Holly Shanahan does not have fond memories of garage sales - when she was six her mum had one and sold her favourite toy.
Now, after being in a movie that is all about hunting through people's unwanted things to find a gem, Shanahan has a new appreciation for them.
Shanahan plays the bride, Cheryl, in the newly released New Zealand film Second Hand Wedding.
Cheryl has just got engaged, but is petrified about telling her mum for fear she will ruin her big day.
Cheryl's mum, played by ex-Shortland Street star Geraldine Brophy, is a garage sale enthusiast. Cheryl fears her mum will turn her wedding into a second hand nightmare.
Second Hand Wedding opened around the country last week and so far the feedback has been "really positive", Shanahan told NZPA.
Shanahan, 26, works as a full time actor in Auckland and has been in shows such as The Insiders Guide to Happiness and Outrageous Fortune 2.
Originally from Taranaki, she moved to Wellington - which she calls home - to study a BA in theatre at Victoria University.
Second Hand Wedding was her first feature film, and playing Cheryl was a good challenge.
Cheryl is just your average girl, so in a way it was more challenging playing her than an evil or mean character, she says.
Shanahan admits she is not like Cheryl at all, and would not mind a second hand wedding when she gets married.
"I'm a bit of a hippy, I wouldn't mind being barefoot and on a hill," she says.
The movie was filmed on the Kapiti Coast, near Wellington. Shanahan stayed there during the filming with co-stars Patrick Wilson, who plays her father Brian Rose, and Ryan O'Kane, who plays her fiance, Stew Davis.
It had been like a real family staying together, with the group even playing SingStar on a Playstation till the wee hours of the morning, she told NZPA.
Second Hand Wedding is based on real life events - the movie is a heightened reality of writer Nick Ward's family.
Ward's mother was an avid bargain hunter and the movie was based around his sister's wedding, Shanahan says.
The film has some high quality New Zealand cast and crew, including director Paul Murphy - son of Goodbye Pork Pie's Geoff Murphy.
It has some subtle ties to that iconic New Zealand film, including the yellow mini - after not being able to find a red mini, a yellow one was used.
Murphy was a "bloody awesome, darling man" to work with, Shanahan says.
While her experience of garage sales in her younger days wasn't so positive, Shanahan says after being in the film she sees garage sale signs everywhere.
She is planning going bargain hunting soon.
