Valentine’s weekend has passed, which means new brides-to-be are eager to find the perfect dress, and everything that goes along with it.
Luckily, this weekend brings the WATH/WXTQ 18th Annual Bridal Expo. Each year, Thom Williams, station manager at WATH, puts together this event, where bridal stores and other wedding services can show what they have to offer.
“We do it to showcase the amount of vendors who are in the area, who cater to brides, groomsmen and the wedding party,” Williams said. “During the showcase, there’s vendors, from cakes and caterers to photography and DJs.”
One of the vendors is Andrea’s Bridal and Prom, which has made attending the expo a tradition.
“We’ve been doing this since the first expo,” said Julie Denney, the owner of Andrea’s Bridal and Prom. “We’ve always done a fashion show for them, showing the latest trends in the bridal, bridesmaids, mothers and flower girls.”
A lot of time and careful planning goes into the preparation of this bridal expo so everything can turn out perfectly, said Williams.
“We do this as an advertisement package to our clients,” he said. “We normally have the package out on the streets to our prospective clients in late October or early November. This way, people have enough time to plan.”
With brides-to-be, saving money is always a priority, and this bridal expo is of no cost to the attendees.
“We are one of the bridal shows in the whole region where we do not charge,”
Williams said. “We don’t charge people to attend. That way they can partake in the goodies and see everything that is going on. It is absolutely free.”
The expo benefits the stations and brides, but also the vendors, who have a busy wedding season in front of them
“We’ve visited this expo before,” said Dawn Fox, the owner of Serendipity, a bridal store in Parkersburg, who will be attending the expo. “More than anything, it gets your name out there and lets people know that you’re available to them. We absolutely enjoy our time there and I’m really glad that they put this event on.”
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