Rain on your wedding day may be good luck, but this year military brides had some luck of their own.
The nonprofit Brides Across America is working to help our women in uniform – and future military wives –be all that they can be on their wedding day without paying a cent.
In South Carolina, the Bridal House of Charleston is one of the boutiques participating in the nationwide movement led by Brides Across America.
"We are giving away bridal gowns to military brides who have husbands in the military or fiances in the military, or they are in the military. They just need proof of deployment papers and military ID, and they are welcome to try on one of thirty gowns,” said Bridal House of Charleston bridal consultant Ashley Bowman.
Brides Across America was started by Heidi Janson in 2007 after reading an article about a young soldier in Afghanistan who felt that he had been forgotten. She felt the need to help those serving our country, and she decided to do it by helping make their wedding days a bit more special. Her idea for military women to trade in their uniforms for a fairy-tale gown quickly spread nationwide, with many wedding boutiques jumping on board.
Click here for more on Brides Across America.
The Bridal House of Charleston pre-selected 32 gowns to give away that had been donated from designers or had been discontinued from the store. The brides could walk out the door with one of these gowns without opening their wallet.
"The [dresses] range from $700 or $800 to $4,000 or $5,000. So some girls really walked away with quite a deal,” Bowman said.
Brides Across American has given away over 5,000 dresses to date, helping ease the financial burden for these military men and women.
"We are paying for our wedding ourselves. ... Just being able to get a dress and not have to worry about that one expense for our wedding, it just goes a long way,” said An Shwa, who serves in the Army.
Word of the gown giveaway has even traveled overseas.
“I’m here looking for a wedding gown for my sister,” Brandi Davis said. Her sister, Keyosha Wilson, is currently serving in Bahrain.
Wilson sent her younger sister to pick the dress for her. She returns in January with the wedding day about a week after her return. Wilson is putting all of her trust into Brides Across America, and her sister.
"It makes me feel good that I know that I can help her since she is thousands of miles away fighting for our country,” Davis said.
The day was a success for more than just Davis.
"All of the girls who came in found their gown," Bowman said.
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