Bridal show draws hundreds

MOSES LAKE - Saturday's sunny weather apparently helped attendance at the 10th annual Greater Moses Lake Bridal Show.

About 300 people visited the event at the Moses Lake Convention Center, said Jaye Newberg of the Columbia Basin Herald, the show's sponsor.

Attendance improved from last year's show when there was a snowstorm, she said.

"They're staying a long time, " she said. "Some are staying for 45 minutes or longer. They're making an afternoon of it."

About 28 vendors, selling services ranging from Tupperware to Mary Kay cosmetics, candy to photography, were on hand to answer questions for future brides.

Wedding dresses were modeled by area teens and women during a style show.

Brenda Chovanak, director of the Snohomish-based Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation, displayed 400 wedding gowns.

The dresses were donated to the foundation. Money paid for the dresses is spent to grant wishes for terminally ill breast cancer patients.

About an hour before the show's end, more than $3,000 in dress sales was raised for the foundation, Chovanak said. At last year's show, people spent about $2,800 on the dresses.

People at the show attended for a variety of reasons, not just to plan their own wedding.

Suzie Martinez plans to open an event decorating business in April. Martinez said she attended the show to gather vendors' business cards for her future customers.

Pat Meise of Smokehouse Grill recently opened the barbecue catering business with sister-in-law Darla Meise.

Pat said she has three weddings penciled into her schedule after talking with people at the show.

"A lot of times, you can do these events and not have any," she said.

Brandi Pruett said she finished most of her planning for her July wedding, but attended the show to get more ideas.

She bought a tiara and registered for gifts at The Pampered Chef booth, she said.

Alissa VonBergen was engaged Wednesday to Pruett's cousin.

As VonBergen was studying a wedding dress she had tried on, she said she hadn't done any planning yet.