Giveaway For Special Day

In the first 30 minutes of business Tuesday at Couture Bride, the phone rang almost nonstop.

Word had spread among military personnel at Nellis Air Force Base and the Nevada National Guard that the shop will give away wedding gowns on Veterans Day to brides-to-be who are in the military or marrying into it.

More than a dozen gowns worth thousands of dollars each are hanging from Couture Bride racks, reserved for the Brides Across America event. More are on the way.

In all, about 45 gowns donated by salons and designers will be given away on a first-come, first-serve basis. To qualify, the soon-to-be brides or their fiancés must be active-duty personnel deployed, or soon to be deployed, to Iraq or Afghanistan.

"I think that just giving back to people who risk their lives every day for us is really important. I wish there were more stores doing it," said Annette Cirillo-Bergen, who is a partner with Dawn Heaney and Flora Petakas Marinelli at Couture Bride.

This year, the salon, on Durango Drive north of West Charleston Boulevard, joined bridal shops in 13 other states for Brides Across America. Cirillo-Bergen hopes salon participation will grow.

"As soon as we heard about it, we decided that's the thing to do. Hopefully, it will become a bigger movement than it is," she said.

The nonprofit charitable event, founded by East Coast bridal salon owner Heidi Janson, was launched to give something back to those who serve in the nation's global war on terrorism. Similar giveaways have taken place on the Fourth of July and other patriotic holidays, with more than 1,500 gowns given away nationwide.

"With the economy at its lowest and military couples struggling to afford a wedding, it is important that we come together to show our appreciation for their brave service and commitment to our country," Janson said in a statement announcing the Nov. 11 event.

Couture Bride is drawing from its stock of sample gowns and those donated by designers.

"We could give away one or 45. It doesn't matter," Heaney said.

The designs include those by Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera and Elizabeth Fillmore. Most of the gowns are sizes 8 and 10 with price tags of between $2,000 and $7,000.

The salon has invited neighboring businesses to donate services. The wedding staff at Springs Preserve has volunteered to help in the giveaway with brides expected to line up before 10 a.m. on Nov. 11 to show identification and copies of deployment papers.

Once cleared, a bride can select a gown. A seamstress will be on hand for discounted alterations.

"If they like something, it's theirs," Cirillo-Bergen said.

She said being a participant in Brides Across America gives her a good feeling because she witnessed the tragedy of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center.

Her husband, Ed Bergen, a lieutenant in the city's fire department, had retired the day before but found himself rushing to the scene where 33 firefighters from his battalion perished.

"I didn't see him for three days," she said.

Her husband had planned to retire on Sept. 10, 2001, and the couple had made plans to move to Las Vegas. It was a welcome retreat from the nightmares in New York.

"We've been so fortunate and blessed with the people we've met in Las Vegas," she said.

"A lot of nice things have happened to us, and we want to give back. This is such a good cause."

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@review journal.com or 702-383-0308.