2019 Portland Bridal Show

2019 Portland Bridal Show booth

The 2019 Portland Bridal Show is in the books!  This year was the 40th year of the show.  Amazing!  It was also the first year with new owners.  Al, the creator of The Portland Bridal Show and did invitations as well, has earned his retirement and Tom and Barbie Howard have taken the reigns and will continue to bring a wonderful show every year.  The show is the largest in the Portland Metro Area.  Over 150 vendors and over 7000 people attend every year.  Every vendor you could need for your wedding is all in one place.  Including wedding stationery!

The show started with a bang for me.  I was one of only 3 vendors asked to represent the Portland Bridal Show on Fox12 Good Day Oregon in the "On the Go with Joe" segment of the show.  Me?!  On TV?!  This was going to go really well or epicly bad.  There was no middle of the road on this one.  Check out the link below and decide for yourself which one!  Lol

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Not too shabby!  If I do say so myself.  I was super nervous but the show must go on and I did my best.  High five for me!  It helps that Joe and Daryl (his cameraman) were super nice to work with.

Each day (the show ran Saturday 10-8:30 and Sunday 10-5) was a long day but it didn't feel long because there were so many wonderful brides and grooms to talk to about wedding invitations and save the dates.  The vow booklets Joe mentions in the piece were a huge conversation starter too.  Like the saying goes... "Time flies when you are having fun!"  I was able to see the fashion show from my booth (there were 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday) so that was a nice bonus.  Wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, and tuxedos.... oh my!  (Excuse my Wizard of Oz reference...)  So many engaged couples were surprised to learn there was a local option for getting their invitations. 

Some of the common questions I got were (and the answers I gave)...
"Can you change the color on this?"    Absolutely!!
"Did you do all of these?"   Yup!  Love 'em or leave 'em but they are all designed and printed by me.
"Do you do the designing only or you do the printing too?"  Both!  I make the design perfect for you and then print them.
"Can you do bilingual invitations?"  Sure thing!  I don't speak any other languages but I can copy and paste like a beast!
"Can we meet in person to go over everything? The websites stress me out."  Definitely!  No stress allowed.  Let me take care of everything for you.  You just say "I love it!"

Some of my best friends in the wedding industry were at the show as well as some new faces.  Here is a link to all the vendors (https://portlandbridalshow.com/exhibitor-list/) and be sure to check out:

Photos by Orion
Ambient Sky Studios
McLoud Photography
The Mobile Scoop Shop
Silver Falls Lodge & Conference Center
PDX Ice
NW Mobile DJ Service
Laurelhurst Florist
Lady and a Harp
The Little Photo Bus
Next Dimension Bakery
Photography by Cambrae

Overall the show was exhausting, fun, great for engaged couples, and great for my business.  I had over 170 people say they wanted to follow up and hear more!  That is a great number!  I am excited to get to work with so many wonderful couples.  Thank you Portland Bridal Show for making these connections possible!

Until next year.... happy wedding planning!