I am gearing up for my end of summer bridal fair. I secretly get really competitive when I set up my display. I want to have the best stand!!! My question is: I want to book as many brides as possible before the first of the year for the 2011 season. I have very ambitious goals for booking weddings next year! I want to offer some type of coupon at the fair...I am thinking of selling 50.00 wedding cake vouchers for $25.00. (one per purchase). For those who are experienced at expos, will this type of coupon be successful, or will brides be annoyed that they have to stop and get their wallet out during busy expos?

Does anyone have any other advice to make a great impression on brides?
What works for you?

I was just reading older posts, and I came across a post by Solecito, which answered most of my questions. However, I still am interested to hear people's opinions on giving out discounts at bridal fairs?

I have a photographer friend who runs a bridal show special but he has a time limit. book him within 7 or 10 days of the show and get a special low price. he tells me this works really well for him.

My opinion of bridal shows is that the biggest benefit is networking with the vendors; getting your name out with them; becoming their first choice when a bride says "I'm still looking for a cake.....".

booking a bride from a show is just a side benefit. In my ever-so-never humble opinion.

I just participated in a bridal show last weekend. This past week, I have booked six wedding cakes, scheduled 4 consultations, and taken one booking for our new banquet room.
I have never had these kinds of results from a bridal show before, so I'm understandably quite thrilled. Here's what I did differently from previous shows:
I had four display cakes, one for each season. Next to each cake on a pretty easel board was a detailed description of the inside of the cake, and how many guests it would serve. Just underneath that, I also described the design of the cake. For instance, the winter cake's description was
'Evoke the feeling of walking through
snowy woods on a clear, cold day
with this sparkling beauty. This cake
speaks of restrained elegance with
a touch of whimsy.'
Then, in very clear font and bold letters, the cost of the cake as shown, and also broken down into a per serving price. I had several brides tell me that it was very helpful to them, plus, it eliminated the looky loos and timewasters from calling me. I also heard from several people at the show that our cake was the best tasting, and our display stood out for being so different.

ID offers sage advice.
Even tho these expos and shows are geared for the public, the real benefit is making and keeping up with contacts.
You never know when a problem will rear it's ugly head and it is nice to be able to pick up the phone and call the XYZ Company and ask for Suzy Brown, cause you know good ole Suzy will come thru for you.

**I like the voucher thing, but don't be shocked if not many take you up on it. Money is tight every where and that may just be the cash she put away to pay for parking or lunch.

Indy has always told us it's much better to offer a value added than a discount off.

For example in my last newsletter, I offered 2 dozen cupcakes with the purchase of a wedding cake and described it as the "Kids Special" for anyone having kids at their reception. My added cost of adding 2 doz cupcakes in the same flavors as the wedding cake is almost nothing, but a $66 savings to the bride.

leah-s, I REALLY like your idea!

This is slightly off topic but stay with me... I've never done wedding shows but I have a friend who has done tons of them and one thing that she does is have her dummies with the gumpaste flowers, then a plate with other gumpaste flowers and a sign saying "touch these". What has happened in the past is not the bride, but the mother of the bride has come up, touched the flowers on the dummies saying "Oh I can't believe these aren't real" and breaks them, then takes off leaving a red-faced bride to apologize. Needless to say that hurt business! So my friend has a plate with this sign and they can touch and break to their hearts content, then she talks to them about gumpaste flowers on cakes and the selling points of that and it works out much better~