FREE Wedding Dresses to Qualifying Military Brides (Register NOW – Appointments Required)

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Brides Across America

Calling all you military couples planning an upcoming wedding! Starting November 9th and through November 14th, Brides Across America will be hosting Operation Wedding Gown events across the country! These events provide FREE Wedding Dresses to qualifying military members in select cities! If this event is coming to your city (see the list here), you must register online here.

Brides Across America

The following are the requirements for qualification:
* You must be engaged and planning a wedding within the next 18 months.
* You or your fiancé have had a deployment within the past 5 years or have an upcoming deployment (areas that qualify are Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Bahrain, Libya, Kuwait, Korea, Japan, Africa, Syria, Ukraine and other areas overseas; USCG protecting our waters or boarders and on a ship for 3 or more months during the year).
* Submarine, special ops and navy orders are accepted.
* You may also qualify if you had a civil ceremony and are now planning a formal wedding.
* You will need to bring driver’s license or military ID for verification AND a copy of deployment orders for you or your fiancé or an official letter stating name, location and date along with a signature.

If you are a qualifying bride, you need to register to attend the event at a participating bridal salon by completing the registration form here and paying a $20 registration fee.


Alfred Angelo Signature Store Free Gowns

And here’s another wedding dress offer for all you military brides! On November 11th, present a valid Military ID at an Alfred Angelo Signature Store location to snag a FREE wedding gown. Note that an appointment must be made for Wednesday, November 11th, 2015 to qualify and appointments are limited so you’ll want to book early.

The bride must present a valid current military ID or DD214 on the day of the appointment in order to receive a free bridal gown. Brides will be able to choose from an existing assortment of designated in-store sample bridal gowns and this offer is ONLY valid while supplies last. Head here for more information and to make your appointment.

(Thanks, Stephanie!)

Join The Discussion

Comments 37

  1. Ns55

    Wow this is awesome!! Sure would be nice to see something like this for first responders!!!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Yes, that is a great idea as well! 😉

    • S

      Ditto!

  2. Brooke

    I think this is such an amazing gesture! I too bought my wedding dress at Alfred Angelo 🙂 Thank you to all the military brides to be/wives for you and your husbands sacrifice!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Thanks for sharing Brooke!

  3. Jenna

    Wow! Thanks; I will pass this along to my fellow military girls.

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      You’re welcome Jenna!

  4. Jo

    This is really cool! 💗

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      😀

  5. Jennifer

    LOVE THIS!

  6. Katrina

    I bought a wedding gown on sale, and then found one I like better. How can I donate it?

  7. Tera

    That is awesome! Love that places will do that to give back to our military.

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Yes it is!

  8. Colleen

    Do you know if we still can get the dress without a set wedding date? My husband and I got married in court but want to have a church wedding with our family around. I am a military wife.

    • wanda h

      You may qualify if you had a civil ceremony and now planning a formal wedding

      • Ally

        This is the letter I wrote to customer service regarding this after my bad experience. I was sworn at and well I would recommend NEVER buying from Alfred Angelo.

        Dear Alfred Angelo Costumer Service,

        I received your ad from a friend who was thinking of me. She knew that my husband had been in the Middle East and we got a quick Justice of the Peace marriage so I could know how he was when he was deployed. It was no fairy tale moment. We went to the court house after a 48 hour notice that my husband was to be deployed to the Middle East. Therefore, as the ad states I have a valid military ID. Its an active dependent ID, but no where does this ad say that does not count. We’ve wanted a beautiful gown to take wedding photos in for a long time, but we haven’t been able to afford it. So when I was given this, I jumped and made the appointment. I was on cloud 9 all day!

