About

The idea for Smartbride came about when I became engaged and was preparing for my wedding. I am a big fan of finding high-quality used items. I regularly shop and sell on Craigslist and eBay, and personally, I would much rather spend $400.00 on a used item worth $2000 than $400.00 on something new, but of lesser quality.

So when I was searching for my wedding gown, I thought there could be nothing more perfect than a used dress--after all, this is a garment that has only been worn once, for a max of about 5 hours.

When I began the search, I was daunted by sites like eBay and Craigslist which offered a very broad, somewhat generic and untailored experience for the bridal search. I was unable to find a used gown online and ended up spending about $2000.00 on the dress and alterations. I loved my dress, but always felt that this was a waste of money.

This is when the idea for Smartbride was born. I wanted to create a community exchange specific only to the bridal industry. I wanted a site which offered buyers a simple and free means to sell their gowns, so they could use the money for something useful-like a vacation, new furniture or baby clothes. Above all, I wanted a site tailored for brides-fun, hip and entertaining to use.

I am very happy to have created this site with the help of my husband and his company Internet Simplicity, artwork by Tim Ward and creative direction from ad firm Elevation 49. This was a group effort and I'm very excited about the end product.

My husband and I live in Los Gatos, California and have one daughter.