The wedding and engagement season is in full gear with the proliferation of bridal shows across the United States and Canada.As the Pres/CEO of Jacqueline Johnson & Associates, Inc. which owns http://www.MarryCaribbean.com, http://www.CaribbeanWeddingAssociation.com & http://www.GlobalWeddingResource.com I do frequent the bridal shows to get an overview of the state of the industry. I am also a featured speaker on the circuit. In addition I have the added and delightful responsibility as Wedding & Honeymoon Correspondent for the Questex Publishing Company.
It was a delightful afternoon on January 18th in the ballroom at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel where I attended the latest bridal show put on by the Great Bridal Expo. I went in a bit early to see the number of vendors and to discuss opportunities or alliances for MarryCaribbean.com. I was amazed at the space and quality of the vendors.
More important and surprising was the 'crush' of engaged couples lining up for registration into the event. I expected to see these numbers in secondary markets where a bridal show is the 'event' of the season. Not in New York. Final tally of attendees for the evening was approximately 5,000. The ballroom was packed. Seating was available upstairs, which became standing room only. They crowded the aisles, they crowded the vendors and was intent on getting all the necessary information to make the decision of a lifetime.
I chatted with as many couples as I could(quite a few men were there also) trying to find out at what stage they were in the planning, their proposed budgets, choice of location for wedding or honeymoon. Responses were diverse as one would expect, but for travel the selection of hotel or destination was difficult as the array of offerings were numerous and confusing. Regarding expenditure, the parents or families were contributing and they wanted the biggest and best.
The Great Bridal Expo created a very entertaining show. The featured sponsors were prominently displayed on the stage (of course some sponsors did not make use of this opportunity in the best way) their ads or limited message constantly on a revolving schedule. The show started with a group of dancers showing the latest and best moves to the wedding party. This got everyone seated and in a cheering mood. This was followed by a fashion show showing the latest bridal and bridal party wear from some of the hottest designers.
The attendance by the Caribbean was extremely limited, and the irony was that, everyone I spoke to at this event planned to honeymoon in the Caribbean. A few of them were considering a destination wedding. The only destination in attendance was Barbados. For the hotels, it was Sandals and Starwoods.
Participation at these events should be a must, for anyone with an interest in getting a share of the wedding & honeymoon markets. It is all about getting your product and message to the right audience at the right time. The Caribbean Wedding Industry should be the dominant player at events such as this.
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