Budget top of mind for London Bridal Expo attendees

After the pandemic, there was a rush of people getting married, and a backlog of weddings meant vendors were hard to come by as couples saved up to spend on their big day.

But things are a bit different this year as inflation has impacted pocket books.

Thousands of people flocked to RBC Place this weekend for one of the largest Bridal Expos to plan their wedding.

"It's wonderful because it's an outlet that allows them to visit all of these people all under one roof,” said London Bridal Expo show promoter, Isabel Traher.

Over the two-day event, there were a variety of vendors on hand from florists to photographers, DJs, to venue rentals and a fashion show with live entertainment.

``The average expenditure on a wedding is in the $30,000 mark — so that's what they've spending to date on weddings... you're finding a lot of DIYs,” explained Traher.

DIY or “do it yourself” is a common theme among many of the patrons at the bridal expo, sighting budget as top of mind.

"We're trying to do a lot of DYI and stuff ourselves and look at a lot of small business who are able to offer a little bit better pricing," said bride-to-be Jordan Dalla-Vicenza.

"We're trying to find deals, but I knew when we decided to do the wedding that we do have to splurge a bit, because it's expensive,” added Jaymee Thomas.

Many of the vendors at the bridal expo were offering promotions and bundle discounts to help offset some of the costs associated with planning a wedding.

"We're finding people holding off to understand what’s out there and also figure out budgeting, because that’s a big thing, food cost is up, labour cost everything is up, so they are getting a sticker shock when they go into the wedding world, being like oh wow it's expensive," said Brittnay Stengel from Culinary Catering.

And as cost-effective as it might be to do some of the wedding things yourself, or ask friends and family to do it for you, for free, the professionals warn, "You get what you pay for, and with videography especially, there's things that can go wrong very, very quickly,” said Daniel Matzen from GCP Studios.

A statement echoed by Matthias Chona from Alpha DJ Company. "I know sometimes the easy way is to get the cheaper services, but sometimes you don't get the professionalism that comes with that," he said.

Besides great deals and advice from vendors at the bridal expo, attendees were given a chance to win a number of different prizes while enjoying an afternoon planning their dream wedding.