Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

The Oregon Bridal Show

Keri S.

January 25, 2010 - 11:30 PM

This weekend, I went with my sister to the Oregon Bridal Show at the Salem Fair Grounds. I was amazed at the number of vendors there and all of the services that are offered for weddings. There were some vendors that I expected to see, such as the cake bakers, the vineyards, the caterers, and the photographers. There were a few, such as the invitation specialists, videographers, purse vendors, and photo booth rentals that surprised me. Although my sister is not planning to get married until June 2011, all of the vendors were very anxious to start talking to her and to get their name out there. And my sister, likewise, was excited to talk to them and start planning.

Throughout the show, I was fascinated at how each vendor tried to stand out and differentiate themselves from their competition (Keri Sime: Marketing student, will travel). We would walk around and talk to a photographer, then move directly on to talk to different photographer. It's a marketer's worst dream being that close in proximity to your competition. After four or five photographers in a row, we would have to stop and say "the photographer that had X, Y, or Z...which one was that again?? Some vendors had TVs set up, couches and chairs to sit down on, photo albums and picture frames full of their work all crammed into a 10' by 10' cube. My favorite vendor was one of the videographers. We were talking to him and stopped us a few times to show us one of his video clips and would then tell us a personal story about one of the brides he worked with. With this industry, you have to feel a personal connection to the people you hire since they will help capture the most important day in your life. One consistent marketing theme was the bride's biggest dream: free giveaways! Every vendor had a contest for a free widget or a free hour of service to collect your contact information. I will be interested to hear how many of them follow up and contact her. Since it is such a competitive market, my guess is a majority of the vendors will.

Once I took off my marketing hat, I decided to put on the maid of honor hat (my little sister, Katie, will also be a maid of honor). The rest of the afternoon my sister and I discussed the vendors and the details of her wedding: the location, the colors, the dress, the table settings, the music, the guest list...even down to the flower girl and the photo booth she should get (and yes, there WILL be a photo booth there. I think it was my favorite part of the bridal show!)

Should be a great time helping my sister plan the wedding of her dreams. The process is just getting started, and I look forward to all of the bridal magazines, the dress fittings, the wedding showers, bachelorette parties, and then the actual wedding that are all soon to come!

A quick shout out to my little track start sister, Katie! Congrats on your PR this week in the hurdles, and keep working hard at pole vault! Love you and miss you and hope I can come up with mom and dad to see one of your meets soon!