Great Bridal Expo

I registered for free tickets to the expo and didn’t attend. That doesn’t matter though, I’m getting random emails, text messages, and phone calls from businesses I’ve never heard of. It doesn’t stop. I wish I’d read the Unilocal review before I signed up for anything. What a scam. I wonder how much they’re making just by selling contact information.

I attended the Dallas show recently. The only vendors there were ones like Mary Kay and Rodan and fields and other «home party» type vendors that I would not use for my wedding and would not attend for a bridal fair. The worst part is I am now being inundated with spam phone calls (4 – 5 per day) from random companies who have nothing to do with the wedding industry. I assume they sold my information to make a dollar. Very ethical.

This review is for the 2015 expo at the bonaventure hotel in Los Angeles.
Awful! Terrible! Waste of my time!
— First, they were extremely rude upon arrival with their crowd control skills. They acted like it was a concert and made us wait in line for a while to get in. They need to improve their registration process or not have one at all…
— They REQUIRE you to fill out a form with your information which they tell you will not be distributed but it is (it even says on the back that it will be). So I got a BUNCH of emails from vendors that were not even there that day.
— They charge to get in but have VERY few useless vendors.
— The expo is unbelievably small; only about 5 short rows of vendors (did I already say useless vendors?).
If you’re a bride-​to-​be, don’t waste your time.
IF YOU’RE A VENDOR — definitely don’t waste your time. Being affiliated with such a low class tacky expo will result in potential customers dismissing whatever services you offer.

Stay away!!! Not worth your time or money! I wish I could give it zero stars — it’s not worthy of one. I went to the LA expo this past weekend after getting free tickets from weddingwire… and I want my parking money back! The website had a long list of vendors but at the actual show, there were maybe ¼ of the listed vendors there. Also some of the listed «vendors» were only sponsors so they weren’t even there! I was told to check their website — no crap! I knew that to begin with. Being listed as a «vendor» I wanted to speak with them in person and get more information. And the vendors that were there! Alfred Angelo had two women sitting at a desk and I went to talk with them about bridesmaids dresses and all they said was check the website. Are you kidding me? You came all this way to have a booth just to say check the website? I’m telling my bridesmaids to stay away from Alfred Angelo!

I am the mother of the bride. We Attended the Dallas bridal expo on October 12^th. I purchased the tickets online. I am currently here in line waiting to check in. It’s taken 20 minutes to reach the check in area. When someone in charge asked why the line was so long we were told there is a limit to the number of people that can enter the room. I’ve attended two prior bridal expos for another daughter’s wedding-​one in a hotel and one in a restaurant. In both situations the vendors and events were spread out into different rooms so that check in was a matter of a couple of minutes. After paying for tickets they tell you for another $ 6 you can buy preprinted labels. Not really necessary since everything is in one room and not many vendors. There are more diet/​skin care items than wedding vendors. Definitely not a valuable source for wedding planning.

I attended this event in Denver a couple of months ago as a bride to be and luckily found a free ticket through
. There were maybe 30 booths of varying vendors plus a bridal fashion show. The space was very small so we were practically on top of each other. There were no demonstrations or talks about decoration ideas or diy weddings… nothing. I felt like we were a heard of cattle barely acknowledging the vendor reps other than to get the free stuff and enter their drawing. I did, however, begin receiving phone calls, mailers and emails from every single one of those vendors, and continue to do so. I love it when I am «the selected winner» of a Mary Kay makeover. I purposely didn’t stop at their booth but they got my info anyway. The Great Bridal Expo shared, or possibly sold, my info to several other vendors not represented that day.
The fashion show was entertaining and might have been helpful had I not already purchased my dress and had an idea for my girls’ dresses.
All in all, it didn’t benefit me at all and I regret giving out my information.

Do not waste your money. Even more priceless, do not waste your time. It’s been almost a year and I am still reporting phishing emails because they sold my email address to all of their affiliates in a mass email list. To top it off, no one offers you discounts there that they normally wouldn’t. Or, vendors will blatantly lie and tell you you’ve won something only for you to travel to their site and find out you didn’t win jack and it’s just an upsell kind of a scam. And lastly, no vendor worth their salt travels to this dump of an expo.

This is something that has bothered me so much for so long that I feel the need to speak out and warn others. My husband and I attended the Great Bridal Expo in downtown Los Angeles two years ago when we were an engaged couple. When we arrived at the Sheraton we were told that we each had to purchase a ticket of $ 6. The tickets also entered us into a raffle where a variety of prizes were to be awarded at the end of a bridal gown fashion show. There weren’t many venders at the expo, and it did seem a little silly to pay for what amounted to be a few business cards. After the fashion show, a good number of prizes were awarded, and I was overjoyed when my name was one of the last called, and the host announced that I had won a 10 piece cooking set from Macy’s valued at $ 399. It was the first time in my life that I had won anything, and it was very heartwarming and moving to be congratulated by so many bride to be’s. BUT, afterwards when we walked over to the the Macy’s table to pick up our prize (which was sitting on their table) they told us that it was their policy, to mail the winning raffle item. So we left our address, phone number, and location of the nearest Macy’s with the Macy folks and left with a fond farewell and happy thoughts of our brand new non-​stick cookware that would be arriving shortly. Well, we went home, happy, and it NEVER came!!! Three months went by, we called The Great Bridal Expo, they said things like this can happen sometimes with the smaller vendors, but that it’s rare for Macy’s to not honor their agreement. They gave us a number to call, and the person we spoke to at Macy’s gave us another number to call… And long story short, after six months, we still did not receive our prize!!! The experience was traumatizing!!! They played us like fools! We were told over and over that the cookware was coming and that it would be taken care of, and that someone would be contacting us to take care of the issue. The phone call never came. And then eventually I could not get an actual person on the phone. And that’s how it ended. Looking back on the experience, I’m not just disappointed about the fact that I didn’t receive my cookware, but that the images of me and other brides joyously running up to claim our prizes was nothing but a show for those who didn’t have their raffle ticket called. I felt used. I wish someone had warned me, and that’s why I felt like I had to share my experience here. So, to all the future brides and grooms and their families, Beware!!! The Great Bridal Expo is is a SCAM!!! Don’t go! You could get the info of all the vendors yourself online, it is not worth the ticket price that you have to pay to get in, and don’t let them take advantage of your happy moment! STAY AWAY!!!