Almost every time a bride walks through our door, she asks me "What gave you the idea to start doing this?"  First of all, many donors and volunteers make this happen, not just me. But since I am asked so often, I will tell you.

The idea for a  bridal non-profit came in a flash when somehow I found out how inexpensive wedding gowns were selling for on EBAY.  It struck  me that a lot of young brides were without the funds to have a lovely wedding and it was now possible for me to help them. And while that is true, it is not the whole story. The inspiration for the idea really came from Mary Donahue who I met for only a brief couple of minutes in my life, on February 19, 1983, my wedding day.

As you may have gathered from this site, I was delighted to be getting married to my wonderful husband. Planning my wedding reception, however, was not a high priority in my busy life. Frankly I knew nothing much about wedding receptions and didn't really want to become an expert.  Christ the King Church used only one caterer for their hall receptions so after talking on the phone for a few minutes to this caterer,  I considered the matter of my reception settled. Yes, I left my entire wedding reception up to a caterer I had never met, Mary Donahue of Gem Caterers in Silver Spring Maryland.  I naively assumed she would do everything that needed to be done: decorate the church hall, arrange the tables and chairs, cook the food for 300 people, serve it and make it all beautiful. Mary asked me a few questions on the phone about my menu preferences and budget and the matter was settled very easily and quickly.  

As fate would have it, disaster set in: a blizzard tore into Washington D.C. the day before my wedding and by 3 pm it was clear that my wedding had been cancelled by 5 feet of snow. I called Mary and she assured me that everything would work out. She put all the chicken in the freezer and arranged for the hall and the church the next Saturday. My price didn't even go up.

When I arrived at the Hall after the ceremony, everything was perfect.  Mary greeted me soon after I entered the hall and introduced herself. She was a small silver haired lady and I am guessing she was in in her early sixties.  She took a moment to artfully arrange my bouquet and those of my bridesmaids on the wedding cake table around the cake. We were both pleased with this small trick which instantly transformed the cake table into something far more beautiful. She turned back to me and looked closely for a brief moment at me in my wedding regalia. She joyfully began to smile at me with an unforgettable smile that made me feel beautiful, loved and special. 

I never forgot Mary Donahue's smile and the way she made me feel -  it was rare and memorable on the happiest day of my life even when I had 300 other great people smiling at me too. Mary met me with love and blessed my wedding day. In a small way, I want to be like Mary.

We at St. Anthony's can't do everything for our brides that Mary did for me. We don't come to the reception hall and decorate, cook, serve and clean up too. The truth is that most of our brides have a lot of work to do with decorating and arranging the reception hall and taking care of many many details -  much more work than brides face who use hotels or expensive full service caterers.  And wedding customs and standards have changed with things being far fancier than when I got married. But if a bride on a budget has the heart and determination to have a lovely wedding and reception, we at St. Anthony's Bridal are here to help, with love.

Blessings to you! Susan, SusanSFO@msn.com

PS: I found out several months ago that St. Anthony is the patron saint of marriage.