Behind the Scenes: Creating Celebration Central
If you were active on socials on Friday, you may have seen my announcement of Celebration Central, happening on March 1, 2025. If not, check it out!
Friends and family have been asking me about Celebration Central and why or how I came up with it and I think its an idea worth sharing. If you’ve ever been part of a wedding before, you may have heard of a “bridal expo” which is basically an opportunity for a bride and her mother/MIL/sisters/bridesmaids to get a chance to look at all the different kinds of vendors available for her to book for her wedding day. Florists bring arrangements, caterers bring sample menus or even serve food, etc. You get the idea.
Over the last two or so years, I’ve been hearing from other local parents that there just aren’t very many options for where to host their child’s birthday parties over the winter (outside in the summer is fine but not during the cold months). It got me thinking, where or how do we learn where to find all of these providers? What if we don’t even know what we’re looking for? What if there are vendors out there who are offering super awesome things that we’ve never heard of before?
Enter Celebration Central.
In my last year of networking and meeting people, particularly entrepreneurs, it became vividly clear to me that we all just need to get in front of our target market; that our ideas, products, services, etc. were useless unless we could connect with those who need us. I wanted to find a way to help make that process a little easier - let our target market come to us.
Celebration Central is first a vendor showcase. Yes, there will be tables and people standing at them with signs and tchotchkes to giveaway. That’s not all bad, right? You can walk around and learn about them without commitment.
But I wanted to take it a step further. Let’s make this a FUN vendor showcase - a party in and of itself. Let’s get some DJs bumping some tunes, let’s get a dance floor so people can let loose, let’s have some food and beverages served so we can relax and enjoy ourselves, let’s see what these decorators can do with 21,000 sqft of space to make beautiful.
My hope is that the public sees this as an opportunity to come and have some fun, buy some food and drinks, hang out and talk to friends, bring the kids to play, take some cards and learn some information and take it back to their circles and spread the word. Ultimately, my hope is that the vendors here actually get bookings and new clients who are wanting their services, perhaps when they didn’t even know about them. This is how we build community.
Lastly, and while I may say it’s last, it’s definitely important to me: I wanted an opportunity to showcase my abilities as an event planner. This event is multifaceted, dynamic, and complex and it has several lofty objectives with little budget to work with. I want to showcase how I am able to take an idea and make a beautiful experience for my community while boosting my visibility and hopefully getting my name out there a little more.
Will you join us? I sincerely hope to see you there!
Celebration Central 2025
Rockingham County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall
March 1, 2025 10am - 4pm
