Brides on a Budget

Déjà vu Bridal is a new wedding dress re-sale and consignment boutique featuring second-hand and new designer dresses for budget conscious brides. It is located in the Summit Mall, 13945 S. Virginia St. Call 291-9120 for more information.

Tell me about how you got started in this business?

I got started in the wedding re-sale and consignment business as a photographer dealing with weddings. I’d heard from a lot of brides things, like, “I need to stay on budget, how can I cut corners? What things can I really try to cut cost on? Wedding dresses always seem to be a good idea. Why do I have to pay $1,200 for a dress when it’s just a dress I’m going to wear for eight hours.” Likewise, it was brides that were like, “I have this dress that I only wore for eight hours or four hours, and it’s still beautiful and perfect but what am I going to do with it now? It’s just sitting in my closet.” It seemed like a really good way to serve the community and serve the brides out there that are budget-conscious … to still stay on track nd not looking to spend the $25,000 on a wedding.

How many dresses do you have?

I currently have 36 dresses but that number is changing, whether buying, selling, consigning, and things like that. A lot of dresses are coming and going.

How often do you get new dresses in?

It depends on the stock. I try to make sure I definitely have new dresses coming in all the time. Just to make sure I have a good revolving stock and style for girls, but it depends on the selling of dresses, too.

What type of dresses do you have?

All kinds of styles, all kinds of sizes. My size range goes anywhere from a size 2 to a size 22. Also, in regards to style, I have anything and everything in-between, and I did that on purpose to make sure there is good variety for the girls coming in so they have something to choose from.

What is your requirement for taking wedding dresses?

My biggest thing for wedding dresses is I definitely try and keep more current styles. I don’t want to have the older styles that are harder to sell, number one. But also, my biggest thing is for brides to come in here and not feel like they have to sacrifice their style or their fit, or current trends to be able to afford a dress. I definitely want them to come in and still pick out that dream dress. So I try and keep styles within the last 3-5 years. I have turned down a couple dresses because of style—they were about 20 years old—and that’s because there is just not a lot of drive for those dresses.

How much money are brides saving on dresses?

I have some dresses that are 60, 75, 30 percent off. You’re looking at a pretty good range. It’s pretty safe to say it’s any where from 30-60 percent off.

Anything else you want people to know?

The biggest thing I want people to know is my tag line is, “a boutique for the budget-conscious brides.” That’s really what it is whether you’re coming in here because you don’t have a lot of money to spend on a wedding and still want a really beautiful dress I still have that dress for you, or you’re thinking why do I want to spend $1,500 on a dress when I can get it for half that price? I really am aimed to helping that girl not have to sacrifice the style, look and feeling they are going for. It goes with the whole something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.