MELBOURNE BRIDAL & WEDDING EXPO – 16th January 2022
Overall Impression of the Melbourne Bridal & Wedding Expo
The build up for the Melbourne Bridal & Wedding Expo was strong, but it didn’t quite reach its potential on the day.
Date & Weather – 16th January 2022 – 29 degrees
Expo hours – 9am – 4pm
Location – Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre – convenient access, reasonably adequate air conditioning.
Parking – Whiteman Street – $10
Public Transport – Train and trams available.
Ticket Cost – Presale cost $25, cost at door $27 – price felt high for what was on offer.
Advertising – Website, social media.
Prizes – Mens Suit Warehouse and Always and Forever Bridal. Prize package valued at $2200.
Giveaways – First 500 brides-to-be receive an exclusive VIP Bridal Pamper Bag worth over $100. No giveaways for the groom-to-be was disappointing and made our groom-to-be feel quite unimportant.
Features List – Fashion parade, experience lounge (brides and companions are invited into this zone to be pampered by exhibitors).
Layout – Exhibitors are lined up in long, narrow aisles. These aisles were quite tight and the expo didn’t quite feel like it fit the space.
Queue To Get In – Small.
Quantity Of Exhibitors – Roughly 70 exhibitors. Normally Melbourne Bridal Expos provide more details of the exhibitors but unfortunately there was no exhibitor listing on the Bridal Expos Australia website. Most seemed happy to chat, however the tightly squeezed layout made some exhibitors seem somewhat disconnected.
Overall Star Rating – 3/5
Our Review
The build up for the Melbourne Bridal & Wedding Expo was strong, with advertising on Social Media and a mostly informative website leading up to the event. This event showed a lot of promise but ultimately didn’t quite deliver on what our reviewing party came to expect in terms of quality and value for the price of entry.
The narrow aisles made for an uncomfortable browsing experience – we felt like we were bumping into other attendees every other second (and there wasn’t a huge crowd)! The relatively small number of exhibitors was also underwhelming, making us feel like our trip out into the CBD was not time well spent. The lack of an exhibitor list on the Bridal Expos Australia website meant that we were unsure of what to expect from the event.
Due to the constrictive layout of the event, it was difficult to have a direct conversation with some of the exhibitors in the inner aisles. With noise all around and attendees struggling for space, exhibitors seemed a little scattered when trying to answer questions and explain their offering. This layout was also not ideal given the expo took place in the middle of summer, creating a stuffy atmosphere.
Looking at the positives, we felt that the fashion parade was quite well done, and there were some amazing dresses and suits on display there. The timing of the parade was just right and it definitely felt well planned and executed. This was the highlight of the Melbourne Bridal & Wedding Expo for us.
Overall, we felt that the strong fashion parade didn’t account for the events shortcomings in terms of layout, low amount of exhibitors and lack of giveaways. If these issues are ironed out by the organisers, we can see Bridal Expos Australia delivering a better event next time.
