Yesterday i had my very first bridal booth at the Lubbock Bridal showcase! I knew this year i wanted to try new things and this was definitely something i had not done before! I was stressed, excited, nervous and kind of wondering if it was a mistake to get a booth, I guess we'll see in the next few weeks or months if it was a wise move financially. It was a great experience to have personally though for sure.

I had the cheapest booth possible in the "pedestrian Mall" hallway. I wanted to use this to my advantage since my booth was one of the first the brides would see when they came in, I wanted my booth to represent my character, style and business and grab their eye enough so they'd remember me even if they went to see all the other photographers in the show. There was a lot of photographers, and all of their work looked AMAZING! 

I knew i didn't want just the curtains they provide. So i needed to come up with a wall that i liked. I wanted to go for Gray, whites, beige. So since i emptied out my studio this year anyway (since i no longer do in studio sessions), i decided i could use the boards i used for my backdrop in the studio and make a wall out of them. Of course I decided and Hubby had to make it! I bet he wasn't too thrilled but he built me all of this without complaining. He pretty much bought 2x4's to keep the boards in place in the back, and made long feet to make sure it was a freestanding wall that had no way of tipping over! ( I make it sound very easy, My husband would say there was more to it than that) We did have to rent a trailer to transport the dresser, settee, and walls. Since it wouldnt have fit in either one of our SUV'S.

This time of year is somewhat slow anyway so i wanted to use as much stuff that i already had around the house and studio to save money. 

The flower arrangements (bouquets and garland) were all done by my friend Susie (a lot of people stopped just to see who made the bouquets and if they could have her number). That was a big hit! The garland is usually in my girls room over their dresser. And the bouquets were from my own wedding.

And a lot of people commented on the smoke bomb in the main display picture, and thought how cool that was! Which i wanted one picture to stand out so they wouldn't forget me!

Another thing that brought in a lot of compliments was i gave each of my brides a little matchbook. Especially all the moms said how cute that was and how no one does that anymore :)

I bought a template off etsy and designed my booklets in photoshop. Then sent them off to magcloud to get printed. 

I took picture frames off my own wall and printed out the "Instructions" for my booth. 

The Rug was from my own Studio. The stand for the photo and the corner table was borrowed from my friend Yolanda. The Chalkboard was a loner from the very talented Martha Thiessen from Martha Thiessen Photography. And my friend Rina did awesome in writing on it! All the photos are mounted photos. The photos on the wall are attached with Velcro. 

Things that were a hit was having a very clear pricing guide. And doing smaller packages than most other photographers were a hit as well. Since some people honestly just want to book 4-5 hours.The little Matchbooks were great as well. i saw some Merchants were doing 40-50% off wedding packages if they book that day. And i only did 10%, I would honestly not make much if i did 40% off because i wouldnt be able to afford fuel, paying my assistant or second shooter and my time before, during and after the wedding. I had one person book the day of, one who wanted to book today. and i met 122 brides. They all entered to win their choice of a boudoir, bridal or an  engagement session, and i sent out a text to each of them this morning saying the winner would be announced this afternoon on my facebook and instagram and they needed to like one or the other to be eligible to win. That way all the brides who haven't gotten a photographer yet will be seeing my work until they do choose one.

Everyone oohed and aahed over my business cards as well ( I went the cheap route for the bridal show and ordered from Vista print)

I had my most expensive album on display, Everyone loved the leather. And i also had a cheaper one with engagement sessions in it. So they could feel both versions plus see more of my work.

What i will do different next time Is have a very clear large sign on the wall up very high stating I'm a photographer. People were a little confused if i did flowers or photos haha. But most assumed Photos! The booth was small so i dont know if i would have been able to do a better or different layout in a booth this size. They don't really want to walk into your booth since it is so small. But if you just had a table close to the hallway you wouldn't be able to help as many brides at once. This way we were able to give anyone standing in the hallway a clipboard for their information if needed. We also were able to use the space beside us since it was just empty and not a walking area either so that was helpful. But if my assistant and i both stand in the booth we cover up the photos and albums.

We would stay in our booth and smile kindly at people passing by, if they made eye contact or took an interest in our booth only then would we ask if they wanted to sign up to win the free session and as they're signing up we can get more info and make small talk and become better acquainted. We didn't approach people who didn't seem to have an interest. Because if i put myself in their shoes i know i wouldn't like it!

By the time it was over we were both EXHAUSTED! and as soon as im done posting these i will get my butt in gear and to clean up all my mess still! 

I hope this helps someone out! We will see if this will have been worth it or not!