What I Learned at the Unbridal Show (As Both a Bride and a Brand-New Vendor)

Last Saturday, I walked into Dry Clean Only for 5280 Event Society's Unbridal Show with two very different sets of eyes.

One pair belonged to a 2026 bride still searching for those perfect finishing touches for her reception. The other pair belonged to a brand-new business owner, clutching her first batch of business cards and wondering if she belonged in the same room as these established vendors.

Turns out, both versions of me had a really good time.

This Wasn't Your Typical Bridal Expo

If you've ever been to a traditional bridal show, you know the drill: rows of booths, vendor after vendor pitching their services, goodie bags stuffed with flyers you'll never look at again. The Unbridal Show was structured completely differently. Instead of walking past booths being sold to, attendees got to experience vendors in action, in the vein of attending a wedding itself.

Caterers weren't handing out brochures; they were serving actual bites. (Wildfire's pork belly skewers? I'm still thinking about them days later.) A photo booth (Sky Blue) printed out magnets on the spot. Kate, the owner of Lucky Charm Bridal, had live models walking around in gorgeous gowns instead of just hanging dresses on a rack. A photographer, a content creator, and a videographer roamed the space doing their thing, capturing moments rather than just explaining what they could capture.

There was a table by the check-in desk that had a pile of every exhibitor’s business cards, which was super useful for grabbing everyone’s info at once. Sure, there were “booths,” but stopping at those wasn’t the main attraction. It felt like it was more about vibes.

The Unbridal Show was immersive in a way that made so much sense. Like, of course couples would want to see what working with a vendor actually feels like before they commit, right?

Wearing Two Hats at Once

I brought one of my bridesmaids, and we met up with some friends who are just beginning their own bridal eras. It was genuinely fun to be there as a bride, pointing at dresses and sampling food and imagining how all these details might come together for my own June wedding.

But I also couldn't turn off the other part of my brain. The part that kept thinking: What would it be like to exhibit here? To have a booth with my magazines and newspapers spread out, talking to couples about wedding journalism?

So I did what any anxious introvert trying to launch a business does: I talked to people anyway.

(With the help of my gracious bridesmaid, of course.) We talked with several couples over pizza about The Love Dispatch. We yapped with other vendors. I handed out a couple business cards and brochures. (Someday, I will get over feeling like a nuisance when I do so…)

I chatted with Jessica from Yeti or Knot Events about her success in working bridal shows, and some useful tips she had for me just starting out. I geeked out with Piper Designs over stationery and those luxury add-on’s that make weddings so memorable. I had a lovely conversation with Theresa Claire Designs, a live wedding painter, about the dream of turning a side hustle into a main hustle, and how shows like this one help put creative vendors in front of the couples who will actually appreciate what we do.

And I got to say hi to A Simple Kendyl Productions, the videographer who's actually filming my own wedding. When I told him about The Love Dispatch, he said something that's been echoing in my head ever since: he thinks wedding journalism is going to take off—in Denver especially, because we're a city full of hopeless romantics.

Gawsh, I hope he's right!

The Honest Part

Here's the thing about me: I'm a huge introvert. It takes me roughly two business days to recover from any real socializing. I have to hype myself up endlessly to take sales calls and consultations, which I then anxiously stammer and splurt my way through. I'm told I'm personable and relatable once I get going, so I have that in my favor. But the energy it takes to get there? Significant.

The Unbridal Show sapped me for a couple of days. I came home and immediately needed to be horizontal and silent.

But now that I've had time to sit with the experience, I realize how much I genuinely enjoyed it. There's something energizing about being in a room full of people who love weddings, who care about making them beautiful and meaningful. I found myself getting excited talking about wedding journalism, about why capturing a couple's story in words matters, about the gap I'm trying to fill between photography and videography with something more intimate, more permanent.

The Surprising Thing I'm Learning

I'm one month into launching The Love Dispatch, and I've discovered something that both relieves and fascinates me.

Right now, half the work is education. When I say "wedding journalism," most people tilt their heads a little. They don't immediately know what I mean. I have to explain it: the interviews, the on-site reporting, the custom magazine or newspaper that captures not just images, but stories, quotes, the things people said when the couple wasn't in the room.

But here's what surprises me: once people understand what it is, they don't need convincing about why it matters. The value clicks immediately. Everyone seems to understand, almost instinctively, that having your love story captured in words is something worth holding onto.

That's been one of the most encouraging discoveries of this whole process. I don't have to sell people on the why. I just have to help them see the what.

Looking Ahead

I don't know exactly what the next bridal show will look like, or when I'll feel ready to exhibit instead of just attend. But walking through the Unbridal Show, watching couples light up as they tasted the food and tried custom fragrances and posed for the photo booth, I could picture it.

I could picture a table with sample magazines spread out, a bride picking one up and flipping through the pages, reading quotes from guests and family members, seeing what it looks like when a wedding is captured in words. I could picture myself explaining what wedding journalism is, and then watching that same moment I've been watching all month: the head tilt, the understanding, the slow nod.

Oh. So that's what you do.

Wow… That's actually beautiful.

As vendors, we're all just out here trying to help couples have the best day of their lives. I'm grateful to be part of a community of Colorado wedding vendors who take that seriously, who bring creativity and heart to their work, who show up at events like this one to do more than sell: to connect genuinely with couples.

And I'm grateful that Denver, apparently, is full of hopeless romantics like myself.