Angel Gowns of WNY Turn Donated Wedding Dresses Into Keepsakes For Bereaved Families

We’re all familiar with the saying “you only wear your wedding dress once.” After the big day, most brides carefully fold it away to be stored in a closet or drawer for years to come. But a Pennsauken woman is taking that gown and putting it to good use. Jean Lee helps turn donated wedding dresses into tiny onesies for babies who have been born prematurely or lost due to miscarriage or stillbirth. The outfits are known as angel gowns or angel wraps.

In her spare time, the retired schoolteacher enjoys repurposing bridal gowns and creating keepsake items for grieving families. She’s made several dozen angel gowns for families and has a few more in the works. She has also created baby blankets, sleeping bags and fabric hearts for the babies. The creations allow the parents to feel like their babies have a little piece of them with them in heaven.

Every year, thousands of infants are born too soon or with medical conditions that lead to their deaths. Many of those are very small, which limits what type of clothing they can be dressed in for photos or burying. Alberta Angel Dresses is a volunteer organization that provides repurposed bridal gowns for these infants. The gowns and wraps are offered to hospitals, birthing centers, funeral homes or directly to the families for free. Metha Alberda is one of 18 volunteer seamstresses across the province who help create these precious angel gowns.

As a nurse in the cardiovascular surgery ICU at Mayo Clinic, Lynn Gaber has seen many children lose their lives to premature delivery or severe health conditions. She has seen their parents endure unfathomable pain, and she wants to do what she can to comfort them.

Gaber has worked at the clinic for 37 years, and she knows that despite her best efforts, sometimes there is nothing a physician can do to save a child’s life. But she also believes that giving the grieving family something to hold on to and remember can bring them a little measure of peace.

ABOUT ANGEL GOWNS OF WNY

In April of 2014, Missy Ray founded Angel Gowns of WNY, a nonprofit that takes donated wedding dresses and turns them into final photo and burial gowns for children who were sadly born too early or lost their lives. The group was able to secure 501(c)(3) non-profit incorporation in September of that year and is now accepting donations of wedding dresses for their next project.

The group distributes the angel gowns to any hospital, infant loss organization or funeral home in WNY at no charge to the family. They hope to be able to provide one to every family that needs it.

Dignity Health – St. Mary Medical Center is proud to partner with Angel Gowns of WNY to offer these beautiful gowns for families in need. The hospital’s Labor & Delivery and NICU nurses were delighted to receive their first box of angel gowns in July of 2023.