From the big minus sign on my checking account balance to the abundance of photographic evidence that I was wearing a brown tuxedo last weekend (against my will, thank you), it’s clear wedding season is upon us. I’m at the age where my friends are falling like dominoes to the IKEA nesting instinct, and between the tuxedo fittings, rehearsal dinners, bachelor parties, post-bachelor party parties, ceremonies, receptions and next-day recoveries, my entire July was occupied by friends’ weddings.
I’ve taken part in several weddings over the past few years, and as often happens, I couldn’t help but notice all of the promotional products involved. In the last month, I’ve received monogrammed flasks, handkerchiefs and Sopranos-inspired velour track suits. Wedding tables have featured engraved picture frames and M&M’s imprinted with the wedding date, and gift bags with personalized cards from the bridal party were handed out every time I checked into a hotel.
Couples shell out obscene sums of money for weddings, and given the importance people place on having a unique and personalized experience, there’s a lot of opportunity for the creative distributor. Some of the aforementioned products will be your bread-and-butter sales, track suit notwithstanding, but to really stand out you should suggest products the bride and groom would never consider. For example, I have an HD Waiter bottle opener from Openers Plus at home, and when I showed it to one of the freshly minted grooms, an extensive homebrewer, he couldn’t stop talking about how cool it would have been to give one to each guest along with a bottle of the beer he made just for the wedding. On a completely unrelated note, hangover kits from Ready 4 Kits should be mandatory at every wedding, especially those held by brewers with a taste for 9 percent ABV beer.
Keep your eyes open for our August issue, where Mike has an article with more wedding promotional product suggestions. And if any of you are getting married soon, allow me to leave you with this: don’t make your groomsmen wear brown tuxedos. Seriously Sean, brown? Who does that?
