Bridal Show Promoter

Bridal shows are popular in every town; there are always women who seek the best in wedding preparations. You should have no trouble securing an audience if you book in the right places (such as shopping malls, banquet halls, and hotels). Your biggest challenge will be to gain the attention, support, and dollars from participating vendors, who could be made up of businesses like caterers, ? orists, musicians, and cake decorators. You must be highly organized, however, to pull this one off convincingly. Lose sight of details and you’ll instantly lose credibility with your audience as well as your vendors. The best advice is to secure your financial support up front to avoid any out-of-pocket expenses; in the event of a no-show vendor, you’ll still have your cash.


The $5,000 to $10,000 you’ll need to get this business off the ground properly will mainly cover your advertising and promotional costs. Remember that you’ll need to have professional-looking promotional materials (brochures, videos, and a great Web site) to lure vendors in the first place, and then the ? yers and billboards to attract your audience. Do it all correctly and you’ll pull in between $20,000 to $40,000 yourself, depending on how many shows you run per year.


If you can’t get at least fifty vendors for your first show, maybe you ought to rethink your marketing strategy. Try a novel approach, or get a well-known spokesperson or local celebrity to appear. Collect testimonials and put them on your Web site. Offer lots of great contests and prizes. Do everything humanly possible to attract attention.

Approx. cost of start-up: $5,000 to $15,000


Approx. potential earnings: $20,000 to $40,000


Typical fees: $125 per booth rental space


Where to promote: Flyers, radio and newspaper ads, bridal shops, direct mail, billboards, Web site (on which you can sell banner ads as well as offer some useful wedding planning tips or articles), videotape of previous shows to encourage participants and sponsors


Qualifications: Exceptional organizational skills


Things needed: Cell phone, computer with mailing list program, and desktop publishing software (to help create a low-cost, yet tastefully designed event program)


Required staff:Not initially


Hidden costs: Expensive radio ads; try to secure sponsors early in the game or arrange to split costs with them