Modern Bridal

I’ve never had so much spam in my email account.

Bought an 8’x10’ booth for the Marin Civic show on January 20. Spent another grand on supplies. We went to several of their events beforehand to see how much of a turnout to expect. Very excited, we couldn’t wait to have our day at the fair.
At ours, barely anyone showed up! Over the course of the day there were more than vendors than brides! Everyone was like, «what’s going on here?».
I found out that they had scheduled our event the same day as another show in the same area!
I think that part of a promoter’s job is to make sure that there are no competing shows on that day in the same geographic area. Also to make sure that people can navigate to the venue with ample a-​frames if the venue is located off the main street.
They did print ads in the Chronicle and IJ. But the other vendors who lived in the area said they’d never heard a radio or tv spot in the days leading up to the event.
The other Modern Bridal shows at their other locations were organized, bustling, classy affairs. Complimentary snacks and beverages, vendors well-​placed, and tastefully decorated.
But ours was exactly the opposite. My booth faced the back wall! $ 2 coffees were sold out of a corner, and the hall looked like a cafeteria. I was embarrassed to be seen there. There are no guarantees in business, but it is apparent that someone simply hadn’t done their job.
$ 2K+ plus an entire weekend wasted. Yup, two frikkin grand (when you include all the marketing materials). And for a wedding photographer, weekends = $.
I do like that Modern Bridal’s reps are very responsive. And they don’t use loading companies that charge $ 300 just to bring your boxes in.
So the $ 1200/​booth pricetag would have been reasonable as long as they get our prospective clients in the door.