From the ceremony to the honeymoon, StoneRidge Bridal Showcase one stop shop

May 20, 2017, is the magic number for Kat Chancey. That’s when she’s getting married.

With the date drawing ever closer day by day, there are still aspects that needed to be put together, such as the cake, rehearsal dinner and dress alterations, Chancey said at the StoneRidge Bridal Showcase on Sunday, Oct. 16. Chancey was hoping to get some deals on those things that still needed attention.

“It’s really convenient that everything’s in one location and I like that it has local vendors too. I don’t need to call people in Phoenix I don’t know, I can put a face to a name so I can get that trust,” she said. “Everyone’s been very attentive and very helpful.”

There were vendors to cover everything at the showcase, from the beginning stages of the wedding all the way to the honeymoon, such as Southwest Event Designs. Only in its second year of business the company has done a couple weddings, said designer Rose Shores, adding that she hoped to pick up some for next year.

Southwest Event Designs isn’t exclusive to weddings, but designing a wedding is much more involved than any other event, Shores said. Consultations include sitting down with customers to figure out what they want, what their budget is and how they’d like their wedding to be, she said.

“You’ve got to deal with caterers, you’ve got to deal with people for flowers, you’ve got to deal with your venues, you’ve got to deal with customers’ budget,” Shores said. “If they’re on a really tight budget, then we have to figure out ‘let’s see, what can we do with what your theme is that you want and keep it under your budget.’ We work really, really hard with our clients.”

Paul Hurt of Prescott DJ Service was present at the showcase too. Hurt said he’s been providing music for weddings for 23 years, stating that he moved to Prescott in the early 1980s.

The idea to DJ for weddings came while working at a radio station and girls kept calling in to ask if the station had any DJs who do weddings, he said.

“After about four or five calls, I thought I needed to check this out. I know how to talk, I know music,” Hurt said.

When it comes to popular wedding songs, many people like to have the fun dances like the Cupid Shuffle and Cha Cha Slide along with the popular songs, including La Bamba, Hurt said, commenting that most DJs bring thousands of songs and probably play the same 150.

Also at the showcase was Avenues of the World, a travel agency based in Flagstaff. It’s been around for about 24 years and has done thousands of weddings, said Daniela Harrison, travel consultant. Avenues of the World does a lot of personalized travel and is very customized as it spends a lot of time on consultations to make sure the couple gets the right fit for their needs.

In playing that special role of planning the trip as well as surprises both sides of the couple want to play on each other, it really makes to so that consultants get to know the couple, Harrison said.

“It helps build a bond that will last a long time,” she said, adding that Avenues of the World has a lot of repeat clients who come back every year for anniversary trips.