Is it worth going to a bridal expo?

I went just for the experience. I had everything planned already. It was fun!

I just went to one over the weekend with MOH. I already have most things planned, but it was surprisingly super fun!! Started off grabbing some White Claws then took our time strolling around. Tons of food samples, we got tons of cute pics from photo booths, and got some random decorating ideas.

You would get freebie samples for sure and there’s even some expos that are free but I would say going is more for the experience with your friends than anything

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Nice! Sounds fun! Someone told me to create a separate e-mail or I'll get tons of spam lol

Yes, they can be fun, sometimes a bit overwhelming, but you have mostly everything planned so you can just enjoy!! I liked going for ideas and inspiration, plus the free food and cake lol. The photo booth pictures are also a TON of fun.

We went after having a few of our major things booked, but it was still a lot of fun. And we found our florist at a bridal expo! She gave us 35% off our bridesmaids bouquets because we met her at the show, so that was nice! I think it is worth the experience, plus you can get a lot of good ideas.

You will get a crap ton of spam texts and emails. Be careful of pushy vendors. We "won" an aromatherapy machine from a bridal expo that we went to and they messaged us and said the guy would be dropping it off and showing us how to use it. Well that meant we had to sit through an hour and a half demo of them trying to sell us a $3000 vacuum and when we said we weren't interested in spending that much on a vacuum, the guy was extremely rude and kept pushing until I finally told him he needed to get out of my house. That demo was never mentioned in any of the conversations we had with the vendor leading up to them dropping off the aromatherapy machine. There were some other vendors that keep messaging us and even after telling them about a dozen times that we are not interested in their services they still keep pushing. I wish I would've had a different phone number to give them because 5 months later I still get about 10-15 messages every month. It gets a little annoying after awhile.

I went to a few even though I didn't need to but they were such fun! You get a lot of free food and samples and reusable bags, lol. One had a fashion show, which was fun to watch.

Oh also...stay away from the Mary Kay people unless you love Mary Kay. They enter you in a contest that basically everyone wins for a “spa day” and it’s to demonstrate their makeup products and make you feel like you should purchase them. Then if they have your contact info they don’t ever leave you alone. I mean like ever. I attended one of those things 7 years ago and I still got calls from the lady last year. I had to block her because it was so incessant. Just a piece of advice!

I went to one and it was fun. They had free cake and food to sample, giveaways, and drawings. I won a free facial.

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Yeah that's probably good advice lol! I didn't give out any info. I took a pic of their business card if I was interested in something. I hate carrying around "stuff" lol

It’s fun but get a throw away email to give out and try to see if you can get a list of vendors beforehand. I found that there weren’t many florists or last minute details at the one I went to. Mostly venues, caterers, cakes, DJs, travel agents. But still fun to go to!

I had everything planned and still went to one for the samples and giveaways. They are pretty fun but can be kind of awkward when you already have everything planned. There are normally a ton of catering and cake samples which makes it worth going!

I went with my mom for the experience even though I had a lot of stuff planned. To be honest, for me, it was not worth the time. I'm glad I went to one just to see, but all I really walked away with was a tiny spatula and a lot of hard sell emails in my inbox from signing up for drawings.

For context; we are having a fairly non-traditional wedding, I had already purchased my dress, my fiance wasn't there to talk to the suit people, our honeymoon and vendors were mostly booked. There were some very nice people, but mostly it was services we weren't planning to use or had already booked so browsing around I didn't find anything worth the time, and the swag (which I've always heard to be awesome) was brochures and prize drawings. I didn't win anything, there weren't door prizes or anything, and I'm still weeding out the hard sell emails several months later. I went to the expo approximately 10 months before our wedding date.

Thanks for the tips all!

I went and still found amazing freebies and deals. I found my hair stylist for the wedding at an expo and i received $20 off my trial for just stopping at her booth

If I could go for the fun, I so totally would. I haven't gone yet since most expos are when I'm at work or when other people are working and we can't coordinate but they seem fun as hell and I'd love to go to one.