Wedding Resale Events...What They Are and Why You Need to Know About Them

You may or may not know that I host wedding resale events in Missouri called Bride 2 Bride Resale. What you also may not know is that there have similar events sprouting up all over the place! So, what are they? Should you consider reselling your stuff at one? I'm here to give you the rundown.

So, after my DIY wedding, I had SO MUCH stuff sitting around in boxes. I knew that I had the option to resell some of it online. To be honest, that option didn't really appeal to me. For one, I had to take everything out of the boxes, take decent pictures, post them online, etc. After going through all of that I would have to deal with a lot of back-and-forth from people who were "interested." I don't know if you've ever tried to sell stuff on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, but people will message you once and then after you respond, you never hear back from them. Or worse yet, you set a time to meet with someone and they stand you up. This happens ALL THE TIME. Of course there is also the added annoyance (and danger!) of meeting up with strangers. I would never consider having a stranger come to my house to look at my leftover wedding stuff. But that means that every time I want to meet up with a potential buyer, I would have to pack up everything they want to look at (and have only alike items boxed together, in case they take only part of my stuff) and take it somewhere for someone to MAYBE buy it. Maybe they won't even like it once they see it in person. Then I have to lug it home and put it away again, only to have someone else want to see it two days later.

NO THANK YOU.

So I looked into better options for selling it. There was nothing in my area. So, on a whim I decided to start the Bride 2 Bride Resale Events. I found a wedding venue that was willing to donate space in exchange for this advertising opportunity, and I started putting the word out.

My first event was actually a HUGE success. I had about 250-300 people walk through looking to buy stuff! That was great! At my next event (April 8, 2018) I'm expecting to double the number of buyers!

So what does this mean for you after your wedding?

At my first event, at Serenity Valley Winery, we had 15 brides reselling their stuff. We charged a small booth rental fee to those brides for their booth at the event. Out of all those brides, I sold the least. (No surprise really, my wedding was black and white--it wasn't rustic, which is all the rage right now.) But even selling the least of anyone I made $450 back on my stuff that day. I sold about 50% of my stuff! That was pretty awesome to me.

Afterward, I talked to some of the other brides that sold stuff at my event. They all sold 80-99% of what they brought with them and made upwards of $750 back! All in all, that's not too shabby for one day's work! Yes, technically you still have to meet strangers, but it's in a very public setting and you know it's all actual future brides--not some random dude from Craigslist.

If you are recently married and looking to sell your leftovers, I think this is a MUCH better way to do it. Plus, it's fun!

So what does this mean for you before your wedding?

These events are a gold mine of new and gently used decor and more. The prices usually range from garage sale pricing to Facebook Marketplace pricing. This is an AMAZING way to find almost everything you might need for your wedding without breaking the bank!

The past brides sell everything you can think of. Seriously. There were wedding dresses, MOB dresses, flower girl dresses, signs, centerpieces, candles, table runners, lace, floral, linens, chargers, jars, vases, jewelry, veils... literally everything. I highly recommend you look for these in your area and go check them out!

I can't speak for all the other resale events because I've never been to them. However, at the Bride 2 Bride Resale Event, we have other great things to do besides just shop. We have sponsors: a wedding venue for you to check out, a caterer that is handing out food samples, and an exciting prize giveaway. This year we have a separate area of the venue where we will have traditional wedding vendors you can stop in and talk to! This way, if you don't want to talk to vendors, you can just skip that part. But if you still have more wedding vendors to hire, you can go inside the second area of our event and chat with them, and even get discounts from some awesome vendors! This year's sponsors, prizes and vendors will be announced on our Facebook Event Page, so check it out for all the details!