Best Wedding Dresses - 2016 Strapless, sweetheart neckline, or a-line. Who has the best selection of wedding dresses?The pain of losing a baby is unimaginable, but one woman aims to make the process a little bit easier on grieving families. Dawn Lafferty is the president of Angels Above Baby Gowns -- a Garden City, Michigan-based organization that turns used wedding gowns into burial clothing, or "angel gowns," for newborns who don't make it home from the hospital. "I just hate the thought that these ladies are losing their babies and they haven't even planned for the clothes that they're going to wear," Lafferty told FOX 2 Detroit. "They should be shopping for cribs, not funeral arrangements." Over the past year and a half, Lafferty and the women and men who volunteer as seamstresses have created around 7,000 gowns, blankets, hats and headbands for the newborns who are often too tiny for traditional baby clothing. The group set up wedding dress drop-off locations throughout Michigan.

Volunteers collect the gowns and bring them to the makeshift studio located in the lower level of Lafferty's home. "We have outgrown our space and work area and are hoping for someone to donate a building for us to use as storage and work space," Lafferty told The Huffington Post. Lafferty founded the organization in May 2014 after learning about a group called Angel Gowns By Michelle based in Washington state. She couldn't find anything similar in her area, so she decided to start her own group. She posted the idea on Facebook, and almost immediately a handful of friends said they'd be willing to help her get it off the ground. "I love to sew and thought this would give me the opportunity to sew every day that I was able to," Lafferty said. Angels Above Baby Gowns is one of a number of groups that have popped up across the U.S. including NICU Helping Hands in Fort Worth, Texas and the Angel Gowns By Michelle group (mentioned above) located outside of Seattle, Washington.

For more information on how you can donate a dress, your sewing skills or other services to Angels Above Baby Gowns, visit their Facebook group or their Amazon wish list. Angel Gowns Stillbirth Angels Above Baby Gowns Baby Gowns Donate Wedding DressUsed Book Sale Portland OregonWith a gorgeous backdrop of the Puget Sound and dense forest views as far as the eye could see, Fort Flagler State Park (on Marrowstone Island in Washington) was the perfect spot for Oregon dwellers, Kristen + Reid, to exchange their vows. Used Furniture Ottawa CanadaIn addition to the location being amazing, there were loads of personal touches and unique ideas that made their day extra-special. White Lined Curtains 90 X 54Reid grew up on the grounds at Fort Flagler, where his father was a park ranger, so the location had a ton of meaning.

His mother’s catering company (Rachel Jensen) prepared the delicious cuisine. And Kristen + Reid chose to stand right next to each other during the ceremony rather than across from one another. It was pretty sweet…wait ’til you see! Below, they tell us even more about how they made their day about the two of them: As the son of a Washington State Park Ranger, Reid spent most of his childhood living right on the Puget Sound with the historic Fort Flagler State Park as his backyard.  Since most of Kristen’s family was traveling from the East Coast, we could not think of a better way to celebrate our wedding than by spending the weekend doing all of our favorite activities together with our loved ones in the park: hiking, sailing, crabbing, kayaking, and a morning of yoga on the bluff.  We wanted to create a fun and relaxing retreat for our guests at this place we hold so dear, with an awesome party and some delicious Pacific Northwest seafood to start off our marriage.

Thanks so much to Catie Coyle Photography for the gorgeous photos + congrats to the newlyweds on a beautiful day! Kristen wore a gorgeous Leanne Marshall wedding dress, paired with neutral heels by Dolce Vita. The ceremony, especially our vows. There is nothing better than being surrounded by all of our family and friends. The toasts were a close second. We love K + R’s fun ceremony exit! The wildflower-inspired florals by Carmen Tracer were a perfect fit for the rustic surroundings. Let your loved ones help you! Early on during our planning we were a little hesitant to get input from family and friends because we did not want to burden them with extra responsibility. But in the end we had so many people offer to help and they made our lives much easier. Kristen is an MD/PhD student at Oregon Health & Science University and Reid is a structural engineer working in Portland, and neither of us had a lot of extra time to devote to planning. Thankfully, we have extremely talented family and friends who were able to assist with everything from officiating to the cake.

