Simcoe County's second annual Bridal Show took place this past weekend at the BMC in Barrie.
Like many people around the Greater Toronto Area, Kristine Barton and her husband Stewart chose to move to Barrie to build their future and raise their family.
During a pause in her 15-year career in the wedding industry, Kristine Barton, the owner of KB Productions and Show Producer for the Simcoe County Bridal Show recognized the difficulty that couples and service providers in the Barrie area were facing in such a scattered marketplace.
To make life easier for the brides-to-be and the businesses built to make their wedding day perfect, Kristine launched what would become the largest bridal show in Simcoe County.
She brought together over 95 local vendors into the largest event space in Barrie, the BMC.
“It’s about really giving businesses here the chance to showcase what they have,” Kristine said. “In the world we’re in, we can lose that face-to-face connection. This is such an emotional buy for couples, so having that time to talk face-to-face, see if this is the right fit for me; it’s all right here under one roof.”
“There are so many people getting married up north,” she added. “You don’t need to bring your DJ, photographer, whatever. We’ve got it here. Great, amazing talent.”
From the vendor perspective, Stewart explains that wedding vendors have few precious weekends each year to make money, but they had been giving up sometimes up to eight of those weekends to attend the smaller wedding shows in the hopes of generating new business.
“With the Simcoe County Bridal Show,” said Stewart. “They do our show, give up just one weekend of earnings and end up with bookings into next year and the year after.”
“In addition to the leads, there are many networking opportunities for the show’s vendors,” said Kristine. “For example, the caterer that now has an agreement with a venue or the venue that can now tell their client that since they’re booking the venue, they already have a floral company lined up so the customer has one less thing to worry about.”
From wedding planners to vendors focused on the finest individual details, brides (and grooms) can find a way to make their wedding day both perfect and special.
“We create the space for brides to feel comfortable, connected and enjoy their wedding experience,” said wedding planner Anna Sinclair, owner of Anna Sinclair Events. “They don’t have to worry about a single thing and can be remembered as the most graceful, loving, beautiful person ever.”
Even in choosing which photographer you ask to capture the important memories of your special day; the Simcoe County Bridal Show gives couples the chance to get to know the different vendors and see who’s going to be the best fit for them.
“To pick the right photographer,” said Dan Berger, owner of Dan Berger Photography. “Take a look at their work but pay attention to their personality.
“It’s all about whether you gel together. It’s better to have someone who has chemistry. It’s my job to make sure that the couple is comfortable. It helps them be more candid and that just works out better on the wedding day.”
With such a huge investment made by so many couples, finding the right professionals to make sure everything goes off without a hitch is key. Whether that investment is to celebrate the loving union with friends and family or start your lives together with the perfect honeymoon.
“You need somebody on your side who’s experienced, local, understands their product and the destination as a whole,” said Rod Hanna, director of sales for Saint Lucia in Canada, “Your honeymoon is a huge investment, that’s why we recommend going with a qualified agent. To have someone sit down with you, go through your needs and understand what you want.”
To learn more about the event, or get in touch with the Bartons about being a vendor next year, check out their website here.
