Military brides benefit from free wedding dresses

Planning any wedding can be a stressful, difficult, seemingly impossible task. For Melissa Savino of Naperville, though, one problem goes beyond endless meetings and difficult vendors - her fiance whom she met in high school, is away from home serving in the military in Afghanistan.

L'Amour Bridal Shop in Barrington is doing its part to help Melissa and others like her by providing free wedding gowns this Tuesday, July 13, as part of the "Brides Across America" program.

"We're going to have tons of our sample gowns and overstock gowns," said Emmy Grimm, a bridal consultant with L'Amour.

Each gown costs between $500 and $3,000, said Grimm, and will be available on a first-come first-served basis between noon-8 p.m. on Tuesday. Eligible brides must show that they or their fiance served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Two appointments have been confirmed, but Grimm said that many brides will simply show up for events like this and that drop-ins will be accepted while the supply lasts. Information on what's required to qualify for a gown is at bridesacrossamerica.com or call the shop at (847) 381-5858.

Savino said that she saw a booth for the program at a bridal expo, and was immediately interested.

"Whenever I see the word 'military,' I'm kind of drawn to it," she said.

Savino, 21, is an elementary education major at North Central College in Naperville. She has one year left in school, and will be looking for a job as a teacher after her wedding. Her fiance, Steven Tangen, is a first lieutenant in the infantry in Afghanistan, serving as a platoon leader in Charlie Company of the 101st Airborne.

Brides Across America was formed around three years ago and is based in Massachusetts. The program has given away more than 3,000 dresses, according to founder Heidi Jansen.

Jansen, who has worked in the bridal business for "pretty much all my life," said that since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, she'd seen an increase in military weddings, and she saw the challenges that came along with them.

She and her mother, who also works in the bridal industry, decided to help out by giving away free dresses at their shop. From there, other stores got involved, and it exploded into the national program it is today.

Jansen said the program was just a small gesture to help people who she feels deserve attention.

"These are the people that are supporting our country," she said. "So we should be supporting them."

Savino's husband, who went to West Point, will get back from his deployment next April, just two months before the wedding. She said that though he likes to try to be involved and asks for constant e-mails about the planning, the wedding is especially difficult to put together with him overseas.

Brides Across America makes it a little bit easier.

"It was just kind of relieving to hear that there was a service for people who are in the military or who are engaged to someone in the military," she said. "That's one part of the wedding planning that's kind of off my hands. It makes it that much easier to kind of get this wedding going."

Assuming everything goes well on Tuesday, Grimm said L'Amour Bridal would continue to participate in Brides Across America.

"Here in this store, we're big supporters of supporting the troops and their families," she said. "We're doing our part to say, 'Thank you.'"