An Event Every Man Should Experience

Just over a month ago, I was able to attend something that I never really thought in my life I’d say I’d gone to: a bridal expo.

Now, off the bat, let me tell you that I don’t think that I ever would have paid for a ticket to a bridal show. And I’m not really sure that Audrey would have either. She was fortunate enough to have a coworker whose mother was exhibiting at the show, so they gave us 4 free tickets. Well, with two bridesmaids in town (whoop whoop, Isabel and Kelsey), the natural 4th person was me. Let’s be frank from the get-go: it’s fairly embarrassing as a man to say that you’re attending a bridal expo. There’s no hiding that, because as Aud has peppered in her posts, the wedding world is just geared toward the bride.
But I’m a guy who’s open to most experiences in life – I think I’d equally look forward to a ballet performance or a classical opera as much as a monster truck show (reader interaction: I’ve been to 2 of the above 3: leave a comment with your guess about which one I haven’t been to!) - so I was up for the no-dollar-cost experience of the bridal expo at the GMU Patriot Center.

The four of us all decided to ride together (how eco-friendly are we!), and as we were getting there decided to take guesses as to how many men we would see other than me. The first number thrown out was 10. We saw 10 before we left the parking lot. There were actually TONS of guys there. In fact, I ran into a guy I used to work with at the expo while the ladies didn’t run into anybody they knew. There was definitely the sense of insecurity at check-in, but most guys give a knowing nod and then wander through the maze of tables and exhibits to see if you can find any vendor that you might be interested in. And this is where we got totally overwhelmed.

For me personally, I felt bad for some vendors. A lot of vendors had throngs of people at their booth (note: these were largely caterers who were giving away tastes of food, or bakers with trays of cake samples), and some had none (mostly photographers and suit rental places, as far as I could tell). So I got suckered into going to talk to the lonely vendors. This is a mistake. You see, at every table, there is some kind of “10% off” or a little giveaway or add-on if you fill out a form and buy within a month, or something like that. I just wanted to talk to a poor soul and make time pass a bit. Plus I figured I’d learn about suit rental options, if that’s what we end up doing for the guys in the wedding party. So by the end of the expo I must have filled out roughly 10 forms for places like Men’s Warehouse and Jos. A Banks (but don’t worry, I think I have only gotten one call from each, so very respectable of space).

In addition to these more boring options, there were many fun exhibitors, like vacation planners for honeymoons, smoothie stations for tropics-themed weddings, and a few stationery vendors too. But best of all, Audrey, Kelsey, Isabel and I all got to try out a few photobooths! They were equipped with lots of fun accessories, as you can see here, and we were able to get a strip printed real-time. It’s certainly something that Audrey and I have on the “want” list, but might not make it through to the final cut. It’d be a lot of fun for guests, and equally fun for us to see who took photos after, but like everything else, there’s a price tag attached to it. And unfortunately we didn’t win a raffle from somebody for a free one.

All in all we didn’t end up getting anything (not even a vendor) from the expo, but the four of us did have fun getting to see all the different options and all of the excitement of engaged couples trying to wade through planning their own celebrations as well. And for all other guys who might one day be asked if they want to go along to the expo: do it! If nothing else, enjoy the free food and cake.