If the idea of the typical traditional white wedding — the long dress, the crisp tuxedo and a flock of doves being released at sunset — bores you to tears, it turns out you are not alone.
A lot of people are looking for something off the beaten path for their special day, and chances are they will find almost everything they need to fit the bill at the Lovesick Wedding Expo, Aug. 13 at World Cafe Live.
The brainchild of wedding DJs Tom Wright and Jon Holmes, Lovesick has for seven years been bringing together creative, quirky and under-the-radar wedding vendors and artisans, as well as booze and burlesque performers, under the same roof for a wildly entertaining wedding expo that is gay-friendly and guy-friendly.
“We tried to look at what makes traditional ‘bridal shows’ inherently not friendly to all kinds of folks that are getting married,” Holmes said. “We tried to look at the show from top to bottom. That goes right from not referring to it as a bridal show, not having it be bride-focused and making sure that things that might appeal to men or same-sex couples are more universally accepted. It’s vendor education and also the types of vendors that are there. The atmosphere is welcoming to just about anybody, but historically those two groups of people that have historically been left out from traditional bridal shows.”
Holmes said Lovesick’s popularity has grown over the years as couples started bucking the conventions of the textbook wedding ceremony.
“We’ve noticed a shift in younger couples not making assumptions that they have to do conventional things,” he said. “There are these assumptions that you have to wear white or walk down the aisle to classical music or follow these common tropes. There are a lot of younger folks who are starting to question that and looking for resources the might fall slightly outside of the mainstream. I think that a lot of folks come expecting something radically different and really we’re just trying to cater to people who are thinking slightly outside of the box and outside of those mainstream concepts that are consistently pushed on them.”
Holmes said couples of all stripes are able to find creative and unique local vendors to fill the majority of their wedding needs at the Lovesick Expo.
“We try to be as inclusive as possible and that dictates the way the show looks and feels,” he said. “Anyone who has been to a traditional show is going to see and experience something different, and that’s right down to the type of music that is played, the live performances, the giveaways and, most importantly, the vendors. We’ve tried really hard to collect vendors that might not feel represented in the mainstream wedding world and are trying to connect with couples that are trying to do something a little more unique and different. When you’ve got everyone from a brewery to glass blowing to onsite tattoos and burlesque, that’s a pretty diverse group of people. That’s a thing that sets us apart the most.”
Catch the Lovesick Expo 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Aug. 13 at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. For more information, visit http://lovesickphilly.com.