Do you want to boost your wedding venue bookings? Would you like to know how to host a bridal fair at your wedding venue? Would you like to put your venue on the map and in the minds of engaged couples in your city or area?
In this article, I’m going to unpack how you can host a bridal fair at your wedding venue and what the benefits will be.
Wedding Expo Vs Bridal Shows Vs Bridal Fairs
Before I go into how to host a bridal fair at your wedding venue, I just want to quickly explain the difference between a wedding expo, a bridal show, and a bridal fair.
I own a bridal fairs company here in South Africa. Over the last 10 years, I’ve been hosting one-day boutique-style bridal fairs at various venues throughout the country.
Bridal Fair events usually attract around 300 highly targeted visitors over a short 4-hour period.
Wedding expo companies host larger expo-style events at a big conference/exhibition arena. They attract thousands of visitors and tend to have huge budgets.
Bridal shows are similar to bridal fairs, however, they tend to incorporate a showcase feel or a fashion show feel. So they will set up a runway at their show and models will showcase wedding dresses etc.
Bridal Fairs Vs Wedding Venue Open Days
A bridal fair is different from a wedding venue’s open day because it is open to everybody. Not just one venue. There can be several venues, photographers, designers, planners, and all sorts at an impartial wedding expo.
Whereas, a wedding venue open day only has one venue and a handful of local wedding vendors that they support.
It’s worth noting that bridal couples sometimes get confused and can be disappointed with wedding venue open days as they expect more exhibitors to be there.
How to Host Your First Bridal Fair at Your Wedding Venue
If you’ve never hosted a bridal fair at your venue before, you definitely need to read this. Hosting a bridal fair requires a couple of essential things:
- A wedding fair layout/plan
- A marketing plan
- A budget for Facebook (and Instagram Ads)
- A strategy for running Facebook Ads for bridal fairs
- A plan for the day
#1 Your Wedding Venue Layout
To host a successful bridal fair at your wedding venue, you will need to work out where you can place your exhibitors. As a general rule, wedding exhibitors will usually want a long table and 2 chairs for their setup.
On the layout, you will need to ensure you have adequate space for the DJ, easy passage to the toilets, and a simple flow from the registration desk through each area of the venue.
I recommend closing all access points and just using one for visitors to enter and exit from. This will ensure that each visitor flows through the venue in a specific way and that every exhibitor gets a chance to be seen.
#2 Your Marketing Plan
Every bridal fair that you host at your wedding venue will need a marketing plan to follow. This will help you plan out a step-by-step process to ensure every step of the plan is reached.
These steps help you reach target brides and engaged couples on social media platforms, on your website, and in other relevant places.
#3 Your Facebook Ads Budget
In my experience, most of the visitors that come to any of the bridal fairs that I put on have found the event via Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads.
Most of my marketing budget goes on Facebook Ads because I know it works for promoting the event and getting brides to buy tickets.
#4 Your Facebook Ad Strategy
There is a formula to follow, but as a general rule, you will want to start promoting the event with FB ads at least 4-6 months before the wedding expo date, with a final big push in the month leading up to the expo.
I recommend using engagement ads and traffic ads for the first 4-6 months and then if you know what you’re doing – incorporate boosted posts for the final push.
PLEASE NOTE: I do not recommend using Boosted Posts on the main Facebook page. Rather create an Ads Manager account and set up your boosted posts from the back end.
Hosting a Wedding Venue Open Day
If you’re planning to host an open day at your wedding venue. I would recommend that you use the words ‘open day’ in your event title. Do not call it a wedding expo or a bridal show as you will confuse your visitors if there’s only a small amount of exhibitors showcasing on the day.
Wedding venue open days are usually free events, so do not try to charge visitors to attend an open day. However, if you’re hosting a bridal show or wedding expo-style event, then you most certainly would charge an entrance fee.
Conclusion
Hosting a bridal fair at your wedding venue is a great idea if you really want to stand out!
The marketing efforts that go into bigger expos and shows like these will help to spread the word about your venue to bridal couples that may not have heard about your venue before.
It also provides a great opportunity for you to give wedding venue tours to lots of engaged couples at one time. I encourage the venues that I work with at my bridal fairs to do venue tours every hour during the event.
Some also offer the bridal couples a glass of bubbly to hold as they walk around the venue which is a lovely touch.
Another tip is to give out a wedding venue information pack to each couple that attends. Always remember the psychology of a bridal couple and their wedding planning timeline.
They might not be ready to book now but if you leave a good impression, they might be back when the time is right for them. Your info pack might be just the tool that reminds them when they’re ready!
I hope you enjoyed this article > How to Host a Bridal Fair at Your Wedding Venue
If you’d like any more details about marketing your wedding venue, there are several wedding venue business-focused articles on my blog.
Until the next time,
