After getting engaged, we were slacking off a little bit on the wedding front until it came down to the final 6 months.

The good news is that our vendors were mostly picked out. BUT we still had one left to decide on!

Our cake vendor.

Enter Devoted Columbus! We went to one of their bridal resale markets and received discounted tickets (my ticket was free and Nick’s was $5) for the “Spring Wedding Experience” that was held on March 31st, 2019.

We decided we would give it a go and see what it was all about and hopefully get to taste test some wedding cakes!

The Vibe

The wedding show was held at the Crowne Plaza in Worthington. We entered and got checked in. I was told to “look for my name” on the vendor booths, as I could potentially win a prize! More on that later…

We received two free drinks with our registration, so I was already confident that this show was not going to be a total bust, at the very least!

I also received a bridal swag bag, filled with tons of offers for local vendors, wedding magazines, and freebies. The freebies included items such as coasters, Moroccan Oil, and sweet treats (like Cheryl’s cookies!) Woot!

We did an initial lap and saw every vendor you could imagine: Photographers, Bakers, Floral Preservation Specialists, Hair Stylists, and some unique vendors..

One of the most entertaining vendors we met was Erik Tait. He is a comedian AND magician! He did some neat slight of hand magic and explained that he was on an August 2018 episode of Penn & Teller, which you can view here. Nick and I both really enjoyed his sense of humor. He explained he helps keep guests entertained during cocktail hour.

We spent quite a bit of time checking out all of the different vendor booths to see what was out there.

Now, I mentioned that one of the main reason’s we went to the wedding show was to sample cakes so we can hopefully get closer to a decision in the cake realm! These were our top three choices for cake vendors at the end of the show.

A Taste of Cake

This was the first cake vendor we came across and Nick and I both LOVED the cake. We talked a little bit about what we were looking for and entered our contact information down so that we can get more information on pricing and possibly another tasting.

The booth owner for A Taste of Cake was so sweet and she advised her goal is to make delicious things that aren’t too pricey, to help the bride. As a bride on a budget, I definitely liked her style!

Giant Eagle Market District

Okay, first off…I love me some Giant Eagle. Being a yinzer, Pittsburgh is close to my heart. 

Giant Eagle is a Pittsburgh based grocery store that, in my humble opinion, pioneered the whole grocery-shopping-in-your-pj’s idea. Yep, when I was a student at Pitt and lived off campus close to the Robinson Giant Eagle…you best believe I was using the Curbside Express program to pick up my groceries. This was back in 2011! Now the curbside pickup is everywhere, and it has become especially popular this past year due to Covid.

I am still a loyal Giant Eagle shopper to this day, even as an Ohioan.  However I’m not going to lie – Kroger is pretty amazing, too, so we shop at both stores.

When Nick and I saw the Giant Eagle Market District booth and cake samples, we were intrigued. We tasted the cake and it was delicious.

They just so happen to have a group tasting later this month…so of course we signed up. More cake!! Whoo!

Kelly’s Cakery

So this one was all Nick. I was already stuffed at this point when we stopped at the booth for Kelly’s Cakery.

Note: If you are going to a wedding show, don’t eat a full meal beforehand. (Mistake made.)

Nick was definitely up to the challenge of tasting some delightful little cupcakes and had one Cookie Dough cupcake. He couldn’t stop at just one…so for quality control, you know, also had to try a Cookies & Cream cupcake. 

Nick thought these cupcakes were absolutely delicious! I thought the presentation was pretty adorable, as well. We put our contact information in the book that they had sitting out, advising we would like to get some more details on pricing and options.

Inspiration

As we were walking around and sampling the above cake vendors, I snapped some photos of some “inspo”…okay, that’s a weird word. Why is that a trendy word? I don’t know.

Anyway. We want to make a wedding arch to add a little something-something to our ceremony, as it will be held outdoors.

A few of the arches we saw at the wedding show looked really neat. I now have a much better idea of what they look like in person versus the hundreds of arches I have seen on Pinterest.

There was also a very pretty set up that one of the wedding planners put together. It was laid out in an elegant manner and I walked past it quite a few times just to get a better glimpse.

Prizes!

Okay, who doesn’t love prizes! At the end of the wedding show, Columbus Bridge & Groom had engaged couples perform certain wedding experiences, such as cake cutting, the first dance, and a bouquet toss.

Each couple won a prize and then the rest of the drawings were held. These ranged from ice sculptures to dance lessons. The grand prize was a whopping $1,000! 

While I didn’t end up winning any of the “big” prizes, I didn’t walk away empty handed!

On the way to the pavilion for the aforementioned giveaways, we walked by A Taste of Cake again. Nick stopped me and said, “Is that your name on their booth?” Neither of us had really paid attention when we first were meandering around since we really were just trying to taste cakes and take everything in.

Sure enough, my name was listed as their prize winner!!

I ended up getting a gift basket with some wine, wine glasses, a cocktail book, and a photo frame!

The Verdict

All in all, we had a great time and are so happy we went to the wedding show. We picked Giant Eagle and the cake turned out beautifully!!

While I was originally slightly skeptical that I would actually get anything out of the wedding show, I was very pleasantly surprised. 

If you are getting married soon and you haven’t gone to a wedding show yet, I highly recommend it. Have a list of the vendors you are looking for and a list of questions that you want to ask the vendor.

At the very least, you will get to sample some delicious treats. 😉

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