There’s a reason that many brides keep their wedding dresses — they hold sentimental value and memories of a special day. However, if you’re not planning to wear your gown again, it has little purpose other than taking up valuable closet space! Instead, repurpose your dress and give back to your community by donating it.
There are a number of organizations that accept donated bridal gowns, which will resell them to help raise funds for a wide variety of charitable causes. Beth Chapman, owner of The White Dress by the Shore, recommends doing plenty of research to ensure that you’re working with a reputable company and a charity that supports a mission you can get behind.
NICU Helping Hands Angel Gowns
This Oregon-based organization repurposes wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses to provide gowns for infants who are spending time in the NICU. Volunteer seamstresses take apart the dresses to make the tiny angel gowns, and they can often create up to 18 of these unique outfits from a single wedding dress. The organization also accepts donations of lace, ribbon, bobby pins, fabric scissors, and pinking shears.
Proceeds from the sale of the dresses are used to support programs and services that focus on anti-trafficking awareness and prevention in communities across the country. The organization accepts donated dresses, formal attire, mother-of-the-bride dresses, flower girl dresses, and bridal accessories, and they ship to customers all over the country.
This nonprofit thrift store and wedding boutique raises funds to support individuals on their journey to employment and life improvement. Cherie Sustainable Bridal sells preowned wedding dresses and other professional clothing, and the proceeds are sent to a sister organization called Success in Style (SIS).
Accepted items include wedding gowns less than five years old, bridal accessories, and formalwear. You can donate your wedding dress in person at a Cherie store or drop it off at one of their roadshow events.
The organization works with a network of local nonprofits to collect and resell donated bridal gowns to support dozens of women-focused charities. The organization also offers a program that gifts wedding dresses to military members and first responders through its Operation Wedding Gown Event.
You can donate your wedding gown to this organization by contacting the shop directly and providing details of the dress. The organization will then resell the dress to raise money for its partner nonprofits, and any proceeds after expenses are donated to those same charities.
While reselling your wedding dress is a way to get some money back, it’s important to remember that you’ll need to spend money on things like cleaning and repairing the dress before it can be sold again. And then there’s the fact that reselling can be more work than it’s worth if you’re not lucky enough to sell your dress. The donation route is the safest option for a wedding gown, according to GreenDrop. And it’s a great way to reduce your environmental footprint! GreenDrop estimates that each new piece of clothing requires hundreds of gallons of water to make, and it contributes 10% of the world’s carbon emissions.