How Your Wedding Gown Can Help Others

In my last blog, I mentioned an eco-friendly, money saving wedding tip that after learning more about, I’m becoming very passionate over.  Here’s the tip:

“…4. Look stunning in a vintage or used gown: Here’s a great money-saver. Wearing your mother or grandmother’s gown is a great eco-friendly idea.  Take it to a local seamstress to transform it into your own special dress.  If you can’t image wearing your mom’s gown, check out organizations such as The Brides’ Project or Brides Against Breast Cancer.  If you buy a donated dress from them, 100% of the proceeds will go to cancer-related charities.”

Buy Your Dream Dress

As I mentioned in the tip, buying a dress from a charity organization is a great idea for so many reasons.  First, many of these gowns resell for around half their original price.  For a gorgeous dress worn only once, or maybe not at all, this is an amazing deal.  Second, the money that you pay for your dress goes directly to the foundation.  You’ll get the same great selection and service, but for a lower cost – and you’re supporting a great cause.

Donate Your Dream Dress

With over two million weddings in 2009, that’s a lot of dresses!  Only about 15% of brides donated or resold their dress to other brides or organizations, which means many gorgeous gowns are packed away in closets and attics, never to be worn again.  How about considering giving your dress a second life?

Donating to the aforementioned charities is also helpful to them as they can resell your dress and provide the organization with the proceeds.  Another benefit of donating your dress is that you can write the donation off as a tax deduction.

So when you’re ready to purchase your dress or aren’t sure what to do with it after your big day, consider these organizations:

The Bride’s Project provides a cost-conscious alternative for brides while helping children with cancer by donating dress proceeds to various charities.

Brides Against Breast Cancer makes it possible for brides-to-be to purchase a wedding gown they could not otherwise afford and gives 100% of the proceeds to the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation.

The I Do Foundation has many consignment partners through which they can sell your dress.  Select a charity and they will donate 20% of the sale proceeds of your dress to that charity.

The Bridal Garden also sells donated dresses and uses the proceeds from these sales to fund the Sheltering Arms Children’s Service, which helps homeless and underprivileged children in New York.

Special E rescues items (including dresses) which are left over from “Special Events” such as weddings, banquets, parties, and fundraisers, then re-purposes them in ways that benefit people in need.

Another organization called Heavenly Angels in Need helps grieving parents bury their children in burial garments which they make from donated wedding dresses.

The wedding gown is a treasured memory for every bride – make that memory even more special by buying from or donating your dress to a charitable organization.