Donate Questions
We’re always accepting dresses! The process to donate your wedding dress is easy! Simply download the donation form on our Donate page, fill it out and accompany it with your wedding dress! We are currently accepting wedding dresses 5 years and newer. You are welcome to mail your dress or drop it off at one of our boutiques!
Brides for a Cause is a recognized 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization with the IRS. You may take a tax deduction for your contribution to the full extent allowed by law. Please consult a tax advisor for questions regarding the value of your donation. Donors will receive a tax receipt either in-person if the donation is dropped off or in the mail within a few weeks if the donation is shipped. Please include an optional self-addressed stamped envelope to expedite the process. Please be patient for your receipt! If you mailed in your dress and would like to know if its been received, please check your tracking!
Donors may mail in their dress or drop it off in-person at one of our stores!
More than 95% of the donations arrive though the mail from out-of-state donors. We also accept dress donations at our bridal stores in Portland, Tacoma and Seattle! Donations may be dropped off anytime during store hours. We also accept dresses at local road show events. Occasionally, we partner with various local bridal stores around the country to host Dress Drives on our behalf.
Unfortunately, due to space limitations, we can only accept wedding dresses 5 years old and newer. Occasionally, we accept dresses older than 5 years. If your wedding dress is older than 5 years, please email a photo to donate@bridesforacause.com and we’ll see if it something we can accept! We’ll take into consideration the designer, style, fabric and condition and if it’s still available to be ordered from the designer or bridal store. Click here if your dress doesn’t meet our five year cut off.
We recommend finding the smallest box possible. Please remove it from the preservation box if your dress was preserved, since those boxes tend to be very bulky. UPS and USPS seem to have the best rates. Rates will depend on the size of the box, weight and location. Depending on where you are in the US, it may be roughly $10-$30 for shipping.
We don’t pay for the shipping for individual dress donations. But we do cover shipping for bulk donations from bridal salons, designers and manufacturers.
If you are an individual wishing to donate, we recommend packing your dress in the smallest box possible and removing it from the preservation box if it has been preserved.
For stores, designers or manufacturers wishing to donate, please contact us directly at info@bridesforacause.com to set up your bulk shipment! We have a special bulk donation form and inventory sheet.
Please consult with a tax advisor to determine the value. Per the IRS, we are unable to value items for donors. Please keep in mind it’s used clothing as well as the condition of your dress, the year and the fact that we discount all items 35-75% off. Used clothing and other personal items are usually worth far less than the price paid for them.
You will receive a tax receipt within a few weeks. Once we receive your wedding dress, we’ll unpack and process it, which normally takes a few days to a few weeks, depending on how many dress donations we receive that week. Please be patient!
Once we get your donation, we’ll first clean/repair it if necessary. Your dress will go into inventory, get priced and will be placed on our racks! We’ll try to sell it in-store, at a Road Show event or online! By donating your wedding dress, you are giving another bride an opportunity to wear your dress (and feel just as beautiful as you did) and at the same time you’re helping to raise funds for various women’s causes.
We support a variety of local and national women-focused charities. For more information about what charities we support, please visit Our Cause page!
Since 2012, Brides for a Cause has collected over 15,0000 dresses and has given away over $1,000,000 to local and national charities! Like any business, there are overhead costs associated with reselling the donated dresses, but for the most part we give away 80-90% of our net profit. For more information about what charities we support and how much we give away each year, please visit Our Cause page!
Great! We LOVE working with bridal stores that are interested in donating in bulk! Please contact us directly at info@bridesforacause.com if you have a bulk donation, so we can send you the bulk donation form and inventory sheet! We will pay for the shipping! Your store will just need to box everything up!
Yes, we will accept your dress if it is dirty! We’d rather get it dirty than not at all! We work with local dry cleaners and seamstresses to clean and repair gowns that need it.
Unfortunately, we’re only accepting dresses that are current styles 5 years old and newer. If your dress doesn’t meet this criteria click here for other options!
We accept bridal accessories including veils, headpieces, sashes and slips. We also accept bridesmaid and flower girl dresses from stores, designers and individuals. We are not accepting special occasion dresses from individual donors at this time. If you have a prom dress, please consider donating it to charities specializing in prom, such as Abby’s Closet, Ruby Room or Princess Project.
