Discover NJ’s Frank Dicopoulos, left, interviews Margaret Mass and Kevin Barry for a video promoting this weekend’s Wedding Walk. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
For the soon-to-be-married guys looking to get familiar with Red Bank’s myriad watering holes, Saturday is your day.
That’s because the ladies will be preoccupied with more pressing things, like hitting dozens of downtown shops participating in the borough’s first Wedding Walk.
Red Bank RiverCenter executive director Nancy Adams says the Wedding Walk is landing in town because the oft-proclaimed Hip City doubles up well as a wedding planner’s paradise. Doubt it? Ask the Labettis, a Red Bank couple who put the borough to the test three years ago.
Adams, along with other local business owners and managers, figured now’s a good time to let the rest of the region know about it.
“Local retailers talked about Red Bank as an amazing wedding destination,” she said. “A to Z, you can plan a wedding here. You can even have it here.”
So the downtown promotion agency and a bevy of local retailers and service providers have set-up a serious day of eating, drinking and shopping.
The morning kicks off with registration and breakfast at 9a at the wedding-reception-friendly Molly Pitcher Inn. Then the ladies, and maybe a few patient men, are unleashed to the pulse of Red Bank, where they’ll hit businesses marked with white bows to see what they have to offer, be it dresses, flowers, food, photography or jewelry.
About 300 brides-to-be from all over the state and into New York have registered so far, Adams says. So if you’re downtown Saturday, expect to see throngs of wide-eyed, gregarious gals perusing and schmoozing the participating businesses, with the aim, of course, being that they’ll drop beaucoups dollars.
“If they’re doing the walk, they’re probably doing the planning,” Adams said.
With luck, Adams said the brides will tell their friends, who’ll tell their friends, who’ll tell their friends about this little gem along the Navesink.
“It exposes all the businesses, and it’s not just the brides, but the bridesmaids and their mothers. It’ll just keep going,” Adams said.
For those participants who prefer not to walk, free trolley service will be provided.
The day will wrap up at around 3p over at the Oyster Point Hotel, where there will be a grand prize raffle and more food.
Molly Pitcher and Oyster Point project manager Kevin Barry, who helped plan the event, said there’s nothing but high expectations for the walk, and even expects it to become not just an annual event, but biannual.
“Absolutely. We’re anticipating a big success,” he said. “(Red Bank) really is a destination for weddings, and it’s a great opportunity to network and for the businesses to create something great.”
Registration will still be accepted on Saturday at the Molly Pitcher, but it’s recommended to do so on the Wedding Walk website. You can watch a promotional video for the walk here.
