Tammy Hale (left) of Cottonwood roasts a marshmallow as Chico Catering's Alicia Wahl prepares chocolates for the s'mores as hundreds search through the wedding vendors during a Wedding Expo at Neighborhood Church in Chico Saturday.(Jason Halley/Staff Photo)<p class='dotPhoto'>All Chico E-R photos are available <a href='http://chicoer.mycapture.com/'>here</a>.</p>
CHICO ? Brides gasped as they took in elaborate cakes, rustic decorations, photography and music during the start of Chico Wedding Weekend, an event that provides "nearlyweds" with connections to 90 different Northern California wedding vendors. "Brides can't believe that there's all these things to see and that they get to do it, they get to see it and they get to taste it," said Carol Thomson, owner of North Valley Promotions, LLC.
The expo, which formally began in 2010, was created to ease and inspire newly engaged brides through the planning process of their weddings as well as promote the over 500 localized wedding businesses represented through North Valley Promotions, Thomson said.
"They have a vision," she said.
"Brides are much more mature and sophisticated than they used to be, so they have a pretty good idea of what they want...what they are able to find here is someone who can help them," Thomson said.
As brides walked down each aisle in the expo they were able to collect information for every step of wedding planning, from caterers to party rentals.
Many of the booths were dominated by local wedding DJ's?like Elite Productions and The Wedding DJ? who showcased extensive lighting plans as well as price sheets.
Photography was also spotlighted in the event through a special contest, created by The Idea Emporium, involving Burns Photography Studio, Beautiful Life Photography, Poise Photography, Billings Photography and Reflective
Images.The photography companies came together in early November to capture a stylized photography inspiration at Monk's Wine Lounge and Bistro.
The inspiration featured a simulated wedding where each company captured the same exact event, showcasing the vast differences in each photographers style in a side by side comparison.
Another contest conceived by The Idea Emporium featured Blue Sugar Cupcakes, Lovely Layers Cakery, Top Tier Cake Design and Upper Crust Bakery.
Each bakery chose a piece of art work?ranging from Pollock to Picasso?and interpreted the piece in a cake presentation.
Chico Strings played in the main room of the event and took requests from passing attendees.
One bride, accompanied by several female family members, stopped and requested "Here comes the Bride" and as the song began the family members wiped small tears from their eyes.
Other live performances included a hammered dulcimer played by musician Garrett Viggers, singer Chaya Pitcher and harpist Candace LiVolsi.
As brides exited the event they were greeted with free hot chocolate courtesy of multiple business owner Kyle Brock and his team. Brock owns a DJ/ MC company (Kyle Brock Productions), Karaoke Taxi Cab (a bachelorette favorite) and Bailey booths, a photobooth rental that features both picture taking abilities and video capturing, where guests can leave messages to the bride and groom, he said.
"It's inspiration, it's creative ideas...you're going to find everything you need here and the other thing you're going to discover is all the things you didn't know you needed," said Thomson.
The expo will continue Sunday in the form of a self-guided venue tour of 22 wedding venues and studios in Chico and Paradise. For more information visit weddingsnorthvalley.com.
Staff Writer Christina Rafael can be reached at 896-7761 or crafael@chicoer.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @christinarafae1
Source: http://www.chicoer.com/rss/ci_22365373?source=rss
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