January 26, 2015 at 4:47 p.m.
Expo draws throng of excited brides
Expo draws throng of excited brides
By Kayla Thomason-
Brides were able to view a wide array of dresses and tuxedos during the annual fashion show while deejays, caterers, photographers, skin care product consultants, cake decorators and other wedding-planning vendors stood by ready to answer every question.
Bride-to-be Kristen Radloff enjoyed talking to the vendors and getting ideas for her wedding.
"A lot of the (vendors) were friendly and easy to talk to and I thought it was set up really nicely," she said. "I have some of my stuff already nailed down, but it was really nice for filling in the blanks. They had pretty much everything. If you wanted to plan your wedding here you could do it, so that was nice."
The vendors were pleased with the turnout and flow of the expo.
"The turnout this year has been really good. I've talked to a lot of people so far," said Kora Rudisill, cake designer at Eye Candy Cakes.
Rudisill displayed a vintage cake with creamy frosting decorated with a pearl-like design. Another cake featured unique designed tiers that flowed together. The third cake, which Rudisill said was quite popular, had gold-colored bits flowing down the cake's tiers.
Her chalkboard cake drew a lot of interest as it was quite unique.
Black blank fondant hugged each tier and the chalk - an edible white dust that was painted on - swirled around the cake.
"I think that's going to kind of be a big thing this year, the chalkboard kind of thing," Rudisill said. "It's rustic but still elegant and cute."
Various flavors of cupcakes, from mocha to raspberry almond, sat in tulip papers on the table. Rudisill said the chocolate raspberry cupcake was a crowd favorite.
Brenda Gardner, head cake decorator for Save More Foods, was pleased with the crowd's reaction to her cakes.
People enjoyed her pastel woodland wedding cake and glitzy cake. Another popular cake was a more traditional white cake with roses on top and petals sprinkled down each tier.
"People just appreciate to see the different ideas and flavors that everyone can do as a whole around here," Gardner said, adding that it appears coral colors are popular this year.
Sandy Buss, floral director Trig's Floral and Home, enjoyed telling the brides what Trig's has to offer.
"Trig's offers one-stop shopping for brides," Buss said. "We have wedding cakes, we have catering, our deli, we have flowers and wine and spirits."
She said a baby's breath bouquet with sparkle spray has been popular of late.
Vintage has not only been popular with the dresses but with the flowers as well. Trig's Floral had vintage-style bouquets with taupes, peaches, pinks, and other soft colors available for brides to see.
"It's great to be part of this here in Rhinelander and reaching more Rhinelander brides," Buss said.
Mike Braun, owner of Come Dance With Me mobile deejay, was a first-time vendor at the expo.
After talking with the brides, he booked a lot of dates in September and October.
Braun said one of his favorite elements of the wedding reception is the anniversary countdown.
"You count down the years for how long the people have been married for and then you see who's the longest and sometimes you end up with 50-60 years on the floor," Braun said. "That's pretty fun to see that and then you kind of sit there and look at the bride and groom and go 'That's who you can turn around for suggestions.'"
Brides and grooms love to have their special day captured in pictures to show the family. Shelly Huske, owner of Portrait Photography by Shelly, talked with a number of brides.
"Last year it was 20 below and the turnout was really good too so I think everyone looks forward to this one," she said.
From her experience, brides like to have outdoor weddings.
"I would say 90 percent of the weddings I do are outdoor weddings and a lot of out-of-towners," Huske said.
She offers a wedding album that is a book. It doesn't have sleeves to slip photographs in, instead each cherished image is printed on the pages.
Kristyn Skinner, owner of Spotlight Studios, also had a booth at the expo.
"We have a photography booth and a deejay service and we also do photography services so you can be a one-stop vendor, a one-stop shop to everything," she said.
Spotlight Studios offers metal prints and a USB drive holding the day's memories on it. The USB comes in a tin for protection.
Brides want radiant and beautiful skin on their big day and Pamela Maull, senior L'Bri consultant, exposed brides to skin care products that contain natural ingredients.
"Instead of drying alcohols, they use vitamins in their fresheners. A lot of products will have wax and petroleum and all that, this does not have that in there because those things clog pores," Maull said.
"I think (the expo is) a really great thing for brides out there because they get to know what's out there for them," Maull said.
L'Bri offers lotions, cleansers, body butter, makeup, body wash and more.
Jim DuBois, owner and operator of DuBois Formalwear, had swatches of beautiful colors available for brides to match to their bridesmaid dresses.
DuBois Formalwear has over 40 new colors and accessories to match the bridesmaid dresses, along with a new slim-fit tuxedo.
"Bow ties are coming back, which we are seeing a lot more of, which is kind of neat because when you see your pictures 30 years down the road, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years down the road, you're going to be in style no matter what," he said.
Gray tuxedos are quite popular this year, according to DuBois.
DuBois Formalwear has been participating the expo for eight years.
After consulting with the vendors, the brides took a seat to watch the fashion show.
Sharp-dressed men in tuxedos entertained the crowd as they escorted women modeling wedding and bridesmaid dresses.
"I really liked (the dresses)." Radloff said. "They were different, I've never seen the (camouflage) ones before so that was kind of interesting."
She liked a lot of the bridesmaids dresses and thought they were beautiful.
Nikki Noel, another bride-to-be, really liked the vintage dresses. This was her first time attending a bridal expo, and she loved the variety of vendors.
"(The expo) was very well done," Noel said.
After seeing all the options available, Amber Passow, another bride-to-be, came up with some ideas she may incorporate into her wedding.
"Some of the Mori Lee stuff was really pretty and I love the sparkly stuff, so that was really nice, and I really liked the hairpieces that they had. It was really cool," she said.
Passow enjoyed her time at the expo.
"It was really nice, I liked it a lot," she said.
Mary Taylor, owner of Lund and Taylor, was pleased with the event.
"I thought (the expo) went really well," she said. "We had a good turnout, it was steady throughout the day so nobody was overcrowded. It came together well. We showed a nice variety of wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses and mom dresses. Our guys were awesome as always. Our guys just go all out for us."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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