organize a wedding fair
It's interesting:"Congratulatory remarks about the wedding ... Wasn't the wedding ceremony beautiful? That row of handsome men and a parade of gorgeous attendants. And ..."
A wedding fair can be a large production that brings in engaged couples from a wide area, or a more intimate wedding show for a smaller area.
Instructions
Organizing the Fair
1
Conduct market research to determine the potential audience within the area. Pull together statistics on the average age of people getting married, how many of those individuals live in the area, and an approximation of the size of the wedding party. Talk with local churches, go to the county/city hall to view marriage license applications, and visit florists, jewelers, salons, reception halls, caterers, printers, travel agencies, and wedding fashion stores to gather this information. This market research is also the start of marketing to the vendors to rent space at the wedding fair.
2
Draft a business plan showing your target audience size, vendor pool, start-up costs, financing needed, marketing strategy, and a projection of profitability. According to the Small Business Association, the "Small Business Planner" will assist you in writing a business plan. There are also Business Plan Workshop online classes to assist in drafting a business plan for a wedding fair. Once your business plan is drafted, you will know move forward to organize the event.
3
Determine where the wedding fair will be housed. For a community-based show, a local reception hall, church, or school auditorium will be adequate. Reserve the dates well in advance of the event to ensure availability and provide pre-event advertising and marketing.
4
Make a list of every detail for a wedding. Work with a local wedding planner to ensure that each area is covered. This list will determine which vendors to invite to make the wedding fair comprehensive and all-inclusive.
5
Design a website that begins branding the show's identity. This branding will be used in all correspondence, marketing, and advertising for the wedding fair. The website should include a landing page for vendors, which will tell them how many prospective brides to expect. The landing page is also a place for them to sign up and pay for their booth space. Include a layout of the venue so vendors can select their booth location.
The website will also house a landing page for attendees. This will not only provide a list of vendors who will be exhibiting but how everything needed to plan a wedding will be under one roof and other value statements. Highlight special guests and/or speakers, any presentations or fashion shows, and door prizes or other marketing tactics to entice pre-registration of attendees.
Each landing page will be the 'call to action' on all marketing and advertising materials used.
6
Create a list of the target industries that will represent every aspect of a wedding (which you did previously in your market research). You might use direct-mail postcards as a marketing tactic to attract vendors. This is a cost-effective way to publicize the event and reach your target audience.
7
Advertise your event with brochures left at each of the attending vendors' stores, including a link to your wedding fair website. This is also an opportunity for targeted direct-mail marketing. Use this marketing tactic, along with radio spots, ads in the local newspapers, and an endorsement from the speakers to be used in print and radio. Always advertise the benefits of attending, not who will be a vendor, so the marketing is talking directly to the needs of the engaged couple and how attending the wedding fair will fill those needs.
8
Add the bridal fair to as many lists on the Internet as feasible. One such list is "The Bridal Association of America Bridal Show Listings." This website has been set up as a place for producers, exhibitors, and brides and grooms to keep up to date on the latest bridal shows. To find other similar websites, Google "bridal show listing" and select which ones are best suited for your bridal fair.
9
Get assistance, as needed, for the pre-event logistics, marketing, setup and wedding fair activities. Each area should have a person in charge who is knowledgeable and dependable.
Tags: wedding fair, landing page, business plan, market research, bridal fair, fair website, fair willSource: www.ehow.com
