Looking to reduce your carbon footprint and save some money?
Wedding recycling might be your answer. Wedding consignment shops and sites are popular resources not to just buy used decorations, bridesmaid dresses and wedding jewelry but also as a way to make money post-wedding by selling back your wares to continue the recycle cycle.
Tracy DiNunzio, founder of RecycledBride.com, says more and more brides are recycling their dresses and looking for pre-owned wedding pieces. The web is one of the resources helping them connect with other brides.
“More brides are becoming web-savvy,” DiNunzio says. “It’s easier to find the bargains and connect with other brides that have the style and size you need.”
Victoria Ewing, manager of Mary’s Bridal in Annapolis, Md., says brides can couple up and split the cost of decorations and make the same pieces work for both dates.
Sites like RecycledBride.com and sites like BrideToBrideBoutique.com allow brides-to-be to look for lanterns, frosted branches and wedding attire for pets. Buyers can sign up for a free account and check out what past brides are offering.
Sellers post photos, descriptions of the item and accepted payment methods. Once interested, buyers can contact the seller through the site’s e-mail system to set up payment and shipping.
DiNunzio says at first, brides might be reluctant to part with some of their wedding items. “It’s one of the most emotional and important events in a woman’s life,” she says. “But once they share their stories, they feel better than about buying a new dress.”
But a wedding dress online isn’t as simple and carefree as it sounds, though. Ewing warns of cleaning fees if the dress is dirty and alteration costs, which “are different for a dress you bought online than for a dress you bought at the store,” she says.
She suggests brides look for other ways to save and buy a dress in-store instead of online. “There’s something about coming into a bridal shop and being pampered,” Ewing says.
DiNunzio argues that wearing a dress once just doesn’t make sense.
“We live in a world now where it isn’t really practical or responsible to just buy things and use them once – both environmentally and financially,” DiNunzio said.
If you’re buying a dress online, whether for you or the flower girl, always buy too big and never too small. “Whatever the item is, it’s always easier to make a wedding dress smaller,” DiNunzio says. “But you can’t make it bigger.” (c) CTW Features
Also in Planning:
I bought my wedding dress on smartbrideboutique.com. I liked it because it had a boutique like atmosphere even though it is basically a listings site. I really lucked out and got a great wedding dress from a nice woman who had worn the dress once, had it cleaned and then wanted to sell it to help pay off some of her wedding date. It was a win win situation for us.
I agree that you have to be careful, but buying a used wedding dress really can be a great experience and save you a lot of money.