Most girls spend their life waiting for it: that glorious day when they don a flowing white dress, walk down an aisle, and say "I do" to their own personal Prince Charming. The day where they are a princess, and nothing can ruin it. I confess that--despite a very real disdain for marriage--being one of those girls. I blame it on a steady diet of fairy tales in my youth; those stories always end with a perfect wedding. Despite never wanting a marriage, I want a wedding. Specifically, a wedding dress.
The wedding dress figures more prominently in girls' wedding fantasies than the boy whom they will marry. I daresay that every girl who has put even the slightest thought into their wedding knows exactly what they want out of the dress. And these dresses hardly come cheap; designer gowns can cost brides thousands and thousands of dollars.
Josie Daga was one of these girls. Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, she was "a sucker for weddings." She's attended hundreds and been a bridesmaid 14 times. When her own big day finally arrived, Josie refused to settle on a dress that was less than perfect; she spent a great deal of money on a designer gown, which she promptly wore for a day, took off, and never wore again. She tried to sell it after her wedding, in order to make back some of the money that had been spent, but she had no luck.
So, in 2004, the advertising executive who was by then pregnant with her first child, started www.preownedweddingdresses.com. This site serves to give former brides the opportunity to sell back their wedding dresses, rather than let them collect dust in a closet. It also gives brides on a budget the opportunity to have the dress of their dreams without the heavy price tag.
The website allows brides to buy and sell dresses, shoes, and accessories. Future-brides can choose from either new gowns that were never worn, sample gowns, and used gowns, at heavily discounted prices. Brides can search styles, designers, and locations to help them find their ideal dress at an ideal budget.
This idea is creative because it targets helps so many people. I've watched many a friend walk down the aisle (yeah, I'm the old maid of my high school friend group before even being legally allowed to drink champagne at the weddings--how weird is that!), and the dress is always a stress point. For younger brides, or brides with strict budgets, the dress can be problematic. You want it to look wonderful without sacrificing cost. After spending so long worried about the dress, you wear it for a few hours, and let it collect dust in your closet. This website fills the needs of everyone involved. It also does it in a simple way. I couldn't access the part of the website to sell a dress without giving information, but, from the parts I could access, everything is handled online.
So, ladies, if you've already spent a ton of money on your gorgeous dress (for eight hours), or see yourself needing one in the future, let Josie Daga help you out. Your bank account will breathe a sigh of relief!
The wedding dress figures more prominently in girls' wedding fantasies than the boy whom they will marry. I daresay that every girl who has put even the slightest thought into their wedding knows exactly what they want out of the dress. And these dresses hardly come cheap; designer gowns can cost brides thousands and thousands of dollars.
Josie Daga was one of these girls. Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, she was "a sucker for weddings." She's attended hundreds and been a bridesmaid 14 times. When her own big day finally arrived, Josie refused to settle on a dress that was less than perfect; she spent a great deal of money on a designer gown, which she promptly wore for a day, took off, and never wore again. She tried to sell it after her wedding, in order to make back some of the money that had been spent, but she had no luck.
So, in 2004, the advertising executive who was by then pregnant with her first child, started www.preownedweddingdresses.com. This site serves to give former brides the opportunity to sell back their wedding dresses, rather than let them collect dust in a closet. It also gives brides on a budget the opportunity to have the dress of their dreams without the heavy price tag.
The website allows brides to buy and sell dresses, shoes, and accessories. Future-brides can choose from either new gowns that were never worn, sample gowns, and used gowns, at heavily discounted prices. Brides can search styles, designers, and locations to help them find their ideal dress at an ideal budget.
This idea is creative because it targets helps so many people. I've watched many a friend walk down the aisle (yeah, I'm the old maid of my high school friend group before even being legally allowed to drink champagne at the weddings--how weird is that!), and the dress is always a stress point. For younger brides, or brides with strict budgets, the dress can be problematic. You want it to look wonderful without sacrificing cost. After spending so long worried about the dress, you wear it for a few hours, and let it collect dust in your closet. This website fills the needs of everyone involved. It also does it in a simple way. I couldn't access the part of the website to sell a dress without giving information, but, from the parts I could access, everything is handled online.
So, ladies, if you've already spent a ton of money on your gorgeous dress (for eight hours), or see yourself needing one in the future, let Josie Daga help you out. Your bank account will breathe a sigh of relief!
This is a great idea! It's almost too simple to be called creative. It handles a problem that most brides have, whether to keep their dress, or to sell it back for some cash. Although I frown on anyone spending thousands of dollars on a wedding dress (unless you can afford it easily), this is a nice way to help those that spent too much on their dress, or need the extra cash.
ReplyDeleteI was excited to see that it has a "sell your dress accessory" area, veils and other knick knacks can run over $500! This seems like a great way to save because although dresses can be found for cheap (or as hand-me-downs), veils and appropriate jewelry are hard to come by. My mother's veil has gone out of style, and my grandmother's veil has gone yellow with age and crinkles instead of flowing.
The prices are actually pretty good, I might have to point this site out to my sister so she can shop for her wedding.
Thanks for sharing with us!
I believe this option is, decidedly, a long over due idea. Having personally never invested much thought or time in thinking about or planning my wedding it has always seemed unreasonable that women spend so much and put so much effort into a single outfit. Even more ridiculous, the women that have different dresses for the ceremony, the reception. Maybe it is a matter of finances, but putting thousands and thousands of dollars into a dress that, more than likely, you will be the only one to even remember seems outrageous. An idea like buying used wedding dresses seems cost effective and more rational, but I doubt there is a large population of women that take advantage of this. Assuming that women do consider this the most special day of their lives and the dress the highlight of this day, it seems unlikely that they would compromise on price for a second hand dress.I do believe that this is a creative idea because it seeks to revolutionize the way people budget their wedding. Ideally, the more people are exposed to alternative dress options the more main stream and the more acceptable they will become. I recently worked at a once a year consignment event for baby and children's clothing and was completely blown away by the turn out. There were hundreds of women there all buying large amounts of clothing to take advantage of this yearly sale. Currently, the average cost of a wedding dress is 18,000 dollars. I hope that with ideas like this spread by media and word of mouth women will be able to view different options for their big day and in the end save themselves and their families a great deal of money. Thanks for posting!
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