Wedding cancelled, Winnipeg woman giving away designer gown

A Winnipeg woman is offering to give her unused wedding dress to a deserving person after her own plans for marriage fell through.

Hannah Prattposted the offer for herdesigner wedding dress online, and by Tuesday more than 4,000 people had viewed the ad on Kijiji.

Pratt says she cancelled her wedding last year she callsit "for the best" and theivorydress has been hanging in her closet ever since.

"It's obviously a dress thatI loveit's very pretty but I was wondering what to do with it," she told CBC News.

Pratt said she considered selling the dress, but decided it wasn't worth the hassle: "Even the money I'd get, it wouldn't be worth it [compared] to give it to someone who would use it and be happy with it andreally could use a break in some way."

The ad describes the dress asa Tara Keelyivory tulle fit and flare gown with a strapless sweetheart bodice and Alencon lace appliques. It comes with a flowing,tiered tulle skirt with morelace appliques and a chapel train. It's a size 10 that fits a size 6-8, and is unaltered.

Total cost was$1,300.

"It was featured in an episode of Say Yes to the Dress,I found out afterwards"she said. "I was Googling it after I bought it and thought 'Oh, that's kind of cool.'

"So yes, it was on Say Yes, which hopefully someone else will say yes to."

Compelling submission

So far, Pratt said, she's only had one compelling submission: Awoman who was traumatized as a teen and battled drugaddiction for more than a decade.

"[She has] turned her life around completely, done a complete 180," Pratt said. "She now has a beautiful little family and is engaged and planningshe has a social in October and is planning her dreamwedding. The dresses that she's been looking at, they're all expensive.

"This is something that I'm hoping will maybe make her wedding amazing. If that's the one submission I get and that's the best one then that's what it will be."

Pratthad considered giving her dress away for months, especially after donating her graduation dress to a local charity. "This isn't costing me anything. I mean, I bought this dress two years ago with the intention of using it. It's not a huge deal to me to give it away."

By going public with her story, Pratt said, she is hoping other brides-to-be who have a need will contact her.

The person who will eventually get the dress doesn't have to share their story publicly, she added. "Some people may feel like I want to share their story, and I don't," Pratt said.

"I just want to know what their story is and I'm not planning on sharing their details or anything like that. I don't want to do a photo op with them, I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable in any way."