Destroyed Wedding Dresses: Tweeters React To David's Bridal Apology

On Wednesday, to the horror of onlookers, a Minnesota outpost of the bridal salon Priscilla of Boston -- an offshoot of wedding gown giant David's Bridal -- trashed several of its gowns after closing its doors for good. When the footage went viral, shocked viewers expressed disgust with the chain for what they saw as a waste of good gowns.

Frustrated commenters couldn't understand why the company would trash costly wedding gowns when so many brides are unable to afford them. Some suggested that the dresses could have been donated to charity rather than spray painted or tossed.

Following that criticism, David's Bridal, the parent company of Priscilla's, issued an apology for the boutique's actions: "Like many of you, we were disheartened by imagery of a small number of unsold bridal gowns being destroyed following a Priscilla of Boston salon closure in the Midwest," the company told MSNBC. "While it has been Priscilla of Boston's policy not to make donations of sample dresses that are in poor condition, we recognize that some of these dresses could possibly have gone to worthy causes. David's Bridal has already begun bringing together all of the remaining Priscilla of Boston gowns to evaluate them and ensure that they are donated to our charitable partners wherever possible."

But was their apology enough? HuffPost Weddings asked the Twitterverse what they thought of the company's response. Check out their reactions below and leave your feedback in the comments.

Comments

[alise88]

03:08 AM on 05/25/2012

Weddingdressesgood.com is reliable,my wedding to buy This dress is absolutely beautiful! I knew I loved it when I came across it on this website, but when I took it out of the box I fell in love with it all over again. It is a wish of a dress that couldn't be any more perfect!Thank you www.weddingdressgood.com

[Blingy]

08:12 PM on 01/19/2012

First off why should the company give away the very same dresses they just charged a 1000 other brides 4000???? Sure they could donate or auction it...but it's their product to do as they please. What if....some caught you throwing away some of your stuff and then posted pictures of you accusing you of being waistful and not caring for the needy. What you consider junk someone else might need....but it's your stuff!!!!! I don't get this whole self righteous entitlement mentality... Ps...they are going to donate the rest....some bride is going to be walking down the isle in a 4000 dollar dress and can hardly afford the marriage license...but by god she has a free dress!!! Whatever!

[RHofm50129]

03:19 PM on 01/19/2012

I do believe they owned the dresses and therefore could do as they liked with them. I also question why a "poor" person needs a $4,000 dress. I question why ANYBODY does. I walked down the aisle in a home made dress that cost me about $30. Been married 43 years. Guess the dress didn't matter all that much, hey?

[April Fee]

06:15 PM on 01/13/2012

I guess the majority of the people posting here thinks it's OK to to be greedy thieves so now I really wish They had urinated on these dresses as well!! Slaves don't deserve the food they get as they're "worthless eaters" anyway...maybe if Their plans to implode the economy go through the way They want, then when you can't grow your own food because it's against the law and when you can't buy anything with your worthless paper formally known as dollar bills, then maybe you will see why this little act of cruelty is so darn important! Oh well...I give up on this one...on to the next!

[NakiaJ]

02:31 AM on 01/09/2012

It's not always the bride who's GOT to have the overblown wedding. I had to talk my mother down from the big ol' glitzy gown for my wedding, but she supported me when she saw what I was aiming for. A relative of mine isn't so lucky. Her fiance's parents are demanding the big ol' wedding when they'd be perfectly happy to go down to the pastor's office one evening and swing by Olive Garden with the family after. And guess who's stuck with the bill for this extravaganza? I'll give you a hint: she'll be the one in white. Sometimes it's the bride's parents or the groom's parents pushing for a crazy wedding, but there are more brides than you'd think who'd be very happy to be wed in their clergy person's office or head off to the justice of the peace.

[October Rain]

11:27 PM on 01/08/2012

A better option to donating the dresses would be to auction them off and donate the money that is made.

[October Rain]

11:26 PM on 01/08/2012

My only issue with this is that we should be living ina society of Reduce, reuse, recycle, not waste, waste, waste. I could've made so many things out of those gowns. Skirts, pilllows, purses, anything really. I'm also not a huge fan of spray paint for that matter. Weddings have a large enough carbon foot print as it is. I don't think we need this to help it.

[john4u98]

05:01 PM on 01/08/2012

Hey the dresses would have ended up in the trash, soon down the road, for over half of the marriages anyway. AND they were probably all made in China as well.

[Posting Posts]

05:48 AM on 01/08/2012

Hey, Brides... WAKE UP CALL. Stop paying exorbitant amounts of money on your wedding crap! You all HAVE to have dresses that cost THOUSANDS of dollars to wear ONCE. You HAVE to have these blown out of proportion weddings that you whine and complain about when you (or your families) get the bill. No one gives a crap if your wedding cost $40k.
The problem is, you all buy into these shows that tell you you need that PERFECT wedding dress, the PERFECT shoes, the PERFECT flowers, the PERFECT limo, the PERFECT rings, the PERFECT reception, the PERFECT cake...

While I agree the company should have given the un-used stock to a company, why don't you blushing brides to be think realistically. Have a ceremony with your friends and family, PUT YOUR MONEY INTO THE BANK, invest in your future, instead of some 4 tier cake that tastes LIKE EVERY OTHER BORING CAKE! A $3,000.00 cake tastes just like a $29.99 birthday cake.

