Military Brides' Dream Dresses
Boston Herald

A New Hampshire bridal shop owner is making military matrimonial dreams come true today when she hands out 50 free wedding dresses to blushing brides-to-be who are on active duty or engaged to someone serving overseas.

“I didn’t think it was real,” said Rachel Nelson, 21, whose beloved, Marine Sgt. Travis McGlew, served in Afghanistan and is now in Japan. “I was literally shaking.”

Nelson will be front and center today at the Bridal Stock Exchange in Seabrook, N.H., which is giving away the freebie frocks in a show of support for the troops and the people who support them back home.

Nelson, a Simmons College student from Haverhill who is getting married in June, pared down her wedding dress budget to pay for the rest of the event, but now she can really splurge on her big day.

“It made me really happy to know people are realizing that men and women are over there fighting for us, and back home, the family, the fiances, wives and kids, they have a hard job, too. It really touched me.”

Heidi Janson, owner of The Bridal Stock Exchange, said more than a dozen women have asked about the bridal bonanza, taking place today and tomorrow from 4 p.m to 8 p.m. The dresses retail for $600 to $3,000 and come in all styles - strapless to sequins - and in sizes 4 to 22.

Brides must be on active duty or engaged to someone on active duty who is deployed to qualify.

Janson, 43, who lives in North Andover, said she collected the dresses from stores around the country to say thanks to military families.

“We’re all about just doing something good for other people,” said Janson, who also collects used bridesmaid dresses and donates them to charity through her own organization called The Bridesmaid Party.