Vero Beach Bridal Show 2017

Hi guys! This is an informal blog post about my participation in the Vero Beach Bridal Show this past weekend. It was my first Bridal Show, so I wasn’t sure what to expect! I have heard a lot of bad stuff about participating in Bridal shows from other vendors and a lot of good as well! I had to make sure to pick out the right show for Me! I decided to go with The Vero Beach Bridal Show because if nothing else, the proceeds go to a good cause! All the proceeds raised at the Vero Beach Bridal Show go towards the upkeep of the Vero Heritage Center, an official historic building built in 1935 that boasts it’s original wood floors to this day! I’m a sucker for history, so I was sold with this fact alone! I figured even if all the ‘Brides to Be’ are only going for the “free stuff” vendors and sponsors giveaway at Bridal Shows and have no interest in my Wedding Photography Packages, I can at least know the money I spent to be a vendor at the show went towards preserving a little piece of History here in Central Florida! Here I am in front of my booth with a nervous smirk just before the doors opened! I didn’t book anything on the spot, nor was I expecting to at all! I hate being a pushy salesperson, and I STAY AWAY from those people, so I DON’T want to be that way at all! I put a nice display together, (all DIY by the way), and talked about what I do besides weddings, my photography style, my film preferences, the differences between film and digital, how to choose a photographer that is right for you, among other topics, like the Fiestas in Mexico, getting back to the gym, and my obsession with sweets with whoever would entertain me! The point of the whole thing for Me, was for people to get to know Me, know what I do, and help steer them closer to their dream wedding whether they hire Me or not! This was very important to Me because I am a people person and I love to help them whenever I can! I do what I love and want to share it with everyone, but I also understand that not everyone budgets for a professional photographer on their wedding day for a variety of reasons, the main one being money, and even though that sounds crazy to me, that’s me, and I have no right to push people into making an investment they ether aren’t prepared to make, can’t make, or simply don’t want to make! My booth was filled with DIY elements that even the most thrifty bride could put together with a minimal  budget, and a lot them thanked me for giving them tips and providing inspiration for them! The copper pipe arch was a huge hit and I shared with them that it was a made by my hubby and the materials were purchased for just about 100 bucks at Home Depot! I had one bride in particular tell Me her fiance is a welder and she was going to ask him to do this for their ceremony arch! All my picture frames were from IKEA and are all very affordable!  I also displayed my silk and dried flower arrangements so they could see how beautiful they look as well, and I got most of them 40% off at Michael’s, SCORE! I made sure to have water and some sweets as well to help avoid any awkward silence I was anticipating, but actually didn’t happen at all, in fact I came home with a ton of extra pastries! I sent in cookies for snack time to both of my kid’s classrooms today and gave away another couple dozens of pastries to my in-laws as well!

Here’s a front shot of the whole set up!

The Love balloon is from Paper Boy Shop and I had my hubby attach the metal wires to the frames to hang them from there.

How beautiful is this little corner of the table!

I put my family portrait front and center because any bride that is going to work with Me will at some point meet my family at some point in the process, so it might as well introduce them now! Our lovely family portrait was taken by Kayla Barker and my giant sample wedding album is from QT Albums and is handmade in Poland!

I can’t believe these lovely strawberry filled pastries didn’t fly off the platter!

A little close up of one of my silk floral bouquets! These flowers are from IKEA.

The large framed prints on the table were all taken in film and the smaller ones in digital.

I had to get a close up of these lovely dried flowers left over from an editorial shoot I did last year!

The largest print on display, (besides my logo) was also in 35mm film, everyone loved it! And I really loved the way they both hung so seamlessly from the copper piping! Thanks Babe!

Now to the other vendors! I was situated directly in front of Dillard’s Men’s and home located in Vero Beach! I love how they had something for the groom’s as well! This is Daniel Santos, the Men’s tailored business manager and his crew!

Here’s another fun display from Hair by Aly McKeen.

They gave out fun little hair ties and bobby pins with their business cards!

Events by Adriana had a lovely set up as well!

They are a Mother in law and Daughter in law crew ready for business!

The cakes on display were all so beautiful! The cakes pictured above and the next few below are from Frosting on Cardinal Drive in Vero Beach

Those details!

Can you guess what the inspiration behind this one is?

And here’s the pretty face behind all these almost too pretty to eat creations!

Not sure where these ladies went when I dropped by to take their picture, but none the less, they were both very nice! Here’s a link to their Facebook page, Lovely Artistry by Aimee Goddard

This was probably the MOST POPULAR guy and the busiest booth the entire time! He gave out FREE BEER! He’s from Walking Tree Brewery.

Another empty booth when I came by, but I still had to take a quick pick of all their lovely paper goods! They are from Peach Leaf Paperie.

Meet Joanne from the Banyan Estate in Malabar, Florida. I had the pleasure of touring her venue during their open house and I was quite impressed! It’s on my “I want to shoot a wedding there” list for sure!

Now, let’s get back to the cakes!!

This beautiful Momma is responsible for all those amazing creations! She was the second most popular booth since she gave out FREE CAKE!! She’s the owner of the Yellow Rose Cakery.

There were other wedding photographers on site as well! This was First Kiss’s booth! Crazy pictures and very cool display, indeed!

We all know the party doesn’t start until the DJ plays!! This is  Jay and Heather Barwick from Barwick Entertainment.

These lovely ladies are from Magnolia Manor in Vero Beach. Another venue I’ve toured and would love to shoot a wedding at as well! You can find a little facebook live video of my visit on my facebook page here Arlene Jacobs Photography

These lovely ladies knew their good side and posed perfectly for Me when I asked to take their picture! They are from Verola Studios.

I wish I had more time to get all the vendors, but I literally only had 10 minutes to spare after I finished setting up, (yes I put it all up and brought it all down by myself) and it was just not enough time! Plus, my primary objective was to introduce myself to future brides and have fun, but of course being that I’m a photographer and a blogger, I thought this would be a fun and educational post for my readers, (hi Mom, hi Honey, love you)! Anyways, all jokes aside, it was a good experience for Me, despite not booking anything, and not knowing if I will even get any clients from participating in this event, it was an experience worth having, my money went to a good cause, I met a lot of very talented wedding vendors, friendly and beautiful brides to be and I had great time doing it! I could tell the other vendors and the brides had a great time as well, so I would recommend it to both Brides to Be and wedding vendors alike! They held a fun bridal fashion show afterwards, but I couldn’t stay due to a previously scheduled Bride consult an hour north of there, so I guess I have something to look forward to next year!

Oh, and I also held an Engagement Session Giveaway and it’s still open! Feel free to share this blog post with someone who might be interested in joining! Here are the official rules for entry!Contest closes on Saturday March 11! Thanks you! Here’s a link to The Vero Beach Bridal Show as well!

Xo Xo

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