007

OH, and one thing i forgot.....you want to get their name while they are there....have a draw....have them fill out a ballot (name, addres, phone, email and wedding date) and give away engagemnt pics....hardly cost you a thing, and you get a whole bunch of potential clients that you can target a month or two after the show. I send out brochures/letters/or emails to those that i have their wedding date open and sure as anything, i will get a couple more bookings.

Big Mike · Mar 7, 2007

Ya, have a draw :roll:

Before I was married, my wife went to a Bridal Fair with he sister and my sister. The filled out many draw forms....and we got calls every other day for months. Usually they tell you that you have 'won a prize' and it's 50% off an engagement shoot, or something like that. They probably tell everyone the same thing. I hated it.

On the other hand, it's a good marketing technique.

By the way, welcome to the forum.

Jim Gratiot · Mar 7, 2007

"Borrowing" this idea from Cindy C. in another thread... but I love the idea of giving out a free DVD of some of your best work... this way you'll be remembered long after the expo is over.

Big Mike · Mar 7, 2007

Good idea.

Another good idea is fridge magnets. I still have a fridge magnet that my wife brought home from the bridal fair, and that was almost two years ago. It holds up photos or notes on my fridge. We have never even called the studio who gave it to here...but if I wasn't a photographer myself...I just might...it's easier than looking it up in the yellow pages.

Apertures · Mar 21, 2007

I just did my first wedding show after doing weddings for 4 years. I decided that I wanted to go from 'serious hobby' to a 'real business'. I ordered most of my print materials (cards and a 6x8 full color, double sided card) from eBay where cost was manageable. I also ordered a banner - size was 8' x 3'. I had the company logo centered on it, with two great images flanking it on either side that hung from the pipe and drape at the back of the booth. I created a DVD slideshow that ran from a 19" LCD monitor on the booth table, which was surrounded by rose petals, the business and rate cards. At the ends of the table, I had two folding screens which each had 12 - 8x10's that I picked to show different aspects of the wedding day. Being my first show, I didn't really know what to expect, but I ended up booking 11 weddings from that show. Well worth the booth cost, plus materials. Look professional, go over your 'pitch' time and time again and spend what you can to get the best hand out materials you can afford. An odd sized card will stick out against the typical rate cards. As an incentive to the serious inquiries, I copied the DVD slideshow that was running onto printed DVD's and handed them out to good prospects. I heard from almost all of the bookings that they really liked the way they could view the images on their own time, at home and not feel any pressure at all. Total cost for everything to reach 2000 brides was about $1500 CDN for booth and all materials. Good investment for a first show to book 11 weddings, SO FAR. Follow up with a good email (most shows will provide you with a master list of brides) and a show special within two weeks.