When Mackenzie Newcomb got engaged in September 2019, she was determined to have a budget-friendly wedding that felt personal and unique, and the New York City resident soon found a great deal at Milk and Roses in Brooklyn.
The restaurant was perfect for a casual, intimate celebration and its library/speakeasy vibe was particularly appropriate since Newcomb runs a virtual book club network. The 28-year-old soon booked her florist and made plans for a magical "secret garden" themed wedding. The date was originally set for Sept. 19, 2020 ... and then the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Like many couples, Newcomb and her fiancé, Ben Jerrom, decided to postpone their wedding and the next couple of months proved to be particularly difficult for a range of reasons.
"My husband's father Ed passed away after a year in hospice and many years of illness, and we even had a major flood in our storage unit that destroyed a lot of our stuff," she told TMRW.
When Newcomb and Jerrom relocated from NYC to Massachusetts, where she grew up, they soon realized they preferred to get married immediately in an even simpler ceremony.
"When we saw the rental home my grandparents were staying in in Hingham, Mass. right on the harbor, it seemed like fate. When I saw the spot I turned to Ben and said "we have to get married here" and with my grandparents' full support and excitement, my mom and I planned a wedding in three weeks!"
Of course, the bride had already planned and booked her other NYC wedding, and she was legally obligated to pay for it, whether she attended it or not. And as time went on, she started to get more and more nervous about how to recoup the nearly $23,000 she spent on her original 80-person ceremony.
Newcomb's father suggested she start "selling" the wedding on multiple occasions, but she never thought it was possible.
"I didn't think anyone would want my wedding, truthfully! I'd been casually tweeting about wanting to sell it for awhile now, and one of my book club members named Lyndsey actually suggested I try my hand at TikTok," she said.
At the end of April, Newcomb went to the app and shared a video of herself announcing that her wedding is on sale for $15,000 — an $8,000 discount compared to what it cost. The winning couple will also have to pay $3,100 that's due at the venue on the day of the wedding.
"I decided to go with that price because it felt fair, but I honestly expected to negotiate with people and assumed I'd get less for it. Fortunately, not only are people willing to pay that amount; they are willing to do it in one payment!" she said.
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Applicants have to meet the following criteria:
- Must live in NYC (preferably Brooklyn)
- Must be willing to make the full payment to up front
- Must keep the floral plan as is (with the exception of the Chuppah, which is specific to the Jewish faith)
- Must keep all the other hired vendors too (DJ, etc.)
The newlywed is surprised at the reaction her post has received in just a few days (she has a dozen or so legitimate offers) and said she'll be ready to announce the winners soon. And now, after almost a year of worrying about the hefty bill, Newcomb is feeling pretty relieved.
"The wedding in Brooklyn has felt like a dark cloud over our heads. We knew we didn't want to have it, but we didn't want to break contracts or hurt our vendors who were already suffering because of COVID," she said. "I'm also now self-employed (I run a large virtual book club), which adds a whole new layer of financial anxiety into the mix."
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The 28-year-old is consulting with a lawyer to square everything away legally and she got the vendors' seal of approval before going live with her TikTok video. So, what are the newlyweds planning to do once they do sell their wedding? A honeymoon to the Philippines might be in their near future.
Newcomb is excited to pass her planned wedding on to another happy couple and says she wouldn't have changed her actual wedding in the slightest.
"The wedding we ended up having, with just siblings, parents and grandparents was the dream wedding! It was in a gorgeous setting, my grandmother officiated the ceremony (she's an Episcopal priest), we had lobster, steamers and clam chowder for dinner in a perfect New England way," she said. "It was so intimate, personal, and even luxurious."
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