Woman’s Wedding Dress Is Transformed Into Funeral Gowns For Stillborn Babies, 8,000 Other Brides Follow Her Lead
A woman donated her wedding dress to a charity that turns the dresses into funeral gowns for stillborn babies, but she never suspected the outpouring of support that followed. Yvonne Trimble decided to donate her wedding dress to the charity Cherished Gowns for Angel Babies UK because she knew she would never be wearing the gown again. However, when she received an image of the seven tiny funeral gowns created from her dress, she says she felt overwhelmed with emotions, ranging from pride to sadness. She shared the image to her Facebook page and never expected what would follow.
The Daily Mail reports that Yvonne Trimble was stricken with emotions when she saw the seven tiny funeral gowns created from her wedding dress. The woman says that when she saw the tiny dresses in the photograph, it made her feel proud that her dress is being put to one final good use. However, it also made her sad knowing that seven families would need these gowns due to the loss of a child. Although the loss of a child is heartbreaking, Trimble says she is so thankful that organizations like Cherished Gowns for Angel Babies exist to provide these comforting garments to grieving families.
It was noted that when families deal with the stillbirth of a child, the last thing they want to be worried about is finding an outfit suitable for the burial. Therefore, charities such as Cherished Gowns take wedding dresses and fashion them into hand-sewn tiny funeral gowns that will fit the tiniest of babies. These gowns are then distributed to the families that need them during their time of grief. This allows the family to grieve instead of worrying about a technicality, such as clothing, for their stillborn baby.
The organization notes that each year, seven babies a day — 3,500 a year — are born sleeping or sadly pass away shortly after birth. Through the sadness of the loss of a child, these types of charities aim to ensure all babies are laid to rest in a special item of clothing.
“Our aim is to provide the families of these precious babies with an item of clothing that they are able to wear for their final farewell. We provide hospitals around the UK with a comfort pack to give to parents that contain a special Gown made from a wedding or other formal dress that has been donated.”
After Yvonne’s initial post to Facebook on January 3, 2016, she almost immediately received an outpouring of support from people who wanted to thank her for the kind donation and others asking where they could donate their dress for such an amazing cause. Following Yvonne’s post, the charity says that they were inundated with requests to donate gowns and help out the organization as a volunteer sewer.
“The number of volunteer sewers tripled from 250 to 750 overnight, and after three days we have now closed our waiting list for donating a dress as it currently stands at 8,800 people!”
#givingtuesday Donate $10.00 and sponsor a military couple receive a free wedding gown or wedding to make their… https://t.co/XuTzHFYQim
— BridesAcrossAmerica (@Brides_America) December 1, 2015
So much support poured in for the organization thanks to Yvonne’s post that they had to halt accepting any new donations as they had a full waiting list of 8,800 gowns. The organization says this is huge because each gown can make on average between 10 to 30 garments depending on size and style.
Donate — Adorned in Grace Donate your wedding gown to help end #humantrafficking https://t.co/qSLlNi7XkR
— Heather Montz (@heatherdani85) November 4, 2015
If you live in the United States and would like to donate your wedding gown to a similar charity, NICU Helping Hands is an option. Other options for old wedding gowns include Brides For A Cause, Brides Across America, and The Bride’s Project.
[Image via Facebook/Yvonne Trimble]
