And that’s a wrap for the wedding show season for us!
But the Ottawa Wedding Show really is a great show to end on, that’s for sure!
This two-day show is a highlight of our off-season and was the show for which our booth was originally designed and made. After trying out many shows over the last two-three years, the Ottawa Wedding Show is the only large show we kept in our repertoire as it was the only one to offer the right type of clientele, atmosphere, variety of other vendors, and of course cost to us (we do also attend a medium and small show during the off-season, as you have already seen from our recent blog posts).
Wedding shows are actually a lot of work for vendors. Leading up to the day there is a lot of planning, buildings and admin work to be done. Fortunately for us, the building part is complete and we just need to do touch-ups on the booth between shows, but there is still a fair bit of planning and admin stuff to do before the show starts. Then after everything is set up (a process that takes about 4+ hours on average for us), there is still all the networking with vendors and chatting with couples to get through before you have to take it all down again and lug it home (and find a spot to put it all until the next show).
But I hope you don’t take that all the wrong way, as much work goes into wedding shows and as exhausting as they can be, we still have a great time at the ones we have kept around. Chatting with couples as they plan their wedding days is so much fun. And getting to meet the wide variety of people and hearing the different approaches and ideas is super interesting. And then, when the crowds start to die down, we get to chat with our friends in the industry and catch up. So they are still pretty fun days for us.
Our booth didn’t change very much since the last time we used it, in fact, the garland that Pollen Nation made for us dried so nicely that we were able to (carefully) use it again at the base of our table. I really do love how it brings that natural element into our booth and how it had helped me get rid of a lot of the clutter-filled nick-knacks we used to have in its spot. I did however, run out of time/forget completely to get a floral arrangement for the table, so in lieu of that, I simply used a product sample we have of one of our favourite bouquets we have gotten to work with.
And like I have the past few shows, I took the time before the show started up to walk around and get a few photos of some of the other vendors at the show.
We started with Encore Bridal. The boutique setup they had meant they were not only displaying their dresses and getting to talk to brides about their fabulous new store, but also sell their dresses when brides found just the right one. The setup was wonderful and I absolutely loved soft fabrics and furniture mixed among the white/metal tables.
The ladies even brought along some of their amazing skirts from Pastel Dress Party along with them to the show! I am simply in love with these tulle skirts, they really just are the prettiest, girliest thing!!
Encore Bridal actually had two setups at the show. One was their large boutique area and the other was a booth like ours in size (and actually located right next to us) that had a few show pieces for brides to peruse. This smaller one was accented by the gorgeous headpiece and bouquet above made by Capital Florist. I was enthralled by how they mixed real flowers with the broach and pearls in both pieces – how neat is that!!
And, as you would expect at a wedding show, there were some really great decor displays around the floor. The above setup was put together by Pearl Decor and really showcases how beautiful gold elements can be. And that archway in the back really is stunning!
The below display was put together by Monara Events (with flowers by Floral by Net). It too has some gold elements that are super popular right now, but mixes that all together with a really modern look thanks to that glass table and stemware.
(shout out to All That Glitters and their wonderful models for the day who helped make the decor displays that much more spectacular by posing among them for a little while).
I would have loved to have had more time to check out and photograph the other vendors and their booths at the show. But I just kept running out of time during my breaks. I can say though, that the show truly was wonderful and I am so looking forward to chatting with some of the couples we met more as they plan their big days. Although, I am also feeling pretty good about putting the walls away until next year and getting back to what I really love doing – capturing wedding days!!