No, we don’t buy dresses! We accept dresses as donations! If you are interested in donating your dress to support our cause, please visit our Donate page! If you are looking to sell your dress, you may want to look into a local bridal consignment store or try to sell it online.
Purchase Questions
The best way to purchase a dress from us is shopping at one of our boutiques! We’re located in Portland, Tacoma, Seattle and Sacramento! We provide a stress-free and welcoming environment, where we allow you to look through the dresses yourselves! Our stores are staffed with friendly stylists who are available for assistance and advice on alterations. All dresses are purchased off-the-rack, so you get to take it home that day!
UPDATE: We’re currently open by Reservation Only during COVID until further notice. Brides may bring up to 3 guests.
No, our bridal stores are open 7 days a week on a walk-in basis! No appointments are needed! Come by anytime during store hours!
Unfortunately, we only allow (1) 1-hour reservation per day per bride. This gives more brides an opportunity to shop with us. Brides may make a follow up 30 minute reservation to try on their favorites, a dress on hold, or new arrivals once you visit us!
We’re open by reservation 7 days a week. Your reservation will give you a dedicated fitting room to try on wedding dresses plus seating for your guests. Walk-ins will be accommodated if space allows. It’s best to make a reservation so we’re ready for you! It’s quick and easy to book online or give our store a call for asstistance! Brides may bring up to 3 guests.
Check our Locations page for store hours and address!
Our prices start at just $150! All of our gowns are discounted, normally 30-80% off retail prices! Most dresses are available for under $700!
No! We carry new, once worn and sample wedding dresses! We receive new and used dresses from individuals as well as sample dresses from stores! Over 80% of our dresses are samples!
We carry sizes between 0-28. Since we are based on donations, we can’t control our inventory! We tend to run more limited in sizes 0/2 and also 16+. Keep in mind, we receive new dresses every day, so our inventory is always changing! Therefore, if you don’t find your dream dress your first trip in, come back! If you’d like to inquire about our selection of certain sizes, please call our stores directly!
Yes! Our bridal store is perfect for last minute weddings! Since you buy “off the rack,” you get to take home your dress that day! We’ve helped brides find a dress the day before their wedding!
We have thousands of wedding gowns in stock among our three shops at any given time! If you are looking for a dress that you tried on at another store, more than likely we won’t have it. We’re not a traditional bridal store, so we don’t carry the current lines of specific designers. You may want to look up a traditional store that carries that designer and order your size. Instead, we resell donated wedding dresses that come from other brides, individuals and designers – and are purchased off-the-rack! If you are interested in learning more about our current inventory, please call our store directly! Visit our Locations page to find your city!
Our online gallery is a sampling of what our brides may expect to see in our stores! It includes current and past dresses, so its not a good example of our current stock! If you’re interested in our dresses online, most likely we won’t have it anymore, as dresses come in and out so fast! To inquire about a certain dress you may have seen online, please come shop at one of our Locations to see if you can find it or call our stores directly. Our inventory changes drastically every month! New dresses arrive daily!
No, we don’t do alterations on-site, but we have a list of recommended seamstresses that can help!
It’s up to you! We clean a lot of our wedding dresses before we sell them, but some dresses may get a bit dirty after being tried on at our store!
UPDATE: due to COVID, we are only accepting credit cards at this time. No cash!
We accept all major credit cards and cash.
Unfortunately, we don’t allow champagne in our bridal stores, due to the layout of our store and fitting room area. But all shops are on popular streets with plenty of restaurants and food/beverage options to visit before and after you say “YES” to the dress with us!
While we love furry animals, out of respect to other shoppers and to maintain a clean and safe shopping space, we don’t allow pets, except service animals.
Volunteer Questions
Yes! We are always looking for volunteers to help at our Boutique locations as well as our Road Shows! To learn more about volunteering, please visit our Volunteer page!
Yes, due to the nature of our volunteer opportunities, we require volunteers to be at least 18 years old to volunteer at our Boutiques and at least a high schooler to volunteer at one of our Road Show events!