Archive: Around Town

The 2014 Fall Bridal Show attracted 28 local and not-so-local vendors to The Shops at Ithaca Mall in the Village of Lansing Saturday, to help prospective brides and grooms plan their weddings.  Visitors visited al manner of vendors in a rare opportunity to check out businesses that could provide every aspect of a wedding in one place.  Mall Marketing Director Rafael Larramendi says the mall has hosted bridal shows for at least a decade, but this was his first since he came to work here.

"I enjoyed meeting some of the vendors who have bene coming here year after year," he says.  "I like knowing that we can be a venue for connecting people in the community with experts in their respective industries to help people with that special day they are planning or are going to plan, and knowing they are going to get some answers here."

While you expect to see photographers, floral designers, bakers, transportation and bridal gowns and men’s formalwear, there hasn't been a lot of presence by bands in the past.  This year local musicians Bob Keefe and Jim Lawrence had a table where folks could get brochures and demo CDs of their Backtalk Band.  Saturday actually wasn't their only time at the Bridal Show, but they don't come every year.

"We've done it in the past," Keefe says.  "We actually played live, but since the space is a little smaller this year we just brought a guitar and amp to show that we do have live music."

It is worth the cost of the table, because between 40% and 50% of the band's work comes from wedding gigs.

Becky Eastman has manned the Ithaca Mall table for three years.  She was handing out cards to visitors that could be validated at each exhibitor table.  Full cards were put into a drawing for a variety of prizes.  She also had gift bags to hand out to brides.  Eastman says the really enjoys talking to the people who come out for the Bridal Show. 

Another Lansing business just opened its doors in July, but was ready to go Saturday with a plethora of honeymoon vacations, and even some wedding cruises.

"Princess Cruise Line is the only one in the industry that offers a wedding at sea," says owner Susie Carpenter.  "You can have the captain marry you, as opposed to having to be in port like the other cruise lines do.  I haven't had one yet -- I'm excited to book one!"

Carpenter has 18 years of experience in travel agency work.  She said she was doing well at the Bridal Show, with brides and grooms taking cards and brochures and stopping to chat.  That was the fun part: she says she loves getting to talk to people about going on vacation.

While there is no Men's Wearhouse store in Ithaca, the city is surrounded by them in Vestal, Horseheads and Syracuse.

"Our goal is to make sure we have a diverse group of vendors," Larramendi says.  "If we have to reach outside of the Ithaca community a little bit, then we do that."

Katie Northrop came from the Vestal Men's Warehouse to offer guaranteed pricing for weddings, plus a $40 discount on each rental.

"It helps," Northrop says.  "A wedding is a very planned function, and it can also be a very expensive function so we want to help everybody save a little money.  We came here in the Spring and talked to brides and grooms about their tuxedo rental needs.  That was successful so we decided to come up again."

Regional manager Robert Briggs came from Victor, NY to model a tuxedo.  What's the most popular tux these days?  While black is always popular, gray may be the new black.

"I've see a real swing into gray," Northrop says.  "Anything from our Black by Vera Wang to charcoal grey.  We also have our gray Calvin Klein.  Our Calvin Klein black tuxedos have also been popular.  It all depends on the wedding."

While you might think the wedding season is winding down for the year, Keefe says the fall show was perfect timing to start booking for next year's season.

"It's the beginning of the wedding season" he says.  "Usually around September they start booking for next May, June, July, August, September...  It usually take a year in advance to get something going."

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