Sometimes I spend a lot of time by myself running my business. It’s not like other businesses that have 10 or 10,000 employees; it’s just me. I email, edit, market, and do everything by myself. This isn’t really a horrible thing, but I do really enjoy working with other wedding vendors on the big day. I get to work with the wedding coordinator, DJ, and venue to make sure things go smoothly. I get to see the beautiful cake and flowers that the florist and baker made. It really all is a collaboration to make a wedding work. A few Sundays ago, I was lucky to get to be part of the Open House at The Barn at the Springs. It was a fun event where five vendors (photographer, florist, venue, caterer, and bartender) got to create a mini wedding experience for about 70 brides.

Open House at The Barn at the Springs

The venue was decorated by Bloom flowers. There were two ceremony sites set up plus several tables for a reception. This gave the brides a chance to see what the Barn at the Springs would look like and also just get some general idea for flower arrangements.

The Event Group brought snacks for people. I didn’t get to really see the food or try it, but what I did see was the service. The Event Group does more than just prepare food; they provide service. They bring people to take care of things and make the day go by smoother.

Koon’s Saloon Mobile Bar Service was set up next to me, and they were keeping everyone happy and refreshed. They brought an assortment of beer and whine, and they were also making a signature drink. A lot of the times, couples will just hire a random person to be their bartender. With Koon’s Saloon Mobile Bar Service, you get the delicious drinks, but he also has a really fun, outgoing personality to go with it.

For my area, I had a few albums out and was showing off some of our wedding videos. I was also trying to take photos of couples and print them off. Looking back at it, I think I was trying to do too much. I should have just focused on talking to people and giving them advice. Still, I had a great time!

This was my first ever open house to be part of. I’m so glad The Barn at the Springs asked me to be part of it. I love their venue and above everything else, they are super kind people. If you’re looking for any of your wedding vendors still, please check out the wonderful ones above.

It is definitely engagement season! The majority of engagements happen between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, and I’ve been talking to a lot of couples. Last week, I was at the Barn at the Springs open house, and there were about 100 brides there. One week from today, I will be at the Event Nation Bridal Expo at the Fayetteville Town Center. These type of events are great opportunities for brides. Not all brides attend these events, so I thought I’d share 5 Reasons to go to a bridal show.

5 Reasons to Go to a Bridal Show

1. Win Prizes

Throughout the years, my father has been in a lot of trade shows. Every time I’d go, I would walk around and fill out forms and try to win prizes. A few years ago, I won a drill set, and I know my grandmother won a TV once.

It is very common for wedding vendors to give out prizes at a bridal show. It can be something small or something extremely valuable. I’ve given away engagement sessions, photo booths, and even full wedding coverage once. I will be giving away something again this year, so come to my booth and see what you can win!

2. Get Ideas

There are so many different options for decorating and planning a wedding, and brides can look at all the magazines and websites, but that doesn’t mean they are seeing everything. There are still other ideas out there.

Most wedding vendors will decorate their booths with photos or other examples of their work. If you just walk around and look at each booth, you’ll probably see something you’ve never considered.

I know with me, plenty of brides have looked at my photos and been surprised. I do things a bit differently. Most brides are use to seeing all the photos in natural light, but I love doing things in the dark and using a flash.

3. Meet Vendors

If you were buying a car, would you make you decision based only on the exterior? I sure hope not! You’d want to know all of the features and go for a test drive. The same is true for the wedding world. You need to meet the vendors in person.

There is more to a vendor than just the product. You wouldn’t hire a baker if he or she was a jerk, no matter how good the cakes are. I think that’s extremely important. The way people make you feel will affect your overall perception of something. Again, if the baker was mean, when you eat that cake and when you look at photos of the cake, you will remember how you felt.

A bridal show is a great chance to get to meet vendors face to face. You can talk to them, ask them questions, and get a chance to see their personalities. My favorite thing about bridal shows is getting to talk to couples and meet new people.

4. Have fun

Everything about weddings should fun, and that includes going to bridal shows. Each bridal show will be a little bit different on what’s happening, but I think there are some things that happen at every event.

Every bridal show I’ve been to has free food drinks. This will usually include cake and food from vendors and occasionally alcoholic drinks. I like food, so it’s always enjoyable to try it all out.

Most shows will have some kind of entertainment. This could be a fashion show or some kind of participation activity. I’ve seen DJs teaching dances and several different types of competitions.

