One Brooklynite is helping Army brides walk down the aisle in style.
Mill Basin resident Susan Finale, as well as the rest of the staff of The Wedding Salon of Manhasset in Long Island, were saluted on the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” show for its donation of bridal gowns and accessories to three military brides who won a national contest.
The Wedding Salon donated exquisite designer gowns, headpieces, veils and jewelry valued at $30,000 to the brides.
“We were inspired to do something for the dedicated people in the armed services, who do so much for us,” said Nancy Aucone, who co-founded The Wedding Salon of Manhassset with Finale. “In our line of work, what better way to give back than to treat these brides like princesses for the weekend and provide them with their choice of dream wedding gowns?”
The lucky brides were selected from hundreds of applicants in the national All-American Bride contest organized by the Chatterberries.com wedding Web site. The winners were Vivian Chiu, who, along with her fiancé, serves in the U.S. Army and is a graduate of West Point; Kara Forrest, a member of the Air Force and her fiancé is a U.S. Marine; and Christine Tebo, whose fiancé serves in the Air Force.
The three brides were flown in from different parts of the country to New York, and guided by The Wedding Salon’s, they were invited to make their selections from the store’s array of upscale bridal gowns.
Two of the brides wore Ulla Maija designs, while the third selected a gown by designer Kenneth Pool.
After the selections were made, The Wedding Salon’s expert fitters went to work customizing the gowns to fit each bride with perfection.The next day, they were filmed for “Fox & Friends.”
“It was an exciting and very busy weekend,” says Finale. “We’re known for our highly personalized, one-on-one approach to working with brides. Since we only had one weekend to fit these particular brides, our team was working until 2 a.m.! We certainly wanted to make everything perfect for these very special brides.”
