Hundreds of Busy Brides at "Wedding of a Lifetime" Bridal Show

PEORIA - If you're married, you know how stressful planning a wedding can be. That's the reason behind an event in Peoria Sunday. It's trying to ease the burden for women out there and help them avoid turning into a bridezilla.

 These ladies have the ring, now it's time for them to figure out every detail of their big day. Show organizer Oz Bakirdan said, "Everything you need for your wedding is here. From florists, to DJs, to music, I mean everything that you need is here at one event."

He said the expo's goal is to bring every piece of the wedding process to one place. It's a strategy these brides to be said is making their lives a whole lot easier.

Bride Molly Casteel said, "You go out to all these websites and look at things and you get all these ideas but it's overwhelming, so it's good to come and talk to people and see things in a person. It makes it a lot better."

Bride Amber Grant said, "We still need some ideas like cake and tuxes, so I just kind of want to get out there and see what all my options are."

The flowers, the table settings, the dress and the tux, all on display. If the planning gets to be too much, Bakirdan said a chiropractor is on stand by. "Probably the stress of the wedding, I think for sure that's one of the reasons to see the chiropractor."

One popular spot that has everyone licking their lips? You guessed it! The cake shoppe.

Owner Dorthy Pitcher said, "This is a very good day for our business. We have a lot of brides that come in."

She said she is giving away more than 600 pieces of cake, hoping to satisfy and inspire the many brides. She said brides all have their own idea about the cake. "They like their own touch, their own design. Everyone, everyone is different."

Finally - the fashion show.

Brides get to see 100 dresses come down the runway. It's a perfect way to imagine what their walk down the aisle will look like.

Casteel said, "It's kind of a fun girls day to get together and come out and dream about what we're going to do."

Not only is the expo helping women, it's also helping the area economy.

Bakirdan said weddings are big business these days. He said this year's show is the biggest one yet.

He said the bridal business is growing, and with bigger weddings comes a bigger budget.

He said central Illinois brides are spending, on average, $20,000 to $25,000 on their big day.

"From a couple of years ago, yes, you're starting to see wedding parties bigger in size, more people attending. It's definitely good. Our show just keeps getting larger and larger," he said.

If you missed the bridal show, you're still in luck. There's another one next weekend on January 13 at the Parke hotel in Bloomington.