i am in my first wedding show in january.
I'm thinking of having some kind of an offer like "15% the price of your wedding cake, if you book a no oblication consultation with me today" however... i live like 2 hours away from where this show it, chances are alot of the brides will be from there too.
now, where should i have my consultations??? if i have them at my house (i am a home bases business) they have to drive 2 hours to see me, so i couldn't see alot of people coming all this way, when they could probably get someone local to them to do their cake.

Now if i drive all that ways to meet them at their house, they are less likely to cancel out on me last minute or anything (i think) but then should i charge for the consultation??? thats gonna cost me alot of gas money, and what if they don't even book with me???
you know???

i have no ida how to approach this!
thanks

How about finding a middle ground? Pick a nice coffee shop or something that is roughly halfway between the 2 of you. I would charge for the consultation anyway, and then redeem that against the cost of the cake if they place a definate order and pay a deposit.

Not all vendors at bridal shows are "local". Brides are also coming from miles away. You may be surprised at how many are in your area. I deal with brides from Chicago, Texas, Washington state, New York and I even had one in Japan ....... and I didn't fly halfway to meet them.

I would suggest playing it by ear. Have a halfway point already picked out, but I would start out with "I'm located in blah-blah-blah. What day works best for you to come over?" If you get the hem-haw from them, THEN offer to meet them halfway.

I would offer to meet half way. I am new to consultations, and also have a business out of my home. But I live in a large metro area, so meeting brides isn't a problem. I would not expect a bride to drive for 2 hours to meet with you. If you want the business, you are problaby going to half to go to them, or at least meet half way. I personally do not charge for a consultation, because the majority of brides that I meet with, book with me..so I make my money back. the others that don't book with me, get counted as a loss $$ on the taxes.

do a search on consultations on here and read what has been said in the past. I did that and it was very informative.

Just out of curiosity, how much to you all charge for a wedding consultation? I was in the habit of giving a free consultation to help the bride pick out her cake but low and behold it always ended up being several consultations!! I'm curious to know how y'all handle it...

I also have dealt with brides that are not local. We did alot of phone , e-mail and snail mail. I have dealt with brides that I never met until the day of the wedding. I try to make it as convienent as possible for the bride. I do take appointments in the evenings and on Sundays if necessary. So many of the brides work, and it is very difficult for them to meet during the day. So many places are closed and it makes it hard for them to accomplish anything. Basically I do what it takes, and it makes my overall percentage high of getting accounts. Perhaps my philosophy is old fashioned, but I have gotton accounts that people tell me they went to so and so place and were treated rudely, or perhaps they didn't want an expensive cake and were snubbed from the get go. I think you have to decide where you want to go with your business and how you want to get there. Overall, the most important thing you can do it be honest, fair and genuinely caring about what they want.