Rent the Runway Expands to Bridal Business with Launch of Rent the Runway Weddings

NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Rent the Runway, the leading online destination for dress and accessory rentals, continues its rapid expansion with Rent the Runway Weddings, a natural next step in the online rental business. The new site will cater to the bride, her bridesmaids, and wedding guests by offering exclusive bridesmaid collections, bridal accessories, and styling services. The bridesmaid collections have been designed exclusively for Rent the Runway Weddings by top designers Badgley Mischka, Robert Rodriguez and Nicole Miller.  Additional non-exclusive styles will be available from Shoshanna and Calypso. To celebrate the launch, Rent the Runway will be offering a week's worth of prizes from brands such as Fresh Cosmetics, Spanx, and Blueprint Cleanse.    

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110118/NY31579 )

Jenny Fleiss, President and Co-Founder of Rent the Runway stated, "Bridesmaid dresses are the quintessential dress women only wear once. With Rent the Runway Weddings, we'll finally solve the '27 Dresses' problem."

Each designer's bridesmaid collection will offer up to four styles in up to four seasonal colors, allowing the bride to mix-and-match a selection of bridesmaid dresses best suited to her bridal party.  Brides will also have the opportunity to personalize her bridesmaid dresses with optional embellishments such as jeweled belts and sashes.  Bridesmaid dress rentals will start at $65 and include a one-day fitting in addition to an 8-day rental period.  

For the bride, Rent the Runway Weddings will offer dress and accessory rentals for all occasions surrounding the wedding, including the engagement party, bachelorette party, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, and honeymoon.  While the website will not offer wedding gown rentals, an extensive selection of accessories will be available for the wedding day from top jewelry designers Badgley Mischka, Miriam Haskell and Ciner, among others. Wedding accessory rentals will start at $10.

Jennifer Hyman, CEO and Co-Founder of Rent the Runway stated, "We found on average that each bride was buying up to six dresses for all occasions surrounding her wedding. As a result, we've made a portion of the site dedicated to helping the bride find dresses for all of these events with personal recommendations from our RTR Stylists."

Rent the Runway Weddings will also cater to wedding guests, an existing top rental segment, by providing dress and accessory rental recommendations for every type of wedding – from black tie to beach destination.  

Added Jennifer Hyman, "There's long been the bridal tradition of finding something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. And now, there's no better place to find that 'something borrowed,' whether you're the bride, bridesmaid or wedding guest."

To learn more please visit: www.RenttheRunway.com/weddings

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Rent the Runway is the premier online destination for dress and accessory rentals.  With a revolving roster of over 120 top designers, 15,000 of the season's hottest dresses, and 4000 accessories, Rent the Runway is designer fashion delivered to her doorstep for a fraction of the price.  For all of life's special occasions, www.renttherunway.com provides the Cinderella experience for women everywhere.

SOURCE Rent the Runway