January 17, 2001
Here comes the bridal show
Hundreds attend Northern Michigan Bridal Show at GT Resort
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
At this show, you could have your cake and eat it too.
Attendees at the Northern Michigan Bridal Show could sample a variety of wedding cakes - from chocolate to raspberry to vanilla - plus hors d'oeuvres and main dishes, all courtesy of caterers eager to impress.
As they munched and meandered among the vendor booths, future brides, grooms, friends and family members could browse, get ideas or close a deal.
"I have everything pretty much planned but I am looking for a florist and invitations today," said June bride-to-be Stacey Balchuas of Traverse City, who came to the show with her mother, Kathy.
Balchuas was one of more than 500 attendees who flocked to Grand Traverse Resort and Spa for the show, which featured vendors offering everything from food, decorations, flowers, photos and music. Vendors of dresses, tuxes, limousines and reception sites were also on hand to make the event a one-stop shopping extravaganza.
This was exactly the ticket for Christine Schopieray of Ann Arbor, who came up for the weekend to finalize some of her wedding plans. The Traverse City native is getting married in her hometown on September 15 and planning a wedding long distance adds to the logistical challenges.
As she wandered through the show with her mother, she had three goals for the day: find a photographer, cake and flowers. Intense discussions about price, style, theme and taste ensued and the afternoon netted her success.
"Doing it all long distance, this show is nice because you can see the distinct styles off all the people," said Schopieray, who wants her wedding to reflect her northern Michigan upbringing.
Come spring, the Grand Traverse region transforms into a wedding destination as brides like Schopieray return to spend their special day. Despite the attraction of a small-town setting, vendors must appeal to the big city tastes of these brides and grooms, noted photographer Gregory Ceo of Interlochen.
Ceo specializes in a newer style of wedding photography called photo journalistic wedding photography, a style that captures events instead of orchestrating or posing them. He has seen this market grow in big cities and now demand is increasing in northwest Michigan, fueled by the area's appeal as a wedding destination.
"There's a huge amount of people who have had a summer cottage in the family for years and they want to come up here and get married," Ceo said. "This style of photography appeals to less traditional people, who like candids or black and whites, and is very popular in big cities."
This bridal show, however, was not just for brides. Even guys got into the action as future grooms steered through the booths with their fianc‚es, helping to make decisions. Traditionally the domain of brides and their mothers, wedding plans are now open to male participation -often given willingly.
"It is a lot of fun here, with all these different vendors in one place," said Matt Muladore of Bellaire.
A Bellaire police officer, Muladore and his fianc‚e, Sara Essenberg, a student teacher, were getting a jump on plans with their wedding six months away. Between now and July 7, they will be making all the plans together and enjoyed sharing the Bridal Show with each other.
"We saw a lot of good ideas about flowers and cake, it is nice to have samples," noted Muladore.
At these shows, vendors see numerous couples like Muladore and Essenberg, who pretty much know what they are doing. They also see others who are younger or just engaged who come to the show to see what can be done at a wedding.
Jennifer Brunn and Matt Meehan of Cadillac were in that category last year, just coming to browse and see what was out there. This year, with an August 3 wedding date looming, they came to the Bridal Show to make decisions.
"Now we know what we are looking for and are trying to finalize cards and decorations," Brunn said. "I am glad we came last year."