The Chic Guide: What is Secondhand Silience?
Kayla Petty, Founder of Secondhand Silience: Secondhand Silience is an LGBTQ+, woman owned vintage furniture/decor rental and flower preservation business serving the Cincinnati and Dayton area.
The Chic Guide: What’s the inspiration behind it?
Petty: Our motto is “finding beauty in all things old and used.” Silience refers to the beauty and excellence that carries on around us day by day that goes unnoticed, such as your coworkers hidden talents, an undiscovered waterfall in a desolate rainforest, or that single speck of green in your partner’s eye you have never noticed. At Secondhand Silience, we strive to discover unique pieces and share their beauty with the world.
The Chic Guide: Who’s behind it?
Petty: Me, Kayla Petty, and my wife, Katie Petty. It all started when we got married in April 2021. We started collecting items we wanted to use on our wedding day and that is how this small business was born. I am the creative eye, and Katie is the math wiz doing your contracts and helping with deliveries.
The Chic Guide: What services do you offer clients?
Petty: We offer vintage rentals for events, as well as event styling and designing. We offer cheap delivery options, and depending on availability, are normally able to travel up to two hours for your event. We also just started offering flower preservation in the form of pressed flower frames. We can preserve your wedding bouquet, memorial flowers, or even use flowers from your own garden.
The Chic Guide: What makes Secondhand Silience unique?
Petty: Our emphasis on environmental sustainability within the wedding industry is what makes us unique. If you are in the industry, you know how incredibly wasteful it can be. Our way to combat this is to do everything in our power to not purchase any new items, and to only buy secondhand. I would say 90% of our inventory was thrifted. We aren’t afraid of small projects or pieces that require fixes. At any events where there are flowers that are going in the dumpster after the event, I try to take as many as I can to either press or dry to use for future events. Brides that give me their bouquets, I pass the glassware/vases to local florists that can reuse. Anything I can do to reuse items, I try my best to do. As the back of our t-shirts say, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, RENT.”
The Chic Guide: Is there anything new on the horizon?
Petty: We have a few ideas up our sleeves! We are looking into expansion, growing our team, and experimenting with new flower preservation techniques. There is potential for a huge announcement early 2022, so stay tuned!!
Currently, we are so excited for our styled shoot at Abby’s Farm on October 3rd, hosted by Play2Pro Photography and Linen and Elm. It’s got all the fall and Halloween vibes and I am so excited to show off some new inventory.
The Chic Guide: Where can readers go to learn more and follow along?
Petty: You can follow along on Instagram, Facebook, our website, or you can email me directly at [email protected].
