Bridal Expo in Wheeling

You probably thought that I was sitting around, all un-employed, just pre-occupying my time with building the house, didn't you? Ha.

Well believe it or not (anyone who knows me well, will believe it), I decided that I'd add a little bit of stress and anxiety to my life, by exhibiting at the Chicago Bridal Expo in Wheeling, IL.

It was going to be my first show in the US... this could either go really good or reeeeally bad.

Only one way to find out...

I dug out my portfolio and started to do a bit of pre-planning for my display.  

You don't realize how much work you've done until you see it all laid out on the floor..

I ordered a few Terlie stamps for the show.  Each bride walks around with a bingo-style card that they are expected to get signed off by each of the vendors that they visit.  All of the other vendors just initial the cards -- who was I to be typical??

This year, I was going to do something a little different from previous shows -- thankfully, I held on to some of my display items from Winnipeg.  This was a huge help, since it meant that I didn't really have to buy anything new...except for this shelf, which would help add a bit of interest and height

$26 bucks, not bad..

 On the day of the show, we (me and my husband) managed to load everything onto one cart and bring it all in.  My afternoon consisted of setting up the display and getting everything just right

And this is what it ended up looking like

My signage 

Mr. Schmid was a trooper and helped me work the show -- he was sick as a dog, but he pushed through it like a soldier

We were the only invitation vendor at the show, so it was pretty awesome to get as much attention as we did.  We got compliments on the invitations and the display from brides and other vendors.  Made me feel pretty proud :)

I guess my dress of choice was a good one, cuz it got as much attention as the invitations and display did.  

Invitations, people, invitations!  That's what you're supposed to be looking at -- not my dress!

$24 from Forever 21 -- you don't have to spend a lot, you just have to know how to rock it ;P 

The show went from 5pm to 10pm.  It didn't take long to break everything down and pack up.

For my first Bridal Expo, I have to say that it was an awesome experience and that there were definitely opportunities for me to improve on for the next one.