Discussions

Did anyone have any feedback on the 2017 Westman Wedding Expo?  
Just curious what people thought of this event this year?

I recently visited the big wedding show in Winnipeg at the convention centre, I thought a lot of the vendors were a little stuck up, and didn't make you feel welcome to ask any questions. This was not the case at all in Brandon. The vendors were very welcoming, they wanted to tell you about their services and encouraged you to enter the draws. I had such a great time. It was great to see what Brandon and area has to offer to newly engaged couples and brides to be!

My fiance, myself, and our moms went. We were all very impressed by the vendors. They were welcoming, attentive, and had amazing displays. What really disappointed us was that the grand prize was misleading. No where that we saw did it say that you had to choose their date for your wedding. We had already picked our date, booked our venue, and told family and friends. Because of this and money already invested, we chose to sit out the grand prize. I'm very happy for the bride that won, but I do wish that this had been said upfront.

brandongirlie said "My fiance, myself, and our moms went. We were all very impressed by the vendors. They were welcoming, attentive, and had amazing displays. What really disappointed us was that the grand prize was misleading. No where that we saw did it say that you had to choose their date for your wedding. We had already picked our date, booked our venue, and told family and friends. Because of this and money already invested, we chose to sit out the grand prize. I'm very happy for the bride that won, but I do wish that this had been said upfront. "

We felt the same way about it! Ours in in July and with everything already booked and deposits made, we figured it was better to sit it out.  
 
However, we did get some ideas for things, spoke to a few people. It was very welcoming and informative even for those of us who have pretty much everything planned.  
 
I would recommend it to any couple getting married. Great job everyone.

Brandongirlie, I completely agree with you! That was the most disappointing part.

also heard the same as you brandongirlie. That the dates for the grand prize, (the $21,000 wedding) were already set and you had to either chose a date in April or November, but there was no mention of this prior to walking through the doors.  
 
Misleading and disappointing are the comments I heard from friends and family who attended, paid the entrance fee of $15/person only to find out that there were very few draws/giveaways.  
 
Don't get me wrong, I think this is a great event overall for our city.

My fiance and I are happy that we made contact with some vendors so really, paying the money to get in was well worth it...but just very disappointing about the grand prize

NOWHERE did it say that you had to pick from their dates. My friend went just for the grand prize, paid the entrance fee, went to the grand prize booth and found out she had to pick from two dates that are not even in wedding season at all. And they wouldn't refund her money at the door.  
 
I can understand wanting to give the prize away on a certain day so all vendors are available, but maybe they should have thought about that and picked a date in May-September in advance instead of early April (still winter) or November (again, winter!) and then announced that MUCH in advance. Terrible planning and I'll bet next year's attendance will reflect that.  
 
Also, there are really only 3-4 vendors that have to be available on the certain date in order for it to work, right? Decorator, DJ, photographer? Everything else is a cash prize or gift certificate so it's a huge rip off that brides aren't eligible for those cash/gift certificate prizes just because they pre-planned their wedding date and couldn't change it. VERY disappointed.

I too was disappointed about the grand prize/date issue. I understand the reason, as the vendors donating don't want to give up a prime spot during the busy season and all need to come together at the same time, but unless you have a 2+ year long engagement, it rules a lot of people out. From a marketing perspective, if people hear about this clause, they may be less likely to attend in the hopes of winning the prize package next year.  
 
$21,000 worth of free stuff for your wedding is fantastic, but that seems like overkill to me for one wedding.  
 
My suggestion would be splitting up the prizes next year. Have 5 winners who all win the same/similar retail value ($4000 each?). Maybe gift certificates for services? Doesn't have to be worth the entire service provided. That way, people can pick their date, or if they have already booked that particular service, maybe pass it on to someone else? I think most people would appreciate any amount they can save on their wedding.

But you are kind of all being a bit greedy! It's a grand PRIZE and you are getting services FOR FREE. Of course they are trying to book their paying customers in the actual wedding season. I personally wouldn't expect them to give up a free weekend in June or July when it's a prize. If you won $21,000 grand prize you would think people would be grateful not b%#&ching. I'm shocked at the attitudes some brides have. If I personally won $21,000 towards my wedding I would be beyond happy and grateful to the vendors. I guess I'm one of the few though..

Viv said "But you are kind of all being a bit greedy! It's a grand PRIZE and you are getting services FOR FREE. Of course they are trying to book their paying customers in the actual wedding season. I personally wouldn't expect them to give up a free weekend in June or July when it's a prize. If you won $21,000 grand prize you would think people would be grateful not b%#&ching. I'm shocked at the attitudes some brides have. If I personally won $21,000 towards my wedding I would be beyond happy and grateful to the vendors. I guess I'm one of the few though.. "

but I think that they should have announced the prize was valid for April or November ahead of time to avoid confusion.  
 
I disagree with your comment that they should be willing to "give up" a free weekend at the height of wedding season as there are other draws and contests that are offered in and around town that provide services within the height of their season.

