Rustic Receptions

If you’re like most brides, you are going to have boxes of wedding decorations for your big day. Sometimes overwhelming, you might find yourself asking the question “What am I going to do with all of its decorations?” The top four ways to get rid of your wedding decorations after your wedding are to donate to one of your vendors on the day of your wedding, sell your items through the classifieds, consign your items through a bridal boutique, or lastly gift your décor to another bride. I have seen garages full of wedding décor year after year being a wedding professional. Newlyweds who are riddled with boxes and boxes of décor go back to the regular lives after their day of bliss and have no idea how to get rid of the decorations they’ve accumulated. Keep reading and decide how you want to rehome your items before they become a burden. Donate your décor to a vendor A lot of the time the wedding vendors you choose will become close to you and it would make a lot of sense to donate the items you have accumulated straight to your vendors. Perhaps the florist mentioned that she loved your vases, or the wedding venue mentioned how beautiful your sign why is in the entryway. I have seen this happen a lot and here are the pros and cons of this idea. One benefit of donating your décor to your vendors is you will not have to pack it up at the end of your wedding, it then becomes the vendors responsibility to pack it up at the end that night. However a negative aspects of this is you will not likely receive any reimbursement for these items unless you’ve talked your vendors ahead of time and discuss a payment. Donating is just that, you should not plan on receiving any payment if you do not already discussing with your vendors. Sell your items through the classifieds Every year there’s a new classified popping up in our lives. For me it started with a classified in the paper, then Craigslist, then Facebook marketplace, etc. I have even seen at brides communicate in a great way through social media where they plan their weddings and are able to pass all in their decorations, at a discount to the next bride, sometimes even the very next weekend. While that last part might take a little planning, this could be a great way to recoup some of your decoration expense by selling your items. But like everything we should weigh the pros and cons. Fortunately, from what I have experienced, wedding decorations sells great in-season or just before wedding season. You can often expect back 50% of what you paid for in item. So, if your wedding early in the season and you would like to receive some money, this could be a great option. However, some of the downside to selling online or through private party is the risk of meeting people. Please meet at a public location or police station, check your surroundings, and if anything feels wrong just leave. There is also the risk of fraudulent transactions. That could be in forms of cash or even that some of the electronic payments we have currently can be manipulated, so double check the accuracy of your transaction and bring a fraud detecting pen if you’re expecting cash. Also, with selling your items through classifieds, you might end up with some items leftover still so keep reading because there are still some options on what you can do with your lingering items. Consign your items at a bridal boutique We all have very busy lives and it is no surprise that you might find after your wedding and after all of the planning you had just done you simply don’t have time to sit around and sell your items but you still would like some money for them. This is where the beauty of the consignment shop lies. Consignment is where you own an item and you are under contract with a store or person who is selling the item and that person takes a consignment fee. You often find consignment stores that sell clothing or wedding dresses but it might be difficult to find a consignment shop that is specific to wedding décor, so look around and be creative and see if you can find a consignment shop might have decorations available. Now let’s look at and what the benefits or negative attributes are for consigning your items at a consignment boutique. Some of the great benefits of consigning your items is it is a one and done stop. You won’t have to continue meeting random people at the Target parking lot. Consignment shops, or people who take on consignments to sell online, are likely professionals in that area and they have all the expertise to sell your items quickly and painlessly. And You will receive money for your décor items as you’re not donating them. But with every good thing comes some a downside and that would come in the term of fees and contracts. The fees are generally of 50 or 60% of the profit from your items. Read your contract closely because it will lay out the terms of your agreement such as how often you will be paid, when your items will become stale inventory, and how to pick up your items that don’t sell at the end of your contract. Oftentimes once the contract is up your items will be discarded or automatically donated to the consignment shop. Gift your items to another bride I’m sure we have all experienced seasons of our life that were lower than our expectations and if you are in a position in your life where gifting your décor is a possibility consider gifting your items to a bride who would appreciate the generosity more than anything else. I don’t have to go too deep into this topic to explain the pros and cons of gifting to another bride, if it’s pulling at your heart to gift your items, then I suggest you strongly consider it. Bonus! Rent your wedding decor out For those of you that have unlimited time and would like to make your inventory of wedding décor work for you, consider renting out your items before or after your wedding. This can be a great little side hustle while you’re trying to pay for your wedding. An obvious benefit would be your decorations would be paid for before you even have your ceremony or reception. However strongly consider the negative aspects of this because inventories, taxes, business law, and dealing with customers is not something to rush into if you don’t have any experience with its. But I do want to mention this little bit of a bonus idea because I have seen it work very successfully both as a side hustle and as a long-term business. Read more about it in my other blog: how to start a wedding rental company.

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