I just wanted to share this in case any of you wonderful NEPA brides out there were interested. There’s a bridal expo happening next weekend, on Sunday the 21st, down at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. I won’t be attending since I’ve already had my fill of bridal expos, but brides early in the planning process might find it useful! They’re doing a big giveaway too, and that’s always fun.

If you attend, let me know how it went and what parts you loved. I also recommend creating a new email address just for signing up with vendors at the expo, because some of them can occasionally be pretty spammy. Better safe than sorry!

I know, I know. In my last post I was leaning towards not attending the NEPA Bridal Expo this past Sunday. And then I went anyway. Some of my bridesmaids strong-armed gently talked me into attending. Aaaand…… I didn’t really have the urge to set the building on fire. Woo hoo!

As you might expect, bridal expos in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area are not huge affairs. Since I didn’t need to visit the venue, photographer or florist booths, we managed to speak with everyone in about an hour. If you were just getting started, I imagine you could spend about 2 hours browsing. Bridesmaid L and I wandered around for an hour (and THANK YOU for going with me) and then hit Dunkin Donuts for a recap afterwards. I purposely went sans-mothers for sanity reasons, though I may take them to the next expo just to give them the experience.

On the plus side, none of the vendors were too pushy. I got the information I needed and signed up for more updates from those I was truly interested in. One ‘registry’ type vendor has been pushy after the fact though.. they called me twice on Monday! I haven’t even looked at their website yet! It might be worth it to put down fake phone numbers for all the vendors if you attend an expo.

On the negative side, the crowd got a little overwhelming at one point. The hot lights and the stereotypical “bridezillas” crowding around the photo booth in the back made me break out in a sweat, but that’s when we walked away and had a piece of cake.

On the ridiculous side, I saw a local DJ who is on air a lot, but also has a wedding business. He was walking in at the same time as me and the best way I can describe him is what I texted to BM E – he looked like a guy who is pushing 50, wearing a jacket straight out of Star Wars, and t-shirt that Ed Hardy personally threw up on. The cloud of his cologne wafted back and almost knocked me into the street! Yuck!

Once I check out some vendor sites I will gladly post my thoughts here. I just wanted to let everyone know how it went. Bridal expos are ok, I guess. If you haven’t gotten far in the planning, I think you will benefit a lot from the ideas you find there, so give it a shot! Did anyone else attend this weekend?

Dear readers, I’m torn. The 2009 Northeast PA Bridal Expo is taking place next Sunday. I missed the first round up in Scranton last month due to some illness, so this is my last chance to go. By this time next year we’ll all be singing The Final Countdown and the last thing I’ll want is to go look at bridal accessories that it’s too late for me to buy/make/lust over.

Here are my pros and cons on the show:

Pros

• The chance to win some free stuffs
• A bridal fashion show. I have yet to look at a single wedding dress in person
• I can check out vendors for some of the smaller things we might like, such as transportation, wedding party gifts, decoration

Cons

• There’s only one DJ there, which is the one biggie we really need
• NEPA Bride does not like a crowd. At all.
• We don’t need a baker, florist, reception venue or ceremony location.
• We don’t need crazy favors for everyone since we’ll have the candy buffet.
• It’s on Sunday. I need to be watching the football. Srsly.

So, what do you guys think? I know what way I’m leaning but I’d appreciate any more pros or cons you can add. Thanks!