Burlington Bridal Show

Not every couple has the opportunity to attend a huge bridal show only 10 days after their engagement, but Matt and I did! (Though I am sure that if Matt had known it was so soon he would have waited-- ha!) The Burlington Bridal show, hosted by the Vermont Wedding Association, was on Sunday and Matt, my mom, and I attended. The show was set to start at 11:30 and prizes were to be at 2:00. Matt and I were pretty sure we were going to win all of the prizes. It seemed like a long time to be at a bridal show, from 11:30-2:00, so we went around 12:30. Mistake #1! Once we entered the show we found out that to be eligible for prizes you had to get signatures from every vendor there. What ensued was an hour of running around, grabbing business cards and information, and getting signatures. We only stopped to talk with people who really piqued our interest. We  left exhausted, both physically and mentally.

As negative as I have sounded up until this point in this blog entry, we did gain valuable information from this experience. It was nice to see so many different aspects of the wedding planning process. We now have a basic understanding of invitations, dance lessons, venues, photographers, bands, DJs, cakes, makeup, gowns, even life and car insurance.

Some vendors definitely stood out- enough so that I have thought of them a number of times since the event even though I haven’t looked at the cards we took yet:

1. Hey There Cupcake http://www.heytherecupcakevt.com
    The red velvet cupcake I sampled was AMAZING and I keep thinking about it and wanting another. Also neat is that you can order up to 6 different flavors for the big day. So cheer up people who dont like chocolate on chocolate, there might be a choice for you!

2. Lasso’d Moon Invitations http://www.LMDinvitations.com
    I am drawn to invitations-- I just love looking at the different styles and fonts and colors and textures! Oh, I am getting excited right now! It is probably because of all of the graphic design and book making classes I have taken. The problem is, since I have taken this class I might try to do our invitations myself. But I still have to share the ingenious design I saw at the Lasso’d moon booth.Maybe you can just buy the envelopes?

The envelope folds open and holds all of the information inside! I don’t know about you, but when I open a wedding invitation I get so overwhelmed with all of the different pieces- the invitation, R.S.V.P. forms, a map, registry information, etc. It reminds me of the Publisher’s Clearinghouse mailings! You have to sift through to find the hidden sticker to stick onto the main form! Ah! Too confusing! They also have printable invitations and plantable invitations and favors... something to think about...

3. Armstrong Handmade Papers http://www.armstronghandmadepapers.com
    Another invitation place! I told you I was drawn to them! This man, Richard, makes amazing, beautiful, wonderful papers and then you can print your own invitations! And he sent me a really nice email after the event.

4. Photo Booth Planet http://www.photoboothplanet.com
    What a great idea for wedding favors that you just know your friends will abuse...
    Here is the deal. They rent you the photobooth and someone stays to manage it. Every guest gets pictures taken, they get to take a strip of pictures and another strip gets put into a wedding memory book. The guests can then comments on the pictures in the book. Also, the woman manning the booth, Tracy, was awesome. She really spoke to us-- she didn’t just give us the business. If only we could trust our friends.

Maybe you can see how the event may have been exhausting? Next time maybe we will show up on time-- yes, Matthew, there will be a next time!