One of the most special days in your life will be your wedding day. Unfortunately, this can put a lot of pressure on the bride and groom to make sure their wedding is perfect – from the venue to the flowers. Newly engaged couples often lock themselves into months of envisioning and planning without much idea of how the day will turn out.
But what if you could make the wedding planning experience comfortable from start to finish? Wedding expos are a fantastic way to connect personally with vendors, get the best deals and get great advice from professionals. Attending an expo can help to ease that anxiety by helping you to better visualise and organise your special day.
Since the endless choices and sheer size of the event can be overwhelming, we have put together a list of 5 top tips to help you navigate your way through a wedding expo.
  1. Make a Plan
First things first, attending an expo can be daunting, there are hundreds of stalls all popping out at you and sometimes you do not even know where to start. Prior to the event, you need to have a basic plan. This doesn’t mean having everything sorted out to a tee, but rather make a list of what you want to tick off, have an idea of where you want to start and what kind of things you need to bring home. Do you need a celebrant, a photographer, a location? The day will be far less daunting with a plan intact.
  1. Have a Date
One of the most important parts of a wedding, besides the bride and groom, is THE DATE. Going to an expo with no idea of the date can make the process harder and the date will save you and your partner a lot of stress and make the planning process a lot easier on the day. Often prices, availabilities and trends all depend on when you are getting married, so before you go to an expo, make sure you know what date you’ll be saying the vows.
  1. Keep Track
With so many stalls and things catching your eye, you need to keep track of all the stalls you love. The easiest way to do this is by taking a photo and emailing it to yourself with the name and what you love from that specific stall. Remember, the stalls are there to catch your attention and make you forget about anything else. Make sure you take note of your favourites before moving on to the next stall. After a busy day at an expo, you will come home with ten different florists, photographers and DJs! Make sure you keep track of your favourites so you don’t forget them.
  1. Utilise the Shows
The fashion shows are great to give you a concept of styles such as hair, makeup, bridesmaids and groomsmen colour coordination and can really help you tie in a theme for your day. It can even help you to see how flower styles can also work with your wedding. You might actually have the style of your dress already chosen, but the shows can help you to plan a coordinated look for not just you, but the entire bridal party and the whole event!
  1. Make a Personal Connection
When you’re choosing your wedding vendors, the fatal mistake people make is choosing them solely based on their work. The people you hire for your wedding are the people who will be organising, decorating and capturing one of the most important days of your life. The vendors you choose will also be a big part of your life for the coming months, making it important that you choose the right person for your own sanity!
You need to trust them and you need to work well with them. Taking an extra moment at your favourite stalls to connect with vendors personally will help build a relationship with your vendors that ensures your vision for the day is of one accord.
Ms Zebra Says: These big shows and expos can be SO daunting. However, if you do a bit of research, make a plan and set a few goals, you’re sure to make the most of it! Thanks for sharing Monique!

About Monique Annetts: Monique is the founder of AMA Event Management. She saw a gap in the market for an outstanding event management business after enduring her own personal experiences with other events that didn’t go to plan, Monique came up with the idea to create community events that not only share businesses and support them, but bring a fun activity to communities around Australia.