Vera Bradley for Everyone!

The Vera Bradley Outlet Sale: an event held every spring in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where women from all over the country come to pick over last season’s line, discounted 40-70%.

So what does this have to do with weddings? A little thing called bridesmaid gifts.

I waited until the last day of the sale to go, when it would be the least crowded and the most discounted. I kept a watchful eye on Vera Bradley’s twitter until those magical words appeared: “we currently have no wait”. Ryan and I hopped in our car, sped over, and he dropped me off at the front door.

It was the first time I’d ever been to anything like this. I’m a bargain shopper, but pushing through crowds and fighting over merchandise isn’t really my thing. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by how orderly and polite everyone was. No pushing, no shoving, no cat fights.

The group of women, all donning their Vera Bradley purses, moved like a giant slithering snake up and down the aisles of patterned fabric, grabbing a makeup bag here… a stationary set there, until their loaned pink shopping bags were filled to the brim. At that point, the groups of women would disperse to the side of the room where they would empty the contents of their shopping bag onto the floor and make the final “cuts”.

I was swift and decisive in my shopping. I know what I like and what I don’t like, so I was in and out of the main room in 10 minutes.

But when you enter the “checkout” room, you are greeted with this:

Rows upon rows upon rows of women with pink bags waiting to check out. Sigh. Added bonus: after I got in line, the internet went down, so checkout slowed to a snail’s pace.

40 minutes later, I was out the door and on my way with a bunch of discounted goodies, including these adorable cosmetic bags in various patterns for each of my future bridesmaids:

Never mind the fact that I haven’t even decided on my bridesmaids yet. Woops!