If you really want to have fun, bring your friends. Weddings are about your closest family and friends, so bring some of them with you to the bridal show. This will give you someone to talk to and make you feel more comfortable.

5. Not Expensive

Everyone knows how expensive weddings can be, but bridal shows really aren’t that expensive. In general, they cost somewhere between $5-$25 to get in. It really varies from event to event and place to place. There are some that are also free or vendors have a certain number of tickets to give out.

In the end, I think it is definitely worth it to go to a bridal show. Even if you’re spending $25 per person, the chance to win prizes, get ideas and information from vendors, and have fun is worth so much more.

Conclusion

I highly suggest newly engaged couples go to a bridal show. It will only take up a few hours of your time and a few dollars, but you’ll get so much back in return. I hope these 5 reasons to go to a bridal show convinced you to come see me on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to it. Come out and say hi!

When I look back at my wedding, there are so many things that I wish I could change. I think part of the problem was that I was young and didn’t really care about weddings at that time. I just was going along for the ride. It also didn’t help that we didn’t have a ton of money, but still there were things we could have done with our budget. A big part of the problem is we just didn’t know what we were doing. That’s why I do my best to educate and help as many couples as possible, and I just finished something big. It took me a few months to do it, but I finished my Northwest Arkansas Wedding Venue Guide.

Northwest Arkansas Wedding Venue Guide

There are tons of great wedding venues in Northwest Arkansas and new ones are opening up every year. It can be extremely confusing and difficult work to find the right one. You have to look at prices, location, capacity, rules, and of course, the way it looks. After looking and searching though them all, your head will probably be spinning with all the details.

That’s why I created this wedding venue guide. I’ve gathered all the basic information you need to know, added some photos, and organized it all into one place. With the guide, you can quickly scroll through the different venues and compare one to another.

I do have to give you just a heads up. I don’t have every single venue listed that’s in Northwest Arkansas. I tried to focus on the ones that I personally had worked at and had some first hand experience. Just because a venue isn’t listed does not mean it isn’t amazing. The wedding venue guide also isn’t made to be your one stop shop for a venue. The guide is more of a starting point. Do more research. Look at their sites and reviews. Go visit the place.

If you’re interested in downloading our Northwest Arkansas wedding venue guide, simply follow this link and fill in your information. I hope it is extremely helpful, and please let me know if you have questions about a venue or any other help with anything else. Happy planning!

My last year of college, I worked at a doggy daycare in Fayetteville. It was one of my favorite jobs. I love dogs, so it was awesome to get to play with all types of dogs and get paid for it. I still love dogs and all types of creatures (reptiles, guinea pigs, ferrets). Currently, I have a 60ish pound Bernese Mountain dog puppy.  I always love talking to my couples about their furry friends, and sometimes they are wanting to incorporate them into the wedding. Here’s my thoughts on pets at a wedding.

Having Pets at a Wedding

The first thing to consider is the pet’s behavior. Is your dog well behaved or does he or she go nuts? Will you be able to control him or her or will it be more of a pain than it’s worth? This doesn’t mean you can’t have your pet involved in your wedding, but it might limit things. It might limit where the pet can be, what it can do, and how long it’s around. For example, most pets need to go home before the reception. A few weeks ago I did have a dog that was at the reception, but that’s rare.

My puppy!

So, what all can you do with pets at a wedding? The most common thing I’ve seen is the pet being involved in the engagement shoot. Engagement shoots are relatively short, so you don’t have to worry about the pet being behaved for a long period of time. It’s also not as formal, so if something goes wrong, it’s not a big deal. You can also bring a long a helper, and it’s not like they are missing something important like on the wedding day.

Besides the engagement session, I’ve also seen pets help out with the ceremony. The most common is walking down the aisle or bringing the rings. Again, your pet needs to be well behaved to pull this off. You could tie a pillow to them or put something on their collar. I wouldn’t actually put the ring on the pet, though. That’s kind of scary. I’ve also seen someone carry the pet down the aisle (if the pet is small enough).

Make your proposal unique to who you two are

I’m sure there are other things you can do with your pet at your wedding. The pet could dance with everyone at the reception. Maybe the pet could do the exit with you. Be creative and see what you can come up with.

One other thing to look into before you plan all of these fun things. Talk to your venue about their rules. Some are going to be very strict while others won’t care. It’s better to figure this out way in advance before you get our heart set on something.

I love all types of pets, and it’s always fun for me when I get to meet new animals. Did any of you have pets at your wedding? I’d love to hear what you did and how that turned out.