Radio Sales Café

I live in a small market, two counties, pop 130,000. I have a client with an event center who is up for renewal and looking for new ways to create PR for her Weddings. She has previously held "mixers" for the business community and wants to do something of the sort for the pool of Brides in the market. Any ideas?

My favorite is Wine Tastings. A fork & Cork event. Have some area caterers, bakeries, winery and other bride related vendors out for a Bride to be day! Charge a small amount and get some goodie bags or special discounts of participating vendors if they book their wedding/wedding services with them. A local winery in our Small market is beefing up their wedding hosting abilities, They hosted a "girls day out" with a local hair/spa and offered mini pedis and manis, updos, and with the others mentioned above and it was a huge success. The brides to be got to sample the baked goodies, some unique buffet food as options for thier day and of course WINE. Also, her commercial that has a fixed schedule is her talking directly to the brides about working with their budget not the business. It really has built trust with their clients that they are not trying to get them for every penny. If a bride has a budget, they can cater something for an extra special event.

If it's a big enough place, your radio station could help her put on a wedding showcase, featuring booths for one or more from each vendor type a bride and groom-to-be would seek: photographers, videographers, DJ's, wedding singers, , harpists, string quartets, travel agents or honeymoon destinations, caterers (if they don't compete with your host) and you could have a fashion show featuring bridal gowns, bridesmaid and mother of the bride dresses and tuxes. You can use your imagination when selling booths, thinking of everything a couple needs for their big day...and setting up a new household together. We've even had furniture stores and insurance agents. NO DIVORCE LAWYERS THOUGH...like one of our competitors had once!!! Ours is the longest running BRIDAL FAIRgoing, dating back to the early '70s and drawing about a thousand brides each year. Many of those brides-to-be bring moms, bridesmaids and yes...even grooms, so we've sold around 3,000 tickets (more come on Saturday than Sunday) for $7. We have almost 100 exhibitors buying booth space. All brides must register and the data base is shared with vendors. The vendors love the exhibitors' party on Saturday night...a chance to wind down and network with others who depend on wedding business. How many times does a photographer get asked about a videographer or a caterer...or if they're booked, which competitor would they recommend? That makes the networking part of it really important. Of course, you don't have to go big to have a successful event, but the idea might be a good way to get brides to spend some quality time in your client's venue and the face to face with them should be very beneficial. I can share more info if you like.

Dan,

Wow! Nice to have such a well established bridal fair. Your numbers speak volumes! Well done.

How far in advance do you start offering space to prospective exhibitors?

-Rod

Most will sign up for next year at this year's show to be sure they get the same location. Most remaining space is sold by November for the January show.