Soon-to-be brides arrived Saturday, Feb. 7 to explore information at Redland Acres’ inaugural Wedding Expo in hopes to find the “right” vendors for their special day.
Attendees walked into a beautifully decorated venue from 1-4 p.m. to view the displays of 36 participating wedding vendors. There were booths all throughout the venue displaying a wide variety of information for attendees to receive as well as samples of some services, ranging from food to décor, photography, music, artistic creations, makeup, floral arrangements, gifts, beverages, beauticians, an emcee, wedding apparel, a travel agent, and more.
Aspen Creative Co. came from Sanford, offering a photo booth rental service, along with an antique-like phone which was set up to leave special messages for the main person/persons of an event. After each event, the customer will receive an edited copy of the voice messages that were left on the phone from attendees. Per the owners, these are two of the customers’ favorites. Attendees seemed to truly enjoy trying out the photo booth — in still shots as well as short video clips.
LadyBee Wedding Co. from Charlotte offers full event planning as well as wedding day coordination and florals. Attendees received live flowers at that booth.
The House of Odell and Luella offered samples of some of their delicious finger foods as well as drinks.
“We got our name from both mine and my husband’s grandmothers,” said owner Dawn Suggs. “We offer full catering for all events, and we are fully licensed with a mobile bar.” They also have a food trailer.
The event happened to be on the business’ fifth anniversary.
“We are truly honored to be part of Amy and Chris’ (Yaklin) first-year expo. We are a family-oriented business who strive to please our customers.”
The House of Odell and Luella won two years consecutively in the N.C. Food Truck Championship as well as people’s choice three times; and will be catering Redland Acres’ Valentine’s event on Saturday, Feb. 14.
As attendees entered the venue, they were greeted with the soothing sound of music coming from a beautifully played violinist, Sabrina Bradley of Sabrina Violin. She traveled from Charlotte to participate in the event. Bradley offers her services for special events which include solo, duo, trio, a string quartet, and a six-piece party band.
Locally owned Honeybee Bridal & Boutique had a display of various formal wear items.
Owner Melissa Billingsley had several young ladies modeling some of the beautiful gowns on stage; afterwards, they walked around the venue for attendees to get a closer look at some of the items she has available for purchase.
“We have over 300 wedding dresses in stock, sizes ranging from 0-32. We have a wide selection of women’s shoes available for purchase. We also have tuxedos, and men’s dress shoes available to purchase or rent.”
Another unique service was Jobana Impressions out of Winston-Salem. Jobana Semones offers live wedding paintings and illustrations for guests. Each one is custom-made per request.
“My art is dedicated to capturing more than a moment,” Semones said, “it captures emotions and meaningful details.”
Redland Acres Event Coordinator Sarah Maske noted that the event was originally scheduled for two weeks prior, but had to be rescheduled because of the weather.
Maske manages communication with all potential clients as well as the actual bookings. She is also responsible for the venue’s social media pages.
“The reason we decided to have the wedding expo is that when I got married last year, and we started looking for vendors for my own wedding, it was a struggle finding people that were local,” Maske said. “There was no show here in Richmond County or close by. The Cole Auditorium hosted a wedding expo at one time, but they do not have one anymore.”
Maske said she and her mother had to drive to Charlotte to attend an expo, adding that she would have preferred to use local vendors.
“I thought, if I’m having trouble finding people, others are certainly having trouble as well,” Maske said. “It has been a blessing to see the turnout that we have with all the vendors that participated, and all the people that came out to support us. We are thankful for the opportunities to network and to try to be a blessing to our community. We hope to make it an annual event.”
For more information on Redland Acres, view its Facebook page, Redland Acres Venue, email redlandacresvenue@yahoo.com, or call 910-387-2360.
