WINONA LAKE – Winona Heritage Room, 901 Park. Ave., Winona Lake, will hold its first Bridal and Business Expo noon to 4 p.m. April 15.
Jennifer Silveus, general manager of the Winona Heritage Room, said the expo is geared toward anyone who is planning an event, such as fundraisers, corporate events and weddings.
There will be 30 vendors at the expo, such as florists, bakeries, photographers, caterers and photo booths. A lot of those event organizers are looking for fun ideas to help draw people to them, Silveus said, so her inspiration was to get the people planning the events inspired to make them more fun.
Silveus said there are tons of bridal expos, but none in the Warsaw/Winona Lake area, so the Heritage Room thought it was a good idea to bring one to the area since she thinks the closest expo is in Fort Wayne.
“So we just want to support local vendors in the area who are involved in weddings and putting on any kind of event really,” Silveus said.
She said the area needs more events that support local businesses and the Winona Heritage Room hopes to do that.
Some of the vendors will do some promotions or discounts at the expo. Silveus said she can’t guarantee that with every vendor. However, she said during the expo, if someone books the Heritage Room as a venue, they will get 10% off the cost, which would require a deposit.
She hopes people who attend the expo are inspired and can think of some fun, new things to make their event more engaging. For brides specifically, she hopes they can find any vendors they may still be looking for and be a little less stressed in the planning phase. She said the expo has so many types of vendors, if someone didn’t have anything planned for their wedding, they could go to the expo and pretty much find everything there.
She hopes vendors who participate in the expo are able to make connections with other vendors clients and build their clientele.
Silveus hopes to make the expo an annual event.
Presale tickets are $5 online at https://winonaheritageroom.square.site/. Tickets at the door are $10.
There will be door prizes, such as spa giveaways and food. People will receive a raffle ticket for door prizes with the purchase of a ticket.
