Sorry for the delay, but now available are photos from the Plano Bridal Show held on September 14, 2008, at the Plano Centre. We had a great show and appreciate all the exhibitors that helped bring us success.

Click here to view photos!

Bridal Shows, Inc. is happy to announce our Dallas Bridal Show January 2009 sponsors, TheKnot.com and 106.1 Kiss FM!

Through our partnership with these sponsors the Dallas Bridal Show will be promoted even further than the already established mass marketing campaign.

As we approach our 20th year celebration in January we are making every effort to make this the best Dallas Bridal Show ever, and thanks to our sponsors we are well on our way!

Read on in this newsletter as well as stay tuned for more exciting news regarding our 20th Anniversary Dallas Bridal Show.

Bridal Shows, Inc. has teamed up with Dallas Brides, a Modern Luxury Dallas magazine, to create a unique section for high-end brides at the Dallas Bridal Show.

Located on the 100 aisle, the Dallas BridesLuxury Lounge will provide an elegant area for Dallas Bridal Show's high-end brides to meet with wedding businesses geared towards creating extravagant weddings. All of the exhibitors in the section will be current and/or future advertisers in the upscale Dallas Brides Magazine and will guide the brides through their dream wedding.

In addition to the luxurious area, Dallas Brides will also be providing quality goody bags for the brides who bring a Dallas Brides invitation.

If you are both an advertiser in Dallas Brides and a Dallas Bridal Show exhibitor, ask us how to be a part of this new opportunity to attract high-end business.

Please feel free to call Sarah Walsh (214-647-5681) with Dallas Brides for advertising with the magazine.

Everything you do must be a win-win situation, a win for you, a win for the bride, and a win for the industry. You do that by giving the bride the opportunity to do business with you. We all can get very busy and feel like we don't have time to make calls or emails or put together a direct mail campaign, but it is so important for this win-win experience. Some people have a fear to call or contact people for their business. According to Marvin F. Brown, Sr., "If you do what no one else wants to do, you'll always be busy." Sales is the one critical component of building a business. Without sales, there is no business. Sales are generated through leads we obtain from various sources. Quality shows give you the tool to get those leads face-to-face.

In the book, "Guerrilla Marketing for Free," Jay Conrad Levinson states:

So many companies in the wedding industry also have opportunities for business not related to weddings. As we mention at our Exhibiting 101 seminars, there are birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, parties, births, and other events where your product or service might be needed. This is a great chance at getting more leads. Suppose you are able to book an anniversary event with the mother of a bride. She in turn lets her friends know about you. When the bride gets married, she tells her friends, and then has her anniversaries, and there could be potential business again. That's just talking about anniversaries.

In addition to various fashion shows each day, we have already mentioned some of the guest speakers that will be presenting at the Dallas Bridal Show stage.

Take note of the following speakers (two were mentioned in last month's newsletter):

W. Donnie Brown
Celebrity Wedding Planner W. Donnie Brown of The Style Network's "Whose Wedding Is it Anyway?" will be speaking at Noon each day on "The Importance and Value in Hiring a Wedding Planner." Autographs available after his performance. Donnie will also be on hand to judge a table decorating contest with the table decorating companies that are participating in the Dallas Bridal Show.

