Canada’s Bridal Show

How Canada’s Bridal Show Unveiled a Show-Stopping Marketing Strategy with Grapevine Media

Canada’s Bridal Show owners Robert & Lorie knew they wanted to take their marketing strategy to the next level in anticipation of their 40th-anniversary show. Although they had experience marketing their bridal shows for many years, they wanted to create an elevated experience heading into this big milestone.

We collaborated closely with their team to set up brand-new advertising campaigns on Google & Facebook, redesign their website from the ground up and even capture all of the magical moments that happened at their twice-annual wedding exhibitions. 

As a result, Grapevine Media helped Canada’s Bridal Show to cut its advertising costs in half while tripling the amount of website traffic from paid ad campaigns. As thousands of new visitors poured over the stunning new website, Grapevine Media continued to provide optimizations to improve customer experience and simplify the customer journey.

Website Design & Development

Having been in business since 1985, Canada’s Bridal Show has seen huge changes to the World Wide Web. From the early years of Web 1.0 where websites contained mostly text links with a few low-resolution images, to the evolution of Web 2.0 with interactive Flash-based websites and finally, to the Web 3.0 we know and love today, CBS has had MANY iterations of their website.

With their 40th Anniversary fast approaching, they knew they wanted a modern style of design full of beautiful images and videos from their bridal shows. But they also needed their website to be compatible with the many tools they use for their marketing efforts, from Google Ads to Mailchimp and more, they needed a scalable solution packed with marketing prowess.

Website Redesign

Working with their existing brand colours and fonts, we got to work redesigning their website from the ground up. Their current website was built on an older WordPress theme that had extremely limited design options. We knew that in our case, we would need to set them up with a website that was flexible enough to evolve as design trends change, but solid enough on it’s foundation that it would remain stable and powerful for years to come. For this, we chose WordPress with the Divi theme, which is one of our favourites to build on.

Using photos and videos that our media team had captured from their bridal shows, we designed full-width immersive sections that showcased all of the most important details about upcoming shows.

Page Speed Optimization

Modern websites are often full of high-quality images, video and other rich content which can often lead to slow loading times and poor user experiences. It’s not enough for a website to be beautiful, it also needs to load extremely fast and be easy to use. In order to achieve this, we run all of our websites through a huge list of optimizations.

With the new website we built for Canada’s Bridal Show, we converted all of their images to Web-P format and served them from a high-speed content delivery network (CloudFlare CDN) to ensure they load very quickly. For larger files like video’s and GIF’s, we hosted them on 3rd party platforms to prevent the site server from being overwhelmed by long requests. Additionally, we deferred the loading of render-blocking resources to ensure above-the-fold content which visitors see first would be loaded before anything else.

Wedding Business Directory

Developing a business directory component to a website is an advanced marketing strategy that creates some exceptional opportunities for business growth. Not only would this directory create tons of business opportunities for the hundreds of wedding vendors who attend the bridal show, but it will also create new revenue opportunities for the owners to sell advertising space on. For example, WeddingWire, which is an exceptionally well established wedding directory boasts over $150,000,000 per year in revenue.

Ad Campaign Management.

Our approach to Canada’s Bridal Show’s paid advertising focused on optimizing ad performance across both search and social platforms. We aimed to leverage each platform’s strengths to connect with their target audiences more effectively while staying budget-conscious. By refining our strategies for Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads, we prioritized reaching engaged couples and wedding vendors in ways that previous campaigns hadn’t fully explored.

This tailored approach allowed us to maximize visibility and lead generation, making every advertising dollar work harder and more efficiently.

Google Ads PPC Campaign

What we love the most about Google ads is that you can serve ads to people who are searching for what you offer at the exact moment they are searching for it. No other Ad platform offers this level of customer-on-a-platter service. The best part? If they don’t click on your Ad, you don’t have to pay!

Although Canada’s Bridal Show had a long history of running Google ads, we wanted to take a slightly different approach to the previous agencies they had worked with. Our focus was on finding lower-cost traffic options which could allow their budget to work more efficiently and capture more leads overall.

Below is a snapshot of how much of a difference we were able to make compared to their previous advertising agency.

Facebook and Instagram Ads

We partnered with Canada’s Bridal Show to create a dynamic Facebook ad strategy that targeted two key audiences: engaged couples eager to plan their wedding and wedding businesses looking to showcase their services. For couples, we developed ads that highlighted the opportunity to meet a wide variety of wedding vendors at the show. We tested different images, headlines, and offers to ensure we were delivering the most compelling messages, and ended up with some very promising ad designs.

Simultaneously, we created a separate set of ads designed specifically for wedding businesses interested in becoming exhibitors at the show. These ads emphasized the benefits of increased visibility and lead generation opportunities that come from participating in Canada’s Bridal Show. Here’s a closer look at the results that we achieved for them compared to their previous ad agency.

Ad Campaign Results

We were able to help Canada’s Bridal Show to triple their paid traffic while cutting the cost by 58%. Although cheaper traffic is not always better (sometimes a higher cost-per-click (CPC) means higher quality traffic), in this case the cheaper traffic at a much higher volume made a world of difference for their advertising campaigns. 

Photography & Videography

Knowing that we would be building a new website for CBS, we decided it would be a great idea to include media coverage of their September bridal show. Our in-house team of photographers and videographers were the perfect fit to be the official media team for CBS.

Videographer Kamal (weddings by Kamal) and Photographer Max Koopman (Max Koopman Media) attended the show on behalf of CBS & Grapevine Media and captured stunning content of the bridal show exhibitors interacting with all of the customers who approached their booths. The show was exceptionally busy as thousands of attendees paroused around the exhibitor booths.

Roaming Event Photography

Our in-house photo team was on the ground at Canada’s Bridal Show, capturing the essence of the event through roaming photography. We focused on the high-energy bridal fashion shows, taking dynamic shots of models, dresses, and the audience’s reactions. These shows are a major highlight of the event, drawing in large crowds, and our photography showcased their grandeur, excitement, and intricate details.

Beyond the runway, our team roved throughout the Metro Toronto Convention Center, taking detailed shots of exhibitor booths and their stunning setups. We aimed to capture both the visual appeal of each booth and candid moments of exhibitors interacting with attendees, creating an authentic portrayal of the event’s lively atmosphere. These images were used not only for promotional content but also as a resource for exhibitors to showcase their participation and brand presence.

Event Videography

Our videography team brought Canada’s Bridal Show to life by capturing high-quality footage of the event’s most significant moments. From sweeping shots of the runway fashion shows to close-ups of the intricate designs featured, we made sure to highlight the elegance and style that defined the show. These visuals emphasized the impact of the event, offering a cinematic view that resonated with viewers.

In addition to the fashion show footage, we also focused on the exhibitors, capturing both their booths and interviews with some of the top vendors. These interviews provided insight into the experiences of the exhibitors and gave a personal touch to the event’s coverage. The end result was a series of videos that not only highlighted the beauty of the exhibits but also added a narrative that showcased the value of participating in the show.

Promo Video Production

One of our key deliverables was a promo video that encapsulated the best moments of Canada’s Bridal Show. We combined footage from the event, including the most striking scenes from the fashion shows, engaging booth displays, and dynamic attendee interactions, to create a comprehensive visual story. The goal was to create a highlight reel that would captivate future attendees and exhibitors alike.

We ensured that the promo video was versatile, producing multiple versions to suit different platforms. We created a horizontal format for the website and a vertical format optimized for social media sharing. This approach maximized the video’s reach, making it a valuable tool not just for website engagement but also for enhancing ad campaigns, driving both traffic and interest in the bridal show.