When a bride is finished wearing her wedding gown and doesn’t want to put it back in storage, there are a number of ways she can recycle it. Instead of simply discarding the dress or having it re-designed into another piece of clothing, some brides choose to donate it. This practice gives the dress a second life while helping to support a good cause and giving someone else the opportunity to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime event.
In addition to the standard local thrift and charity options like Goodwill and the Salvation Army, there are a few bridal boutiques that accept donated dresses as well as other women’s attire. One of these is Brides for a Cause, a bridal store that resells wedding dresses to raise funds for dozens of women-focused charities. The organization has raised more than $1.2 million to date. Brides for a Cause accepts wedding dresses no more than five years old, mother-of-the-bride dresses, flower girl dresses and bridal accessories.
Many of these donations are used to help cancer patients and other individuals battling illness and those who have lost loved ones, but the nonprofit also offers dresses for other events and occasions, including military celebrations. Its Facebook page is filled with stories of brides who have found their perfect dress after losing the original, and the proceeds from the sale of wedding dresses also help to fund professional counseling for sex trafficking victims, awareness publications and more.
A few of the organizations accepting donated dresses at this time include:
The Angel Gown Program by NICU Helping Hands is another unique charity that welcomes donated wedding gowns. These dresses are then repurposed to create tiny burial gowns for babies who have passed away before their birth, and each donation can provide around 12 angel gowns. Another New York-based option is Angel Gowns of the Capital Region, based about an hour north in Albany, NY.