        I then called today to see if I could change the time because my mother wouldn’t be able to Skype with me at the time of the appointment (And I was going to be driving 3 1/2 hours out of state for the dress). When I called, I was crushed. The manager who answered the phone rudely told me that I was not included because I myself have not served, even though I already had an appointment and told the assistant manager our circumstances and that I had a military ID prior. I’m sorry but being a military wife who never got a wedding due to military circumstances, I have served. I serve everyday by living in another state miles away from my family and husband so I can continue my own job (which ironically is doing Human Factors work for military operations. Most of those operations involve our men and women overseas). He is not with me because he is serving on another base where he is needed by our country. I do not put down any of the wonderful women who serve this country. But, my husband has served for 6 years and we’ve never had a wedding. He just enlisted for another 4 years. The dress meant so much to both of us. FEW military wives want a wedding dress because they’ve never had one. I’m a military bride at a time of war.

        NO WHERE DOES IT SAY YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO BE A WOMAN CURRENTLY SERVING AS ACTIVELY ENLISTED OR a WOMAN vet. IT SAYS “The bride must present a valid current military ID or DD214 on the day of the appointment in order to receive a free bridal gown.” I have a current military ID. By the letter I qualify. After calling customer service I was sworn at on the phone for asking simple questions about the ad’s restrictions, told again that I never served, and said things to that left me crying until my husband called me on Skype after work. Regardless of what the woman said (Linda Lyon). I do have special circumstances. Few women get married and still need a dress. You opened this up to women vets but left out those who haven’t gotten a wedding due to our time of war. You actually INCLUDED those people like me, but chose to discriminate from your own ad. In fact even the USO recognizes in their “Brides Across America” campaign found here https://www.bridesacrossamerica.com/register. Problem is I do qualify for this but its limited by number of people. I thought when I was given your ad and got an appointment that this was my chance. As someone from USO says who actually does care about military families and not just their business “Planning a wedding is challenging when your loved one is on deployment. This is our way to bring joy into a military couple’s life and say thank you. They sacrifice their lives to give us freedom. This is the least we can do! I want to make sure our brides put away their camouflage to be a princess for the day.”– Heidi Janson, Founder of Brides Across America.

        AND YOUR WRONG we military wives (with military IDs) DO SERVE!!! The divorce rate for the military is extremely high due to the tough life we live (Especially during this time of war). “The military divorce rate reached its highest level since 1999, as nearly 30,000 marriages ended in fiscal 2011, raising the prospect that troop withdrawals may lead to more divorce, according to interviews and Pentagon data released Tuesday.” You can see more stats here https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-12-13/military-divorce-rate-increases/51888872/1 Not to mention that I only get 2 weeks to a month with my husband every year because of our choice to serve this country. His choice to serve as active duty and mine to work in another state (1/2 way across the country) in Human Factors Engineering to further military operations.

        BOTTOM LINE: This company does not want to make military dreams come true by giving away gowns. You are only doing this to make it look like you care about military people. ALL YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT IS PROMOTING YOUR BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!!!! You chose a tiny sector of the population to give gowns to so you didn’t have to really give anything away. Even when someone TRULY qualifies you try to exclude them. FURTHERMORE, ITS WRONG TO SWEAR AND MOCK CUSTOMERS! Its NOT PROFESSIONAL nor is it good customer service. Sadly for you, I am an active part of the military world I feel its wrong for military members to be deceived into thinking you care and buying more of your products. I will be letting other military members know to get their dress but buy nothing from you.

        I know you don’t really care about me, my experience, or your promotion as I was told in many ways, many times over the phone by Linda Lyons. But I thought it was worth telling you SOME of my terrible experience with your company anyways. (I’ll leave out the part where I was told that my husband could get a dress for me if he came in and got fitted like a girl by your customer service agent). To end, I can’t say how excited we BOTH were when we thought we would have a wedding dress to enjoy. My husband who love a photo of that to keep in his wallet. I also cannot express how crushed and heartbroken we felt when we were mocked and told we don’t serve and basically are looking for something free. If you don’t want want to help military people who qualify, don’t post your ad. I hope you treat other people better than we were treated. I also hope you were educated about real military life.

