A Dramatic Backdrop
Arriving at the Antique Auto Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania for a wedding show on February 21, 2010, we were greeted by a pretty Cinderella coach and a stately brick museum set atop an overlook that gives the building an even grander feel. It didn’t take too much effort to “melt” the giant snow drifts left over from “Snowmageddon” with imagination and see the driveway as a dramatic entrance for guests to a quirky, fun wedding venue.
All Roads Lead to Hershey…at Least They Should
A basic internet search for bridal shows within driving distance of College Park, Maryland, where my partner-in-crime, Fran Aycock, and I had scheduled a visit to the Green Wedding Expo on Sunday afternoon turned up four possible Pennsylvania locations. The kid in me was thrilled when Fran told me that Hershey would be the easiest drive.
I contacted Melissa Flood, the organizer of the AACA Wedding Show, and she enthusiastically welcomed us to add the show to our tour, providing us with complimentary tickets and a warm invitation.
Melissa and her team set up the event on two of the three levels of the museum. Vendor spaces were weaved in and out of the classic car exhibits. There was more to look at in a couple of hours than I could have seen in a day, which means I simply “must” go back (rats!).
Of course I somehow managed to get us going in the wrong direction from the start, so we ultimately were salmon swimming upstream. However, we had arrived as the show opened, so going the “wrong” way gave us an opportunity to view vendor booths before brides arrived, which meant I had a chance to talk to a lot of the pros in-depth about their displays and their businesses.
Chocolate Town Secrets
At our first stop, the nice folks from Deswert Productions shared with us secrets to weddings in Hershey, including the fact that it smells most like chocolate in the morning, so it’s the perfect location for an early wedding.
The Importance of the First Impression
Throughout the day at both shows, Fran and I stood back from upcoming booths to play “What do they do?” A common problem among exhibits at any bridal show is either a lack of signage, or a lack of focus. If you are paying for floor space to promote your business, potential clients should be able to figure out in a glance what you do you and why it’s special. To accomplish this, exhibitors need to create both an inviting space without obvious barriers to entrance (move that 6 foot table to the back of your booth and stand up!) and display very professional, very clear signage.
Most booths in Hershey were very well marked, and I informally gave a “great signage” award to Amy Bell of aehb events. Amy credited her company’s focus on graphic design to her decision to purchase professionally printed and constructed floor signage, and it was immediately obvious that she was an event planner. It sounds like a simple concept, but so many planners fail to put enough importance on clear, sophisticated signage, wasting an opportunity to connect with passing brides. Amy’s signage enhanced the non-verbal communication that I am certain encouraged brides to engage with her in further conversations about upcoming wedding days.
Go Big, Get Noticed
Some displays cannot be contained in a 10x10 space. The catering and design team at C&J Catering set up an impressive sample dining space, using Tiffany blue and white as their color palette and adding lots of glitz, creative touch, and some really great food. We sampled the key lime mousse which was artfully served and was, of course, delicious! If this keeps up, I’m going to gain weight on this tour and that is an anti-goal for sure!
Collaboration and the Wedding Industry
Nothing spectacular in our industry is achieved as a solo effort. Other big displays were the results of collaboration between wedding businesses that regularly work together and the impact was obvious.
The Four Course Wedding Production (photo above) was set up in a tent in the basement level of the museum, of all places. You’d never know you were in a basement, however, and walking into the full decked-out space with several different tablescapes and a cozy lounge area, you could easily forget you were in a museum at all. We got a kick out of chatting with our new Twitter pals @the JDKGroup and were impressed by the efforts of all of the vendors who contributed to the exhibit:
Premier Production Services, Inc.
The Theater Room (photos above) was transformed into a chic, luxurious lounge by the Lancaster Vendors, including:
Shumaker: Plan|Design|Transform
Special Occasions Queen Street Linens
Designs by Renee Custom Stationery
with cake provided by House of Clarendon
Speaking of the House of Clarendon, their cakes were not only magazine-quality in appearance (absolute masterpieces), but they twisted our arms (really…I did try to be good) and made us taste them as well. Savvy brides and wedding pros know that in order to create the intricate, artistic cakes that you see in many magazines, bakers have to use rolled fondant to execute the design. Most fondant is at least 1/2” inch thick, with a thin layer of buttercream underneath to hold it in place on the cake. And most fondant does not taste good.
The House of Clarendon cake sample had a layer of fondant that was literally no thicker than as if it had been drawn on with a medium-heavy Sharpie, on top of a very thick, yummy layer of frosting. The cake itself was so moist and a layer of apricot pulled all of the flavors together exquisitely.
I’m secretly hoping that if I post “House of Clarendon” enough times on Twitter, Facebook and all three of my blogs, one of their cakes will miraculously show up in Williamsburg, and I won’t have to share. Seriously. Good. Cake.
The designer from the House of Clarendon, Eileen Kunkle, will be featured on TLC on March 22. I will totally be tuning in and so should you!
State #2 – A Confirmed Success
There were some really fun events that happened at the show that we missed due to time constraints, but we are told were a blast, including a cake dive and a real wedding!
Thank you to all of the vendors who participated in the AACA Museum Wedding Show, so many more than we could have mentioned in a single post. Melissa Flood produced an elegant, fun and truly unique event. We are so grateful that we could participate and I hope to have the opportunity to visit again next year!
Next up: The Mid-Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase in College Park, Maryland
~Shayna
Shayna Walker owns Williamsburg Wedding Design. She writes the World According to Weddlady blog, The Williamsburg Wedding Blog and Life in Weddings blog. She publishes the annual Where to Wed bridal guide for Williamsburg, Yorktown, Providence Forge and Newport News. She is also a passionate speaker and educator for the wedding industry, an established professional wedding planner and her most important job: a single mom of twin kindergartners.
Thanks John. I agree. I also think it's important to be selective about how much you present at once. Sometimes you see a booth and there are 300 brochures all over the place. Instead, get the consumer's attention, when they want more they'll ask, and you can pull out exactly what they need. Overwhelming is not a good marketing strategy.
Posted by: Shayna Walker | 02/27/2010 at 12:09 PM
Shayna,
I really liked the last part of your post, profiling some of the better displays. I submitted the post to Digg by the way.
The look of your display and marketing materials are essential tools for a successful trade show display but one thing that most forget are what I call bite sized chunks.
You want to offer a free, bite sized chunk of your business's value proposition to both influence prospects, remove buyer resistance and if he chunk is creative enough, spread buzz. Chunks can come in the form of a free sample, educational eBook, tips sheet, etc.
Posted by: Jeaston1 | 02/27/2010 at 12:03 PM