65 days until The Wedding Fair! 79 until Bridal Fantasy Calgary!
I’m really excited about the upcoming Wedding Fair YYC on January 17th, 2016 and Bridal Fantasy Calgary on the 31st. I thought I’d write about all the things I’m doing, making, ordering, and planning. So far it’s been crazy fun and I kind of wish the show was sooner (although I probably don’t).
1. THE FOCUS
Because custom chalkboard art is so, well, custom, it’s hard to put a price on anything. So what I’ve done is flat-rated my most popular boards. I’m going to be doing up a chalkboard to show all of my prices, from seating charts to message boards to small half-sized boards. All my prices will be based on size, priced slightly more if coloured chalk is needed. Take a look at the pricing chart here:
CUSTOM CHALKBOARD PRICES:
LARGE 2'x4' boards: $115 white; $125 colour
SQUARE 2'x2' boards: $85 white; $90 colour
- SMALL 1'x2' boards: $60 white or colour.
2. THE GIVEAWAYS
FREE STUFF!!! Giveaways are the best things about trade shows – at least any I’ve attended. You take a quick scan of all the booths and see if there’s anything super cool to stick in your bag. Brainstorming giveaways is almost as fun as receiving them! I looked into chalk (of course), mini chalkboards, wine glass charms, pens, pencils, chalk rulers and so on. But what I decided on really suits the wedding/bride market – decorative bobby pins! I found some really cute ones with a nice floral pattern on them and ordered a bulk amount all in bronze. Each bobby pin will be pinned to one of my business cards for attendees to take home with them! I’m hoping it will bring some cool women to my booth. We’ll see…
3. TO SELL ON THE SPOT
This is what I believe most strongly about. I always hated going to trade shows where you could only order things. Ordering things is great, don’t get me wrong, but what I’m hoping to fulfil is the attendee’s need for instant gratification. Who doesn’t love to buy something on the spot to bring home and be excited about. Especially for your wedding!
I am in the process of making 28 boards to bring to the show. There will be 12 square boards (2’x2’) and 16 small boards (1’x2’). I’m pricing these lower than my custom orders because they're not custom. I have already done up all the designs for these boards based on what has been popular to date. I purchased a wooden crate online to put the boards in so that attendees can flip through to see what they like. Kind of like flipping through records at a record store. That way if people are waiting to talk to me or my staff, they can take a peek at some stock.
Here's one I did last night:
4. THE DRAW / DOOR PRIZE
It was suggested by The Wedding Fair coordinators that having a draw or door prize is a great way to ‘draw’ in people. I jumped on this wagon instantly. And because The Wedding Fair people have been so awesome, they promote your draw on their site! Perfect.
I decided on a “Seating chart package”, which includes two of the most popular boards I’ve got: a custom large board plus a custom square board. The package is valued at $215. Attendees will only have to provide their contact information and name on the ballot. I’ll pick one of these brides and create something custom and beautiful for them! I think it’s pretty great. Check out The Wedding Fair's blog post about it here.
Bridal Fantasy will be drawing a few of my chalkboards too – Two square boards and then the grand prize of a large board with another square chalkboard. All with custom art. This is going to be sweet.
5. THE SHOWCASE
Because I have so many pieces that I’ve done in the past, I’ve decided to show them off in two ways. The first is a hard-covered portfolio book that I’m going to order in the next couple of weeks. I’d like to set it on my booth table for interested attendees to flip through. I think this will be good for those brides who want a chalkboard done up but don’t really know what exactly. I have done so many different boards I think it’d be great for inspiration.
Likewise, I’m going to have a couple of iPads in the hands of my staff and load up the photos with all my work. My staff (being my boyfriend and good friend) can then swipe through with those interested while other people are looking through the book!
There you have it. This is what I have been working on and will continue to until January 16th at booth 926 and January 30th at booth 132. I’ve also ordered informational flyers and a butt-load of business cards, which I already have in hand! Got the bobby pins now and figuring out the details of my Square and ordering process. Can’t wait. See you soon at both amazing shows!