Normally bridal faire’s aren’t my deal. There are hundreds of booths, and tons of people there gathering information but not really making any solid connections. It can be kind of like a wedding vendor meat market, where people are trying to attract any bride they can with free gifts, gimmicks, etc…. everything, it seems, except their photography and personality. This show was different. It was held at The Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, CA., which is fast becoming one of the more popular wedding venues in the Greater Sacramento area due to its awesome vibe and original feel. As one of their preferred vendors, I was invited to attend a Bridal Fair at The Old Sugar Mill, where I could connect with brides who were interested in having their wedding at the Old Sugar Mill, and were looking for photographers who were familiar with shooting there. My style of photography works well there, so I was grateful to attend and had a nice time meeting brides and their entourages! I also saw my clients and friends Nicole and Marc there, and I’m glad I could catch up!
My Booth:
So I decided that my first booth needed some pizzaz. I planned out a elaborately simple booth that included laying a laminate floor, building and paneling two 8 foot freestanding walls, and arranging about 20 picture frames on these walls of various sizes. This was quite the monumentous task. In order to make it harder on myself, I gave myself a $300 budget for my booth, including printed material, printed photos, lunch, gas, etc. In order to acheive this I took the following steps:
- I bought frames from goodwill and after priming them, painted them semi-gloss white.
- I searched for and found the snap-flooring for $25 on Craigslist from a man who had removed it from a bedroom.
- I used some extra wood leftover from an old project to help construct the frames for the walls.
- I saved some baseboards from the garbage and used them to create a paneled look for the bottom of the walls.
- I used some old primer to paint the walls gray, and I used old white paint to paint the paneling and tables I built.
The finished result (courtesy of Jessica Moores):
Me installing the floor (courtesy of Jessica Moores):
My lovely plant I borrowed from Exotic Plants, a cool vendor who can hook up some seriously awesome and unique plants for a wedding. I was stoked on this little beauty, straight down to the matching planter! yes!!!
Thanks also to Marnie at The Old Sugar Mill for the 10×10 slice of heaven, and for putting up with me installing my own floor!
stay tuned for some behind the scenes photos on the blog!
Much <3,
Dave
