Going to a bridal expo alone

I recently went to one this past weekend with FH, my mom & niece and we all had a blast. We were a hour late so may be that's why vendors weren't harassing us as much as others have been, or it could be just been the expo we attended. There were vendors we were genuinely interested in that offered services we hadn't even thought about. We did give out a wedding email. No phone calls have come in yet, but then again we went 3days ago.

I may not have had as much fun by myself. But I am signing up for another one to get the complete experience from beginning to end. I say give it a try. If it's not your thing then leave.

I went to one specifically to book my DJ. They offered a significant discount at the expo. Once that was done, I left. Otherwise I find them to be a waste of time

I went with my mom to the first one, second and third I ended up doing alone because I realized I did better without anyone with me! It's definitely not that bad, just a little overwhelming at first!

I just went to one on Sunday. In all honesty, if you have the big things done; venue, dj, photographer, it's not necessary. It can be sort of fun, they have raffles and give away samples of cake, but we left after about an hour because I have all the big stuff booked. I didn't go alone though because my family is intrusive and want to be involved in all things wedding lol.

Ok , so my best friend and I have gone to like 5 bridal shows. We loved them actually. We totally make fun of everyone there, she always wins a prize though, which is cool. Since she's getting married this year and I already have most of my vendors booked, we aren't doing anymore. The place that I bought my dress from had my dress on a model in the fashion show that they did, it just made me fall more in love with my dress. I love my dress.

I went to one by myself. It was very overwhelming.

Thanks for all your input! I feel much better about going now.

Update - I was venting to FH about how sad I was that I didn't have anyone to go with me so he asks me to hold for 60 seconds. He gets back on the phone and says he's found an escort. His best man (and current roommate). I was shocked and said he probably really didn't want to go but FH says Best man is super excited for some reason and is now calling himself a bridesmaid as well lol!

I went to one alone and found it helpful. Bit of a mob scene, yes, but a convenient place to get an overview of the types of vendors and price ranges in our area. And, there was a lot of cake, which was good. At the event I went to, I had the option of dropping chances to win prizes off at various vendors, and did win a free engagement photo session. I went to a second show with my Maid of Honor three months later, 8 weeks before my wedding, and that was also helpful to reassure me were on track re planning, décor and food. But I agree with the advice about setting up a (wedding) email account. Some vendors don't like to take no for an answer. I saw some women with name/address/email stickers to add to mailing/interest lists, and wish I had done that. I wrote my email address about 50 times that first day. And, somebody got my name and kept calling me to 'congratulate me for winning a prize', which was nothing more than a 'free Florida vacation' come on. But, overall, worth doing if you know what you're getting in to.

If you know what you are looking for I would go. I've been to two and have won several free things just for showing up!!

At least going by yourself, you can leave whenever you'd like. I think it would still be fun.

I went to one at my venue, but I had a game plan going in. It was all of their preferred vendors so I made a list of those I was interested in and bypassed the rest. We wound up hiring the DJ and got some good ideas about which florist and baker (included in our package) we will be using, and were able to see one of the photobooth vendors we were interested in as well. I would look at the list of vendors, see if any of them interest you and zero in on them during the expo. And don't give out your number, I'm still getting calls and emails from vendors I am not going to hire! My mom came with us, went off on her own for a bit and gave my info out to everyone she met! Urrrrrg.

I have never been to one, only because of the negative stories i've heard about them.