Breast cancer victims benefit with wedding buys

As a bride-to-be, I can testify that shopping for a dress was not the hearts-aflutter experience that I expected.

There was the shop in Boston that wouldn’t let my sister, ShopGirl Jr., try on a bridesmaid dress without an appointment, even though we had driven hours to get there.

There were times when I felt like I was a contestant on “Let’s Make a Deal.” (And all this time, I thought cash discounts only happened at gas stations.)

There were the pressure tactics. And there were the salespeople who thought that even though I said “simple and elegant,” I really meant “tacky and bedazzled, with a hoop skirt.”

I lived my share of horror stories, but this is not one of them.

In fact, this column has nothing to do with me. It has to do with the charity wedding gown sale that will take place 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday during the Maine Wedding Association Bridal Show at the Spectacular Event Center in Bangor.

This weekend, as part of the Brides Against Breast Cancer nationwide gown tour, thousands of new and used designer gowns will be available for sale.

All of the proceeds will benefit the group’s “Dream Fulfillment Fund,” which grants wishes to terminally ill men and women with terminal breast cancer.

The gown tour is, quite literally, a dream come true for Fran Hansen of Portland, Ore. After living through a breast cancer scare, she joined an online group in which survivors and patients shared their stories. One letter, from a woman whose diagnosis had left her family financially strapped during the holidays, especially touched Hansen.

“If only I had $500 or $1,000 to send her, what a difference that would have made in her life that last Christmas with her family,” Hansen writes of the experience.

A few nights later, she awoke in the middle of a night with two things in her head: Oprah Winfrey and a truckload of wedding dresses. Though she had once owned a bridal shop, Hansen had no desire to get back into the business. Still, the idea of selling donated gowns to raise money for terminally ill breast cancer patients stuck with her.

So she and her daughter, Anna Nelson, formed Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation in 1997, and over the next few years, her dream came to fruition – first, she was given a $250,000 worth of designer wedding gowns through the “Oprah’s Angels” program. After the segment aired on national television, thousands of women sent their own dresses, as well.

Making Memories has collected 10,000 gowns to date, and this weekend, more than 2,000 will be on sale at the Bangor bridal show. The dresses, including new designer gowns with values up to $4,000, range in price from $49 to $599 – at that rate, you don’t even need a cash discount.

Chances are, you’ll find just what you’re looking for, whether it includes beads, crystals, puffy sleeves and a hoop skirt, or just a simple sheath. Not only will you end up with a great dress, but you’ll help grant a cancer patient’s wish.

If that doesn’t set your heart aflutter, I don’t know what will.

ShopGirl would love to hear from you. Send questions, comments or suggestions to Kristen Andresen, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329, or by e-mail to kandresen@bangordailynews.net.