It is a rite of passage for adult women: Spending hundreds of dollars on lavish bridesmaids dresses you will never wear again.
Those relics of nuptials past, then hang lifeless in the back of closets — bright colors and shiny tafetta hidden forever.
But Carol Lanni of Haverhill has found a way to give them new life. Those dresses can now make a memory for girls who dream of being glamorous on their prom night, but don't have the money to do so.
She is collecting gently used gowns for high school students — a campaign she calls Priceless Prom Gowns.
On Thursday, May 1 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Days Inn Hotel in Methuen, girls can get a gift previously reserved for fairy tales. If they can't afford a dress for their prom, Lanni will give them one free of charge.
And they'll find racks and racks of potential. Lanni has over 450 dresses in a plethora of sizes, shapes, styles and shades. All the girls have to do is bring proof of school enrollment and a parent or guardian.
Lanni said her Priceless Prom Gowns program is for everyone in need, not just girls in the most dire economic situations. For some families barely making ends meet, the excess of a prom just doesn't fit into their budget.
"Just because you have two working parents doesn't mean you're all set," she said. "Sometimes a dress can run $300, and a lot of people don't have that money. That's $300 a family can spend on gas, electricity, groceries or car insurance. A lot of people are in a situation like that."
Lanni came up with the idea for Priceless Prom Gowns when she was working at the Greater Lawrence Technical School. As prom time neared, Lanni was excited her students would get to experience the culmination of their high school lives, but quickly noticed that some girls weren't excited because they weren't going.
"I heard girls saying that their parents didn't have the money for a dress, or that they didn't live at home and couldn't afford it themselves," Lanni said. "Then I thought, wait a second. I know so many women who have dresses in their closets. I know I've been a bridesmaid at least 12 times. So I sent out a blanket e-mail to everyone I could, all the way to Florida, and it just kept getting passed on and passed on."
Before she knew it, donations were coming from all over.
"Word just spread, and it got really big," Lanni said.
When John Anton's Cleaners in Andover offered to clean all the gowns free of charge, Priceless Prom Gowns had officially arrived.
High school girls are thrilled to be the new owners of beautiful dresses, and the people donating gowns are equally happy to lighten their closet, especially for a good cause.
"They really are happy to help," she said of her volunteers and donors. "They're so glad to do this because a lot of them had been trying to figure out what to do with the dresses."
Lanni said that even the most retro, seemingly out-of-style dresses could find a good home. Some girls are handy with a thread and needle and can make the dress their own. And some love the uniqueness of a funky, '80s gown.
Lanni is happy she could help teenage girls get glam for one of the biggest events of their lives. And she's looking for ways to allow her nonprofit to help more people. Lanni is checking out fundraising possibilities and hoping to forge relationships with local spas and nail salons so she can help the girls get ready from head to toe. For the boys, she wants to reach out to local tuxedo renters. In Lanni's opinion, everyone deserves the chance to attend their prom.
"It's the end-all-and-be-all of high school," she said, "your high school's red carpet night. It's like a rite of passage. I just think it's so important."
