Photo by Anna Docking on Unsplash
One of my favorite things about planning my spring 2023 wedding was getting my dresses through Brides for a Cause!
What is Brides for a Cause?
A quick introduction to Brides for a Cause (BFAC) — they’re a nonprofit organization that collects and resells wedding dresses to raise funds for charity. Most of their dresses come from the designers themselves, which means they’ve never been worn by a bride (possibly tried on in-store) or altered!
Sometimes brides donate their used wedding dresses, but the pricing will be reflected in the dress’s condition.
Proceeds support various local and national women focused charities.
My Brides for a Cause story
My BFAC story began in July 2022, when I drove to their Sacramento store for the first time. I went on a Saturday, which is a busy day for them, so keep in mind that the employees will keep you on a very tight schedule. If you visit on a Monday, like I did on a later visit, they will be very lax about how much time you have to browse.
The store employees let me and the other bride who had scheduled the opening appointments that we could try on dresses in rounds of five. The time flew by! I didn’t find anything that really caught my eye on the first run, which was both good and bad because it meant that I got to come back. I was hopeful but not sure if I would find “my dress” on a return trip.
I went home and a week or two went by before I saw a dress I’d been interested in on their Instagram account. I e-mailed the store and confirmed that it was in my size, but I wasn’t sure of whether to make the drive to try it on. The employees were super awesome and offered to put it on hold for me, but ultimately I wasn’t able to make the trip.
My next trip was in October 2022, when I went for their monthly sale. And I found “my dress”! It was a go-back item that I hadn’t seen the first time I looked during my appointment window. I tried it on just to try a Pronovias. But it fit and looked better than I expected and the sale price was too good to pass up!
Photo credit: Jackie Rangel Photography
BFAC dresses are much more reasonably priced than traditional boutique wedding gowns, but it still felt like a pretty big financial decision. I asked the employees to put it on hold for me so I could send pictures to my mom and sister and think about it.
Since I had to get back to the Bay Area, I literally didn’t have all day and thought about how much I’d regret it if I let that dress go and didn’t find something that I liked better.
So I bought the dress and am so pleased to say I never looked back. It was the dress I wore on my wedding day and the dress that will live in photographs in my home. Interestingly, it had come into the store just weeks after my first trip in July.
Photo credit: Jackie Rangel Photography
Photo credit: Jackie Rangel Photography
I feel like it was meant to be. I’d always dreamed of getting married in an illusion dress, but didn’t think I could afford a nice one. My dress is the Ines gown by Pronovias Privee from their 2018 collection. I can’t help but feel that the dress waited years in the store, and then months at BFAC, for me to come along and wear it on my wedding day.
Buying my reception dress from Brides for a Cause
While I absolutely love my wedding gown, it has a sizeable train and I’m not partial to the look of a bustle. I wanted to look for a slightly less formal reception dress, and I’ve always loved the look of a high neck halter gown.
Photo credit: Jackie Rangel Photography
I had one of BHLDN’s high-neck Montreal gowns in gray and wore it to a holiday ball and a wedding, so it seemed like a good candidate as my wedding reception dress. BFAC Sacramento had it in white, but it was a a smidge too small and I wanted to be comfortable at my reception.
I e-mailed the other BFAC locations and Tacoma responded that, while they did not have the Montreal dress in my size, they did have a Jenny Yoo Shipley dress a few sizes up. I Googled it, realized that I liked it even better, and decided to purchase it via shipping because, once again, it was a sale day.
Buying remotely from Brides for a Cause
That’s right, you can shop from out of the area. Shipping typically runs $30 but can be a little more reasonable if you’re just buying a slinky formal dress. My dress arrived very well packed, just as described. I realized upon taking it out of the box that it had its tags and had also been a sample dress.
Alterations did end up costing me more than I expected for my reception dress, but since they were altering down a few sizes, it was practically a custom-fit gown. I’m only mentioning this as something to consider if you decide to buy remotely and size up, like I did. And it’s always easier to size down than up.
Buying a mother of the bride dress from Brides for a Cause
Can you tell that I’m a BFAC groupie yet? I also brought my mom to BFAC to buy a mother of the bride dress. We looked in a popular Bay Area store and found some nice options, but I wanted her to have an opportunity to see this bridal shop in Sacramento that I’d been raving about.
We went in February 2023. They were running a buy one get one free promotion on special occasion dresses, so she got two dresses for $25 each. Her dress is technically a bridesmaid dress, but I think it’s beautiful and prettier than most mother of the bride dresses I’ve seen.
The designer was Jenny Yoo (Ryder was the dress name), and we were even able to find different ways to tie it on YouTube (straight from the designer’s channel). One of the store employees went through the stock in the back and found her a brand new dress in a size that would fit her better so that she could save money on alterations.
What if I don’t live near a Brides for a Cause store?
I feel so blessed that a BFAC store opened within driving distance of me just a year before I started wedding dress shopping. If you don’t live near a BFAC store, you still have options!
- Instagram sales.
- BFAC sometimes runs sales through Instagram. I’ve seen them do special occasion dresses (bridesmaids, wedding guests), wedding dresses, and accessories (shoes, belts).
- Virtual appointments.
- The employees at BFAC stores can meet with you via Facetime or Zoom. They’ll listen to what you’re looking for in terms of style and size, and show you the inventory that their store has at that moment.
- Just checking in through Instagram DM or e-mail.
- I got this tip from Reddit when someone was looking for a particular dress. If you send each store an e-mail or direct message the BFAC Instagram account, the store employees will let you know if they have that dress in stock.
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