Bridal shop gives military brides-to-be free dress whites

NORFOLK

Koriann Olmsted and her fiance, Joseph Scarano, waited outside Maya Couture for 13 hours in the cold and, at times, in a car.

So when the bridal salon's doors finally opened at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Olmsted led the pack at the shop's designer gown giveaway held in honor of Veterans Day.

Not just any engaged woman could take advantage of the giveaway, though. At Maya Couture, the future wives had to be recently deployed or engaged to someone deployed in 2007 or 2008. The giveaway was part of a national effort called Brides Across America.

Once inside the boutique, Scarano and Olmsted's first order of business was showing the staff a copy of his deployment papers as well as his military ID as proof of her eligibility.

"You get the pick of the litter," said shop owner Maya Warburton.

Suddenly, Olmsted, a 19-year-old Old Dominion University student, turned into a queen. A bridal consultant minded almost her every move.

Olmsted chose from among 60 designer dresses, picking those that most caught her eye. She plans to marry Scarano, a Marine who said he recently served in Iraq, in 2010 or 2011.

The gowns Olmsted and others chose from, a combination of samples, overstock and new dresses, retail for about $100,000, Warburton said.

The shop donated most of the dresses, while eight were given by a designer in Australia, said Kelly Nolan, Maya Couture's general manager.

The chance to honor military personnel and their loved ones was one Warburton did not want to pass up.

"We've always wanted to recognize our military personnel here, and this was a great way for us to show our appreciation and say thank you," she said.

As Olmsted tried on gowns, 34-year-old Virginia Beach resident Tresha Griffin was the first woman to walk out of the shop with the dress of her dreams, a cream-colored gown retailing for about $1,500.

"Yea!" she screamed, holding up her dress.

Like Olmsted, Griffin had waited many hours outside the Norfolk boutique.

"I figure if he can go to Iraq, I can sit outside for a night," Griffin said of her fiance.

"You guys are awesome," Griffin's mother, Jean Griffin, told Maya Couture staff.

Forty-eight minutes after entering the salon and three dresses later, Olmsted found the winner, a strapless dress with crystals and a laced back.

"It was amazing to walk out of the store with a bridal dress worth $1,100 and I paid nothing for it," she said.

Cheryl Ross, (757) 446-2443, cheryl.ross@pilotonline.com