Benefits of our Bridal Shows

1. Best Products for Best Value in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
2. Established and Proven Company.
3. See more brides in one weekend than you can on your own all year. (8,000 weddings in 6 shows!)
4. Extensive mass marketing consistently since 1988 through radio stations, tv stations, billboards, media promotions, newspapers, The Knot, wedding publications, our website www.bridalshowsinc.com), our myspace sites that started earlier this year (myspace.com/dallasbridalshow, myspace.com/fortworthbridalshow, myspace.com/planobridalshow), other websites, posters, press releases, email blasts, and other sources. (Great media relationships for over 20 years through more than 250 shows produced.)
5. Our website www.bridalshowsinc.com has proven to be very beneficial to those companies that have advertised on the website. Because we drive traffic to the website through everything listed in #4 above, it has great value. Anyone currently exhibiting in our shows has their main category listed free.
6. Education Tools Offered: (a) Wedding Professionals Business Conference (www.weddingbusinessconference.com), (b) Exhibiting 101 seminars (www.exhibiting101.com), (c) our monthly newsletters with articles to help businesses grow, (d) Giving many books away at association meetings and Conference, along with other meet-up groups, (e) Library at the office for vendor use along with many books given away to companies-Let us know if you would like to come by, (f) mentoring services-most at no charge, (g) continually encouraging learning and growth. Become a student of your profession.
7. Categories are limited so that every company has the fair opportunity to do business. Most companies appreciate our "fairness" policies. That's why we have more companies exhibiting with us than any other bridal show producer in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. If a show is over saturated with categories of the wedding compared to the number of brides who attend that show, it is difficult for every company to do well.
8. Insurance Requirement. Brides can trust our exhibiting companies more because they are insured. Most companies in our shows have a yearly general liability policy, while the others carry the show event insurance. Who would you prefer to do business with if you were the bride? Someone who is insured, or not insured?
9. Participating in shows proves that you are a smart marketer. You are using the best marketing tool to promote your business. You are doing business with the leader in the industry who is always striving to increase the professionalism of this industry.
10. Face-to-face contact with a specific market. This is so important so that the bride can tell if you are someone they want to do business with. Trust and rapport are built immediately.
11. Very competent and confident staff working with Bridal Shows, Inc.
12. Show and Tell. You and your product or service can be fully understood now. This is a time to let your personality and professionalism shine through.
13. Taste and See. Your food item(s) can be trusted so the bride feels good about the food choices she makes.
14. Trends. This is the best opportunity to ask lots of brides and their friends about new and upcoming trends. New ideas will come from this immediately.
15. Customize to the bride. It is difficult in any other advertising medium to let the bride know everything you can do for the wedding. Imagine how many times you can ask, "What can we do special for you?" This is an excellent time to let the bride know you can customize anything that you do.
16. Demonstrating a Product. Again, it is very difficult for others to really comprehend a demonstration unless they are right in front of you.
17. Educate. This can take some time for each person. It is more complete when they are able to see you, talk to you, see what you do, and ask questions. And, of course, you ask questions, also.
18. Building Relationships/Networking. Many lasting relationships have been built from meeting others at our shows.
19. Free gifts-excellent way to give out customized specialty promotional items other than business cards and literature.
20. Competition. Because there will be a lot of companies exhibiting, you can view what your competition is doing.
21. Frequency. Six shows a year. It is extremely important in keeping your company name out there in every way you can possibly afford. When you work your leads properly over time, you will generate profits. Our shows give you the opportunity to also meet with wedding publications, websites, wedding association members, and sometimes our media partners to find other avenues to add to your advertising mix.
22. Learn. Learn what to do or what not to do. If you see someone standing and smiling and getting every lead they can, then learn from them for what to do. If you see someone sitting behind a table and folding their arms, then learn what not to do. Be personable and friendly and truly care about helping the bride- the bride will learn quickly to do business with you.
23. Be consistent-Participating in 2 to 6 of our shows a year helps you to consistently have enough leads to work to thrive in your business.

Naomi was featured in the "Dynamic Women" section of the July 2008 issue of Modern Luxury.

Click here to view the profile from the magazine.

Any company exhibiting in the January 2009 Dallas Bridal Show will also have the opportunity to participate in the Table Decorating Contest that will be judged by Celebrity Wedding Planner W. Donnie Brown of The Style Network's "Whose Wedding Is it Anyway?"

The criteria used for the judging will be as follows: (1) General Style, (2) Technical, (3) Inventive Nature of Design, (4) The Small Details, (5) Overall Look, (6) Use of Linen, (7) Use of Floral, and (8) Use of Rentals.

Most likely, the judging will take place on Saturday so that the winners can be announced at the Vendor Appreciation Night Saturday evening. If you are exhibiting in the January show and would like to be a part of this event, please email your account executive so that we can make room for you.

We already have a few verbals at this time. This is another opportunity to be able to showcase your unique designs (without having to pay for more show space) to the brides and to other wedding businesses that may start networking with you and those that are already using your services.