By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Downtown Niles' first ever Wedding Walk will provide a one stop shopping experience for all of your wedding needs.
Whether you need a wedding dress, invitations, or a honeymoon destination, it can all be found right here in downtown Niles.
She said the premise of the walk will be similar to a bridal show.
But, instead of having vendors at a large convention center, the downtown merchants who have wedding related items will feature those items at the specified time.
The Wedding Walk will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. It all begins at the Downtown Development Authority's office, where Croteau will have information on local places to get married, possible caterers, photographers and DJs.
Those attending the walk will also be able to pick up a map highlighting the downtown merchants who are participating in the events.
The event was planned and executed in a very small amount of time.
The idea first came up at a downtown merchant meeting on Jan. 29 and has picked up speed from there.
In addition to providing wedding needs, the event has been planned to get people to experience downtown Niles.
She said one of the purposes of the event to make people aware of all the different services that are available in downtown Niles.
Elizabeth Bradford, owner of Elizabeth Bradford Designs, is also looking forward to Saturday's event.
In addition to her designer home accessories and custom made draperies and bedding, Bradford will be featuring a few wedding related items.
There is a colorful wedding/evening gown displayed in her window.
Bradford can accommodate those needs as well. She makes a couple custom wedding dresses from scratch every year.
She works with the brides to determine the style and colors they want and takes it from there.
Her store also features custom made ring bearer pillows and garters.
Some of the other downtown businesses featured in the Wedding Walk are:
Croteau is excited about the prospects of this event and looks forward to it becoming a staple of downtown Niles. "I think this is something we can build into a really cool event," she said. "We would like to make this an annual event if possible. Maybe, something that occurs even more than once a year."