Wake up and smell the chocolate and roses. Summer weddings are just around the corner.
Good friends Emi McAfee, 20, and Joey Rovinsky, 21, both of Marietta, have no pending wedding plans, but they both enjoyed a "taste" of planning excitement at Bridal Extravaganza 2009 Sunday at Dyson Baudo Recreation Center at Marietta College.
"I loved sampling from the Village Cakery," said McAfee, who is maid of honor for her sister, Beth's, wedding in September.
"I thought that J.D. Williamson's caricatures were great and the D.J. we talked to was awesome," Rovinsky said.
Even if you are not getting married this year, or in the near future, the 10th annual Bridal Extravaganza offered nearly 200 brides and an estimated 600 people Sunday a chance to dream.
"I liked all the different things, the variety of vendors and all the food was great," said Lacey Best, 21, of Churchtown. "We also liked seeing all the table settings and decorations."
Everyone seemed to like the venue - larger than in past years and all in a big hall.
"The setting was very nice, very calm and pretty," said Julia McAfee of Marietta, mother of bride, Beth McAfee.
Lacey Best will be a bridesmaid at her sister, Kylee Best's, wedding at St. John's Catholic Church, Churchtown, Sept. 19.
"I think that Lacey liked looking at all the things she might like for herself one day, down the road," Judy Best, their mother, said. "The show gave her a chance to start early."
Close to 50 vendors of wedding specialties from gowns and tuxedos to chocolate fountains, honeymoon excursions, flowers, jewelry, photography and entertainment were there to show and tell.
In its second year at Dyson Baudo, Bridal Extravaganza always has something special to offer, said Marcia Stewart, wedding and event coordinator.
"It's been a very good year and given the economy, I was very pleased with the number of people here," Stewart said after the show. "It was a good year."
Jessica Lyons of Marietta returned home with the grand prize, $500 "extravaganza bucks" from the door prize drawing. Her wedding is planned for 2010.
Chocolate fountain vendor Sally Oliver couldn't be at Sunday's show because she's now at culinary school in Vermont, but her parents, Pamela and David Oliver, stood in. She will be home for summer weddings.
"Sally started the business when she was 16," her mother, Pamela, said proudly. "She saw a chocolate fountain at a wedding we went to in Oxford (Ohio) and wanted one for her 16th birthday. There were none around here."
Sally Oliver researched the issue, wrote a business plan, borrowed the money, and jumped into the chocolate fountain business. She hasn't looked back, her mother said.
The warm, flowing fountain, which rents for about $300 with its full-service caterer, was a sweet and enticing treat Sunday.
Kayla Hood, 21, of Williamstown, and her soon-to-be matron of honor and sister-in-law, Erin Hall, 22, of Parkersburg sampled the sweets.
"It's always helpful to see all the ideas here. The chocolate is good and we found the flower arrangement ideas helpful," Hood said.
At the bridal show, it's all about ideas.
"It definitely helped me to talk to vendors and see some things, like 'Wings of Love,'" Shelley Sparks, 24, of Marietta said. "I've always thought that letting droves fly free at a wedding was very nice."
Sparks plans a summer wedding.
