Vendor Spotlight- Stockroom Vintage

Wondering where to find that beautiful white tufted settee to capture your romantic shots from your wedding day? What about those apothecary bottles you just had to have for your candy table? Or that bicycle built for two that's just oh so you?

Well brides, look no further than Stockroom Vintage where what you can dream up becomes a definite possibility! With vintage weddings becoming more and more popular these days, Elizabeth Ulrich-Fanguy makes your search for the most unique items easy and fun! Learn about her passion to help you below!

What made you go into the business of vintage event rentals and styling?

As a kid, I spent lots of time in my dad’s woodshop, watching him craft gorgeous furniture that would become family heirlooms. And I inherited a love of thrifting and estate sale shopping from my mother, so I’ve been obsessed with all things rusty and handcrafted—pieces with a real story—from a young age. Even before I launched Stockroom Vintage, I had amassed a personal collection of vintage pieces that I couldn’t live without.

When I started to plan my own wedding in 2011, I knew it had to reflect my eclectic vintage style. The problem? Most of the items I wanted were either hidden away in an attic or sold at antique stores for a pretty penny. I either couldn’t find or afford most of the pieces I wanted for wedding décor. Plus, I simply didn’t have the time to find all of the vintage goodies I wanted. So when I got back from my honeymoon, I launched Stockroom Vintage.

I’ve scoured estate sales, thrift stores and flea markets from coast to coast to source Stockroom Vintage’s curated collection of vintage rentals, which often grows by the day! This is my dream job, which means I’m wholly dedicated to infusing every wedding that features my rentals and every photo shoot or event I style with vintage wonderment. I think bashes of any size (and with any budget!) can be worthy of your favorite Pinterest boards. Aside from pleasing my brides and clients, I have one mission: Make it lovely. Seriously, I dream of vintage vignettes. It’s an obsession I never want to shake!

What type of rentals do you offer?

Stockroom Vintage’s rental collection is vast and varied. I’m an obsessive collector, so if a bride has her heart set on a specific vintage piece for her wedding, chances are I have it in my inventory. If not, I offer a vintage sleuth service to find dream pieces for clients. I love a good antique hunting challenge!

My collection starts with smaller details. I have everything from hundreds of vases and vessels (milk glass, crystal, pewter, amber bottles, brass and mason jars) and dessert pedestals and platters to unique touches like typewriters, scales and vintage books. And my heirloom collection of mix and match china is my pride and joy—I have place settings for 500! Brides love that I offer wedding staples like vases and china in bulk—it saves them the headache of searching antique stores for hundreds of pieces. And, of course, it saves them money. Total win-win!

When it comes to larger statement pieces, Stockroom is also bursting at the seams! I have a large collection of mix and match vintage chairs, farm tables, rustic benches, sofas, settees, trunks and more. And then there are the showstopper pieces, like my vintage postal sorter which has 80 cubbies that are perfect for cupcakes, flowers and any other pretties you want to showcase, and my Cobbler’s Rack, a rustic rolling shelving system that makes for an amazing display piece and the loveliest plate rack you’ve ever seen at a buffet!

I’m sure I’m leaving something out—I mean, I love it all…if a piece doesn’t give me butterflies, I don’t buy it! And all of my inventory lives online, which means brides can search our selection any time of day. Fawning over the inventory from bed in your PJs is totally allowed!

Explain the process of working with a bride.

Sometimes brides will contact me with a list of pieces they’d like to rent—and I’m always happy to accommodate! But I typically suggest that a bride should meet with me for coffee to discuss her vision first. These consultations are always free, and it’s a great way for me to get a feel of who a bride is and what makes her vision unique.

Plus, I like to create a custom grouping of rentals for each bride. It can be overwhelming for brides to wade through the hundreds of items in Stockroom Vintage’s rental inventory. But I know the inventory so well—after all I’ve hand selected each vintage piece and refinished, repainted and brought each find back to life. I know what works, and I love suggesting interesting and unexpected ways that brides can mix and style our rental pieces to really create memorable vignettes and designs guests will remember. And because I also work as a stylist for events and photo shoots (all of the photos you see here are styled by me!), I have an eye for what items will photograph well. The custom groupings I create for brides will be stunners—it’s my job to make your event pretty!

What are all the different ways brides can use your products?

Brides have used my pieces in so many ways. Each lady I meet has a different and unique vision for how she wants to incorporate Stockroom’s vintage rentals. Take our Tufted White Settee. Just this season, one bride used it in her photo booth, another used it for seating at her sweetheart table and others have made it the star of reception lounge areas. If a bride can dream up a use for one of our vintage rental pieces, I can help her make it happen.

I love reimagining uses for our rental items—breathing new life into old pieces is what Stockroom Vintage is all about!

Some personal questions:

Mac or PC  PC…for now. My Mac died a sad and horrible death—complete sad Mac meltdown! I still haven’t gotten over it. :)

Tea or Coffee  Coffee—out of one of my vintage mugs, of course. I have amassed quite the collection! I’m currently obsessed with vintage owl mugs, though dainty teacups always have a soft spot in my heart.

iPhone or Blackberry  iPhone. I can’t live without my apps. I mean, what did we do before we could browse Pinterest while waiting at the doctor’s office?

Favorite Song Right Now  “Itchin’ on a Photograph” by Grouplove. I can’t get enough of it. So if you see me dancing in my car at a stoplight, you know what’s on the radio.