NOTICE: In December, Bridal Designs by Niko of Baltimore, MD donated over 150 dresses to us! These dresses are last season, so come and see the splendid inventory we have expanded. Thank you, Niko for your generous donation. Our brides are so blessed.
We are basically a self-service free store where you can borrow what we have to offer and return it cleaned after the wedding.
At our Bridal Centers, depending on availability and inventory, you can borrow:
- Bride's Wedding Dresses, Veils, Petticoats, Accessories, and Full Attire
- Bridesmaids' Dresses
- Mother-of-the-Groom/Bride Dresses
- Flower Girl Dresses, Baskets, and Accessories
- Ring Bearer Garments and Accessories
- Silk Flowers for the Church and Bridal Party
- Bridal Arch with Silk Flowers
- Pew Bows
- Mirrors and Silk Flowers for Centerpieces
- Centerpieces, including Eiffel Towers
- Vases
- Champagne Flutes for Groom & Bride
- Silver Cake Servers
- Tulle
... and various bridal decorations.
- Wedding Cake Displays
- Silver Cake Stands
- Cake Toppers
- Punch Bowl and Ladle Sets
- Silver Candle Stands
- Ivory or Pink Topiaries
- Round and Square Vases for Centerpieces
- Glassware, Plates, and Silverware
- White or Ivory Tablecloths (90 inch and 120 inch rounds and rectangles), white or ivory chair covers, white, green or red chair sashes, and white or ivory table skirts.
- Stainless Steel buffet servers
- CD Shelf System, Speakers, Music, and Microphone
... and many, many other useful items.
See the Agreement for a fuller listing.
Your Deposit(s) along with the letter from your celebrant confirming your ceremony will reserve your date on our calendar. If you cancel your wedding or no longer need our services, please let us know so we can give your slot on our calendar to another bride.
You can expect to have four or more visits to our Bridal Center. Please do not feel you are ever bothering us if you want to come more than four times. You are not. You are why we are here.
First Meeting: At this first meeting, you will inspect our inventory and try on bridal gowns. We will go over the details with you.
This meeting is your chance to look around and decide on the other goods you will be using. Try to bring a list of what you need along with your Deposit, Agreement (click here for the Agreement) and letter from your celebrant. If you don't find the gown of your dreams, you simply leave without giving us your Deposit, Agreement and letter.
In this first meeting your bridesmaids can pick out their gowns and take them home with them, and you can take home your veil, crinoline slip and your flower girl dress. It is quite possible that this one meeting may actually be extended over two or three or four Saturdays.
Second Meeting. On the Saturday before your wedding you will pick up the tablecloths, centerpieces, and other goods. We close at noon so please do not be late. You should arrive at this visit between 10 am and 10:30 am and be prepared to spend at least an hour collecting your items and checking them out. Please bring plastic bins or boxes marked "St. Anthony's". You will use these bins or boxes to transport our items to and from your wedding. You will attach a list of contents to each bin or box. This will help you pack them up at the end of the reception. Please designate one responsible person to pack these up at the end of the reception and bring them with you to this meeting. Coming unprepared will mean going to the nearest Target to buy plastic bins and take away precious time from this visit.
Third and Final Meeting The first Saturday after your wedding at 10 am. Congratulations! You did it! This is the meeting where you will return the items as another bride is probably waiting at the Center to pick them up.
The best way to insure that you will be able to return all bridal garments is to ask the maids in the bridal party to bring a change of clothes to change into at the end of the reception. If you have a reliable friend or relative who will agree to take the tablecloths home and wash them and return them to you within three or four days, everything will go a lot smoother for you.
Cleaning! Cleaning! Cleaning! And we know you are tired after your wedding but this can not be avoided! Try to picture the bride BEFORE you reading this and having to comply. It may make it easier for you to understand you own responsibilities
Please have your gown and the other garments cleaned before their return. You may even find your gown needs cleaning BEFORE you wear it. In both cases, before and after your wedding, you can do this job yourself. That is right! You do not have to spend a lot of money cleaning your gown for the gown to be beautiful and clean.
As long as your wedding gown is not made of silk, it may be washed by hand in a clean bath tub (you will have to remove hem dirt). Depending on the level of hem dirt, this not a hard job but requires some time hand-scrubbing the hem with a white sock soaked with water and Tide or other good detergent. For best results, fill half-way up a clean bath tub with warm water and some Tide. Soak your gown for an hour, then, sitting on your bathtub edge, clean the hem and other spots. If the sock is not working, advance to a soft brush. Take breaks as necessary! Examine the entire hem, neckline, underarms, etc., to make sure you have cleaned all visible dirt. Rinse and hang. If the gown has wood splinters in it, you may need to use tweezers to remove them. Rinse the gown well and hang it to dry with non-metal hanger. Th is removes almost all wrinkles; if you desire it steamed, some cleaners will steam it for a fraction of the price they will clean and steam it. Or you can steam it yourself.
Bridesmaids' gowns must be dry cleaned before return. It is customary for the person wearing the garment to cover this cost.
Tablecloths should be carefully pre-spotted and washed the first Monday after the wedding, dried fully to avoid mildew, and folded. It is not necessary to iron them. Do not place them in plastic bags such as trash bags as the cloths may appear to be dry but may still have enough moisture to mildew when enclosed in plastic. This has happened to us several times and it is a very expensive mistake. Table skirts may not need to be cleaned if they do not appear dirty. Please try not to lose our table skirt clips - they are easy to lose!
Candle holders and other bridal goods should be carefully cleaned of wax, etc., before return.
Failure to clean garments and other items before return will result in a forfeiture of your deposit.
DISCLAIMER: . We are here to help you, but, we are only as reliable as the bride who used the items before you. If she fails to return the goods, we may not have them for you. This has never happened yet, but it could happen so we hope everyone understands this very clearly.
We hope our bridal goods are a blessing to you. Please return them in clean and dry condition (or you will lose your Deposit and we don't want that any more than you do).
Your wedding is a truly sacred and awesome event. It deserves to be celebrated with great ceremony, reverence, beauty, and festivity. May God bless you for undertaking this great and noble vocation which we hope will bring you much happiness as well as many blessings for society.
