Month: July 2024

If you love your wedding dress but you don’t plan to wear it again, consider donating it. It’s a great way to declutter your closet and make a positive impact on the environment. Newly discarded clothes contribute to landfills and emit carbon dioxide, while the production of new clothing requires hundreds of gallons of water. Plus, those dresses are taking up space that could be used for something more useful. Most charity shops and thrift stores that accept wedding dress donations have specific guidelines regarding the condition of your gown. It won’t do anyone any good if you donate your dress with holes or visible stains. You should also get it professionally cleaned before donating it, even if you don’t see any signs of dirt. This can help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which can be present on certain fabrics for up to a few days. There are many options if you want to donate your wedding dress, and some of them may surprise you. For instance, you can donate it to a local Angel Gown program that utilizes talented seamstresses to turn donated wedding gowns into infant burial gowns for families who have lost their little ones. Another option is to sell the dress online or in a consignment store. Some charities that accept donations also have locations where you can drop off your old wedding dress, so it’s worth looking for one near you. Other charities will pick up your dress from your home, but you should call ahead to make sure they’re able to accommodate that request. Besides being an eco-friendly alternative to throwing your dress in the trash, donating it is also a nice way to help other brides. It’s important to remember that not every bridal gown will find a forever home, and that’s okay. In fact, the most important thing is to choose a charity that you can feel confident will give your wedding dress the best possible outcome. If you’re unsure of where to donate your wedding dress, try a search for “wedding dress donation” in your area. The results should include a list of local and national charities that accept donations. You can also contact your favorite charity directly and ask what their donation policies are. Many brides choose to preserve their wedding dresses as a keepsake or pass them on to the next generation. But if you’re not planning to wear yours again, it’s a better idea to donate it instead of keeping it in storage. It’s an easy way to clear out your closet and improve your home organization habits. Most people assume that their wedding dresses are pristine the day they put them away, but over time they can be damaged by rats, bugs, and mold. Not only that, but they take up valuable space that could be better used for other items in your home. Plus, they’re often made of delicate materials that can be easily ripped or torn.

ND Angel Gowns repurposes donated wedding dresses to make final photo and burial gowns for babies that were born too soon. The nonprofit distributes the gowns at no cost to any hospital, infant loss organization or funeral home that requests them. The volunteers make them from their hearts, and they know the meaning behind each one. Judi Gibson, a nurse at Riley Children’s Health in Indianapolis, Indiana, first heard about the program when she was a new mom. She knew she had to help. “I didn’t want any parent to have to go looking through the lost and found tub at the hospital for a little outfit for their baby,” she said. Then she remembered that her grandmother Edith was an expert seamstress. “If I could get people together to sew these beautiful dresses, then maybe we would have a small part in comforting these families at such a hard time,” she said. Gibson’s work has now spread to a few dozen states. The dresses are made from silks and satins, pearls, beads, lace and tulle. They are sized to fit babies born at 35 weeks, or less, and can be made for either boys or girls. The group also makes hats, bonnets, sleeping bags and blankets to complete the ensemble. Bonnie Kalahar, a seamstress from Lansing, Michigan, has been sewing for the program since 2014. She recently added vests and bow ties to the dresses for boys. She tries to personalize each outfit with the names and birth dates of the babies who will wear them. She has even sewed bells to some of the dresses, a nod to the ending of the movie It’s A Wonderful Life. Every year in the United States, about 626,000 babies are born too soon. They are called “preemies.” They may not live long enough to see their first birthday or their first holiday. Often, they’re not able to be sent home from the hospital because of the size or nature of their condition. But they deserve a special way to be remembered. Across the country, programs like these have started popping up in hospitals and communities. Some are volunteer run, and others have received funding from private donors or the state. The NICU Helping Hands nonprofit is one of them. Its founder, Diane Wright of Grandview United Methodist Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma, says the goal is to ensure no grieving family has to look through the hospital’s lost and found tub for a dress for their baby. Wright has seeded the program in other churches and in her own community, where she’s connected with a few grandmothers and aunts who enjoy sewing and are willing to do their part. She’s also sent gowns to a hospital in Africa and plans to continue spreading the word. “This is a very important service, and I hope we can get it to as many hospitals as possible,” she says. “It’s a way to give parents a measure of comfort.” — By Michelle Bjornstad for NBC News.