After Jaisa Zuraff got married last year, she and her husband put a long list of items from their wedding for sale on Craigslist, including her dress. She found the process tedious and less than successful.
"No one likes to go to someone else's house to try on a dress," she said.
Knowing that brides on a budget today aren't holding on to all of their keepsakes, she opened a wedding consignment store, Bride to Be Consignment (1133 E. Cliff Rd., Burnsville, 612-267-4004, www.bridetobeconsignment.com).
"Most bridal consignment stores will only accept wedding gowns to sell," Zuraff said. "I sell it all," including reception decorations, toasting flutes, cake serving sets, tiaras, ring-bearer pillows and flower-girl baskets.
Zuroff describes her store, which opened last month, as a safer alternative to Craigslist and a lot cheaper than paying full retail.
She stocks about 150 wedding dresses, most of them new, for $300 to $450. Bridesmaids' and prom dresses, about 500 in total, are $65. Sizes range from 0 to 26. Wedding decorations are sold at about half of retail price.
Other bridal consignment shops in the Twin Cities, Classy Consignments in Anoka (www. classyconsignmentsbridal. com) and Brides of France in Edina, Minneapolis and Richfield (www. bridesoffrance.com), consign only bridal gowns.
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