Hello all! This is my first post! I am searching for information on starting a wedding gown rental business. Any ideas or help would be helpful.
Thanks in advance!

I can't really give you anything but encouragement. My sister rented her wedding gown when she got married and she was a princess for the price it would have cost her to just buy her shoes. I think it is a fantastic idea and wish you a great deal of luck with it.

T


Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!

>Hello all! This is my first post! I am searching for
>information on starting a wedding gown rental business. Any
>ideas or help would be helpful.
>Thanks in advance!

Well there are some questions to be asked. Are you talking about operating out of a store front or are you going to start it out of your house - of which you have to be careful about because you will have to check your area's zoning laws.

What I like to tell clients is to look at it from the end first. That means how do you want your business to be? So that would be my first piece of advice. The second is that you can find information about almost anything on the Internet because it is one great big library!

I think starting almost any kind of business is a great idea and you may want to think about branching out - meaning not just renting wedding dresses but all the things that go with it. How many brides to be would like having more than one service available at just one place?

If you're going for having an actual physical store then you will have costs (expenses) to consider. Are you starting with any money? If not you may have to start on a smaller scale - but that just gives you the opportunity to grow.

So there are some of the questions you have to answer - at least at the start.

Rose
Grant Basics 101
http://grantbasics101.bravehost.com/grants.htm

Hi sorry it has taken me so long to reply but i have been away, and didn't have internet connectio

I'm back home and getting caught up. First hear is my email:
ydklove2002@yahoo.com

I am still interested in doing this business, so I am gathering all the info I can. I am in Orlando, Fl., where are u?

just wanted to say thanks for your input!
Yolanda:-)

Everybody I know that ever got married bought their dresses. In my area, I don't think you would make much money. In large cities, maybe. Good luck.

Ocha

Website:
http://www.potpourriemporium.com
http://www.infoesource.com
Blog:
http://www.potpourriemporium.blogspot.com

Hi there,
If you need help on anything, let me know. I own a bridal store in Oregon and I can help you get dresses in at a great rate. I can be reached at janette@yaquina.com.

>Hi there,
>If you need help on anything, let me know. I own a bridal
>store in Oregon and I can help you get dresses in at a great
>rate. I can be reached at janette@yaquina.com.


Yes thank you so much for the help! You can email the information! ydklove2002@yahoo.com

>Hi there,
>If you need help on anything, let me know. I own a bridal
>store in Oregon and I can help you get dresses in at a great
>rate. I can be reached at janette@yaquina.com.
Hi sorry it has taken me so long to reply but i have been away, and didn't have internet connectio

I'm back home and getting caught up. First hear is my email:
ydklove2002@yahoo.com

I am still interested in doing this business, so I am gathering all the info I can. I am in Orlando, FL.
Any info would be helpful thanks!

Yolanda

If you are going to rent them, you would have to be able to buy them pretty cheap. It is risky. I have been in the bridal business almost 9 years, and might have some wholesalers that could help you with gowns. lauraformals@aol.com

Hi to all:
I am so sorry that since i posted i have had my life up-rooted to say the least. My father had taken ill( terminally) and i have had to give up everything and move in with him and mom to look out for them. I don't have ready access to a computer as before since all my belonging is still in Florida and I am trying to settle here in Virginia.

I just wanted to say thanks to all that have responded to my post and all the the great advise given. It hasn't been a good year for me and my life has been put on hold. I am looking for a way to take care of my father and have a life too, and just try to earn me a living!

I need a new computer to at least get something going on the internet. But no JOB or income leaves me in the poor house! i will look into all your suggetions and try some.
Thanks again for great folks like yourselves!

Yolanda K.



>Hello all! This is my first post! I am searching for
>information on starting a wedding gown rental business. Any
>ideas or help would be helpful.
>Thanks in advance!

I am starting a bridesmaid gown rental business and have been told that wedding gowns are quite popular rentals as well. Do you have a company you are going to work with or are you renting the gowns out yourself?
Erica

No, my idea is to purchase the gowns myself. I haven't found any companies but, if you read the post on this subject you can see the suggestions of others.

>I am starting a bridesmaid gown rental business and have been
>told that wedding gowns are quite popular rentals as well. Do
>you have a company you are going to work with or are you
>renting the gowns out yourself?
>Erica

I thought that looking at craiglist i can pick-up a lot of gowns cheap to start out. Their are so many girls selling their gowns for cash!

Under this CyberSchmooz section, there's a post by a lady named Jana about looking to sell her inventory from her bridal shop. You might also see if she might have some industry data to share.

Just a side note: there is a bridal planning shop in my small town (pop. 100K) that also offers wedding gown rental. My husband and I considered buying it, so we've talked with the owners recently. They said that other than the wedding planning fees, the gown rental portion of their business was very profitable. Especially since they offered rental dresses sizes going up to size 24. Our town has some very vuluptuous ladies. So the owners of this bridal shop marketed to this niche very nicely, offering them a good selection of dresses in their size at a rental rate that was about 1/4 the cost of purchasing the gown.

Hey Thanks:
I believe that I had a chat with her last week. I was waiting to hear back from her and i hav had no reply. Thanks for your posting! I am still looking for a way to fund it. I have been away with taking care of my dad for a few months and lost two jobs in the past year , so I am starting from scratch(e.i. job, transportation, ) I will get things going as soon as i get a JOB.
Thanks again!
Yolanda

I know someone who rented high end maternity dresses. She was pretty successful. When you are pregnant you don't want to spend big bucks on a expensive dress to wear once, but yet you need one for weddings, Christmas parties, dinner parties, new year's eve, etc.

Just a thought.

Great idea. We have received several requests from customers looking for wedding gown rentals on our website. There looks to be a market for this.

Liz
http://www.reception-wedding.com/wedding_gown_trends.htm

Hello! I'm sorry, that is not the topic! I really like your forum! Thank you, I'm with you)