Welcome to the vendor series! I’m highlighting wedding vendors in the Shenandoah Valley and bringing them directly to you! We’re getting to know the vendors, learning about their businesses, and answering your questions so you can include them in your big day. We’re kicking this off with Valley Heirlooms, a vintage and specialty rentals company created by the experienced Anita Riggleman. Anita lives and breathes unique rental items that help showcase the beautiful valley she has lived in her entire life.

The Beginnings of Valley Heirlooms

“I’ve always loved antiques and vintage items,” Anita said when I visited her and her collection. She frequented yard sales and auctions with her parents when she was a child, and her love for antiques grew constantly over time. The items remind her of family and good times, and she can remember every piece she’s ever gotten.

When she got married 10 years ago, Anita researched rental items and couldn’t find exactly what she wanted. Her style started (and still mainly is) vintage and rustic, so she went on the hunt for things that matched what she loved. She started to build up a small collection and stored them in her garage and her parents basement, wherever she could find space. Word of mouth let her community know that she had quality items that people wanted, and they soon started renting from her. She did a lot of research and in 2014 she officially opened up her business.

Anita started with collecting small vintage items: vases, table type decor, and other easily movable pieces. She soon realized that she needed bigger furniture if she wanted to be serious, so she’s opened up her collection to couches, chairs, tables, doors, arbors, and more.

Today, she owns seven storage sheds filled with beautiful and unique pieces that are all available to rent. Although she does 90% weddings, Anita is happy to rent to other events or parties. She loves smaller parties where she can pick out the perfect fit for what they’re doing, and a few repeat customers help support her business over time.

The Green Mission

One of the best things about Valley Heirlooms is Anita’s mission for the environment. She has a background in environmental compliance and makes it her mission to upcycle and reuse her pieces as much as she can. She loves knowing that her business is keeping these pieces out of the landfill and into the hands of her clients. Reusing them over time is the best form of reducing, and it prevents her brides from needing to build up their own collections. Keeping her collection accessible and beautiful is just one way to make it more environmentally friendly. Ask her about the green aspect of her business and she’ll happily explain why it means so much to her business and her life.

Working with Brides

Anita has built up her collection to relate to a large range of clients: vintage, antique upholstered furniture, boho items, and mid century modern pieces take up the majority of her space. If she doesn’t have something you want, Anita will try to find it, but her collection is so large and diverse that you are sure to find something you’ll love.

When you first inquire with her, Anita needs to know the date of the event, the venue, how many guests you’re going to have, and what look or feel you’re going for. Knowing the date will help her see what’s available, and knowing the venue will help her know if her items will work with the location. As for the feel, it will help Anita if you tell her if you want your guests to be wowed when they walk in, if you want a statement piece with a ceremony backdrop, or if you want a few pieces or a whole collection.

On her website you can create a wish list of the pieces she has listed online. She suggests starting there and incorporating any images or Pinterest boards to help her understand what look or feel you’re going for. From there, Anita can go back to her collection and tell them what items would go well together in the vision you’ve created. Instead of giving you the thousands of items she owns, she will instead provide a few options that won’t overwhelm you.

Once you create your wish list, Anita sends you a proposal. It includes the standard damage waiver fee, delivery, setup, and retrieval fee, and an explanation of what it will be like to work with her. She also includes an inclement weather plan that protects the collection. One thing that makes Anita’s company great is that she has a team of guys that load the truck, deliver the items to the location, unload it, set it up, and come back that night or next day to load it up again and bring it back.

Advice for Brides

Anita’s number one piece of advice to brides planning their weddings is to use professional wedding vendors.

“They are a resource to you,” she said. “They have knowledge that most people don’t have. A lot of times people will say they’ve never planned a wedding before. Well, that’s good! Most people haven’t planned a wedding party for over a hundred people.”

Unless you’re in the wedding business, you don’t have experience. Rely on your vendors and ask them for recommendations for other vendors. When Anita was asked for something to add to her arbor in an upcoming wedding, she was able to suggest some great local florists that could provide flowers.

Anita also suggests contacting vendors as soon as you you know a date and a venue. Her pieces get rented 6-10 months in advance, and you’re out of luck if they’re booked. That’s life with a business of unique items!

Anita brings a different kind of life experience into Valley Heirlooms that definitely benefits her clients and her style. She’s traveled to over 50 countries and experienced perspectives and styles she never would have seen otherwise. When someone contacts her and says they want to throw a Moroccan themed dinner, she knows the perfect pieces to provide. When she was traveling, she learned to not sweat the small stuff. There’s always more than one solution to a problem and it’s not the end of the world to take a different path. She suggests that couples adopt that same mindset while planning their wedding.

The last piece of advice she has directly ties into planning your wedding. Don’t have the budget for farm tables and vintage chairs and lounges for all your guests? Just get a sweetheart table and chairs for you and your spouse. Get an arbor or a specialty piece for the ceremony that sets it apart from other weddings and is memorable to your guests. You don’t have to break the bank to have specialty items.

Running Valley Heirlooms

Anita wears all the hats for Valley Heirlooms and does an amazing job. She does all the buying (obviously her favorite part), emailing, creating proposals, scheduling, venue visits, and everything else it takes to run a business. She sometimes does up to five events in one weekend, so she needs systems in place to keep everything organized and in check.

Although she jokes that she’s a glorified moving company and has gotten really good at furniture Tetris, Anita really does love her job. She loves to think she’s saving the pieces and allowing others to love them as much as she does. One of the best feelings to her is having previous clients or vendors recommend her because they connect with her mission and love the way she runs her business.

Anita warns people hoping to start their own rental businesses that they really need to have a passion for it. It’s hard work in all types of weather, seasons, weekends, and hours of the day. But if you love it, networking with other people in the industry very helpful as well as setting up systems from the very beginning.

If you’re interested in learning more about Anita, Valley Heirlooms, becoming a vintage rental company, or how to rent her collection, visit her at her website here!

If you’d like to learn about other vendors in the Shenandoah area, check them out here!

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