Brides Across America

Horrible experience with BAA. I donated my dress to them over 3 months ago. I still have yet to receive my receipt for donation. I have emailed over 5 times and called twice. And they keep telling me that they are going to email me one. I still haven’t received one. My husband is retired military and I thought it would be nice to give back. This is very frustrating to say the least.

Great business– even greater expertise on finding the perfect gown to match the personality of the bride. Along w/​ideas like adding trim, dropped straps, Heidi demonstrated a keep awareness of someone who knows her craft. My daughter tried maybe 40 gowns in a 6 month period before she finally found the perfect one. The staff were patient and kind and encouraging all the way through. Appreciate it all. We wish them great luck in their new building at 362 Main St Andover.

Words can’t express how grateful I am to Brides Across America, and especially the organization’s founder, Heidi Janson, for matching me with my perfect wedding dress. But let me explain a little about what they do.
In a nutshell, BAA provides free wedding gowns for military brides. There are certain eligibility restrictions that have to do with deployments which you can read about on their website, but we qualified through my fiancé’s 2010 deployment to Afghanistan.
Twice a year (July and November) there are events all around the country where these gowns are given away. You sign up by making a small ($ 20) tax-​deductible donation per event, and depending on the rules of the salon you are going to you either make an appointment, or get there early and wait in line to get in. Then you try on gowns (these are mostly either sample dresses, or preowned gowns that have been donated to BAA), and hope to find something you really love!
And this is where I’d like to go into more detail about my personal experience. I came to Heidi this past November looking for a simple lace boatneck mermaid/​trumpet gown with strictly NO poof. Heidi pulled a bunch of dresses for me to try on — the range of designers that I went through that day was from Galina through Enzoani Blue through Romona Keveza and all the way to a crazy $ 7K Vera Wang gown. But to my utter despair I wasn’t loving any of them, and by dress 5 I was starting to get really worried that I would be the first bride of the day to leave empty handed.
And then Heidi brought a dress I never would have thought to try on my own — it was a sweetheart taffeta fit-​n-​flare with built in crinolines. I have NO idea how she did it, as it was the exact opposite of what I was looking for, but I fell in love. It’s an Alfred Angelo gown in PERFECT condition (doesn’t even need to be dry cleaned) that will require minimal alterations. We also tried on veils, and I left with a gorgeous cathedral length veil and a shawl to go with the outfit.
I absolutely love my dress, and it is definitely the single most flattering gown I have ever tried on. So not only is Heidi an amazing person who devotes so much time and energy to giving back to military couples, but she also has a magic skill that can match you with the perfect dress.
I will certainly post pictures after our big day, and I will be spreading the word about BAA as much as possible — if there was any way to give them ten stars I certainly would!