Why not RENT a wedding dress??? You see, this way you don't have it hanging in the back of the closet after you paid $800.00 to have it vacuumed-sealed, and you will NEVER WEAR AGAIN. More than likely the second you get off that honeymoon, you aren't going to fit in it ever again anyways... Lets be real.

[Lisa K Dixon]

06:57 PM on 01/06/2012

So, this store ran a 'Going Out of Business' sale, where were all these Needy People then. They could have offered the shop a bit of money & probably have been sold the gowns. I don't blame them. The gowns were theirs to do what they want with. If I saw 100 crazed women waiting outside by my dumpster to take something they had no intention of paying even a penny for I think I would have done the same thing, but I would have added scissors.

[April Fee]

07:14 PM on 01/06/2012

BOO!! HISS! SHAME ON YOU! Boy, you Elite and Elite minions sure don't care where you are headed, do you?Hope your dress is flame-proof...

[Lisa K Dixon]

07:54 PM on 01/06/2012

I am certainly not 'Elite' I am a struggling american like many others. I barely make my bills each month, I use coupons on my groceries & I like my kids to receive hand me down clothes. I do however Do No Expect A Handout. I feel better about myself when I understand just how important it is to support business. How many people do you think lost their jobs & circumstances. They were obviously hurt at the closing. You obviously feel that waiting outside the door to grab a free dress instead of making a modest offering of payment is you God given birthright. I may go in a flame proof dress, but you will have to go with your horrible finger pointing the way.

[prosepo]

03:33 PM on 01/06/2012

Who cares. It's just a dress. Society gives it way to much meaning. We put so much emphasis on the dress when most just end up in a closet collecting dust after the wedding. Perhaps if people would put that much uproar on their relationships many couples would stay married. To all those married couples why not donate your dress to someone who can use it?

[uncommonsensesc]

02:46 PM on 01/06/2012

If a bride just simply cannot get married without an over-done wedding dress, then she's in for a long, bumpy life! Yes, it was a waste to trash them. Yes, they could have been donated to charity. No, they owed it to no one to donate them and they owe no one an explanation or apology. No, them trashing the gowns did not ruin anybody's wedding (this was left-over inventory from a store closing down). No, they should not be expected to donate perfectly good wedding dresses to charity. Yes, a lot of people need to get a grip on reality!

[April Fee]

06:44 PM on 01/06/2012

I agree with what you said. A person years ago taught me that what belongs to you is yours to do with as you please, you can even destroy it. However, people SHOULD consider others but if they choose not to consider others than God will take that action into account on Judgement Day! What goes around comes around folks! If you are selfish and stingy, the same will come to you! Of course they are NOT sorry! They got caught doing something dirty and are saying what they know you want to hear so as to not lose business! Yes, they do get more money for damaged goods than charity donation and HEAVEN FORBID if someone gets something for free!!! Those onlookers should have pushed those guys and stopped them from damaging the dresses! They were clearly damaging them on purpose so that people could'nt use them! SHAME ON THEM! The Elite will fall someday, hopefully soon!

[MrsSalazar0112]

10:39 AM on 01/06/2012

I’m not sure how they “screwed up a lot of girl’s weddings” as Hippiegirl stated. How is it screwing up a wedding if the dress that was thrown out was out of the bride’s budget to begin with? I’m sure that if the bride was planning on buying the dress that was being thrown out she was alerted by the store that they were going out of business months ahead of time, giving her plenty of time to purchase the dress.

[April Fee]

06:50 PM on 01/06/2012

I'm sorry you can't seem to understand the concept of giving something for free to someone that you don't want or need! Simple really, you don't need dress, give it away! As for "out of her price range", that IS the point! The Elite don't want you to have anything, period! Let alone anything for free!

[MrsSalazar0112]

11:07 PM on 01/06/2012

I am in no way Elite, which seems like a favorite word of yours to throw around. I work hard for all the things that I have and don't expect handouts nor do I except them. If I can't afford to buy it then I simply move on. How is the dress being out of the price range the point? Wedding dresses come at all price points. I know I've been wedding dress shopping.

It's not about the "elite" not wanting people to have anything. It's about people expecting free handouts and not having the motivation to work for the things they want. I'm sure most of the Elite didn't get to where they are by waiting for a free handout.

[corbittz00]

09:29 AM on 01/06/2012

As disheartening as it is, it was their business merchandise to do with as they pleased. Did they chose well... no, but again it was their choice not the media's or the general public's.

[vlynnieg]

10:06 AM on 01/06/2012

I agree: I think it was an unfortunate choice, but it was their choice to make.

[missymoo]

03:33 PM on 01/06/2012

I agree! Even though it is a shame. In this economy the dresses could have made many brides dreams come true! Not to mention the money the company will have to put out to clean up the bad press!

[corbittz00]

06:20 PM on 01/06/2012

Missymoo. You are absolutely right! Can you imagine what this is costing them? Poor business decision. It could have gone a completely different way...Unfortunate.

[meanlady21]

01:46 AM on 01/06/2012

Such waste is sickening. Why not give them away with a public add, donate do something, anything better than this.