Bridal Shops Give Away Dresses to Military Brides

National Guard, Jun 2004 by Cotton, Erika N

Bernadette Katen Van-Huile and Spc. Joseph Van-Huile, an Army medic, of Forest Hill, Md., exchanged vows in a civil ceremony Aug. 29 last year, just six weeks after they found out he was going to be deployed.

The couple rushed to get married, Bernadette said, because at the time they didn't know where he was going, and it made sense to do it before he left.

Joseph deployed to South Korea about a month after their wedding. But Bernadette said it's possible that her husband will be sent to Iraq. he is set to return this fall, but neither is sure what will happen.

Despite the uncertainty, they plan to have a traditional church wedding May 2005.

Bernadette accomplished one of the most important things on her wedding planning to-do list last month with the help of Betsy Robinson's Bridal Collection in Baltimore.

The bridal store recently participated in a nationwide gown giveaway to brides and fiances of troops serving overseas. The event began at Bridals By Lori in Atlanta, Ga., April 14 and snaked its way across the states to 13 other salons throughout the month.

Brides and fiances camped overnight in front of the bridal stores with their friends, family members and proof of deployment, waiting to pick out a beautiful new wedding gown, said judy Benson, owner of The Bridal Shop in Fargo, N.D.

"It was a pleasure to be able to thank these brides for serving our nation and hopefully help out a few couples across the country so their special day will go a little easier," she said.

"When I started spearheading this, one of the objectives was to create awareness that these people are sacrificing their daily lives," Benson said. "They're thrown halfway across the world fighting for our country and we need to recognize and appreciate that."

A large crowd, including Bernadette and her mother, Jeannette Katen, stood waiting outside the doors of Betsy Robinson's, April 25.

The store received such a huge response on its original give-away date, April 18, that it decided to do it again.

Bride-to-be Valerie Wilkerson waited in the wings with her 2-year-old grandson Cody Wilkerson and daughter, Gia, Cody's mother.

Wilkerson said she and her husband of 26 years, Staff Sgt. Stanley Wilkerson Jr., had planned to renew their vows this year but had to put their plans on hold when he was called up in November.

"We never had a wedding and we always said we would do it again eventually," she said.

They plan to hold a big church wedding next june after he returns from Iraq, she said. Wilkerson, who is in the Army Reserves, left his family in February and is slated to return in a year.

"We have to deal with a lot with [our husbands and fiances] gone. So this is a treat," Wilkerson said. "I always wanted to have a big wedding with a gown and family and this an opportunity to do that."

Benson's shop presented brides with about 200 gowns to choose from. Her only fear was that someone wouldn't be able to find a size or a style they loved.

"We didn't want anyone to be bummed," she said.

But that didn't turn out to be a problem. With such a large selection available to the brides everyone who came left with a dress they loved, she said.

Because the participating bridal salons are large, regional stores, they were financially able to offer the latest designer styles, some costing upwards of $1200.

"These dresses are not junk, they're beautiful," Benson said. "The brides didn't know what to expect, but we offered absolutely nice merchandise. We weren't handing out out-of-stock dresses or junk, because they deserve it."

Bernadette said the event really helped her out, particularly because she and her husband are on a fixed income, while she's finishing up grad school at Towson State University.

"When you've gone through so much, so many emotions, things like this are special," she said. "When the service men and women see that people are helping their families back home it's a relief for them because, often they feel guilty that they're not home to help."

Meg Kopp Walters, owner of Henri's Cloud Nine in Minerva, Ohio, said the day was a very emotional experience for her and her staff.

"The main reason we did this was because there were so many girls who would come in the store who'd had their wedding postponed because their fiances had been deployed and they didn't know when they were going to get married," she said. "We wanted to try to do something to help the effort."

Walters said the brides left the shop knowing that there are people out there supporting them and their loved ones who are fighting abroad.

-By Erika N. Cotton