Local woman brings Luxury Wedding Expo to Ocean City, offers resources to future brides

OCEAN CITY, Md. – From cakes, to decor, to dresses, all of those things go into planning a wedding.

To create a one stop shop for couples, Maria McEvoy held the first annual Luxury Wedding Expo, where brides could bounce ideas off each other and find potential vendors in the process.

“A lot of brides don’t know exactly what they want or what direction they want to go in, so here, we have a couple of different venues, a couple of different photographers, so we have different looks, different styles for everybody, so this way they can actually talk to somebody and see what they want,” McEvoy said.

From a young age, many girls have an idea of what their dream wedding dress would look like.

Showing off some of the beautiful gowns at the event, Alexis Marshall, said putting a real model in a dress can give a future bride a better idea of what their ideal gown is.

“It inspires them to want to get a dress. If they see a long train and they’re like, ‘Oh, I really like how that dress looks, I’m going to go get a dress like that,’ and if they like how it’s cut, I think that will inspire them to be in a dress just like that,” Marshall said.

And you can’t have a wedding without a venue.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Samantha Tyndall, said the wedding industry has seen a steady increase in couples tying the knot. She said securing your venue well in advance can ensure your special day goes off without a hitch.

“Venues book up quick. We book sometimes 2-3 years in advance,” Tyndall said. “Just knowing what you want and trying to make a decision based on what you want, and you should still tour all the venues to make sure you’re making the right decision.”