Bridal Show Inadequacy

The first bridal show I ever attended was for my Maid of Honor (MOH), back in January 2011. From the hoards of over-eager brides and their families, girls sporting bachelorette-type attire, and the bright pink "bride" stickers they made each engaged girl wear, I was thoroughly overstimulated. So was my MOH, which she made abundantly clear as she forced me into the corner, stuck her "bride" sticker on me, and shoved her engagement ring on my finger.

It was clear at this point, that bridal shows are not for the faint of heart.

Image via Colorado Bridal Show

Potential vendors stalked the status of my left ring finger before they would approach me, and when approached, would attempt to lure us to their little corner of the the convention center, like a predator stalking prey.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, but for someone who doesn't like confrontation or medium-to-hard sell situations, it was not my dream scenario. I left the bridal show that day very excited to not be engaged. Mr. BB proposed to me after dinner that very night. How's that for irony?

Since then, I've had a love-hate relationship with bridal shows. My mother loves them with every part of her being and takes personal offense when I lack her over-enthusiasm. To keep the peace, I've attended my fair share with mixed results.

Bridal shows have been such an enormous source of inspiration for me, from floral design to invitation suites to after-party and honeymoon ideas. They have provided a great environment to commiserate with other brides and to meet with several vendors at one time.

Awesome transportation idea! Image via Old Town Trolley Tours

They have also been a source of jealousy and anger for me.

Strolling past the masses of vendors touting their "must-have" wedding accessories like customized tablescapes, photobooths, and ice sculptures, especially when my mother gravitates to those booths (despite me not being able to afford these things,) drives me B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

After a particularly embarrassing experience this past weekend, where a florist essentially laughed at my flower budget of $1500, I swore off bridal shows all together. As a bride, I shouldn't feel bad about my wedding. Ever. Nor should people be telling me (or imply via laughing at what I can/cannot afford) that my wedding isn't "good enough" because I don't have all the bells-and-whistles that a "good bride" should. My feelings of inadequacy were somewhat self-inflicted, but some of it was the result of an over-zealous wedding industry telling me what a wedding should be.

So, I'm at peace with my decision to retire from the bridal show circuit. I'm going to put all of those feelings of wedding inadequacy aside and plan a day that is uniquely ours, whether we have a photo booth and firework display or not!

Have you ever suffered from bridal show inadequacy? How did you combat it?