I won!
If you’ve ever been to a bridal show expo, you’ll know that they always have raffles at the end of the night? And usually they're crappy, like a discount, not an actual thing you get free and clear?
Well I won $200 cash!
A lot of the expos I go to are actually New England Bridal shows. At the end of every one of their bridal shows they pull 5 names for people to win $200. So mom and I were sitting there doing our usual thing as the lame raffles started. I'd say "I didn't enter that, I don't want botox for free, never mind half off and I have to pay the other half," or "I didn't even want to put my name in that photographer's raffle cause his photos are terrible, but when he asked me outright I didn't want to tell him that, so if they call my name pretend it's not me." Haha, I'm not ALL sour grapes, but I don't get my hopes up.
And there was one that was $1000 off a venue (the country
club we were at) so I said to mom that if they called me I'd have to pretend it
wasn't me, because the place would be too big for me to use, so in good
conscience I didn't want to take that $1000 from someone who really wanted to
use the place: that's an AMAZING discount if you're going to book the place,
it's just not for me." So immediately after they pulled that name,
they they announced they were doing the cash prizes next. Mom said, "You wouldn't turn THAT down,
now would you?" And I said no, no I would not. And she teased,
"Even if someone else couldn't get it?" And I said, "I'd
just have to learn to live with the guilt." And the guy announced
"I'm going to butcher this last name..." and called me!
A jolt went through me and I yelled, jumped up and ran up
before they thought I wasn't there and called someone else, haha :D CASH
MONEY. First one up! Concidering
all the little winnings I've accumulated, I figure if we put off this wedding
another couple years I might be able to get the whole thing for free, haha.
The food at the Black Swan Country Club (with their on-site restaurant, Keon's) was good too. It started out slow. There was little veggies in a wonton that was boring. Mom got something that looked like catfood but I missed it (till it came around again later and tasted like catfood. But with mustard). Then we saw a cheese and fruit spread, which was better than nothing but still disappointing. Then we saw a little dessert table which was exciting, but, well, we were hoping for actual dinner stuff, hehe. Well, finally we went in the other room and discovered the REAL food.
I had prime rib (OMG YUM), shrimp, and grilled
veggies. It was all cold unfortunately, but the beef and veg were so
tasty it didn't even matter. And for dessert I got a small canoli,
chocolate covered strawberry, and a little cup of chocolate mousse. And
when I say "cup," I mean "cup-shaped chocolate shell that
contained chocolate mousse." So yummy. Then later they came
around with mango chicken (a little dry but hey, this is all free, so I can
deal) and this awesome little hors d’orves with blue cheese, cranberry, and
walnut on a pastry. I wish there were more of those!! Oh, and a
little crabcake. So yeah, Keons was great. It wasn't THE
tastiest, compared to other bridal shows (Spinellis beats all) but it was a LOT of fun. They had a nice variety of stuff, so I
call that a successful show. I mean, I ate so much that by the time we
found the wedding cake I was too full to have a slice! A crime, I know,
but the canoli took priority.
I never thought I'd actually win one of the grand prizes
cause I'm not lucky that way. But I guess after 2 years and all the shows
I’ve attended I was bound to eventually.
And after the first show where I just didn’t really know the drill or
what to expect at bridal shows, I always stay just in case (cause you have to
be present at the end when they pull the names to win). So brides to be,
keep your eyes peeled for free bridal trade shows in your area because they are
a lot of fun.
