Friday, June 27, 2008

Bridesmaids on eBay???

Here's the weirdest money story of the week, from yesterday's New York Times:

Bride-to-Be Takes a Chance on eBay for a Bidding Bridesmaid

Being a bridesmaid can be expensive, as any woman who has been fitted for a dress she did not pick out, or spent hundreds of dollars for a plane ticket, can attest. But, then again, most bridesmaids know the bride.

Then, there is Kelly Gray and her fifth bridesmaid.

Ms. Gray, a Virginia Beach hairdresser, auctioned off the chance to be a bridesmaid in her April 2009 wedding on eBay. The winning bid on Wednesday was $5,700.

Today, the story got even weirder:

On eBay, Bride Finds Sponsor for a Wedding
The eBay auction to be a bridesmaid in Kelly Gray’s wedding is officially over, but the surprises keep coming.

The winning bid of $5,700 was by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

“We heard about the contest and thought it was an amazing thing she came up with,” said Nick Rangone, a spokesman for the beverage company who introduced himself to Ms. Gray on the phone as “Nick from New Jersey.”

Initially shocked that a beverage company had won the right to march down the aisle with her, Ms. Gray, 23, a Virginia Beach hairdresser, received another surprise when the company decided to give her $10,000, rather than the $5,700 it had bid.

How will the blushing bride be spending the money?

Ms. Gray said her wedding to Karl Gau would still be a simple affair.

“I don’t want it to be extravagant, but now I can get that wonderful D.J. who has the lights; I can do that,” she said. “Now I’m thinking of a honeymoon.”

Maybe she'll get to serve free Dr. Pepper at the reception too.

It's funny-- I enjoyed being a bridesmaid at my sister's wedding, but like many other women, I would be more likely to pay someone NOT to have to be a bridesmaid at her wedding! (Unless, of course, the happy couple meets through my Money Match personal ads!)

8 comments:

DogAteMyFinances said...

Ha! I just blogged on this when the auction ended.

Sounds like she pulled a Star Jones without even meaning to. Good for her! If I were her, I would totally have Snapple and Dr. Pepper cocktails.

Anonymous said...

For that money I would let them dress up a bottle of Dr. Pepper and put it in line at the altar.

Esme said...

Being a bridesmaid is a lot of work and energy that I would only do for a good friend and my sister. Certainly wouldn't pay money to be one.

But good for her, because she did get what she wanted: money for her wedding.

frugal zeitgeist said...

For that kind of cash, I'd let Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo be my bridesmaid.

No, in all seriousness, I think the right thing to do would have been to scale back her wedding to something she could afford.

Dolly Iris said...

Smart bride! I'm glad this worked out in her favor.

Anonymous said...

But... I don't understand. Why would anyone pay money to be a bridesmaid for a perfect stranger (unless, MAYBE, it's for a celebrity wedding)? Hmm, maybe I should fund my education by auctioning off the chance to do my homework for me.

Anonymous said...

That's exactly what is wrong with this country. Always wanting someone else to pay your way. It creates a materialistic society and promotes keeping up with the Joneses, and everyone wonders why there is astronomical credit card debt in this country. A clever idea? Perhaps. What is sad is that she was taken seriously and that anyone would endorse what she did. Doesn't that go completely against what this blog is all about? Nothing like living beyond your means, begging someone to pay your debt, and then being congratulated for it. Shame on them, and shame on anyone else who condones it.

Disgusted said...

How about this????? The “eBay Bride” and her husband didn’t even last a year, and they are split up. I guess this goes to show that they should have just gone to the JOP, since they obviously already had a kid. She claims she wanted this wedding “since she was a little girl” and that she deserved to have her dream wedding. Did her dream wedding include already having a kid? Their marriage is/was a JOKE!!!