Liz Wise works with the collection of bridal gowns in her Colts Neck showroom. Liz Wise seems to be living up to her last name. Having tuned in to recent trends, along with the ongoing meager state of the economy, the Colts Neck native has filled a vacant niche, making many brides and their families very happy in the process.
Her newly launched business, Sarah Elizabeth Bride, offers “bridal couture worn once before” as an alternative for women navigating the often-stressful process of finding a wedding gown.
“I just came up with the idea one day,” Wise, who also works in marketing and public relations, said of her 2010 brainstorm. “This girl at work was telling me, ‘I wish I could have a Vera Wang wedding dress, but I can’t afford one.’ ”
The seed for the business was further planted as she spoke with friends who were trying to sell their wedding dresses online.
Around the middle of last year, Wise began acquiring dresses from friends and their friends to start off her collection.
It turned out that it wasn’t only the members of her inner circle who were looking to get a return on their dresses. Largely gone are the days of women holding onto their matrimonial garb for emotional or sentimental reasons, according to Wise.
“Now I think we’re seeing [women selling their wedding gowns] becoming more popular because consignment shops are becoming more popular,” she said. “I think they’re really popular because of the economy.”
With the rise of upscale and specialty consignment shops throughout the county and beyond, many women are becoming secondhand savvy and seeing such goods in a new light.
“I think there’s just more of an awareness now,” Wise said. “And I think people are more conservative about ‘Can I get it for less, and do I really have to spend this much?’ ”
In addition, she pointed out, because gown styles change so much from year to year, women are realizing that saving them for daughters or others to wear in the future is just not realistic.
“They’re like, ‘What is this thing doing in my closet? What am I going to do with it?’ ” she said, adding that selling is better done sooner than later because of the short fashion shelf life of designs.
Armed with all of this knowledge, Wise took to the Web, posting ads on Craigslist to connect with brides who wished to sell their gowns. Besides once-worn dresses, she was also able to introduce a number of brand-new gowns to her collection. Some were from those who bought under pressure and later changed their minds about their bridal attire. Others were from would-be brideswho had a change of heart about their grooms, Wise explained.
“I went and drove all over the place in New Jersey to go and get their dresses,” she said. “I knew if I got great dresses that girls would come and find them.”
Considering that the dresses she found would sell for half — or even a quarter of — the original prices, it seemed that she couldn’t go wrong.
To further spread the word, Wise went undercover to bridal shows, mingling among the betrothed to discuss her budding business with them.
The efforts paid off, with bridesto be fromall over the state, and even from New York, visiting her Colts Neck showroom in hopes of finding their fantasy frocks.
Still, she said, getting Sarah Elizabeth Bride to where it is today was by no means an easy task.
“It wasn’t something that just took off right away,” she said.
Aside from the time and work it took to track down enough gowns in varying sizes and at a range of price points to offer to customers, Wise put in painstaking efforts to create a showroom that rivals — and some might say surpasses — the experience had at typical bridal salons.
“Nothing about it feels like a consignment space,” she said. “I just want it to feel like a fun, pretty, girly space.”
To that end, she outfitted the spacious cottage situated on the farm where she lives with hand-selected pieces that would set the right tone.
“It’s like the definition of shabby chic,” she said. “[For] every part of it, I thought of how I wanted it to feel.”
Alongwith providing the feel of a special, exclusive experience, she wanted her clients’ comfort to be a priority, Wise said, noting that her bridal salon differs from most by not imposing a time limit for her appointment only consultations.
“It’s just much more of a relaxed environment,” she said, adding, “Buying a wedding dress is stressful enough.”
Another way in which the Sarah Elizabeth showroom differs from many bridal salons is its no-pressure vibe. Wise is staunchly opposed to pushing her clients to make a purchase.
“I hate to see somebody buy something because they feel pressured and then regret it,” she said.
Reducing the pressure even more for shoppers is their ability to buy a dress with much less lead time than would be required by a bridal shop, where it can take months to receive an ordered dress, with alterations adding to that time.
According to Wise, even if a particular dress in her stock is several sizes off, her seamstress can have it sized to fit, along with any design tweaking, within a few weeks.
In line with the easygoing environment she fosters, Wise allows her clients to not only bring along their bridesmaids, but also make a little party of the experience.
“Sometimes girls will just bring friends and have mimosas,” she said. “That’s something I just love, and it’s a completely different experience than what you’d have in a bridal shop.”
Of course, the price tags are also quite different — but that’s not to say that all of the gowns are priced in a budget-friendly range.
“Some of them are selling for $3,500 or $4,000,” Wise pointed out. “But it’s still less than they would pay in the store.”
For example, she recently worked with a bride-to-be whose dream dress was a $6,400 gown by designer Monique Lhuillier. Although the selling price could by no means be considered bargain basement, Wise was able to get the bride her coveted dress for about half the original cost.
It is a fulfilling feeling, Wise said, to be a matchmaker of sorts, helping women to get rid of their dresses, and then fitting them to others like so many glass slippers.
“I think it’s just exciting to pass theword around,” she said, “because I think there are girls out there who are looking for something like this.”
Along with an ever-changing selection of gowns, Sarah Elizabeth Bride offers veils, headpieces and accessories to finish off the bridal look, as well as dresses for bridesmaids and mothers of the bride.
Wise said she hopes to soon expand to include prom and communion dresses.
For more information about Sarah Elizabeth Bride, visit www.sarahelizabethbride.com, or contact Liz Wise at 732-858-1517 or email [email protected].