We chose to have the boutique on a Sunday afternoon from 1:30-4:30 PM. It was all first come, first get! So, I had a line of ladies waiting at the front by 1:30 PM. I chose that time so they could go home and eat and several of them live a distance away so they could go to church, eat lunch with their family and come over!
We opened the doors and the ladies came in and began shopping. No clothes' shopping trip would be complete if you didn't have dressing rooms, right? So, I made SIX dressing rooms - three of our bathrooms and three bedrooms. All but one had full length mirrors in them, too.
At one point we even had a line of ladies waiting to try on clothes. It was fantastic!
Some of the ladies only had one or two items in their hands and so I stepped in and became their personal shopper! These clothes were free, why not try on anything?
Many ladies left with bags and bags full of clothing. I requested everyone bring their own bags, since I had to use all my extra bags to put the left-over clothing in for charity. I had some ladies post-pregnancy there loving that they could get free clothes for that transitional time until they could fit into their normal size again, too. Some just didn't have much, others just wanted to look, and still more teenage girls got so many cute things (their Moms were grateful for the LARGE savings not having to buy them clothes).
I let everyone know via email and such, that the following Monday morning between 10 AM and Noon, they could bring a friend who didn't attend our church. Again, I didn't want strangers showing up, so they had to accompany their friends who came to go through the left-overs. It was also open to those who couldn't make it the day before. After noon, I closed up the "shop" and packed up all the left-over clothing.
I only had about a quarter of the clothing and accessories left to leave on my porch for the charity truck the next day. I had booked that truck a few weeks before the boutique, knowing there would certainly be left-overs. My hubby helped me load up the porch the night before, and that was it! The picture above I took from my van as I was leaving for the day. It was gone when I returned! (Note: I will not take a "tax credit" since I did not personally donate these clothes).
So, there you have it. That's HOW to plan a FREE Ladies Boutique. Easy? I thought it wasn't so bad. Fun? Yep. Organizing with lots of ladies was a great opportunity to fellowship with others they may not have seen around church. Would I do it again? Yes, but not next year. I have plans for a DIFFERENT kind of boutique next year! I know, I know...I'm crazy!
If you missed any of the other posts about the boutique, here you go:
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