Have you been to a wedding lately? Or better yet been in a wedding? If you itemize your deductions [1] and have gotten married or been part of a wedding party this deduction is for you!
That’s it. Because of the latter condition, most women probably have a section of the closet devoted to a pile of dresses. Only worn once, and usually in such a color that they can’t really be worn again, the bridesmaid dresses will likely never see the outside of the closet again.
Get Rich Slowly recently had a guest post Beating the High Cost of Weddings: How We Did It, and How You Can Too [2]. It made me think about one of the costs that is hard to beat: being an attendant in a wedding. It’s a great honor, and I have truly enjoyed being in lots of weddings, but it is a cost that you cannot really control once you accept. Bridesmaid dresses have the hefty pricetag of a formal gown, but not much use besides the wedding itself.
Dress Donation
I wasn’t sure what to do with the dresses until I found Brides Against Breast Cancer [3]. They accept donations of wedding gowns that they resell. The money raised is used to grant wishes for terminally ill breast cancer patients. The dresses (including shipping cost) are tax-deductible.
Last year I donated my wedding dress*. This year I’d like to box up the bridesmaid dresses and send those off too. In fact, I might just have all the women that attend our yearly holiday party bring their dresses and we’ll send them all off. Readers, I encourage you to send off your (or your wife’s) dresses too!
They currently accept the following:
- Contemporary wedding gowns (1995 to now)
- Bridesmaid, mother of the bride and flower girl dresses
- Wedding specific items such as veils, shoes, purses, slips, bras, etc….
Stop by when I raid the rest of my closet [4]!
*Technically I kept the dress I wore on my wedding day as a keepsake. But I had two dresses due to a “bridezilla moment” two weeks before my wedding. I donated the one I didn’t wear.