Church's wedding dress exhibit to benefit pediatric cancer patients

WHAT: Wedding Dress Display

WHEN: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: University Baptist Church, 100 S. Columbia St., Chapel Hill

COST: A suggested donation is $5. All proceeds will go to Rock Against Cancer, an organization that supports music therapy for young cancer patients.

BY BETH VELLIQUETTE

bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 419-6632

CHAPEL HILL -- It's a little early for 17-year-old Ellie Simpson to be looking for a wedding dress, but when she does, she has a pretty good idea of what she wants it to look like.

Simpson has become a bit of an expert on wedding dresses in the past few days. She's been putting together a wedding dress display to raise money for Rock Against Cancer, an organization that supports using music therapy for children with cancer.

She got the idea from a friend of the family who had seen a similar display, and Simpson decided to put one on to raise money for a charity involved in music therapy.

"That's something I might want to do as a profession," she said.

Simpson's father, Mitch Simpson, is the senior pastor at University Baptist Church in downtown Chapel Hill, so once she got the idea for the wedding dress display, she began asking the women in the church if they would lend her their dresses.

She expected to get about 15 or so, but as of Thursday night, she had about 30 -- and people continued stopping by the church with more dresses.

Susan Taylor, who was married in August 1977, brought the gown it took her months to find when she was a 24-year-old woman trying to find the perfect dress.

"Like everybody looking for a wedding dress, I tried on many, many of them," Taylor said. "I looked forever. I knew exactly what I wanted, and as soon as I saw it, I said, 'Oh, that's the one.' "

Betty Simpson, Ellie's mother, who was helping to put the dresses on mannequins Thursday, had a similar experience. She saw the dress she wanted in a magazine, and she didn't stop looking until she found it.

Some of the dresses Ellie has collected were worn down the aisle just a few months ago, while others were more than 50 years old.

One of the oldest dresses was worn by Helen Horrell when she married Murry Wade Holland on July 17, 1949.

Betty and Ellie Simpson, with the help of some friends, have been dressing an array of mannequins loaned to them by The Laughing Turtle store in downtown Chapel Hill. Some of the dresses had dozens of tiny buttons, and others have so many layers it was difficult to determine what went where.

"I am interested to see all the types of dresses," Ellie Simpson said.

"I can't help but think about when my day comes," she said. "I've always been enchanted with the princessness of the dresses."