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OPERATION WEDDING DRESS:
Military spouse-founded nonprofit celebrates one year of helping brides on their big day

Like many brides, Jessica Johnson picked out her wedding dress with her mom, mother-in-law and best friend. However, she didn’t say “yes to the dress” in a bridal boutique. Johnson chose her wedding dress over Zoom.

Not only that, the “perfect dress” was free, thanks to Operation Deploy Your Dress (ODYD).

ODYD was started by a group of military spouses to help offset the high cost of attending formal military functions by providing (or “deploying,” as the organization calls it) dresses from 13 brick and mortar shops at Army and joint installations across the U.S. and in Germany. The ODYD shops are run solely by military spouse volunteers. Dresses are distributed to all branches and all ranks.

The nonprofit's bridal program launched last June with the help of Monte Durham, the famed bridal consultant from the television reality show “Say Yes To The Dress – Atlanta,” to make the announcement.

ODYD began accepting applications. Brides-to-be were eligible if they were the child or fiancée of an active-duty service member.

“It was a huge blessing to be gifted a wedding gown — and not have to worry about that expense on top of all of those other wedding expenses,” Johnson said.

>>Tying the knot? Click to learn how to apply for the program.

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