Date & Weather – Sunday 24th June – 15 Degrees
Expo hours – 9am – 4pm
Location – Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre – Handicap Access.
Parking – Basement parking undercover $20 flat rate.
Public Transport – Yes – tram route 96 and 109, or train to Southern Cross Station and catch the tram
Ticket Cost – $22 online, $27 at the door (a high door fee for an average show!)
Advertising – Saw the advertisements on Facebook
Prizes – It mentions online that the expo has amazing prizes and giveaways but it doesn’t say what they are.
Giveaways – Only the first 500 brides get pamper bags valued at $80. It includes small gifts like candles, budget cosmetics, a mini sparkling wine and maybe a few lollies. All other brides get a plastic bag with a Toast magazine. No show guide.
Features List – Bridal fashion parade, fireworks display during the parade, experience lounge with a makeup trial desk, and a mobile bar doing cocktails
Layout – Grid based layout, so easy to manoeuvre through. Fashion parade towards the back. Small number of cars down the sides. Carpet only in the middle, which makes the set up look incomplete
Queue To Get In – No Queue (11am arrival)
Quantity Of Exhibitors – 102, yet the expo advertised up to 200. A bit disappointing when they only deliver on half the amount of exhibitors.
| Celebrants | 4 |
| Videographers | 2 |
| Photographers | 10 |
| Photo booths | 3 |
| Cakes | 3 |
| Bridal Fashion | 9 |
| Cars | 8 |
| Menswear | 6 |
| Entertainment | 5 |
| Flowers | 3 |
| Stationery | 3 |
| Health & fitness | 3 |
| Beauty & Wellbeing | 4 |
| Wedding planners & decor | 5 |
| Jewellery | 6 |
| Hair & makeup | 5 |
| Dance | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Wedding directory | 1 |
| Wedding insurance | 1 |
| Financial assistance | 1 |
| Venues | 6 |
| Destination weddings | 3 |
| Mobile bars | 4 |
| Bomboniere | 3 |
| Hens & bucks | 2 |
Overall Star Rating – 3/5
Overall Impression –
The Melbourne Bridal and Honeymoon Expo delivered a fair show this winter. With more than 20 different wedding categories, the show offered a decent variety of services, which is great for brides who are looking to compare before they make their final decision.
Only 500 gift bags were promised to the early-bird brides, so our reviewing party had to settle for just the standard handout, which was a plastic branded bag (a big no-no with all businesses nationwide now adopting the single-use plastic bag ban!), and a magazine. No show guide was available unfortunately. The layout of the exhibitors was cleverly done in a grid format, so it was easy to manoeuvre around and not miss any stands. However it was quite tight and the aisles were rather narrow. There was no carpeting on either side of the venue, which made it look slightly incomplete.
The ‘experience lounge was so-so, offering hair and makeup trials and cocktails – same as their last expo. There was a good mix of well-known brands and smaller start-up businesses. The fashion parade was well executed with a great selection of dresses on the runway, however the set up was a little outdated. It still drew a decent crowd. The fireworks display at the end was a nice touch. There wasn’t much choice in the way of food. The show uses the word ‘honeymoon’ in title of the event, although this service was hardly evident – perhaps only 2-3 exhibitors on display.
Overall, the $27 door entry fee was a bit steep. There were some great elements to the show that were well done, although nothing new from their last show. L