Love Stories and other things

I had always heard other wedding officiants say wedding shows were a waste of time. In the forums and Facebook groups, people tell stories but have no hard numbers to share. Coming from a sociology background, I like statistics. Meaning not just hearsay or assumptions but numbers that can be shown.

I decided to participate in two wedding shows. Mostly because I had friends involved in them that personally asked me to come.

I keep a notebook at my booth and put a hash for each stat I record. I recorded my “interactions”. When I say “interactions” I mean every time someone crossed in front of my booth I said something like “Hello! Do you have a wedding officiant?” If I recorded them as having “true interest” that means the couple asked questions showing they were interested (checking my availability, if I offered a certain ceremony, etc.).

Wedding Expo 1 – 8 Hours

Booth cost- $150
Supplies cost – $300
Tickets claimed – 1100
Interactions – 136
Hadn’t Hired an Officiant – 22
True Interest – 4

Wedding Expo 2 – 4 hours

Booth cost FREE
Supplies cost – $75
Tickets claimed – 300
Interactions – 47
Hadn’t Hired an Officiant – 7
True Interest – 2

If they were open to talking, I asked how they found their officiant, it broke down like this
72% someone from church
19% friend or family

Notes

• My give-away was my business card stapled to a ring pop. These were very popular and many people took them even though they told me they already had an officiant.
• When I say “true interest” I mean the couple asked questions showing they were interested like checking my availability or if I did a certain kind of service.
• I believe the promoter at the first expo lied about the number of tickets claimed because there was less than 400 people in that building
• at the second show a promoter for Cincinnati Bridalrama came by and gave me his spiel about why I should do their show. When I started talking about stats and pointed out the numbers I had collected didn’t match his claims, he walked away mid sentence and wouldn’t even look at me.
• I was dressed in one of my favorite suits and had other vendors mention comment on my professionalism
• at the second show there was another officiant their dressed in tshirt with their friends also dressed in tshirts and black jeans. This officiant has been made fun of by other vendors and is called the “Wal-Mart officiant”, after seeing them I understand why.
• At the second show a well known DJ stopped me as I walked past his booth, said he recognized me and asked for a stack of my cards. He also made a comment about the “Walmart wedding officiant”.
• I was surprised by the number of people who told me they had a friend/family member get ordained online just to do their wedding. This may help to explain all the last minute wedding calls I get
• I also had one couple tell me a very funny story about a wedding they attended that was officiated by a family friend and what a disaster it turned into.

So, are wedding shows worth it?

The short answer is no. For wedding officiants, wedding shows are not worth it.

I spent more than 15 hours (with set up and break down) and more than $500 with no booked weddings.

I need 3 weddings booked just to be at a break even point in revenue. That is still a HUGE loss of time. If I had put the same amount of time and money into other forms of marketing I would have had better results. In the future I will visit expos just to network with the other vendors. I also think wedding expos are a great chance to see who the true professionals are and who I need to tell my couples to avoid. I would never waste my time/money on a booth again.