The highs and the lows of Bridal Expos.... (My rant of the day)

If bridal expos sound exhausting, it's because they are. In theory, it's a great concept: put all the different vendors in one large room so brides and grooms can make a one-stop shop. No cold-calling—saving your precious cell phone minutes, and no driving around—saving our precious ozone. 


But after a very long day at a bridal expo in Oakbrook earlier this year, my fiancé and I felt like we wasted our entire Sunday. As recommended we registered for tickets early to avoid a sell-out, and we arrived early to avoid the crowd. I honestly feel like they give away way too many free tickets, because when we arrived the place was packed, and the event space was poorly laid out. Rather than a large open space like at most conventions, the event was organized much like a maze. So rather than free roaming, we were forced to follow a line throughout the event. It was so packed that you couldn't even spend time to talk to vendors, just pick up brochures.


Oh and they have you leave self-addressed labels at each booth to increase your chances of winning a prize, but i have not won anything—unless you consider countless numbers of redundant emails and postcards about photography and hot pink bachelorette parties to be a prize worth winning. 


To be honest, everything they advertise at bridal expos fit into the neat "wedding box." So if you want a wedding that is truly unique, you should definitely visit a bridal expo—that way you can realize what you don't want.