Viv are you married? Soon to be married? Do you know what it takes to plan a wedding or are you just on here for the sake of putting your 2 cents in. Do you know how much a wedding costs? None of us were being ungrateful, us brides who already have our weddings planned....and deposits down would have just liked to know we wouldn't have been eligible for the grand prize. When you see "$20,000.00" towards your wedding....your eyes light up with the possibility of eliminating some possible bills in the end. We all agreed the show was great otherwise.

I won the wedding show in 2015. It was an amazing experience!! Yes it sucks about the date thing, but I won my pint rest wedding!! I just got married in April 2016.  
I have some very awesome new friends because of this experience and I had the wedding of my dreams

well said...I'm happy for the bride that won, I truly am. I wouldn't say any of us are being greedy. My fiance and I didn't end up putting our names in as we weren't willing to compromise our date and the money we had already put in. It was just very misleading.

You can still have your originally scheduled wedding date, just to clarify. Some of the vendors just couldn't guarantee that they would be available for that date. For example, if I still had my July 16th wedding date, I could still get the products from Party Professionals, but they couldn't guarantee that they could set up for me, so set up would be my responsibility.  
For some people out there, winning this event, even with the miscommunication is the only way that they could afford to have their wedding. Having a wedding is expensive for sure! But if I hadn't won this back in 2015, I wouldn't have been able to afford to have a photo booth or videography and I certainly wouldn't have been able to have a Wedding Planner (I love Leann Bower from Bridal Bliss Weddings...highly recommend her). So its also a way for couples to get those extras that wouldn't have fit into their wedding budget....but this is just my opinion. And yes I am biased, but again, its an amazing experience and an incredible feeling of relief. And it was so much fun to "fire" my friends for my wedding, and they were so happy to be "fired". LOL  
And the friends that I have made because of this experience, are people that I'm incredibly grateful for. (Trish from Bloombox is an absolute hoot, and so incredibly talented. She brought forward a vision I didn't even know I had in my head.)  
But again this is just my opinion

this year they said you CANNOT get ANY services or products unless you take the ENTIRE package on their pre-selected dates. it was totally different from previous years, and as others have said it should have been communicated that it was going to be completely different. paying $30 for two people to get into the show just to find out you aren't eligible because you already mailed out save-the-dates and can't change your wedding date? totally unfair.  
 
as for the greediness, i think its totally fair for brides to be upset that they're not eligible just because they started planning their wedding already. picking the date is the MOST IMPORTANT and FIRST thing you do, so they eliminated sooo many brides by doing this.

crunchy1885 said "this year they said you CANNOT get ANY services or products unless you take the ENTIRE package on their pre-selected dates. it was totally different from previous years, and as others have said it should have been communicated that it was going to be completely different. paying $30 for two people to get into the show just to find out you aren't eligible because you already mailed out save-the-dates and can't change your wedding date? totally unfair.     as for the greediness, i think its totally fair for brides to be upset that they're not eligible just because they started planning their wedding already. picking the date is the MOST IMPORTANT and FIRST thing you do, so they eliminated sooo many brides by doing this. "

exactly. It was all or nothing. No choices. You took one of their dates or not at all, and you had to accept all of their services or not at all.

When planning your wedding, yes, we all know it "can be" expensive. Why not plan one you can afford?

Milky Whey said "When planning your wedding, yes, we all know it "can be" expensive. Why not plan one you can afford? "

I think many do already. I think if I already had things booked and won a wedding package it would open up options to extra that I didn't previously plan for, ex. winning a video package instead of just pictures. My wife's dress wasn't even $1000 but part of the winning was $1000 towards a dress....Well that would help contribute to a fancier dress that we would never have considered. Looking at things like photo booths and such to me are a waste of money but each to their own. But to win a $21,000 wedding package I think is way over the top as for mine I don't even think it cost 1/4 of that for ours with about 85 people. I know that I wouldn't want to be told which day to get married if I wanted it paid for from a contest, after booking with people already. But looking at the prices I am wondering if things have increased that much. 15 years ago we had our music at about $500 with no photo booth yet there is a $1100 music with photo booth pricing. Free jewelry and bride has to host a bridal show with min. order. Seems to be a lot of stipulations that in the end they will still be paying out of pocket for things.

I feel the show was great. Good ideas, great vendors. Lots of options for indoor or outdoor weddings. If you went just for free stuff I feel sorry for you. The prize should be considered a bonus, if you happen to be lucky enough to win something.

Yup married last year thanks for asking! I've also had two siblings married and have stood up in five weddings in the past 3 years. I've been to the bridal show many times now and I'm well aware of the costs of a wedding. If I went to the show (depending on deposits and how close I was to my wedding date) I would either not enter the draw or if I won then move my wedding date to get over $20,000 in prizes. I certainly would not be upset with a FREE prize. I guess I don't understand the negativity surrounding a great prize pack.

to the winners, I heard your story on Star fm this morning, and am so happy that a young couple who just got engaged a week ago won this prize. I know many are complaining, but this couple probably hasn't planned or paid for anything yet as it's only been a week, so it's really perfect for them. Happy Wedding Day!!