Best Rental Clothing & Thrift Shops as a Wedding Guest!

Wedding season is upon us and buying a dress for every occasion can get expensive for a one time use! I have a few recommendations for all you wedding guests this upcoming season!

Rent The Runway - Rent The Runway offer one time rentals & dresses can be around $25-150 depending on the brand, style, and popularity. Rent The Runaway also offers 3 memberships options each month & is great to change up your closet!

@reviveyosoul - This is a Houston, Texas based business, they offer all kinds of gowns that are perfect as a wedding guest, bride, & mama to be! They offer amazing dresses to rent for all kinds of photoshoots & occasions!

Nuuly Rent - Nuuly Rent offers a membership based service & more affordable! They do the laundry for you, so no worries about washing & cleaning before sending it back. I love how they categorize by looks & occasions!

Another great option instead of renting is thrifting your attire! I’m a lover of thrifting & you can so easily do this if you’re trying to stay on the budget! Thrifting can be time consuming, however the money you can potentially save makes it so worth it. Personally I’m a sucker for thrifting & love going! I wanted to share some of my favorite thrift stores in the Houston & Austin areas.

Houston Thrift Stores:

Salvation Army off of Washington Ave in Houston. They have such a big variety of men’s & women’s clothing & accessories, home decor, & furniture. Every Wednesday at Salvation Army is 50% off everything (I believe this is everywhere or just at certain locations).

Address: 2208 Washington Ave, Houston, TX 77007

Salvation Army in Pearland off of 518 is one of my go to thrift stores! This store has the most friendly staff & well stocked in every department every time I’m there! I constantly find the best clothing, brands, & unique finds here! Again, Half off Wednesdays is where it’s at!

Address: 3260 E Broadway St, Pearland, TX 77581

Forgotten Angels Resale Shop is in the same strip center as Salvation Army in Pearland. Forgotten Angels is a great store & they have weekly deals. They have a giant selection of home decor, crafts, furniture, and art however, the clothing selection is more limited, but they still have a great variety! I love finding pots for my plants, little trinkets, jackets, & mugs here!

Address: 3216 E Broadway St, Pearland, TX 77581

The Shepard’s Nook in Friendswood, Texas. This is a cash only business & they have very limited hours of service, but this is by far my favorite thrift store in all of Houston area. I have found some of my best finds within this small blue house. They have a wide selection of men’s, women’s, & children’s clothing, shoes, & accessories, housewares & decor. Plus, the prices are incomparable, it’s such a great little store!

Address: 201 N Friendswood Dr, Friendswood, TX 77546

Treasure City Thrift in Austin, Texas. I have only been here once, but the time I did go, they have a pretty good selection of everything you could want in a thrift store! The prices were incredibly low, considering you’re in Austin. I love pretty unique glassware pieces for only a few bucks!

Address: 2142 E 7th St, Austin, TX 78702

Goodwill Outlet aka the Goodwill Bins in Austin, Texas. I absolutely love the South Austin location, but they do have a North Austin location. Every time I go it doesn’t disappoint! You will want to come prepared, gloves, reusable bag to put all your goodies in, comfy shoes, a mask (this place is always packed), & hand sanitizer! At Goodwill Outlets they price everything by the weight, so all clothing is $1.49/lb.

Address: 6505 Burleson Rd, Austin, TX 78744

Wishing y’all good luck on your future thrift finds & hope this helps y’all!

Katherine & Juan's Couple's Session in Downtown Austin, Texas.

I had the privilege of photographing my sweet friends while they staying in Austin, Texas for the weekend. I always have the best of times at sessions when my client’s are close friends of mine. Juan surprised Kat with a weekend trip to Austin & it just so happened I was available to do this spur of the moment session with them. They decided to go to Laguna Gloria in Downtown Austin, Texas. It was such a unique place, there were trees & greenery everywhere. As well as art all around the indoor & outdoor spaces, since it’s a Contemporary Art Museum. We had the best time & found a little spot where we could see Lake Austin, which was how we wrapped up our session.

Current Reception Ideas I'm loving from a Wedding Photographer!

As a vendor within the wedding industry you can probably imagine that I go to more weddings than the average person. I’m constantly seeing my couples change their wedding day up to what they want! The best thing about your wedding if that you can do whatever you want to. If you hate the idea of throwing a bouquet & your partner throwing a garter, then don’t do it. Don’t overthink your wedding!


Here’s my current favorite reception ideas!

  • Champagne Tower 🥂 The photos with champagne towers are definitely in my top 3 ideas! This is perfect for brides that wanna go all out, plus this looks so classy in photos!

  • Late Night Snack - Serve your guests pizza, Chick-fila-a, Whataburger, or your favorite drunk snack!

  • Photo Booth - This is perfect for the guests to go home with something from your wedding! Plus, who doesn’t love a good photo booth fun! 📸

  • Kids Table! If you know there’s gonna be kiddos at your wedding, then consider opting for a kids table. This can be filled with kids activities like; coloring, word searches, legos, tabletop chalk, cornhole, & maybe even bubbles (hear me out, this could be a cute idea if they blow these whenever the newlyweds make their grand entrance.)

  • S’mores Bar 🍫 - Guests can make their own s’mores. This would go get for an outdoor reception by a bonfire!

  • Guest Book with a twist! There are so many ways to have a guestbook, you can have your guests; sign an old record, take Polaroid pictures of themselves, record a voicemail, or you can have a guestbook full of your engagement photos & have guests write in that.

  • Anniversary Dance/Money Dance! This is perfect to get everyone on the dance floor! The anniversary dance is when all married couples dance at the same time & then a DJ will slowly kick out people to find what couple has been married the longest. The money dance is when you & your partner both dance with guests, however in order for your guests to dance with you they have to give you money, it can be as low as $1!

  • Disposable Cameras 🎞 I love it when couples have disposable cameras on their wedding day & then have their closest friends & family also capture the day! This is so sweet to me, because you’re able to see your wedding through your family & friend’s eyes. This is definitely one of my favorites!

  • Wedding Bounce House 💫 This is a trend that’s on the come up & definitely has it’s own crowd. This idea isn’t for everyone, but this is a super cool fun idea for those having kids in attendance & this could be super fun once the night goes on & everyone get’s drunk.

This is just a small little list of reception ideas that I’m absolutely loving! If you want to do any of these ideas at your wedding, do it!!