'Brides Against Breast Cancer' Gives the Best Reason to Say Yes to the Dress

People, people who help people ... are the luckiest people in the world ... isn't there a song that goes something like that? Oh no, wait -- I think those are people who need people. Anyway, that works out perfectly, because the nonprofit group "Brides Against Breast Cancer" is a combination of both kinds of people at their very best: The organization sells both new and "gently used" wedding gowns at 25 to 85 percent below their actual retail value -- and proceeds go to programs that help support breast cancer patients. Sounds like a win-win! Especially considering the fact that brides-to-be usually end up saving anywhere from $99 to $799 (some gowns are valued up to $8,000!).

Many of the dresses are donated by women (after all, who wears the same wedding dress twice?!), while others are overstock from previous seasons and donated by retailers. So far, BABC has program has received over 50,000 wedding gown donations -- that's an estimated resale value of more than 4 million bucks! And with 70 events all over the country, the Brides might just be bringing their discounted dresses to a town near you sometime soon (check the 2013 Nationwide Tour of Gowns schedule here).

It's pretty amazing, really, when you consider how many of these dresses are donated by former brides -- I mean, I meant what I said about nobody ever wearing the same wedding dress twice but plenty of women still hang on to their gowns for sentimental reasons or to pass on to their future daughter/daughter-in-law. So it's really quite a generous and kind thing, even knowing how much you'll be helping two women with just one dress.

Would you ever donate your wedding dress to a charity like this one?