Catering: Tailor Made Custom Catering
Photography: Jeanne Marie Photo
As some of you may know, I started a second company under the TGA umbrella named Wedcycle Hawai’i. It is a decor rental company that specializes in second-hand, pre-loved event decor, to create less waste in the wedding industry. The thought to start Wedcycle was a realization that people spend a ton of money on decor for their events and after the big day, a lot of that decor is either donated or thrown out. In my career, I have seen a ton of items be single use, when they could have had a longer life span.
Rarely do people hold on to their table numbers and 100 candle votives. Most of the time they are cycled through the donation centers, split up amongst the different stores. Once there, sourcing those niche items becomes a game of chance. I know that when I was thrifting for my wedding, I was finding single vases that I mixed matched with other items to create a set. It took a lot of time and even money, since the thrift stores have become more pricey. At the end of the day, even buying second hand is not all that sustainable if you just end up using it for a one time use.
Don’t even get me started on buying new. Items in the wedding space, solely because they are marketed as a wedding item, are priced at a premium rate. A simple gold card box costs about $50 on Amazon. Something that is just going to hold a bunch of cards. Pretty crazy! According to The Knot, weddings in 2021 are averaging at around $22,500 total. A huge decrease from the last 5 years due to the pandemic I am sure. What this information told me is that with people spending less than what they were spending in the past, they had less money to spend on decor items, so an affordable (and sustainable) option needed to be available.
As a wedding planner who helps couples local to Hawai’i and who are traveling in for their event, I accumulate a TON of stuff. When the party's over, rarely do couples care what happens to their smaller decor, and if they are flying in, they forsure do not want to take it back with them. I became the collector of misfit wedding items. At first, I just had a few random pieces, but before I knew it, I was housing enough products that I could create collections of decor kits.
From there it was just taking my idea and putting it into action. I started with my first wedding kit, the Gold Collection (recently renamed the Romantic collection), a collection of 10 curated and cohesive items all with that romantic gold aesthetic. Since then, we have two collections (with more on the way) and a ton of smaller decor to add the finishing touches to your event design.
My hope is that people don’t feel pressured to spend $400-$500 on last minute items to complete their space, but rather rent at a more affordable price and in turn create less waste. I want this to be an asset for not just couples, but other businesses as well, so they can afford to rent things at a price that does not take from their bottom line. Going this route, you save money, save time on having to source items, and choose a more sustainable option for your wedding day.
Featured Photo Credits: Jeanne Marie Photo Kenzie Kate Photography LM Collective
Wedcyle Hawai’i has released their new website that makes the renting process easier. Choose your items, your 3 day rental period, and time to pick up and drop off from our storage. New items will be released every Friday, so make sure to follow us on instagram to stay up to date with all our items available for rent!
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