So I’m sure you noticed, but we had a last minute change of plans as far as location. That was…well stressful to say the least. It meant that we had to throw a lot of careful planning out the window and start over with about 24 hours to go. I’m not good with last minute changes and Friday was a really tough day for me. But we pulled it together.
We got to the hotel and they had set up some tables for us. We labeled the tables with sizes (0-2, 4-6, 8-10, ect) and we also had a table for accessories and one for jewelry. Shoes were on the floor.
The tables got piled super high really fast and got really messy really fast once the trying on process started.
We had two full length mirrors available. I was impressed that all 13 girls who showed up were willing to change in front of one another. I was so proud of the level of self confidence in the room! Everyone looked great, and they knew it. The trying on process went really well. LOTS of “that looks great on you” and “you are totally going to rock that” and ZERO rudeness or cattiness.
Because we were in hotel space, we had a limited amount of time, so we had to change our plans regarding tickets and taking turns and instead we used an honor system for how many items you brought in vs how many you took. We still allowed about an hour for browsing and trying on items, then we had swappers select items in groups of 5, 3 items at a time.
We went a few rounds like this and at that point we did a brief show of hands, asking who still needed to take turns, and it seems everyone had that one item they were dying for at that point so we just sort of opened up the floor for free selection.
Of course we also had cake balls, and lots of great food. (Those little chicken minis were a huge hit, Jen!)
We ended up with a pretty sizable donation for charity,
…and everyone seemed to find lots of great stuff to take home.
I am really proud of the work we did, and I am I was so glad to have spent all the time with Tina , planning. She is such a joy and so much fun to be with, she is a great listener, never judgmental and has great style to boot. I may not be ready to take on another swap just yet, but I would take pretty much any excuse to hang out with Tina again.
A special thank you to all our participants
Monica
Kelly
Wendy (who helped with space and was a great co-host)
Maria
Laurie
Connie
Anjolee
Bernadette
Jen Mauldin
Ann
Becky
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12 comments:
What a great idea - can you give us some tips. I'd love to do this.
I'm catching up on reading blogs. So happy your swap was a success. It does take a lot of planning, but you both looks so happy and relieved at the same time :)
on older posts: love those sparkle butt pants LOL!
and I really enjoyed wicked lovely and ink exchange. I was so impatient to get Fragile Eternity. Maybe that was my problem, but for me F E was the only one that dragged. wasn't what I anticipated.
i wish i lived in your area!
i also went to a swap this past weekend. did a HUGE closet cleanout beforehand + came away with a few decent items.
it feels great to give (and pretty good to receive too!)
I have that teal, navy, and orange skirt the girl is holding up in that one picture--I hope someone took it home because it's fabulous and looks good with practically everything.
I wish someone would do something like this around here!
You guys put so much work into this, and it looks like everybody had a great time and came away with some great stuff! I'm so sad I couldn't make it out, but I'm definitely looking forward to next time, if you do decide to do it again one day!
OMG! I would love to participate in a clothing swamp- so fun!!
Erin - we did good! LOL
Anon - I (the chick holding the skirt and the cohost of the event) took that skirt home. It's on my list of outfits to wear soon. :)
Hurrah! Skirt twins. I realized after re-reading the post that was you and I felt like an idiot being so ambiguous in my post.
I used to pair it up with a rust-coloured hoodie on a dressing-down day but I've been known to rock it with black blouses, rules of fashion be damned.
WOW!! I'd SOO LOVE to go to a swap, or help organise one!! :)
So tell more about how you organized it and any tips, if you can! I love the flexibility and everybody being nice etc!
How did you advertise/get people on board etc?
I'm so envious! I don't know any bloggers in my area (plus I live on an island!). Oh well, more for my girlfriends.
You are so totally brave for doing this - and especially for planning it! I've been cracking up over your posts about the cake truffle thingies. That looks like it was so much work.
I've heard of a couple of swaps in the Philly area, but I'm so nervous about the idea of going to one.
I so wish I could've gone. Looks like you did an amazing job! <3
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