Two (more) ways to help
By Never teh BrideNot every bride or bridesmaid donates her dress, but I’m going to say that there are only a handful of people out there who think that dress donation is a bad idea. You can donate it to someone you know, to your place of worship, or to a girl in need of a prom dress. Or you could choose one of these interesting options:
Heavenly Angels In Need accepts donations of wedding gowns, bridesmaid dresses, and prom dresses. They then make said formalwear into beautiful burial gowns that are given to parents who have just lost babies.
“Some parents have nothing to bury their baby in,” the site reads. “There have been hospitals that just cannot offer anything to the grieving parents and the baby [has nothing but a] hospital blanket. [The burial gown we create] maybe the last thing they see their baby in.”
Or you could give your gown to The Brides’ Project, a sort of Canadian equivalent of Brides Against Breast Cancer, except instead of breast cancer you’ve got kids with cancer. Well, and just about everything else having to do with cancer. The Brides’ Project sells donated gowns on the cheap and uses the proceeds to send kids with cancer to fun year-round camps and to fund cancer research.
Of course, there is nothing mean or selfish about wanting to keep your wedding dress. Even if you just want it so you can take it out of its box every few years and dance with it. But, hey, think about the good it could do!
June 30th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Thanks, Never teh Bride! My mom and aunt tried to talk me out of donating my gown–one suggestion was to transform it into a bassinet for our baby. Of course, babies are still up in the air right now, while my gown needs to be cleaned or donated sometime soon…
June 30th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Keep in mind, Pencils, that if you do decide to donate, some places will take gowns that haven’t even been cleaned yet since they clean them anyway. It’s one less step for you!