The 10th annual ‘Don’t Stress Over the Dress’ event took place at the Findlay Village Mall March 9th-11th.  The event was hosted by the Shelly Co., Chopin Hall, and the Findlay Village Mall, with 42 sponsors helping make it happen.
The annual event pairs girls with a huge selection of new, or nearly-new, gowns for free. This year, there were 1123 prom dresses available to girls, many of whom may otherwise not have been able to afford a prom dress. In addition to dresses, shoes, jewelry, and makeup were also available. Girls are given a ‘shopping list’ when they arrive, permitting them 1 dress, 1 item of jewelry, and 1 pair of shoes, while supplies last. The registration form also entered attendees into door prize drawings. 47 prizes were donated by local businesses.
Students from all over are welcome to attend the annual event. One year, a student from Virginia even stopped by! This year, 334 girls from 64 Ohio schools attended over the course of the 3 days. This year, 118 pairs of shoes and 226 jewelry items were taken home, in addition to 238 dresses!
The items that were not claimed will be stored by the Shelly Co. until next year’s event. If you have a formal dress you would like to donate, you can take it to Chopin Hall, or directly to the Shelly Co.
To learn more about how the event came to be, and how it’s grown over the years, check out the live video we did during setup this year!

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