The House of Neighborly Service is looking to help brides and their bridal parties find that perfect dress not just for cheaper, but completely for free.
The nonprofit will be offering hundreds of free wedding and bridesmaid dresses at its main location in central Loveland on Friday and Saturday to help ease the burden of wedding preparations.
Alma Blanco, clothing program manager at HNS, said that with the impacts of the pandemic on wedding season and people’s financial situations in general, it is important to help future brides as much as possible.
“I thought, well, I know during COVID a lot of weddings got postponed and now that we are opening up, there have been people who have been affected bad,” she said. “Now is a good time to see if we can help some ladies out with their dream wedding and help with the burden of having to purchase a wedding gown.”
Blanco said the nonprofit’s collection of dresses has come together over the years. She said that a local bridal boutique went out of business and donated their dresses to the organization to give away. These are paired with the hundreds of other dresses that were previously donated by Macy’s for a free prom dress event.
Come Friday, the clothing boutique in the HNS building will be converted into a wedding boutique for brides-to-be and their friends and family to come and find the perfect dress, Blanco said.
The dresses, which sit in a storage room until they are ready to be tried on, range from classic wedding style to the more modern. Blanco said this is going to be a good way for women in the community to find the dress they want without having to spend a great deal of money.
She said one of the things she is most looking forward to for the planned event — the first the nonprofit has done — is seeing women come in and explore dresses, trying them on and finding the perfect one.
“That is the excitement I get, to see them try it on and come out and look at themselves in the mirror,” Blanco said. “That is what I like.”
As the giveaway grows closer, those involved are excited about what it will bring to the community. Jane Goss, a clothing assistant, said she believes the event is a great idea overall.
“We have had hard times (recently),” she said. “So helping out the community is really important.”
Boutique volunteer Karen Petty said that seeing the dresses come in was almost overwhelming for her, but she is excited to see it all set up and ready for the public.
She said offering dresses for free can take a large financial weight off a woman who is preparing to get married, something that can mean a lot when planning something as expensive as a wedding.
“To be able to not have that expense for a wedding is huge,” Petty said. “The (dresses) we have are beautiful.”
Blanco said she is excited to be able to lighten the load for those planning a wedding and provide them with the dress they have always wanted completely for free.
“We are here to help with the burden, to help lighten the burden, for those who come in,” she said. “Right now, with COVID, everybody has been effected one way or the other. That is what we are here for, that is how we can help.”
The nonprofit will be giving dresses away at HNS, 1511 E. 11th St., on Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
