Wedding Show Geeks

Lori, my Mexico roommate and friend, and I attended the Seattle Wedding Show on Saturday. We got there at starting time trying to beat the rush but with 9,000 people expected, we weren’t the only ones thinking that.

Unfortunately, attending a wedding show with a gal friend and no make-up or wedding ring (long story about losing mine, that’s why I wasn’t wearing it) instantly tags me as lebonese. I say ME because vendors would hand HER their information and ignore me, like I was the dude being dragged along with promises of ‘I’ll make it up to you if you come to this with me.’ She claims it’s because she had ‘the official bridal show bag’ (I was too impatient to wait in line). I know better because this isn’t the FIRST time it’s happened to me. I don’t mind, mind you (get it, mind twice in a row and it makes sense), I just wanted the free stuff LOL. Apparently there were about 400 vendors altogether, with only 30 or so photographers, and we had a BALL checking them all out.

Rentals:
My absolute favorite of all was the dishes rental girl, Sheena, at Totally Tabletops. The booth was uber simple and super tiny (smallest available) but the few dishes she had displayed reminded me of dinners at Christine’s and I totally LOVELOVELOVE that look. They were funky, fresh and vintage all rolled up. The BEST part about her dishes rental? Can you GUESS? You can bring them back DIIIRRRRRTY! Now THAT’S a winner in my book (after last nights birthday dishes and tonight’s emergency-the-5-person-family-had-their-power-go-out-plus-us dishes, that’s 9 if you’re counting).

Catering:
Speaking of dishes… how about food to put ON the dishes? Herban Feast is DEFINITELY the place to go for gorgeous, delicious, local and all-natural yumminess. Their display was divine and the chef/owner top-knotch, friendly, sweet and professional. Recently, they’ve purchased a historical SODO giant open loft with exposed beams warehouse for hosting up to 300 guests (EXACTLY what I’d love to live in)! They sampled their dilectable Sweet Potato & Dungeness Crab Cake and almost had to call security to make me leave. Not really, but my taste buds are calling them out as I type! Look at these babies…

The gal at Volterra Restaurant convinced me to come try their Tuscan cuisine (they also have event space for 12-85 guests). Initially the draw to her booth was that the name is a well-known city in my favorite book series, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. She says she’s never heard of it; what the…? I say we get some fans together and try channeling Edward and Jacob over a plate of pasta!

Brown’s Catering had the coolest looking chef with his talltalltall chef hat hoovering over the crowd. He was cheerful and poised. Their niche’ is that prices are all-inclusive (no extra or hidden charges from start to finish; chef, servers, tables, linens, dishes, utensils and clean-up)!

Cakes:
Lori was all over the cake samples (I DID taste one from Mike’s Amazing Cakes… yes, it WAS amazing and definitely worth clicking on… do it, I’ll wait).

(Seriously, I hope you checked out his cakes.)

Creme de la Creme had a booth PLUS had miniature cakes on display at a few wedding consultant booths. They were about 4″ high and were delicately decorated, mimicking a full-size wedding cake. Their cakes were exquisitely beautiful and looked worth the money people pay for wedding cakes these days. My mom made ours… five tiers of cheesecake… m-m-m. Their website is pretty ghetto and doesn’t show their awesomeness. Wish we were allowed to take pics at the show… grr.

Morfey’s Cake Shoppe had me at their name (Morfey, hahaha, cute) but their pictures displayed and in the brochures don’t do them justice. Sure, they’re not Mike’s Amazing Cakes or Creme de la Creme, but I’d put these guys in my top three as a mom-and-pop shop (although I don’t think they’re mom and pop, I’m just saying that’s the feel I get from their friendly, down home booth).

There was a gal there who makes ceramic cake trays and stands to match your wedding cake, but the closer I looked there was glaze dripping from some spots and some cracking (which can be seen in her pictures online)… wish that wasn’t the case because the colors and design were really adorable. Maybe posting this will give someone the idea to perfect it because that was an excellent idea for a niche product. Imagine being able to use your cake stand from your wedding throughout your marriage!

Paper Products:
There were really pretty invitation designers… Sparkll was my favorite one-of-a-kind designer, even though the spelling of it drove me nuts right off the bat, and letterpress folk like the friendly and beautifully designed Ephemera Press (y’all know how I feel about gettin‘ me some Letterpress… yumm).

However, Brown Sugar Studios was my favorite letterpress vendor at the show that indulged me by listening to my breakfast story (oatmeal with some BROWN SUGAR and a little bit o’ cream).

Oh, Tomato-Tomato (tow-may-toe… tow-mah-toe) had cute little magnet handouts that said “I love my in-laws.” That was funny and eye-catching.

Wedding Coordinators:
I really liked Stacy at SK Wedding and Event Design (esp. since the initials remind me of my friend, Tiffany), but Lush Parties & Events had a pretty impressive booth with real grass sod and a place to put up my feet! Jesse and Travis at TrUe Colors Events were absolutely darling too (but should reprint their handout with better resolution on the pictures).

Newest idea:
The newest idea was a vintage umbrella rental gal… Bella Umbrella. She had the most BEAUTIFUL umbrellas we’ve ever seen, was super-duper nice, prices are pretty fair and got more interest than she expected the whole two days in the first two hours!

Parking was atrocious (3hrs = $11) and entry was $16/person ($2 discount coupon at the vendors before the show), but I suppose I’m not supposed to complain because that’s what you get livin’ in the big Metro Natural ci-tay (pshyeah, that’s our slogan).

Lori was also all over the proper pronunciation of classic business names that, apparently, we’ve all been saying incorrectly… like Ivars. Go ahead and say it, or think it in your head. You said eye-vars, didn’t you? No lying, that’s bad and you’ll get lashes. It’s actually ee-vars, as in the Norwegian way. She’s quite learned, ain’t she? That’s why I keep her around (she makes me look good). She finally dragged me into the Photo Booth for some lebanese looking pics… ain’t no shame in it… Hey, you can ALMOST see how cool my new teeth look!