From Ribbons to Rings—Bride-to-Be Plans Her Wedding on eBay
by Zigmund
eBay Staff Member

As most married folks can attest to, planning a wedding requires a great deal of work. With all the preparation and shopping that are required, some modern-day couples struggle just trying to get everything done before the big day.

When member yme15 was faced with a lot to do to plan her own wedding and very little spare time to do it in, she grabbed a chair and pulled up eBay on her computer screen!

The love story started years before when yme15 was working as a realtor in Pennsylvania while her son was in school. She was active as a room mother, and over time she developed an attraction for the principal of his school. "Any woman couldn't help but to notice how attractive he was." Nothing came of it, however, and as the years went on, she moved to New Jersey to continue her career.

Then one day her son's old principal's name was brought up in a conversation, and she began thinking about him again. After finding out he was single, yme15 decided to contact him as a realtor. "I called offering a few investment properties for sale or rent," she laughed.

Before long, the business relationship turned romantic. "After communicating with him a few times, he realized that my interest was more than a possible sale." They soon met each other's families, and the talk of marriage began. Then at a dinner celebration for his birthday, "he slipped off his chair, bent down on one knee and proposed in front of all of my friends," yme15 recounted. "There wasn't a dry each within reach."

The couple set a date for September 2003, which gave them less than a year to prepare for the wedding. The short timeframe was especially difficult for yme15: not only was her job demanding, but it required that she spend two to three days a week 128 miles away from home back in Pennsylvania.

"There was so much to plan, and my lifestyle prohibits me from free time," yme15 explained.

She was also nervous about how much the wedding was going to cost after calling several wedding retailers. "I investigated rental services whose charges put me into shock. I decided I'd rather pay more and still have something to use afterwards." The bridal salons she visited didn't suit her taste either. "I didn't appreciate the way I was being treated in one, and found myself a bit overwhelmed in the other."

As the need to get things done quickly increased, she finally sat down at her computer. She had seen a friend use eBay once or twice, but had barely used it herself. She said she "found the concept of eBay purchasing intriguing, and started watching items." As items she was interested in ended, she was shocked to see some of the final prices and how low they were in comparison to what she would have had to pay in a store.

Combined with the convenience of shopping from her computer, this convinced her to take the plunge, and "when I started, I didn't stop!"

"To be able to shop while working was great sport…it saved time and energy." Living on a barrier island that was an hour's drive to the closest shopping center, it didn't make sense to spend her precious time on the trip for just a few items. This gave her even more reason to stay on eBay.

"I cannot honestly say that I bought everything on eBay, but I tried!"

Purchases began piling up. "I bought 25 tablecloths, dozens of antique crystal candleholders, case lots of matching dinner dishes, appetizer dishes, cups and saucers, soup cups, wine and champagne glasses, salad forks……..even sets of beer pilsners!"

A few sellers even chipped in with help of their own. "One very kind lady sent me an extra set of linen napkins as a wedding gift, and the people from whom I purchased all the china also gave us a gift!"

With much of the dinner taken care of, she focused on the eveningwear. "I purchased the wedding garb on eBay, including a tiara, earrings, jewelry, and pearls." Then came a big one: the wedding dress. "It was a satin Vera Wang sample, butter-colored. It was plain in the front, but tucked and gathered in the back with a train, which I shortened. I loved it."

And her plans kept growing. "I bought hundreds of yards of ribbon and dozens of antique doilies and handkerchiefs to beautify the handmade wedding-favor baskets."

Even receiving the packages was fun…well, at least at the beginning. "At first, when the packages started coming, my fiancée was thrilled, and announced each delivery as it arrived. After a while, it changed to ‘you got another parcel.' Then, towards burn-out time, I'd find them still near the front door….sometimes the smaller packages went unnoticed for days, under mail or magazines."

One item was still needed, however—her wedding band. Although she never expected to find one online, she checked out some listings anyway. Lo and behold, she found the very style she'd been looking at in stores.

"The very best deal and the least expected purchase was my wedding band. We priced others for almost three times as much! I was blindfolded when my fiancée tried it on me for size, the night before it became mine."

On September 26th, 2003, yme15 was married to the principal she had first laid eyes on years ago. All told, they estimate that their wedding cost roughly 25% of what it would have had they not gone online.

So now, the question is what to do with all the items that they bought? "The thought of reselling some of the stuff has come to mind," said yme15. "My girlfriend's daughter got the jewelry, and some things will turn into wonderful Christmas presents (like the crystal candleholders). We even loaned the dishes to family for another wedding and to a friend for a grand opening of her business."

Now that everything is over, yme15 has time to reflect on all that happened during that whirlwind year. She gained a fiancée and then a husband--with a lot of eBay feedback in between. And she can sum it up in one word: "Wonderful!"