Wish Upon A Dress in West Loop providing wedding gowns to couples with serious illnesses
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Granted wishes and sparkling ball gowns.
A local boutique is making fairy tales a reality for couples struggling with terminal illnesses by giving away thousands of dollars in dresses right in the West Loop.
The stream's Jamaica Ponder takes us inside Wish Upon A Dress for more.
Here at Wish Upon A Dress's warehouse in the West Loop, they house thousands of dresses - all of which have been donated. Some they're selling to the public, but some they're giving away.
"You walk in and there's so many dresses."
Ellie Aldrich is on the hunt for a dress.
"I knew a little bit coming in, that there was some donations involved."
She'd heard about Wish Upon A Dress from a few of her coworkers.
"But I didn't realize the full extent until I came here," she said.
Giving away free dresses is only one part of the story.
"We grant weddings and vow renewals to couples that are suffering from a life-altering medical circumstance."
Nicole Fauls is the national president of Wish Upon a Wedding - the sister organization to Wish Upon A Dress.
"It is one of our fundraising outlets, which is in thanks to our partnership with Anthropologie Weddings, then we re-donate them to our wish couples."
Anthropologie Weddings donates all their surplus gowns to the organization. The thousands of unclaimed dresses are then put up for sale in their boutique.
"But 100% of those proceeds go back to Wish Upon A Wedding," Fauls said.
"I feel like it helps me want to buy more dresses knowing that it helps someone have their dream wedding is really incredible," Aldrich said.
You don't have to be looking for a wedding gown – Ellie most certainly isn't…
"We probably have close to 10,000 gowns here. So not only do we have wedding gowns, we have formal party gowns, bridesmaids dresses," Fauls said.
"I think it's one of the coolest things I've heard of, to help someone feel loved, and to do that, I think, is one of the best things you can do," Aldrich said.
While you can only come in and try on these gorgeous gowns by appointment, Wish Upon A Dress will be having an event open to the public on June 30 to celebrate this boutique's one-year anniversary.
The organization also recently began a free gown program for first responders. You can just show your ID and pick up two gowns of your choice.
The boutique is always accepting dress donations. Appointments are available on wishuponadress.com.