Brides on a budget and big spenders alike descended on Lansdowne Park this past weekend for the Ottawa Wedding Show.
Show manager Yolande Adams, who has put on the show every spring and fall since 2004, estimated weekend attendance at 4,000 to 5,000, or about 1,800 registered brides and their assorted fiancés, girlfriends, parents, siblings and children. Despite slower economic times, she said, space for about 130 exhibitors sold out quickly.
“The wedding industry is recession-proof,” Adams said.
Recession-proof or not, there was plenty to appeal to the frugal bride, starting with free admission and not limited to the show’s gown sale, featuring discounts of up to 75 per cent on overstock and end-of-line gowns.
Wedding planner Rose Tenuta of Bridal Solutions Inc. also offered money-saving tips in her twice-daily seminars all weekend. Among her suggestions were holding the wedding in the off-season, booking venues on Friday or Sunday instead of Saturday, and ordering local, in-season flowers.
