Love and Lobster Coastal New England Weddings

Bridal shows are probably the last thing on your mind during this hectic time of year, but 2012 is already filling up with wedding events you won’t want to miss.

January and February are primetime for bridal shows, as couples come up for air after the holiday season and dive headfirst into wedding planning. With many fellas choosing Christmas or New Year’s to get down on one knee, more than a few brides will be freshly engaged as we greet 2012.

Upcoming shows include:

January 7 and 8: Portland Bridal Show. More than 100 vendors; show up early to be one of the first 100 brides to receive a one-year subscription to Brides magazine and a free Real Maine Weddings magazine.

January 8: Boston Wedding Show. More than 85 area vendors. Event organizer Wedding Day Expositions has further dates planned in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

January 14 and 15: Bangor Bridal Show, with the same magazine giveaway as the Portland show.

January 22: Augusta Bridal Show. Magazine giveaway; enter to win a gift card from Heavenly Delights Bakery by playing their “cut the cake” game.

February 3: Madeleine’s Event Central by Moonlight show, South Portland, Maine.  Vendors will be set up at an Ethan Allen Design Center. Future dates scheduled in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

February 19: New England Bridal Expo, York Beach, Maine and Manchester, New Hampshire. Shows also planned in March and April for locations throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts.