'My wedding dress funded care for terminally ill children'

As any bride-to-be knows, wedding dresses can come at a terrifying cost, with the average price sitting at around £1,500.

But at one specialist charity shop in West Yorkshire brides can not only pick up a dress at a fraction of the cost, but also give something back.

Situated on the top floor of the Forget Me Not Children's Hospice store in Huddersfield, Holmfirth Bridal Suite is not your normal charity shop.

Instead of the usual array of second-hand clothes the rails are lined with hundreds of pre-loved or donated wedding dresses.

Set up by former seamtress Sharon Scott, the boutique offers brides the chance to enjoy all the excitement of picking out their dream outfit without the price tag.

Since it launched in February 2025 its reputation has grown, pulling in customers from as far afield as Newcastle, Cumbria, Lichfield and Peterborough.

Sharon said while the boutique may once have been an old storage room she worked hard to make sure visitors had the full wedding dress shopping experience.

"I thought why shouldn't a bride that comes to us have that experience," she said.

"It's not just about buying a dress is it? They're all being treated like a princess.

"So I asked if I could convert this room, which was storage, into a bridal suite.

"I was told there would be no budget for it. So we did it for £50."

The suite has about 200 dresses, costing between £50 and £750. The most expensive dress was originally priced at £3,000.

Sharon said some of the stock was new, having been donated to the shop when it opened, while other unworn items had also been handed over.

"We have had people who were supposed to get married in Covid bringing their dresses in never worn, or for some reason they haven't got married, or they've found another dress that they preferred, so we've got quite a lot of new."

She said she became involved with the hospice's work when a colleague's child was cared for by the hospice.

She said the hospice had "treated them so well", helping them to "grieve and make memories", adding: "So we did some fundraising for Forget Me Not at the warehouse and then I said one day I will come and work for them."

Now she helps brides-to-be choose their dream outfits.

Lauren Crossley, from Holmfirth, is getting married in May and picked her dress from the store after being affected by the hospice's work.

"My friend used their services when they had a baby that unfortunately died through cot death. So it's a charity I know desperately needs help," she said.

"I actually referred somebody over to the charity the same day I saw the advert on Facebook saying they're opening up this bridal suite."

After getting engaged in April, Lauren said she booked some appointments in commercial bridal suites, but when she stepped into the Holmfirth shop she was surprised by what she found.

"It really felt like a proper bridal boutique.

"When we came upstairs the women were really knowledgeable, they were such lovely people that I walked away from my appointment thinking 'I will find my dress from this store'."

She tried on eight or nine dresses before finding "the one", which was not the style she was expecting to choose.

"Really quickly when we started trying them on we realised that the kind of style I thought would look good really didn't.

"So the ladies were really helpful in pulling out different styles they thought would suit my figure better and they were spot on," she said.

Even before the big day, she has decided her dress will be coming back to to the shop be sold on and loved by another bride.

Andrea Titherington-Kay, head of retail at Forget Me Not Children's Hospice, says the bridal suite is crucial to the hospice's funding.

The charity needs £6.5m a year to run the hospice - which supports children with life-shortening conditions - and 80% of that comes from fundraising.

"Your average wedding dress is thousands of pounds and you wear it for one day, and then it goes in a box, and thankfully people are donating them here to be able to sell on and make more money for the hospice," she says.

"It's something we've never done before. A real sort of challenge because we've been learning as we go and the team have put their absolute heart and soul into it.

"The amount of dresses we've got here, we've had such a great response from the community in donating their dresses.

"And they all come with a story, so it's great to be able to share that, to pass that on to future brides.

"It's an incredible opportunity to be able to be part of one of the most special days for people."

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