Students planning to be brides or grooms can find ways to enhance their future weddings at the Inaugural Sooner Bridal Spectacular on Sunday, hosted by the Union Programming Board.
The bridal fair will feature workshops, displays, samples and giveaways from vendors in and around the Oklahoma City metro area.
Lori Duck, chairwoman for the fair, said she decided to plan the event after her own recent engagement to graduate student Zachary Stevens.
"It's been quite a learning experience," Duck said. "I want this to be a marketplace for a ton of ideas."
Duck said bridal fairs are designed to introduce ideas and get couples started with wedding planning. Talking with vendors can give students the opportunity to compare prices and jot down lists of things they need. While Duck said she already had an idea of what she wanted her own wedding to be like, she said bridal fairs can add to many areas.
"I had no idea of what I could have, as far as finding the fantasy that was in my head and staying in a reasonable price range," Duck said.
Duck said the bridal fair workshops are designed to help anyone who is planning a wedding or in one. Their names are as varied as, "Me as Martha? Making Your Own Centerpieces," and "Being a Boomer Bridesmaid."
Vendors said they were attracted to OU's bridal fair because of the reasonable $100 entry fees and the market potential for newly engaged couples. Stevens, a graduate assistant for UPB, said the lower fee was designed to get more vendors involved for more variety. Duck said other bridal fairs charge up to $500 for entry fees. Thirty-five vendors plan to take part in the bridal fair, with proceeds benefiting the Norman Shelter for Battered Women.
"It's been a couple of years since we've done this," Stevens said. He said Union Catering used to hold bridal fairs to attract business, but this is the first time UPB has organized its own.
"Vendors are really excited to tap into this, to get to a college campus," Stevens said.
Bob Battles, owner of The Lamp Post Hall in Oklahoma City, said 80 to 90 percent of his bookings come from college-age students.
"This is a chance to have exposure in Norman where we normally don't advertise," Battles said.
Karen Mann, vice president of Tom's Formal Wear in Oklahoma City, said college students make up half the store's business market.
"They are a very captive audience," Mann said. "We get to visit with brides in the early stages of decision making. It's a direct link to our market."
Besides making profit, vendors said bridal fairs help business in many other ways. Ruth Rickey, owner of Ruth's Sweete Justice, said publicity is a key factor in attending bridal fairs.
"It's exposure to people in the market for services," Rickey said. "It promotes name recognition and shows other vendors what you can do."
The event starts at noon in the Oklahoma Memorial Union ballroom, with fashion shows at 1 and 3 p.m.
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