According to the dictionary, 'indie' is an informal version of the wordindependent.
Although this definition is accurate, the word has come to mean more. For many, it has come to symbolize originality and forward-thinking, especially in music and design.
By this definition, indie is any business or designer that is not associated with a large company. Indie can also define the consumer who chooses to support small business, independent record labels and handmade items rather than shopping at big-box stores.
When you mix Indie and Wedding together basically you just get a mess of awesomeness more or less.
I have to say, I am pretty glad I decided to go check out Indie Wed in Chicago this past Saturday. It was my main reason for planning a long weekend in Chicago.
Mostly of all the event itself made me happy to be the kind of wedding planner that I am. If that even makes sense. More or less it was nice to see a room full of indie vendors from tattooed covered hair piece creators, sexy pin up boudoir studios, tons of green stationery vendors, raw chocolates, amazing gown and dress designers and so on. OH.. and a female duo who seemed to be the two coolest dj's I have ever seen. There were so many more but you can go here to see the entire list. Of course all these cool kids are in Chicago, but some I will be selling goods for in my Cincinnati boutique starting in March.
The turn out was pretty amazing and we waited in line for about 30 minutes to get in even though we bought advance tickets online but it was worth it.The venue was pretty cool overall. It was held at the Ravenswood Event Center. Which is a three story event center where every floor has a bit different twist to it. The first floor was really cool with vintage cars and motorcycles lining the walls a very open loft type space with a very industrial type feel. The second floor was a nice size loft space big windows and a clean blank slate to work with. Nice original wood floors with two spaces inside. The third floor was a bit smaller with a HUGE window and a nice rooftop deck same wood floors and raw space. I would kill for this space to be picked up and dropped in Cincinnati. We do not have any good loft space here. Yes we have two "loft type" venues but neither are large enough for an average size wedding. I am very jealous of Chicago for having an over abundance of loft type spaces.
On to the vendors... wow what can I say they were all so awesome. The best thing about this event was I felt inspired by these people. Every now and then I tend to question myself as a "wedding vendor" I often wonder if maybe I may be a little to "Offbeat" for some Cincinnati area brides. But when I walked into this event I felt very much at home. I also realized that these are the people who are whipping out some of the most amazing and creative wedding thingies ever made. Which is what is important here, not what we look like or wear. Well to a degree anyways, I mean clearly you do not want a dirty stinky vendor but I think you know what I mean. We are the ones embarking on new territory when it comes to your wedding. We are the ones who will make your wedding cool, unique and awesome. And I don't mean just for indie brides I mean ALL brides.
The vendors at this event were so very different then walking into BridalRama. There was no pressure and we were not attacked to fill out this and that. The vendors were genuinely friendly and really just out there to meet the couples and answer questions. It was nice! It was really nice! I think brides should experience a bridal show just to say they did it. There are some great vendors and deals to be had at them. I just wish they could experience a show of that caliper in this area. Another cool thing about the Indie Wed show was the vendors who were there were also selling their items. Traditional bridal shows are just displays and you can not buy anything at them.
So on to the photos..
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