photography: Catie Coyle Photography // venue: Fort Flagler State Park Marrowstone Island, Washington // event design: bride + groom // event planning: Victoria Gilligan // florals: Carmen Tracer // wedding dress: Heloise by Leanne Marshall // shoes: Dolce Vita // bridesmaid + flower girls dresses: BHLDN // hair + makeup: bride // groom suit: Kenneth Cole // videography: Sydney Stevens // invitations: Paperless Post // place cards: Anders Printing Company // catering: Rachel Jensen // cake: Elizabeth Swanson // rentals: Kitsap Event Rentals // officiant: Lorrie Towers // dj: Caleb Peacock // rings: family heirlooms and Antoinette Antique and Estate Jewelry Memorial Services Washington State Ferries (WSF) books nearly 100 memorials a year. Reservations are required for all memorials and must be made a minimum of 5 business days ahead. It is recommended for an event during the summer months; you give as much notice as possible when calling to schedule, and have a couple of dates in mind, in case your first date is not available.

Please call 206-264-3556 to schedule.  If you call after hours, or over the weekend, someone will get back to you as soon as they are in the office. The following is a list of our policies for having a Memorial Event on a ferry. This is to minimize disruptions in regular service. Ashes must be contained in a certified biodegradable water burial urn, (often termed a “journey urn”), with the entire urn to be released into the Sound intact from the ferry Memorial Events happen on limited routes. The approved routes are: Seattle/Bremerton Mukilteo/Clinton Seattle/Bainbridge Port Townsend/Coupeville (summer months only) Edmonds/Kingston Anacortes/Friday Harbor Memorial Events are made during limited and specific non-peak sailing times, which are as follows: On weekdays, the activity may only be scheduled between 10 am-1 pm. On weekends, memorials may only be scheduled from the first sailing through 10 am. WSF will schedule no memorials on holidays or holiday weekends. Please contact WSF in regards to what holiday are affected.

WSF will schedule no more than one memorial per day on any one route. Memorial activities must take no longer than five minutes to minimize disruptions to regular service. A scheduled memorial may not occur if a Captain determines it is not safe or there are unforeseen operational issues. In the event of substantial service delays, a memorial may be moved to another vessel operating on the same route The vessel’s horn is sounded solely at the discretion of the Master. Weddings on Ferries Weddings should be planned for non-peak times and we will need to know the exact time and route so we can alert the crew. Ceremonies are not allowed in the non-public areas of our vessels. Our captains are not legally authorized to perform weddings so plan to arrange for a justice of the peace or pastor to conduct the service. We recommend small weddings. Larger weddings require reserved space and we cannot guarantee that other, non-invited customers will not inadvertently become part of the wedding party.

Here are some other things to be aware of: Outside catering services are not allowed. There are no private rooms for clothes changing, etc. We do not recommend driving onboard the ferry unless the wedding will be completed by the time the vessel reaches its destination. All vehicles that have boarded a ferry must be driven off once the vessel reaches its final destination. If the wedding party has special requests such as using live musicians, electrical power on the ferry, etc., those requests must be made at the time initial arrangements are made with the ferry system. Special wedding day photos of the bridal party may not be possible. Ferry crews cannot obstruct pathways for picture taking so bridal pictures may include a photo of a wandering ferry commuter who accidentally gets in your picture. If you would like more information or would like to make arrangements for your special event, please contact Operations Programs Staff Aide Johanna Karlin at 206-264-3556.  Birthdays on Ferries Washington State Ferries frequently become the gathering place for birthday celebrations, and we'll try to accommodate your request provided you arrange to travel during non-peak times.