        Sincerely,

        Ally

        According to this page these are the restrictions as you can see: (I have pasted them here in case you change them after reading this.) I have also linked it to the page for you.

        Offer is valid at Alfred Angelo Signature Stores exclusively.
        An appointment to the store must be made for Wednesday November 11, 2015 to qualify.
        Offer is available on Wednesday November 11, 2015 only.
        To ensure we offer the best service, the event will be limited to appointment only.
        Appointments are limited so please book early.
        The bride must present a valid current military ID or DD214 on the day of the appointment in order to receive a free bridal gown.
        The bride must choose from an existing assortment of designated in-store sample bridal gowns.
        Assortment will vary in each store by style, color and size.
        Not all stores may carry all styles, colors or sizes.
        Offer excludes Disney Bridal collection.
        Free gown offer is limited to one bridal gown per valid military ID.
        Offer is ONLY valid while supplies last and cannot be pre-ordered.
        May not be combined with any other offers, prior sales excluded. Alterations are offered as a separate service.
        – See more at: https://www.alfredangelo.com/operationgowngiveaway…

      • Ally

        No you won’t. Technically you should because us military wives have military IDs. NO WHERE does it state that you must be enlisted yourself OR be a woman. However, I was at first given an appointment. Then I called back to change the time so my mother could Skype me putting on the dress. I was told that I did not qualify after being told that I did and given the appointment the day before. Furthermore, I was told that as a military wife of a man who has been in the Middle East that I’ve never served in any way. I called corporate that said the same thing to me and swore at me. The customer service agent at corporate actually said my husband could have a dress if came in and got fitted for one. It was such an appalling experience. I cried until my husband could Skype me. PLEASE READ our whole story that I posted to the #OperationGownGiveaway on facebook if you’re interested.

  9. Amanda N

    Yaaayyyy! Thank you so much! I’ve got my appointment made! I’m sooo happy!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Oh how awesome Amanda! You are so welcome! 😀

  10. Renee

    What a lovely promotion…great to see something like this for our military and their future spouses…congrats to all the engaged couples..

  11. Nikki

    Wow awesome! Wish I knew about this a few years ago if they were doing it then! My husband deployed 6 months after marriage and missed the 1st 4 months of our 1st born’s life.

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Sorry to hear that Nikki. Thank you to you and your husband for his service.

  12. Alicia

    This is so neat! Being raised an Army Brat I just cannot tell you the difference in how our nation/community treats our military and their families compared to the era of the Vietnam War!!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Thanks for sharing Alicia!

  13. Ashley

    This is awesome! So glad to see something for military families! They deserve it!

  14. Torrey

    Thank you so much! Just registered 🙂 My future hubby served in Iraq and Afghanistan.. This helps so much with our budget!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      You are very welcome Torrey!

  15. Susie

    Ahh, this is so sweet. 🙂

  16. Michelle

    So awesome!!! I love how your heart shines through with posts like this, Collin, and is like an echo with all the supportive comments from other hipsters. I add my gratitude to all the military families – thank you so very much for your service and sacrifice. Hugs and prayers to you.

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Such sweet words Michelle. Thanks for sharing 😉

  17. Heather

    I got married in 2007 and this same deal was offered and I got my dress free, it was valued at $3,000!! It was SUCH a blessing. My husband served for 6 years in the 101st Airborne and deployed three times (a little over three years total) to Afghanistan and Iraq…these were definitely the hardest years of my life but things like this really brought up my spirits. So glad this is being offered again, hope a lot of military brides can take advantage of it 🙂

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      That’s awesome Heather! Thanks so much for your feedback.

  18. Susan

    This is awesome ;just shared the link with my grandsons babysitter who just spent two weeks in Japan with her sailor! While there they got engaged & plan on marrying in May or June. He will be deployed but she is excited to say the least .She is a college student & this would be a tremendous help !

  19. Carla

    Wow this is an amazing thing for us spouses!! So grateful for this! Thanks for sharing Stephanie and thank you Collin for posting!!

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